Past and Future
The sky turned red and clouds and apocalyptic lightning flashed out of nowhere. Space itself seemed to be struggling to stand against an invisible and powerful force.
Tawnne, who held a golden war spear, turned and looked at the sky and then the horizon. He and his group of seven paragons were climbing a mountain of snow and stone when the sky changed color without warning.
A surge of invisible and imperceptible power to most living things has spread everywhere.
Leticia dropped her wizard staff and put her hands on her head and fell to her knees screaming.
"Leticia, what is it? What's wrong?" Tawnne turned his attention to her and ran to his girlfriend.
"It's very strong. I've never felt anything so powerful…" she whispered through worried friends and her crouching boyfriend trying to protect her. There were tears in her eyes and she looked at him with pure love. She placed her palm on Tawnne's face.
Tawnne watched her swallow hard. She was suffering. He didn't know why, but he wanted to find the source of his suffering and annihilate it.
"It's late and impossible, but you can stop it. Prevent it from arising. Go back to the beginning and change things. Remember, I love you more than anything."
She gave a slight smile and then touched Tawnne's forehead. An electric impulse passed through him and his ability began to activate.
"Leticia, wait! What are you doing…?" He tried to pull away.
"Everyone, sorry, but I need your power so we can be saved in the end." Leticia sniffed, but at the same time she was determined and serious.
A kind of almost invisible mist came out of her and everyone came under her control.
A blue magic circle formed on the floor above them all and Tawnne's eyes widened.
His most powerful skill, Reset, which needs an absurd amount of MP to just go back a few minutes, was activated and was coming back much more than that.
He saw white and blue veins appear in all of them as they turned pale and weak and one by one began to fall dead to the ground.
He looked at Leticia in terror. White and blue veins were spreading from his neck to his face.
With watery eyes, she smiled.
"It's confusing, I know, but this is our only chance. You can save everyone, prevent all that from happening. The King must not arise, you must prevent that from happening, whatever the cost. The world depends on you. This is an enemy that can only be defeated before waking up. I love you."
She gave a light push with her fingertip and fell lifeless to the floor. Tawnne screamed and exclaimed with teary eyes staring at the love of his dead life, just like his best friends who have been following him for years.
[The king woke up.]
[The world has been found guilty and must suffer its wrath.]
With teary eyes, he read the world message and looked ahead. A surge of invisible power was coming toward her like a shockwave from a nuclear explosion. Everything in its path was being destroyed and disintegrated.
Your skill had already been activated. Blue and white mist enveloped him and the portal to the past was opening.
His vision was clouded by the mist, but he didn't care because he was desolate.
The core of the planet began to collapse and from the ground, geysers of fire and blazing flames rose. Earthquakes arose and cracks appeared. Tidal waves arose, tornadoes fell, as did lightning.
And before Tawnne, a moment before disappearing from the present and returning to the past, he saw in midair an unfocused image of a floating being staring at him. He couldn't see straight, but he knew he was humanoid and had bright golden eyes.
The being raised his right hand and did something, and then the invisible force reached Tawnne just as the portal closed.
Tawnne felt pain and suffering as he rolled uncontrollably across the river of time.
His strength was drawn and a moment before he was unconscious, he felt the entire leveling system disappear.
Tawnne opened her eyes feeling a faint headache. A wave of weakened power came out of him and spread everywhere.
He saw a blue "sky" with some clouds. He felt a slight discomfort as he was lying on something flat and hard. Groaning and feeling a little sore, he forced himself to his feet.
Her heart clenched. He recognized the place. It had been a while since he had seen it, but he still remembered the Temple of Awakening.
A slight twinge in his head made him close his eyes for a moment before trying to remember what the hell was going on.
Why was he back…?
With a little more effort, he finally remembered.
Without realizing it, tears streamed from her eyes. He wiped them off with the sleeve of his shirt and forced himself to be "fine."
He needed to be fine, or the best he could. He needed to find her.
"And apparently save the world." he said bitterly.
Tawnne stood and snapped the bones of her body. The people around her were starting to wake up and get up.
When everyone finally awoke, a moment later, the whole "temple" was surrounded by a shield of light that was almost golden and transparent. In the air, in the very center, a face wearing a white mask of what appeared to be a kind of demon bird with a huge beak appeared.
At the top of his head was a white top hat.
"Puppanomom." Tawnne growled under his breath.
People around her might not know, but Tawnne did. The holographic being before him was known as "Maestro," a tenth-floor dungeon entity, and only those who made it to their destination to advance to the next floor knew Maestro's real identity.
And in that moment, everyone fighting against him discovered that this dungeon was different, as it could have treasures and golden opportunities, but it was also a prison.
This dungeon, Myriad of Infinite Desires, is a prison for the most powerful beings in this world. Being able to bring chaos and destruction to this world that is bigger than the Earth for at least 100 times.
A prison capable of keeping gods and demons sealed within it.
And that's what Maestro, Puppanomon, is. He is a demon, literally. The puppet demon. Anyone caught in their strings becomes their puppets.
"Those bastards outside have no idea what they're doing. They let themselves be controlled by greed and that will result in the end of the world."
Puppanomon explained something that was bound by the power of the dungeon and the sacrifices made by those outside to everyone within the Temple of Dimensional Awakening.
The scrolls, the Soul Contract, appeared before them.
"One of my friends commented earlier that there was another way to wake up and become a Paragon… Any altar?" He frowned.
In his past life, he had signed the contract after hesitating for a while, as he had no idea what he was doing.
After a few years, surviving and leveling up and walking inside this dungeon, he began to make true lifelong friendships and one of his friends, a trusted companion commented sometime he heard about an altar in the Temple of Awakening able to arouse anyone as long as they pay some price.
This kind of awakening is free from the bonds of fate, the gods, and the bastards outside.
Also, the skills gained through this way are much more powerful.
His friend said he met someone who apparently had used this medium, God of Thunder, a legend among the Paragons. This particular Paragon had powers that were beyond the common powers of other Paragons.
"If I am going to save the world, I have to make use of my prior knowledge to my advantage."
He looked around and it took a few minutes to finally catch a glimpse of something in the center of the temple.
In the previous timeline, he would have just signed the contract and would be leaving the temple now, but instead he walked toward the altar that was getting sharper and closer and unknowingly bumped into someone who was about to to sign the contract.
Not caring, Tawnne ignored it and continued.
He arrived at the altar and paid the price necessary to wake up.
[To receive the blessing of the Altar of the Gods, something must be paid.]
[Do you wish to use the Altar of the Gods to receive the power to change your own destiny?]
He hesitated and after remembering his final moments, from Leticia's eyes, he took a deep breath and made his decision.
He paid: Lust, Charity, Envy, Gluttony, Laziness.
He couldn't get rid of love because he couldn't do it and lose her, the love of his life, Leticia.
And so he kept some other things because he wanted to have a family with her. He knew this was her dream and couldn't take it from her, and if he is sincere, he also wanted children with her.
He could not shake off his wrath, for that was a good part of allowing him to pursue his plan to save the world, for he would have his future with Leticia at all costs.
[Payment accepted. Starting True Awakening…]
[Congratulations, you now own your own destiny. You became a Paragon.]
[To access your system, just say "Open Status."]
[Good luck, Tawnne Sullen.]