What the Future Bears
In a building surrounded by embers of a once mighty kingdom, rests a bulky man sitting on a chair, in his apartment.
Surrounded by liquor and cigarettes, he stares at the ceiling as he ponders his looming fate.
"Never knew death could be this scary," he says to himself as he takes another puff from his cigarette.
All I ever wanted to do was graduate from the academy, land a job, then eventually marry a girl, start up a family with her and live a normal peaceful fulfilling life.
Why did everything turn to sh*t?
It was 10 years ago, that demons that were long thought to be eradicated suddenly appeared in greater numbers than we could ever have imagined declaring war on us.
Of course, like any normal person, this made me terrified but the fear was short-lived as we had promising heroes, our guardians, protectors of humanity that won't go down without fighting for our salvation.
And so our hope was reignited, there was no way humanity would fall behind the backs of these heroes, right?...right?
After a grueling 10-year war, humanity's heroes fell one by one to the demons and with each death, our hope dwindled, until finally as the final hero perish at the hands of the fiends so did our hope.
We still don't know how they lost but one thing is for certain humanity will soon be extinct.
I take another deep sigh, I managed to survive this long thanks to being good at not being noticed and having a weak presence but I'm done living this way.
Most of the survivors of the invasion are in hiding but sooner and later all of us will bite the dust.
I sip another drink of liquor as I reminisce about the time before everything went to the gutter.
The Empire of Lucradian, a powerhouse among powerhouses. It had wealth, it had influence, it had everything, It was the strongest nation in the entire world that was worthy of being called an empire. Led by Emperor Magnius Lucradian, it had a very promising future.
He was a kind man, from what I've seen and heard of him, who values the well-being of his citizens more than his own health, but it just makes it all the more heartbreaking to see the once glorious empire of his reduced to this state.
Skyscrapers that reached the skies are now nothing but rubble, highways that were once clean and devoid of traffic were now filled with broken-down cars stretching over the horizon.
A tear fell down from the side of my face, the past filled with peace and laughter is now nothing but a memory.
The cigarette I was smoking was slowly running out but no matter how much liquor I drink, no matter how many cigarettes I smoke.
The fear of dying does not escape the interiors of my mind.
Sounds of screams echo from the distance.
I stood up from my chair and made my way to the balcony of my apartment, to look where it was coming from.
Beings with red wings at their backs and horns in their head, claws with strength capable to tear a man in half with one swing, and eyes that know no mercy.
Demons.
From the skies, I see them slowly getting closer and closer with a being of greater evil leading them from the front.
It was probably their commander, even from a distance, I can feel detestable evil radiating from its presence.
The last remnants of humanity are still trying to fight but it is obvious that resistance is futile.
With no heroes to instill hope, despair came flooding down with nothing to hold it back.
The guilds and organizations from all over the world still didn't back down though even after the death of the heroes.
They still gathered up the strength they could amass hoping to at least make the fiends falter and buy more time to think of a possible solution but they couldn't even make them budge.
Occupied with my thoughts, I failed to notice one of the demons was now hovering in front of my balcony,
I stared right into its eyes full of malice.
Even though I was terrified of death, I'd rather die than live a life of always hiding and running from these bastards, but still, I won't accept a pitiful demise.
I quickly summoned my shield as it raised its arm to swing its claws.
In a split second, I managed to parry it at the cost of my left arm.
I groaned in pain but didn't falter as I looked at the demon again.
The demon smiled and was amused to see a man that was able to block its attack.
I used this opportunity to quickly ran inside my apartment to lock the balcony door and ran towards the kitchen.
Not even a moment too soon the glass door from my balcony broke into pieces as the demon forced his way through.
"Running won't save you" A cold eerily voice came out from the demon.
But I didn't pay any attention to it as I ran to the kitchen.
The demon just snicked and smiled at the sight of me running like a coward.
As I arrive at the kitchen, I looked down beneath the stove to let the cooking mana gas leak through its container.
I hear the heavy footsteps of the fiend as it makes its way toward me, with each footstep my heart trembles in fear.
Nevertheless, I strengthened my resolve, If I die I'll be glad to take one down with me.
I took out the lighter from my back pocket, It was a metal lighter I bought from an antique store when I was still in the academy.
A lighter to which I have grown to have sentimental feelings too.
As It had been with me through thick and thin, through the times I've been alone, all I needed to do was take out a cigarette and light it up with this lighter.
I knew it was just the addiction in my brain that was talking but still when the world is inevitably ending you'll take any sort of peace you can get, even if it was just a chemical that was designed to make you feel happy for a short while.
I take a deep breath as I close my eyes.
"Done running?"
The same cold eerily voice was heard once again.
I open my eyes to see the demon more clearly.
It was grinning at me knowing that just any step further it would finally be able to rip my heart out with its claws.
I smiled back at it while I put my fingers in the lighter behind me.
The demon looked confused for a moment until he heard the hissing sound that was coming from the gas container beneath the stove.
"Die, you b*stard" I cursed at it while I prepare myself to blow this place sky-high.
The demon then pounced towards me ready to tear me apart but alas it was too late, the familiar feeling of lighting this lighter for years made me instinctively able to use it effectively.
A huge explosion occurred inside the apartment.
The last thing I remembered was a split second of the excruciating pain of being blown alive.
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Darkness, it was all darkness.
Floating through nothingness itself,
Stuck in a place with feelings of emptiness.
Devoid of purpose but to float in a place where nothing exists.
Or so I thought,
"Do you have what it takes to save this accursed world?"
A voice came from the darkness that surrounded me,
It was warm and soothing that shouldn't have belonged to a place like this.
"I don't know" my weakened voice echoed throughout the darkness that surrounded me as I float seamlessly through the void.
After a while, there was nothing but my voice that echoed slowly through the abyss losing its volume after each echo.
"Gaze into me:" The same soothing voice was heard once again.
Suddenly a figure bearing a faint light appeared in the distance.
As it got closer and closer to me, I got a clearer look at it.
A slender figure with a body made of stars and galaxies, its hair made with cosmic strings that cover its face.
Even from far away, there was only one word that can describe this figure.
It was beautiful, more beautiful than anything I have ever seen in my life.
As It got even closer, its hand caressed my cheek.
It was a warm soothing feeling just like the sound of its voice.
"Figure it out by yourself"
The cosmic strings that cover its face were blown away from its soothing voice, revealing its eyes.
Its eyes were filled with shining stars and galaxies.
I was completely mesmerized by it unable to avert my gaze.
"When you look up beyond the sky through space and its stars, remember somewhere, among the galaxies, I'll be rooting for you, my nameless hero"
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"AAAHHH!" I jolted upwards from a bed that felt all too familiar.
"What the hell was that?" I say to myself while I try to calm my ragged breathing and take a look at my surroundings
This room, that painting, that desk, wait a minute?
I quickly got up from my bed and ran outside my room, that kitchen, those chairs.
Am I back in my apartment?
I then hear the humming sound of a busy metropolis, I turn my head in the direction of the sound and hear it coming from the open glass door leading to the balcony.
Without delay, I hurriedly made my way to it and opened the glass door revealing the Empire of Lucradian in its prime.
There stood its skyscrapers that pierced the skies, its highways that were clean and devoid of traffic, and the bustling amount of people walking on the sidewalks.
I try to pinch myself as hard as I can to see if this was a dream but after a while reality kicked in.
Tears flowed from my face as I fell to my knees in disbelief.
"Wha- I'm really back?"
No matter how many times I try to accept it, it was hard but then something else happened that shocked me to my core.
A transparent window suddenly appeared beside me with words written in it.
"Will you accept God's Guidance?"
"Y/N"