Vision

What appeared in front of him was a sea of fire.

Ash was stunned.

What happened?

Where am I?

'Did I die and be transmigrated again?'

There was no way. He was sure that the monster hadn't managed to kill him yet, but... how did he end up here?

Raging fire covered his vision, and hot air entered his lungs as a result of the extreme temperature, causing a burning sensation in his chest. His head felt light and dizzy. He also heard many disorderly voices, like the sound when a crowd gathered in one place.

All of it made him certain that there was something wrong with the situation. Even with all of his senses disturbed by the extreme temperature, he remains clear headed. He even felt that it was a better situation than when he first woke up in the ruined village. He even felt powerful energy and power fill his body, he could feel the rush of excitement and glee when he was in the middle of a raging fire.

Does that make any sense?

It must have been some sort of illusion that he experienced. He was more convinced of that fact because he couldn't move his body.

Despite his eagerness to find out what happened to him and where he was.

He was stuck.

No, he was trapped!

His five senses were still working normally, and he could even feel the headache in his head and the burning sensation in his chest. But he couldn't move. It was like watching a 4D movie from a first-person perspective.

Suddenly, he felt his mouth move uncontrollably; he was like a puppet on a string.

"Hahahahaha!" A maddening laugh escaped his mouth.

He felt his mind become lighter, like it was liberated from something.

His body walked forward, step by step. When he was out of the fire, he saw a scene that looked like purgatory. Everything was engulfed in fire—the houses, the farm, and any building in sight.

He even saw a moving fire in the shape of a person—not only one, but many. Their screams resounded amidst the flame.

Seeing him coming out, many of them turned their heads and walked towards him.

"You demon, I curse you to rot in hell for eternity!"

"I curse you to die a painful death!"

"You demon!"

Their angry voice was directed at him.

Ash didn't know what happened, or why they were cursing him.

"Hahahaha!"

A laugh escaped his mouth again. 'He' appeared to be excited instead. His laugh was tinged with madness and glee.

A sudden rise in temperature beside him caught his attention. He tried to see what it was, but his head didn't budge, and he just looked ahead.

Swoosh!

'He' swung his hand forward. From it, he could see a ball as big as a basketball that was fully formed from fire being thrown towards the flaming figure.

Boom!

The fireball explodes upon contact, bringing destruction everywhere. Even the flaming figure was destroyed and flung away by the explosion.

'His' expression seemed to become more and more deranged as he walked away. Every time he encountered a flaming figure, he would throw a fireball at them. Ash would also feel the process of his body conjuring and throwing the fireball.

As time passed and 'he' threw more and more fireballs, he felt his body gradually weaken. He didn't know what happened, but he could clearly feel that something was losing from 'his' body.

Suddenly, a familiar place greeted his sight. A flame tower stood in the distance, the fire it supported burning proudly above it, and didn't seem to be affected by the fire around it.

'He' seemed to be enraged when he saw it and approached the flame tower.

When 'he' was close enough, he lifted his hand, conjured a huge fireball, and threw it towards the fire.

Boom!

Unexpectedly, when the two fires met, it caused a huge explosion, causing cracks to spread on the tower.

'He' also seems to have lost all of his energy after throwing the huge fireball and slumping to the ground. It feels like there was a price to pay for using his huge power, and 'he' finally paid the final price with his life.

When Ash opened his eyes again, he realized that he was still inside the forest, facing the monster that was moving closer to him.

It felt so long when he was inside the vision, but when he opened his eyes, he realized that the time that passed was not long. The monster had only taken one step forward since he entered the vision.

Everything that happened before seems unreal, as if it were just an illusion.

But, he knew it was not an illusion.

Is it memory?

Thinking about the familiar fire tower, he was more certain of it.

So, is 'he' the culprit for the village's destruction?

Ash had many questions in his heart, but now was not the time to contemplate them. He needs to deal with the problem in front of him first.

The monster in front of him wouldn't give him too much time to think.

He was thinking about something that he could use to save himself from the situation when he suddenly remembered how the person in the vision could conjure a fireball.

If that was his memory and the person inside the vision was him, doesn't that mean he also had that power?

Although he knew that there was a price to pay to use that power, he was left with no other option.

He recalled how the person in his memory used the power. It happens so many times in that vision, so he could remember that sensation clearly.

The hotness that he felt in his heart was the source of the power. He needs to harness it and guide it to flow into his hand.

Quickly and carefully!

He must do it quickly; otherwise, it would be too late, and he also must be careful not to lose control of that power.

The hotness that was previously in his heart flowed steadily into his hand. There were no hiccups, as if his body remembered that sensation well.

Ash was glad that the first step was completed easily.

After that hot sensation was in his hand, he needed to form it into a specific shape.

He didn't know what it was.

Maybe a matrix, a node, a formation, or a magic circle.

But that was what changed the hot energy in his hand into a fireball.

But it was too slow; the process took too long.

When he just formed the fifth of nine nodes, a claw thrust straight into his head.

He gritted his teeth, maintained the unfinished node, and staggered backwards.

His movement was too slow, and the attack was inevitable. It pierced his stomach straight into his back.

"Khuk!"

Blood flowed out of his mouth uncontrollably. He looked at the monster in front of him that grinned savagely, his eyes filled with uncontrollable greed, like a predator that had already caught its prey.

Enduring the gut-wrenching pain, he gritted his blood-covered teeth and continued the process of forming nodes.

Seventh…. Eight…

The monster lifted him with its hand, which skewed him, amplifying the pain he felt in his stomach.

"Khuk!"

He throws up another mouthful of blood.

Nine…

Bang!

Bang!

Another round of gunshots sounded. But the aim was not the monster's head; maybe, out of fear, the monster would evade and hit Ash instead.

The bullets hit the monster back, causing it to turn its head and growl, but immediately turn its attention to ash, as if the bullets were just like mosquito bites.

Ten!

Ash felt the temperature in his hand increase; he could tell that the fireball was forming.

But…

Why does it feel like something was wrong?

He turned his head and looked at his hand through his peripheral vision.

There was a fireball, yes.

But the size was small—much smaller than what he remembered from the vision. It was a little smaller than an egg. Maybe it was also because of that that the monster didn't notice it.

His face instantly became pale. His last hope was extinguished.

No!

He can't!

He can't give up yet!

As long as there's a way, even if it's only slim, he must grasp it!

He looked at the monster, his gaze was determined. Even if he dies, he must inflict as much damage as he can on the monster.

Where should he attack with that small fireball?

The monster suddenly used its other hand to grip him, pulling out the hand that pierced him.

The pain he felt when the monster pulled out its hand, grinding against all the wounds in his stomach, was so great that it made his face distort. Not to mention the monster was just pulling it out haphazardly, which aggravates his wounds more.

The monster brought Ash close to him and opened its mouth wide. It seems its instinct as a predator made it use its mouth to kill its prey.

Its savage mouth opened wide, showing superimposed, sharp teeth that filled its inside.

Ash's eyes widened.

This was his chance!

The fireball that he had been holding in his hand for a long time was thrown into the wide, open mouth.