Chapter 01: Start

I couldn't see anything but darkness, an empty place devoid of life or movement. The worst that can happen is to lose your vision completely, is what I thought. I will be condemned for life if I do not recover my sight. I asked myself…

What the hell was causing that light?

I'm sure there was no one around me, nor did I see what that mysterious light really was. He appeared in an instant, mowing me down on the spot.

My main goal is to recover my sight. My body shook and a feeling of fear ran through my spine. I had felt that same sensation the first time I faced a monster more powerful than me. I slowly turned my head in the direction of the light source. Its intensity was lower compared to the light that blinded me, but it was still more than enough. A mysterious force pushed me to the ground.

Beads of sweat slowly fell from my forehead. It was the same tight feeling in my chest. The more time passed, the weaker I felt.

A black shadow was formed from the same darkness. This feeling is the same one he felt every time he was close to death. Had he died?

I don't believe it, I refuse to believe it, this is not the same as death. It is something more mysterious than a simple death. The silhouette extended its hand towards me. I unconsciously took the hand of the strange figure, I seemed to be hypnotized.

The figure dissolved into black mist that slowly surrounded my body. Strange images and information suddenly began to emerge in my head. What was that? I asked myself.

There is no explanation I could give. I felt strange, my way of thinking was beginning to undergo changes, the same was happening with my body. Everything felt real. Each of my emotions felt like they were going to slowly disappear.

Emotions and feelings were fading at an alarming rate. The dark fog finally disappeared, allowing him to let out a sigh of relief.

I started to feel different after a short time. I felt full of energy and power, the sensation ran through my veins. I haven't felt like this in a long time. A dark aura very different from the previous one slowly surrounded me.

Space warped, leaving behind space filled with darkness. A large desert valley completely took its place, replacing it.

---

In the middle of the desert valley, the figure of a man stood on a small hill. Saying, the valley of death or loneliness would perfectly describe this place. A great gust of wind swept across the entire surface, lifting the dead leaves with it.

The wind revealed the true nature of the place. The illusion dissipated. It was more than just a valley, it was a real field of death. Hundreds even thousands of bodies lay everywhere, bones adorning the surface.

The rivers of blood ran through the valley, staining the banks red. Birds of prey flew over the skies, sitting on mountains of corpses. The urge to vomit and the repulsiveness of the landscape would intimidate anyone who lacked sufficient willpower.

The smell of death did not go away even with the powerful gusts of wind that constantly swept the surface. Fire geysers rose furiously from the ground.

The man began to move slowly towards the front. His face was hidden under a hood. A worn black robe covered his entire body leaving nothing exposed to the open air. A black aura covered his entire body.

With each step the atmosphere changed radically. From a climate cold like the arctic or as hot as the desert or the mouth of an active volcano. From a dark sky to a clear one free of clouds, when looking at the sky you would forget where you are standing. You would think you were resting in a field of flowers on a day free from all your problems. Bones and corpses would gradually replace the flower field.

There is no place where you can be free from the death that can be breathed in the environment. The footsteps of the hooded person or whatever he was, not only changed the space around him. His robe, as if made of sand, fell apart with his movements.

Revealing jet black armor. The light around him suffered an effect similar to being absorbed by the armor, strengthening it as time passed.

It didn't take long to show the true figure of the armor. The light around him was consumed creating a great void absent of all light. His demonic appearance imposed fear, terror and majesty that only a powerful but evil being could display. Religious fanatics would classify him as the devil or a demonic being in person.

There is nothing like the devil in that place, only death and desolation exist. The armor's footsteps echoed throughout the place. Unlike the hooded man's silent footsteps, the armor's footsteps were loud like a moving mountain.

It didn't take long for the environment to change, the armor slowly beginning to disintegrate.

Being replaced by a suit different from the previous ones. A tight-fitting T-shirt that showed off the muscles of the body. The black gloves with metal parts gleamed in the light. His steps were determined and there was no sign of emotion in them.

Around his waist was tied a piece of red cloth that fluttered in the wind. Black pants and boots. His face was covered by a shadow making it impossible to see.

Two crossed swords were held on his back. The sword sheaths emitted a faint crimson light surrounding the handle of the sword.

The space around him changed to a red sky, the setting of the sun and the arrival of night where the hidden came out of his hiding place. Where killers worked in the shadow of night whose prey slept waiting for a new dawn that would never come.

The man's body was undergoing changes rapidly. His size increased considerably, the swords disappearing into the breeze of the wind.

A body surrounded by an exoskeleton emerged from the black storm that had surrounded it. A frightening appearance that imposes fear and desperation on its prey. At every step of his the heavens roared and the mountains rumbled.

The rivers of blood churned, surpassing the banks and consuming the corpses in their waters.

The storms in heaven and on earth did not stop. Abruptly his footsteps stopped, but not the storms that raged such an enraged beast.

The large black clouds were slowly parting. The storms calmed down as did the waters of the rivers that consumed everything as if life had descended upon them. The sky from which nothing could be seen due to the black clouds gradually cleared, revealing a view out of this world.

The empty sky illuminated by dozens of bright stars. A unique painting that poets and artists would use as inspiration for their great creations. The majesty would make anyone forget about their problems and where they were standing.

No one, not even in their wildest dreams, would expect to see such a thing in a place where the descriptions would make you understand that you are in hell. A true valley in which death walks and rotting bodies lie scattered across its lands.

The stars illuminated the sky, drawing lines between them on the firmament. Patterns formed in no time.

A black shadow was projected on the ground. He raised his sword surrounded by the crimson glow of blood. He swung diagonally cutting everything in his path. The light, the space itself, were destroyed before his passing.

Reality itself was filled with cracks like glass when hit. Pieces of glass fell to the ground breaking into tiny little pieces.

---

Strands of black energy, taut as pitch, trailed from a small crack in a large stone from which a crimson light escaped.

The atmosphere changed radically in the surrounding area. The stone continued to crack and more strands of energy came out. A few meters away, the strands of energy moved as if possessed.

Intertwining between them, a black sphere of a strange mass almost transparent at times.

The strands of energy gathered together, each time forming a larger sphere that slowly and eerily began to form a cocoon. The land around them was slowly dying, the plants drying out or rotting. Everything alive disappeared in the darkness that devoured it incessantly.

The sky was blackening and the black clouds were gathering in haste at the call. The monsters and animals did not approach out of immense fear. The smell of death permeated everything near him.

The days quickly passed and the atmosphere around the cocoon worsened. Vines full of thorns rose from cracks in the ground as it surrounded trees and stones.

The beating of a heart could be heard and echoed rumbling over the mountains. Crimson red light came from the depths of the cocoon, illuminating the outside. The electrical storms hit the ground, illuminating them with their light.

Lightning struck near the cocoon. Its powerful light illuminated the cocoon, revealing what was hidden inside. The silhouette of a person in a fetal position, dozens of veins attached to the body.

---

The stormy night, the great gusts of wind hit the tops of the trees. The rain was pounding firmly. The night was pitch black, lightning illuminated the sky.

The fortress of solitude, located in the middle of mountains. There is no human settlement around it. Stones worn by erosion, cracked or destroyed. Always fulfilling your objective. Defend the kingdom from a possible invasion through the Dreto Valley.

Steep mountains surrounded the fortress. In front of them was the only path available to enter the kingdom from the Dreto valley. Lightning roared fiercely, striking stones or trees.

The step of a foot on a rock, his figure covered by darkness. His eyes shone brightly as he looked at the fortress.

---

A couple of hours before everything.

My consciousness came back together. Surrounded by countless threads of pure energy, my body felt numb. I felt renewed, like new, a great amount of energy was running through my body.

The cocoon made a noise, a crack appearing on its surface. Soon, the entire cocoon was surrounded by cracks, the dark glow escaping from within.

The darkness became more intense and suddenly…

The cocoon burst into an immense wave of dark energy. The earth rumbled, the sky darkened. The creature that had been asleep and growing inside him all this time appeared, appeared.

Surrounded by a blanket of darkness, he emerged from within. That thing was not human. Its long black claws, sharp as blades. A living armor that writhed all over his body.

On his chest, a large part of the armor glowed with an intense red light. The writhing armor slowly began to take shape. It wasn't armor, it was the creature's own body.

He let out a great scream. His body was intimidating, more than any demon, he was the representation of a powerful and bloodthirsty being.

His gaze fell on the mountains behind him. He kicked the ground and disappeared.

---

In the fortress everything was routine. The patrols moved according to their routes both inside and outside the fortress. One of the patrols that toured the outside area of the fortress found something out of the ordinary.

"they are footprints of some monster"

"no, they are different"

"the footprints are similar to those of a human"

"human?"

"There is no one patrolling the same area as us"

"so…"

Blood splattered around him. The sliced body fell into a pool of blood before the frightened gaze of his companions.

ahhhhhh!

The screams of the men were silenced by the fierce electrical storms.