[Arceid]


    The moment I stabilized from the teleportation, my surroundings came into focus — and my stomach dropped.


    Desolation.


    The entire training ground was in ruins. Buildings crumbled like sandcastles, debris littered the ground, and fissures tore through the land. Yet… no sign of blood.


    “Did Junia evacuate them?” I muttered, glancing around.


    No, something was off. There was no trace of energy signatures from the students — as if they had been erased.


    My phone rang. I answered.


    Junia’s holographic figure flickered into view, her voice tense. “—Arceid! There’s a barrier. I can''t teleport anyone out from there.”


    My jaw clenched. “So you can bring people in but not out?”


    “Exactly! Something is manipulating space. I don''t know what it is—”


    “Got it. I’ll call you later.” I cut the line.


    Because I already heard it.


    A weeping sound. Except it wasn’t human. It was… wrong. Malformed. The sound mimicked the agonized cries of infants, elderly, and dying animals — stitched together into one maddening cacophony.


    I followed the sound, stepping into the heart of the destruction.


    And then… I saw it.


    Dear God.


    The abomination towered 20 meters tall, its form a grotesque mockery of life. Its cylindrical torso pulsed with decay, surrounded by hundreds of writhing legs growing out of its abdomen. Thick, blood-red tendrils extended from its back, constantly funneling blood from the thousands of mutilated corpses at its feet.


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    Its face — if it could be called one — was spherical, with two grotesque, bulging eyes rolling in chaotic directions. It had no mouth, yet it moaned.


    No… it wept.


    Or so I thought, until I realized —


    “…This isn’t weeping.” I exhaled, my throat dry. “It’s pleasure.”


    Every time its tendrils siphoned more blood from its victims, the creature shuddered, its cry reaching an unbearable pitch. It wasn’t mourning the dead — it was rejoicing.


    A tremor of pure, seething hatred erupted within me.


    I extended my hand forward, my palm outstretched. Immediately, space itself buckled. A void sphere formed in my grasp — not a black hole, but a condensed rejection of existence itself. It denied light, sound, matter, everything.


    Without hesitation, I launched it at light speed.


    The creature noticed.


    Its tendrils lashed out, ripping through space to intercept the sphere. Space itself fractured in response — yet the void didn''t care. It ignored the ruptured space and continued piercing through, burrowing a gaping hole through its torso.


    The creature screamed. This time, in agony.


    Yet it still did not fall.


    Instead, it frantically forced more blood through its body, attempting to regenerate — but it couldn''t. The gaping void I created rejected its cellular structure, leaving behind a wound that refused to heal.


    “…Tough bastard.” I muttered.


    The creature retaliated.


    Its hundreds of tendrils launched from every angle, moving faster than light, intent on pulverizing me. But my body reacted instinctively.


    A suffocating dark hue erupted around me, bending space in my favor. I became the void. Every tendril that touched my body disintegrated — as if brushing against the concept of nothingness.


    Slash.


    Slash.


    Slash.


    My arm moved like lightning, cleaving through tendrils without pause. Yet more kept coming.


    “You’re wasting my time.” My voice was cold.


    The creature shrieked louder, unleashing sonic waves capable of reducing mountains to rubble. The force of it cracked the atmosphere — buildings collapsed from the pressure.


    But I stood unscathed.


    “Pathetic.”


    I clenched my fist — and my power erupted.


    The ground beneath my feet shattered. Space itself warped. My presence became suffocating, like an abyss given form.


    The creature lunged, its speed unfathomable. Its massive body slammed me through three buildings, the impact creating a mile-long crater.


    I could hear Junia''s voice screaming in my earpiece.


    I ignored it.


    The fight was over.


    The creature advanced, its damaged torso convulsing violently, still trying to heal. I wiped the blood from my mouth.


    “I’ve humored you long enough.”


    I extended my hand — and the very fabric of space bent to my will.


    Dark energy swirled around me, condensing into a sword of void. The blade was absolute nothingness — rejecting matter, energy, and existence itself.


    The creature hesitated. Its instincts finally recognized death.


    Good.


    I vanished.


    And reappeared behind it.


    My blade carved through its entire body in a single slash. The creature froze, as if unable to comprehend what had happened. Its body — along with its tendrils — began to disintegrate at the atomic level.


    It couldn’t scream. It couldn’t heal. It couldn’t move.


    It simply… ceased to exist.


    A deep crater formed beneath where the creature once stood. The entire battlefield fell into silence.


    “…Finally.” I exhaled, my hand still gripping my sword.


    Then I looked around.


    Destruction. Hundreds of buildings reduced to rubble. Craters everywhere. The air was still vibrating from the aftershocks.


    “…Shit.” I muttered. “The council’s gonna kill me for this property damage.”


    I walked away, the weight of destruction heavy in my chest.


    Even in victory… we never won.


    “…Unless it’s Junia, of course.”