"The World expects us to be strong enough to make it great et victorious. But men demand that we obey and close our eyes enough to make it sink. Choosing to sacrifice oneself or to protect oneself is the hardest dilemma Humanity will always face"


    The Triad, year 2185, end of the world


    When everything you have ever known collapses overnight, you can only watch your past, your present, and your future burn - helplsess, incapable. No matter how much you wonder how everything could have crumbled so quickly, it is already the end. The end of everything. All those things you once held so dear - your home, your family, your job, or your friends - become futile and useless. The only thing on your mind at that moment will be your own reality. And yet, there is no escape. Like all the others, you will perish, swallowed by the world that has turned against you. The last thing you will hear will be screams. The last things you will see will be faces twisted and deformed by their own demons. The end is inevitable.


    In front of me, chaos, screams, blood, the destruction of a world barely built. The smell of burning flesh seard my nostrils so much that i had to shield them with the torn sleeve of my uniform. I was barely standing - my wounds were taking too long to heal, and i could feel my strenght leaving me. Buildings were collapsing one by one, vehicles exploding mid-race. All the inhabitants of teh Triad were desperatly trying to flee the darkness our battls had unleashed. I weaved through the monstrous crowd that shoved me in all directions. I had to reach the tallest building still standing, trampling each other to escape. Fleeing and fleeing again. Children cried for help, but no one. Their parents must have have already been dead.


    My chest tighten as they were carried away by the frantic movements of the crowd. On the other side, an old man fell to the ground, and his bones shattered under the heavy, panicked footseps. A wave of disgust chruned my stomach. Tears weeled up on my soot-covered cheeks.


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    How had it come to this ?That question wouldn''t leave me. Seeing the world in such a state filled me with rage - i couldn''t see how we could make it out alive. This was truly the end. Everytone was trying to escape - but to where ? We were trapped under a dome beyond which there was nothing. Humanity was doomed to disappear for good this time.


    The heat intesified as i approached my goal. Journalists, perched in a corner, filmed the quagmire we were in. As if that would change anything. Away from the crowd, i could finally breathe. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and continued my way with more caution. The ground was covered in the dead or those barely clinging to life. A woman, trapped under the rubble of a building, beeged for help. I lifted the slab crushing her legs with ease. She thanked me through tears, pleading for me to save her. However, her lower limbs were severed. She wouldn''t survive long. With a heavy heart, i left here there, even as her screams ordered me not to abandon her.


    Once inside, smoke engulfed me. I inhaled the flames, letting them course through my body, restoring my breath. I felt better, and my wounds began to cure. I climbed the nearly ruined structure and reached the highest peak. There, i screamed with all my might :


    — ADRYAN ! JOHN !


    Hearing no response, i called again and again, refusing to stop. They have to be alive, there''s no ther way !My curly braid came undone and caught fire, just like my aura. After more than an hour, i collapsed onton my knees. Teras splattered onton the ground and i stifled sobs. I couldn''t sense their aura either. There were only two possible explanations : they were too far away, or...


    I shook my head and clenched my hands into fists. That''s impossible...they muste be somewhere ! I justhaven''t searched enough.As i tried to muster my courage, footseps approached behind me, making no effort to conceal his presence. The man removed his mask, which smiled despite the catastrophic stituation. My eyes widened.


    — You...?