《After the dark》 Chapter 01 : Begin The soul is what makes a man. No matter if he forgets who he is, who he was, or who he will be, his soul will always remember his very existence. That is why a man without a soul is better than a man with a corrupt soul. You were made to be forgotten, made to be erased. Love was given equally, yet you envied. Born to be despised, destined to be consumed. You sow wrath and reap despair. Forged by fear, tempered in anguish. Your insatiable hunger led to your ruin. Meant to serve, bound to aid. Yet your sloth poisons the earth. You are the inversion of all things¡ªa creature of lust and depravity. Small in stature but colossal in sin, your pride is a venomous plague. Crafted by God, but desiring to usurp Him. Your greed eclipses the worth of your soul. You are a contradiction¡ªan existence that should not be. You taint everything you touch. You ruin what lies beyond your reach. You burrow into those who know you and scar those who do not. This is a warning. Do not wake the monster that sleeps within you. Do not reclaim the memories buried in shadow. Do not search for the forbidden truths. When you stand before the devil, do not challenge him. Run. Do not look back. The abyss does not tire. It waits, silent and eternal. In the heart of a desolate land¡ªa wasteland of fractured statues, shattered dreams, and forgotten memories¡ªthere lies an empty throne. At the center of this ruin stands a single stone, etched with ominous words: "Here lies the strongest¡ªthe man who conquered the world." "The sky''s king bowed to him." "The ocean''s depths feared him." "All kings and emperors obeyed him." "Here he fought to the death with the one meant to be forgotten." "He died like a warrior, unbowed." "Yet mankind will forget him because the entity is meant to be erased, and everything about him is destined for oblivion." "And somewhere here lies the one who must be forgotten¡ªa blasphemy to existence." "If you find this entity, then..." DIE. ~~~~~~ The world felt blurry. The air was stifling, carrying the sharp, metallic tang of blood. I tried to open my eyes, but they were unbearably heavy. Warm, thick liquid trickled over my hand. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± When I finally managed to open them, a wave of dizziness hit me, making my vision swim. It took a moment to regain focus. Pain pulsed in my head. I couldn¡¯t remember anything about the moments before I fell asleep. As I struggled to stand, my gaze dropped to my feet. ¡°Huh?¡± A body lay sprawled in a pool of blood, with several others scattered across the ground. ¡°What¡­ happened here? Where am I?¡± I turned my head, frantic, but nothing looked familiar. I was in a dense forest, the terrain marked by chaos and destruction, bearing signs of a recent fight. ¡°How did I end up here¡­?¡± My memory was blank. I had no idea who these people were, where I was, or what had transpired. Not even my own identity came to mind.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Who¡­ am¡­ I?¡± Fear clawed its way into my chest. My breath quickened, my stomach churned, and cold sweat dripped down my forehead. Who am I? Who are these people? Why am I here? What happened? Questions overwhelmed me, but no answers came. The only certainty was that I had woken up in this horrifying scene. I tried to steady my racing thoughts, but it was nearly impossible. Everything around me felt alien. The place. The people. Even my own body. ¡°Calm down¡­ I just¡­ need to calm down,¡± I whispered to myself, clutching my stomach as nausea overtook me. What made it worse was the realization that the blood and bodies were still warm. Whatever had happened, it had been moments before I woke up. ¡°There has to be a clue here¡ªsomething to help me understand.¡± Desperation took over as I searched the bodies for any hint of what had occurred or who I was. Some were missing limbs. Others were burned or had their throats cut. It was brutal, but one detail stood out: the strange symbols on the backs of their hands. A pyramid, with a single symbol inside it. Immediately I felt sudden rush of blood to my head, my heartbeat grew faster, and my body began to tremble. My vision went blurry. Violent torrent of emotions were overwhelming my minds. I didn¡¯t understand anything that was happening. But no matter how much how I was lost I could discern one emotions overwhelming all of the others. ¡°Rage¡± I was in rage. I knew that they were my enemies. Without remembering anything I knew that I hated them. It consumed every logical thinking I had. Hatred combine with an illogical anger. Veins began to show up on my arm and forehead. It didn¡¯t take long for me to understand who was responsible for all of this. Me. I was the biggest suspect of this massacre. Did I really do it? There was no way no to prove it but my body¡¯s reaction is enough to know the answer. I looked at my own hand and¡­. ¡°Hu???¡± My mind went blank the moment I saw the state of my left hand. Pain slowly began to invade my mind. I could see my flesh and some part of the bones of my hands. The sensation began do became more and more vivid after each second that pass. It didn¡¯t take me long before I completely lost it. ¡°Arghhhhh¡­..¡± My entire body felt like exploding. I was so lost in everything that I didn¡¯t felt any pain. But now I was aware of it. I felt like broken glass were traveling trough my entire body. The pain was unbearable, I couldn¡¯t even breath properly. My feet were to weak to support my own body anymore. ¡®Thud¡¯ Not even after a second that I fell on my knees. I tried to use my hand to support my body but¡­ I couldn¡¯t move at all. My muscle started having a seizure. I tried to take a breath but found unable to do so. I could only swallow my saliva. But it felt like lava was traveling inside my throat. Forcing me to slowly lost consciousness with each second passing. ¡®Thud¡¯ Not even a few second later my consciousnesses began to fade away. The world went blank, as I felt my mind drift elsewhere. In a world of nothingness. ~~~~ How heavy is the crown of the one who sit as a ruler, the heart of the one who love this world, the weapon of the one who fight to protect. Sadness is overwhelming our souls. We pity those who march forward, those family that await fro their love one, those soul that wish for eternal reward. Fear is imprinted in their soul. We smell their trembling feet, their shaking hand, their plead to stop. Listen to our word. Walk alongside our self. Let us __ guide you. Chapter 02 : Change Somewhere near the capital of the Keir Empire. In the city of Eism, a building was standing tall above all the others infrastructure of the city. And at the top of that building there was a single room. The room was well maintained and clean to perfection and although it was there were many space available there weren¡¯t that many things inside it apart from a bookshelf a desk made from dark wood and a two couch made from fine leather; anyone could tell at one glance that the furniture were simple yet luxurious. And at the end of the desk there was someone looking down at some paper and scribbling every few minutes. The room was completely silent for over an hour apart from the sound of occasional paper and pen. ¡°scribble__scratch¡¯¡¯ ¡°Sigh¡± Finally breaking the silence was a low sigh as the person down the pen. Finally looking up from the desk we could see her features. With long black hair cascading all the way to her back with some strand falling on her pale and smooth face. Her tired eyes couldn¡¯t hide the beauty of behind her amber eyes, couple with her sharp features and strawberry lips. Everything about her looked otherworldly. But with all of those striking features the most imposing one was her expression, her face was completely blank, devoid of anything. Almost as if she didn¡¯t feel any single emotions but pure indifference. She then swiftly take another paper before proceeding to read the content and signing the document. Most of the paperwork she had to do were mere formalities that needed her approval but given her position she couldn¡¯t just sign everything without inspecting everything first. She continued with her work until the sun began to set in the horizon. For time to time she would take a small break before returning for her work but with the new year her workload had drastically increase. So she need to double up her work time in order to finish everything. ¡® Knock Knock ¡® As her hand reached to take another document a knocking stopped her action. ¡°sigh¡± ¡°Enter¡± She let a low sigh escape her lips before proceeding to let the person enter her soft voice devoid of any trace of annoyance or irritation. ¡°If you would excuse me¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.The door slowly opened as a tall middle aged man carefully make his way in. He had long blond hair neatly brushed to the side, his calm demeanor a stark contrast to the aura he gave. His emerald eyes fell on the woman as he scan the room with a quick glance. ¡°Aldric¡± ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Aldric looked at the heavy stack of the paper on the woman¡¯s table before looking at her. ¡°Look like your work is increasing quite a bit¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry I will make it short I know how busy you are¡± He then hand a sealed envelope to the woman before turning away and leaving the room. ¡°This is an official call from the royal family, do not take it lightly¡± Before the door could completely close he added as the aura inside the room started to feel heavy. ¡°If you say so¡± The woman on the other hand seem unfazed by that as she simply respond with the same indifference she displayed from the very beginning. Tossing the paper she was holding to the side she opened the sealed envelope given to her. A golden eagle was painted at the beginning of the letter she just receive, emblem of the royal family of Keir. ¡® Dear Katherine¡­.¡¯ Most of the content of the letter were mere formalities. She could recite all of them with her eyes closed given the number of letter she got from all those noble. She didn¡¯t had the time to read all those sweet talk and proceed to go down to the important part. ¡®Your request for an investigation on the whereabouts of the cult has been approved by his highness the emperor. The Special Unity will not interfere with your investigation and you will have full freedom to search for anything about them. We also managed to convince the inquisitor of the churches to stay away for the time.¡¯ ¡®Beware that those from the churches does not have the same patience as his highness, you have at most one to two month before they interfere too.¡¯ ¡®Good look luck¡¯ ¡®The Crown Prince; Alexander Von Keir¡¯ After having read the letter Katherine didn¡¯t waste a single a second, she burned the letter along with the envelope in her hand. Click _ Then she grab the handle of her drawers, channeling her mana to her hand and a subtle clicking sound signaled that it has been unlocked. Carefully she took a notebook inside before closing the drawer. Opening the notebooks she began to search the last written page. ¡°Ah¡± Then for the first time her eyes began to change, the room¡¯s temperature began to drop and the air began to compress on it¡¯s own. ¡°Finally; you can just wait¡± ¡°I¡¯m coming¡± Her voice cold enough to freeze the world around her. As she make her way out of the room, we could see a glimpse of the content of the paper. The first was a pyramid with a strange symbols inside it. The second was a location, a forest in the far west of the empire. Abnormalities have been found there for the past few months. From strange trace of mana to report of strange activities. Considering who were those person she knew that it was not their doing. After they knew well how to hide from the eyes of the world. Meaning that. ¡°Someone or something made them act like this¡± ¡°No matter what it is I¡¯m getting rid of them¡± As she close the door, the name displayed on the front door could be seen shining as the last light of the sun cast it¡¯s warm on the city. ¡® Katherine Rosenberg¡¯ One of the scariest entity of the empire was making her move. Chapter 03: Forest ( 1 ) Rustle __ Rustle The sound of rustling leaves were the only thing one could hear in a certain forest. The place was dead silent, not even birds chirping nor wolf howling at night. Somewhere inside a small cave the silhouette of a man could be seen with his shadow flickering with a small fire in the middle. ¡° A groan escaped my lips as I peel off the tissue around my injured left h I was hungry, cold, and my whole body felt like shattered glass. The fact that I didn¡¯t know anything wasn¡¯t helping at all. So I decided to just walk, as far as possible from the location. I didn¡¯t know if someone was going to chase me, and the body could attract wild monster. Considering the state I was in, I didn¡¯t take the risk so I just grit my teeth and began to march the farthest possible from there hoping that whoever those people no one will try to hunt me down. ¡°Tsk¡­¡­¡± ¡°Again, there is absolutely no food in this damn forest¡± I started to come near a limit there. ¡°At least there is water source¡± ¡°But shouldn¡¯t water source attract animals?¡± ¡°Ugh...I don¡¯t understand¡± Ruffling my hair with an annoyed grunt, I decided to push those pointless thoughts out of my mind. ¡°Haha __ hahaha¡± Scratch __ Scratch My neck began to itch for an unknown reason, the more I laughed the more the itching sensation intensify. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.¡°haaaa¡­ Not even funny¡± ¡° The next morning I began to resume my journey. ¡°I hope I find food before I die from hunger alone here¡± Looking ahead, I could see the green dense forest stretching Two massive mountain could be seen far away in the horizon towering everything at sight. My guts was telling me that I wouldn¡¯t find any help if I don¡¯t cross those mountain. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t afford to just sit around here.¡± ¡® Who knows what¡¯s await me in this place¡¯ ¡°Dead¡± surrounding. Gazing at the forest heavy mist blocked everything ahead of me, This time everything was dead silent, almost as if I lost my hearing. Which was impossible since I could hear my own heartbeat speeding at an abnormal rate. Every hair on my body began to stand. My vision began blur, ¡® The most primal and general emotions every being feel. And today I get to experience the most scary part of fear. ¡®Fear of the Unknown¡¯ Yes, the unknown. Because ¡°What in the world¡­ is this?¡± I could see a long slick black silhouette moving extremely slowly Everything about that thing was monstrous, he was so tall that if one look at one glance he would look like a tree. Crack crack crack As if sensing my gaze Even without eyes or mouth, I could fell him eyeing at me with the most vicious Then before I could even breath his legs began to bend backwards ¡­..and then he began to run towards me. behind me or how near me he was. My mind was drifting, thinking of any solutions to escape this monster. But unfortunately this would be the last of my worries. I didn¡¯t know how I was this strong before because I have gone five days without any meals. But today I felt that no matter one was strong he still need to eat. ¡°Huf Huf Huf go go go¡± My lungs were on fire, my muscle were hurting me to a point where dying was better. But I still continued to run. ¡°HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRCCCCK¡± crack crack crack A deafening sound probably coming from the monster began to pierce my I almost stopped for a second but that was enough for the monster to catch up to me. His long hand began to dangerously approach my face. ¡°Shit¡± BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.