As they came, I tightened my grip on the rusty sword.
My hands were shaking—but my grip never loosened. I planted my feet, dragged in a breath full of dust and blood, and let instinct take over.
---
Day 1
They attacked in waves.
Clawed limbs slashed through the air. I ducked, rolled, slashed back—steel meeting scale, bone, and corrupted flesh. The rusty blade chipped further with every kill.
Blood—black, red, green—painted the walls.
My body screamed in protest.
But I kept fighting.
One lunged from above. I jumped back—just enough—and drove the blade straight through its chest.
Another beast came behind. I turned too late. Claws raked down my back.
I screamed.
Pain blurred my vision—but not my will.
I kept swinging.
Slashing.
Surviving.
---
Day 2
No rest.
Not even time to breathe.
They kept coming—daylight never came, night never left.
I used broken walls for cover. Slid under rubble. Crushed small beasts under fallen stones.
At one point, I stole a jagged bone from a creature I killed and tied it to the hilt of my sword—extending the reach. It wasn't elegant. It was savage.
But it worked.
By nightfall—whatever "night" meant down here—my body was bleeding from at least a dozen wounds.
I found a corner and collapsed—but the howls in the distance reminded me I couldn't stay long.
Sleep was war.
---
Day 3
The sword was barely intact.
I started using my fists, elbows, knees. My teeth.
One beast—a hulking thing with tusks and flame leaking from its eyes—charged me head-on. I waited until the last second and slid under it, then stabbed straight into its belly.
It roared in agony as I climbed its back and ripped the sword out through its spine.
Its death echoed through the halls.
But it wasn't a victory.
It was just another second borrowed from death.
---
Day 4
My body was numb.
No more screams. Just breathing. Just fighting.
I killed until the sword broke in half.
Then I used the jagged shard.
I don't remember how many fell that day.
I just remember the silence that came after.
No more monsters.
Just my footsteps, limping down a corridor soaked in blood and ash.
---
I collapsed beside a wall and didn't move.
I didn't know where I was.
I didn't even know who I was.
No going back.
I was lost.
And starving.
---
Time passed. Hours. Days. Maybe weeks. My senses began to fade—sight, smell, sound. Even pain.
I just… moved.
Until—
Splash.
Water.
My eyes snapped open.
I was standing in front of a small underground lake—its surface shimmering with faint mana light.
I fell to my knees and drank.
It was the greatest thing I'd ever tasted.
But then—I heard it.
The water shifted.
Something rose from the surface.
Massive. Liquid. Shifting form with tendrils like snakes.
A water elemental—no, a guardian.
Its eyes burned like cold fire.
It charged.
I ran.
The creature twisted around pillars, splitting its body into streams that slashed toward me like whips.
I barely dodged—only to find another gate behind a waterfall.
I threw myself into it—
Only to be met by—
Goblins.
Four of them. Grinning. Armed.
I wasn't ready.
My body moved anyway.
The water beast came crashing in behind me.
The goblins turned, terrified.
The perfect distraction.
I grabbed one of their short swords from the ground and stabbed upward through a goblin's chin. Another lunged at me—I twisted and used its momentum to throw it toward the water beast.
Two down.
The third charged—I barely ducked, rolled, and bit its shoulder to disarm it. I stabbed again.
My arms felt like stone. My lungs barely worked.
But I killed them.
All of them.
The water beast tried to follow, but something blocked it—maybe a ward. Maybe fate.
I collapsed again.
Drank more water.
I didn't know how many days had passed.
Twenty-nine?
My bones felt cracked.
My skin was torn.
I was starving.
Dying.
But something in me wouldn't let me stop.
As I stepped onto the stone bridge—ancient and cracked—the light erupted from both sides. Pillars lining the path blazed to life with violet flames, illuminating the way forward like a ceremonial march.
At the far end stood a gate.
Black steel. Bound by red, glowing chains.
And behind it… something was waiting.
I was broken.
My skin torn, muscles burning, bones creaking with every breath.
But I had come this far.
I reached out.
The moment my fingers touched the cold surface of the gate—the chains snapped open. One by one.
CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.
The gate creaked. Groaned. And opened.
A blinding light.
Then silence.
I stepped forward.
The air was colder. Heavier.
A vast, dark chamber stretched before me—like a throne room carved into the void. Floating shards of broken stars lit the darkness.
And there he stood.
Chains wrapped around his body like cursed vines—glowing red with divine seals. His long white hair flowed down to his waist, his sharp, godlike face partly hidden by shadows. A crown of dying constellations hovered behind his head. His eyes…
Violet. Deep. Burning.
And then…
He opened his eyes fully.
A small smile formed on his face, slow and knowing.
He looked directly at me.
And said—
"So you've come… my greatest fragment of creation."
"Welcome… me."