The fog grew thicker. Soldiers, unable to see their surroundings, marched mindlessly, guided only by the sound of metal clashing ahead of them.
Aeryn was still unaware that more than half of his army was gone. How could he ever know? It's not like he ever cared about them. The only thing in Aeryn's mind was to reach the Garden of Truth. He knew it was here, but the path to reach it had never been discovered. After all, according to the scrolls, no one had ever reached that place.
Aeryn marched on, his steps driven by something beyond his understanding, almost as if something deep inside him was guiding the way. Maybe it was his soul. Maybe his will. Or maybe God was telling him to find the truth. Maybe to find Him.
This must be divine intervention, Aeryn thought, clearing his mind of all doubt.
3 Hours Before the Shattering.
Aeryn could feel it. He was getting close to the truth.
It was a strange sensation, like returning home after a long time, a deep sense of belonging. But alongside that warmth came something else, an overwhelming wave of despair and tragedy.
It was like coming back to a home where your loved ones had been slaughtered.
"Damn, it's getting hard to breathe," Aeryn muttered, trying to take a long breath, but failing.
That feeling... it's like—
Before he could finish the thought, a scream tore through the air.
"AAaaAAaaa!"
Aeryn turned his head. The scream came from behind.
The army was in disarray. The fog made it difficult to see the cause, but with every passing second, the screams of the soldiers grew closer.
Aeryn closed his eyes, concentrating mana throughout his body. It didn't matter if he couldn't see. All his senses were sharpened beyond human limits.
He could feel every vibration in the air, the flow of the wind, the shifting of sound.
BOOM.
A soldier's body flew toward him.
In one quick motion, he unsheathed his sword in an upward arc, releasing a massive wind blade that cut the poor man's body clean in half.
Even with enhancement, it's hard to sense anything through this damn fog. This has never happened to me before. Maybe the fog is cursed.
THUD.
Something slammed into Aeryn's side, hard enough to send one of the strongest warriors in the world flying across the battlefield. Even with all his enhancement, he hadn't sensed the enemy at all.
Aeryn hit the ground, rolling uncontrollably. The battlefield fell silent. The only thing he could hear was his own heavy breathing, gasping for air, but the fog choked him.
Regaining his balance, he tried to move his left hand, but it was completely shattered. Pain flooded his entire body.
Then the silence shattered.
A heavy, slow step.
Metal grinding against itself.
The fog parted just enough to reveal a figure. Tall. Ominous. Draped in a tattered cloak that bled into the mist itself.
Its armor was jagged and cruel, forged in an age of endless war. Rust and dried blood clung to its plated gauntlets, but no flesh remained beneath the metal. Whatever had once been human was long gone.
Its face was hidden beneath a twisted helm, the visor cracked just enough to reveal the abyss peering back.
No eyes. No soul.
Just an endless void of flickering silver light, like the last dying embers of a fallen star.
Then came its sword. Longer than any mortal blade, its surface blackened as if dipped in night itself. It didn't gleam. It didn't shine. It devoured the light around it.
The runes carved into its steel pulsed faintly, whispering.
Sweat rolled down Aeryn's face. Every instinct screamed at him to run.
But he forced himself to calm down, scanning for any weakness. There was none.
That thing standing before him was perfect.
So perfect, it wasn't even looking at him.
He forced his breathing steady. His golden eyes flickered, searching.
But deep down, in the darkest corner of his mind, a terrible thought whispered.
Can I even win this?
The thing hadn't moved a single inch.
Aeryn fixed his posture, clearing his mind from the terrible death cries haunting the battlefield.
Whump.
Something heavy hit Aeryn in the back. He had kept his guard down, too focused on searching for weakness.
The blow pushed him back a few feet before he regained balance.
He turned.
Standing there. Grotesque. Abominable.
Its twisted form loomed in the darkness. Skin stretched thin over jagged bone. Eyes burning with hunger. Filthy hair clung to its corpse-like flesh. Bulging veins. Yellowed teeth, stretched far too wide for something that once resembled a man.
Blood, fresh and glistening, dripped from its lips.
It pounced.
Aeryn sidestepped instinctively.
With elongated arms, it tried to grab him, but he rolled clear.
Back on his feet, Aeryn used the opening, driving his sword through its chest.
As he tried to pull the blade free, warm drool dripped down his arm.
Aeryn looked up.
It was smiling.
Its teeth barely held behind cracked lips, like a blade half-drawn from its sheath.
A hunter's smile.
Truly horrifying.
But Aeryn kept himself together.
In a flash, he drew his dagger and pierced its eye clean.
THUD.
The creature kicked him, hard.
Aeryn flew back, crashing toward the dark knight.
The impact was so brutal it nearly stopped his heart.
Gasping for air, Aeryn's eyes flicked toward the knight. Still watching something. Almost like that thing couldn't take its eyes off whatever it was seeing.
No time to think.
Survive.
The creature screamed, charging at him.
No time to react.
No time to hesitate.
Aeryn charged too, moving just enough so its claws wouldn't hit his vital organs.
With a clean sweep, he cut its head clean off.
His breath uneven.
Their was no time to waste he charged at the dark knight who was distracted.
With all his might Aeryn dropping his full weight into the blade in a vertical slash.
CLANG
Parried with such a force that it shattered sword and his wrist completely.
In a swift motion the knight caught Aeryn's neck.
Its grip tightening as Aeryn struggled to free himself.
He began to lose consciousness.
The knight raised Aeryn's body,
THWAM
Slammed him to the ground.
"AAaaAAaaa!" Aeryn screamed. Almost all his bones broken.
Knight raised its leg and kicked Aeryn lower right abdomen.
His screams cut off as soon as the blood rushed out of his mouth.
Kh—Khkk—!
he was choking, drowning in his own blood.
His lower right abdomen was gone.
His guts spilled across the dirt.
Almost as if its for a display.
A soldier running blindly towards the knight.
Caught its attention.
Opportunity.
Run.
Survive.
He scooped his own entrails into his arms.
And ran.
KA-THOOOOOOM.
Soldiers saw him.
They ran too.
What else could they do?
Deeper into the fog.
Deeper into the nightmare.
More creatures. More horrors.
No choice.
Just run.
But the fog whispered.
Voices.
Mocking.
Shameful.
Thief.
Liar.
Murderer.
Thousands of voices.
All true.
All false.
Aeryn gritted his teeth.
"This is just a test," he told himself. "A test from God. None of this is real."
The voices laughed.
Hahahaha.
"That's what you tell yourself."
"Deep down, you know you're just lying to yourself."
"You knew the truth from the beginning. But you grew up lying — to yourself... and everyone around you."
"SHUT UP!" he screamed.
"SHUT UP!"
He reached the heart of the fog.
The thickest point.
And ran through.
He fell.
Silence.
No fog.
Behind him — soldiers slammed against an invisible wall.
They couldn't pass.
Their faces — hope turning to horror.
The creatures caught them.
Slaughtered them.
Hopeless.
Powerless.
He was powerless.
"Aeryn."
A voice called him.
He turned.
There it was.
An ancient statue...Toy ?
Massive.
Radiating an aura that twisted space itself.
Calling him closer.
He crawled.
Closer.
Closer.
He reached out.
SHIIIING.
Light exploded.
"AAaAAAaAAA!"
Something he should never have touched.
He had found it.
The Truth.
God.
ļ̴̡̹͈̫͍̜͍̱̲ͮ̄͐̈́ͩͦ̇́̃ͫ́ͮ̌̊ͯ̐̽ͫ̕͜͢͡͠į̶̸̗͎̟͎̮̟̲ͣ̓̓ͣ́ͪͤͧ͛ͮ̓̎ͬ̃͘̕͜͠͡ë̸͕̩͍͎͎̪͍̭̲̌̏̍̕͘͡ l̷̨̧͉̦̻̥͍͉̹̣͚̫̤̯͈͐́̈̅̈̍́̋ͣ̀ͫͧͦ͌͘͟͢͞͠ì͉ͫ̋͋̓͐ͪ͑ͯ̀̆́͊͗͡e̷̠̲_̦̐͟ ŷ̙̜͕̩͈̞̠̫͎̟͓̟ͯ̅ͯͦ͗͊̏ͭͥ͡͡ļ̴̡̹͈̫͍̜͍̱̲ͮ̄͐̈́ͩͦ̇́̃ͫ́ͮ̌̊ͯ̐̽ͫ̕͜͢͡͠į̶̸̗͎̟͎̮̟̲ͣ̓̓ͣ́ͪͤͧ͛ͮ̓̎ͬ̃͘̕͜͠͡ë̸͕̩͍͎͎̪͍̭̲̌̏̍̕͘͡ l̷̨̧͉̦̻̥͍͉̹̣͚̫̤̯͈͐́̈̅̈̍́̋ͣ̀ͫͧͦ͌͘͟͢͞͠ì͉ͫ̋͋̓͐ͪ͑ͯ̀̆́͊͗͡e̷̠̲_̦̐͟ ŷ̙̜͕̩͈̞̠̫͎̟͓̟ͯ̅ͯͦ͗͊̏ͭͥ͡͡
"AAaaaAAA—"
Pain.
Real pain.
"They say some truths are better forgotten," the voice said.
It paused — just long enough for him to taste his own misery.
"HhAHAHAhha—"
The voice laughed.
No.
There was never a voice.
The voice... was mine.
I was laughing at myself.
As more and more arcane truths tore through my mind clawing, gnashing, unraveling every lie I ever told myself.
a̩̭͘d̴͎͔͇̼̼͖̞̖̫̳̟̭̬̞̦̹̼̈̔̆͌̈̾̐̀̅͛̅̊̋ç̨̞̖̗̝̣̗̥̈͒ͮ̈ͭ͊ͯ̐͜ͅn̶̵̨̨̬̝̯̟͚̼̗̯̱͈͔̟ͬͪͬ̋ͧ́̏̽͊͑ͭ̃̋ͣ͐͋ͮ̂͢͢͜͞ͅĵ̶̢̮̲̩̖̂̐̚s̶̷̢̢̙̮̙̩͖̯͖̥̯̬̈ͫ̂ͣͦ̒͆͌ͪ͜_̧̞ͬ̐ń̵̸̴̸̢͈̩͖̝̠̹͎͖͎̺̩́ͭͬͬͩͦ̅̔̆ͪ̐̉̈͜͜͞c̲̠͂ͥ̕j̡̗͉̃ͤs̶̩̥͍̬̘̜̦͋̾́ͮ̽̎̒͆̎ͩ͑ͥ̋͢͠
"Make it stop," I begged.
"Plea—s..."
But there was no one left to hear.
No God.
No mercy.
Only me.
"Be ashamed," the voice hissed.
"Be ashamed."
Again.
Again.
He had enough.
He couldn't live like this.
He tried.
But trying was never enough.
So with shaking hands Aeryn clawed at his own eyes.
Pulled them out.
Ripped hair. Skin. Flesh.
Fingers digging deeper peeling away the face, the man he used to be.
"MAk-a-a- it EnaAAaas!"
Blood pooled beneath him.
Vision gone.
Face gone.
Name gone.
As slow, pitiful death crept in...
That's when it began.
The Beginning of the End.
The broken Gate of Truth, shattered by his arrogance, could no longer hold back the curse.
The curse of knowing.
And from beyond the veil — horrors that had slept for eons began to wake.
The fog shifted.
The world trembled.
This is how the world Shattered — never to be fixed again.
At least... that's how the last surviving soldier of general's army told the story.
Maybe it was true.
Maybe not.
But one thing was certain:
This world was broken.
Shattered beyond repair.
And to survive in a world like this?
You needed a will harder than iron.
And, above all else—
The strength to steal someone else's will to live.