Cael jolted awake—his body drenched in sweat, heart pounding like a war drum.
He gasped, the name slipping from his lips.
"Sofia…?"
His hand flew to his throat.
He remembered the orc's blade—cold, final—slicing clean through his neck.
"What… happened? How am I still alive?"
He sat up, trembling.
The sky above him was burned orange, bleeding into shadows. The land around him was shattered—jagged cracks ran through the ground like scars from a divine war. Everything reeked of catastrophe.
He stood slowly, scanning the empty expanse.
"Is anyone… here?" he called out, but only the wind answered.
No response.
No Meria.
No parents.
No one.
Alone, he wandered through the desolate landscape. The silence pressed against his ears—too thick, too loud.
Then he saw it.
In the distance: a massive silhouette, hunched over something… devouring it.
Cael crept closer, curiosity outweighing fear—until the full shape came into view.
A monstrous beast, larger than the blue one Meria once fought. Its body was covered in coarse brown fur, its red-and-white eyes glowing with unnatural hunger. It stood like a man—but no human ever held a mangled corpse in one hand and ate it with a grin.
Cael ducked behind a crumbling rock, chest tight, breath shallow.
But it was too late.
The beast froze mid-bite.
"Come out," it growled.
"Hiding is pointless in front of me."
Cael held his breath.
In a blink, the rock behind him shattered—obliterated with a single flick of the beast's finger.
The beast crouched before him, its massive, furred form crackling with unseen power. Its breath steamed in the cold air, thick and sulfurous, as if it had inhaled fire itself. Those red-and-white eyes gleamed like burning coals, locked onto Cael's.
A slow grin formed on its jagged maw.
The monster stood there, towering over him, its aura suffocating.
Cael couldn't move. His body refused.
Cael's throat tightened. He wanted to shrink into the cracked ground beneath him—but fear had frozen his limbs. The air around the beast was heavy, distorted, as if reality itself bent around its presence.
The beast squinted down at him.
"A human? Still alive in this world?"
Its voice was rough, ancient. "That shouldn't be possible."
It crouched, staring into Cael's eyes.
"Tell me… how are you still breathing?"
Cael swallowed hard. He knew silence meant death.He forced a breath, each word sticking to his dry throat.
"I… I never received a system screen," Cael choked out, each word scraping past the lump in his throat. "When the Prologue ended. The portal rejected me like I was nothing. I couldn't leave."
His voice trembled.
He met the beast's gaze, forcing the words out.
"I wasn't chosen. I wasn't even accounted for. It's like the system forgot I was ever alive."
The beast's expression didn't change.
"Interesting."
Cael took a shaky breath. "Can you tell me… what are the Trials of Lineage? What happened to the sky? What are you? And who… who is the Unknown Author?"
For a moment, the beast said nothing. Then it rose to its full height—towering, monstrous, a silhouette against the fractured, orange-red sky. Behind it, black clouds swirled like a dying hurricane, and a thin red crack split the heavens from horizon to horizon—bleeding faint light into the ruins of the world.
The beast's grin widened. "You've forgotten your place."
It stood. "You are nothing. A remnant. A leftover. You don't deserve answers."
It leaned down, breath hot and foul like rotting meat and scorched metal.
"You are nothing. A remnant. A lost breath in a world that already moved on."
It straightened.
"You don't deserve answers. Not yet."
Cael tensed.
"But," the beast added, its tone shifting, "I'll give you a choice."
The sky above rumbled—deep and hollow.
It leaned down, voice low and heavy.
"Continue the Trials… or die here, forgotten."
Cael's mind raced.
If I continue… I might still find Meria. Maybe even my parents.
But his eyes narrowed.
"You're not offering this out of kindness. What's the price?"
The beast chuckled. It was a guttural sound, thick with ancient malice.
"Clever. You're learning, Nothing in existence is free."
Suddenly, with a blur of movement, its massive hand snapped around Cael's neck and lifted him effortlessly from the ground.
"Then let me show you the cost."
A clawed finger, burning with demonic energy, touched the side of Cael's throat.
The pain was instant. Explosive. A dark sigil ignited—searing lines of cursed energy spreading like spiderwebs across his skin, glowing crimson and black.
Cael screamed.
His veins felt like they were tearing apart.
"W-What are you doing?!" he gasped, thrashing.
The beast's voice dropped into a cruel whisper.
"This is a curse mark. Every time a beast dies within your reach… you will suffer its pain. Their death… will bleed through you. You will scream. You will feel their last agony. But you will not die."
Cael's eyes widened, his voice hoarse. "That's—insane!"
The beast dropped him like a toy. He hit the ground hard, clutching his neck.
"Now go."
It turned its back.
"Don't die too quickly, brat. I want my entertainment to last."
Cael coughed violently. "Wait! How do I remove this curse?!"
The beast paused mid-step. Its shoulders rose and fell with something that resembled amusement—or maybe hunger.
It turned its head slightly, just enough for Cael to see one gleaming eye.
"There is only one way."
Its voice was a low growl, cold enough to freeze blood.
"Kill me."
Cael's heart stopped.
The beast took another step forward.
"I'll be waiting for you… at the higher trials."
Its grin deepened.
"Don't ruin my expectations."
A swirling white portal erupted behind Cael.
Before he could react, the beast grabbed him by the collar and threw him into it like discarded garbage.
The portal snapped shut.
Silence fell.
The beast stood alone again in the scorched wasteland.
Then—something ancient lifted from its flesh.
Around its own neck, a centuries-old curse mark began to burn away, disintegrating into glowing ash.
It looked down at its claws. Flexed its hands. Smiled.
"Finally…" it breathed. "Free. After millennia…"
The beast looked toward the stars.eyes blazing.
"This time… I'll rip you apart with my own hands. Just you wait."
***
[Trial I: Fallen Empire]
***
Elsewhere, a teenage boy snarled at the broken landscape.
"Tch. Dammit all."
"You bastards kicked me out of the house like I was trash… I'll make you regret it."
"I'll become stronger. Stronger than all of you. You'll see."
His name was Draziel. And he was about to begin his first trial.
Not far away, he spotted something odd—
A human, lying still on the grass.
Grey hair. Average height.
Unmoving.
Draziel approached cautiously, frowning.
"Are you okay? Are you… still breathing?"
The wind stirred. The Trial was just beginning.