Chapter 4

I tried everything. I tried to run - but this place had no end. I tried to fight - but my punches were nothing more than a mere touch to the creature. I tried to hide - but there was nowhere to hide in this shapeless world. I could only die and die again. 

However, there was something different this time. I felt it in my body, a faint pulse that had never been there before. The pulse appeared every time I died. Every time I rose again, my body felt stronger, a little faster, a little more accustomed to the pain. And on the umpteenth death, I saw something.

In the last moments before my consciousness faded, I caught a glimpse of light, something shining in the distance, like a reflection of light on water. I repeated my death again and again, just to make sure the glimpse was real. And on the umpteenth attempt, I managed to see it more clearly. It was another figure. 

Someone standing in the distance, shrouded in a thin mist that enveloped this place. I couldn't see their face, but I could feel their gaze. I tried to approach them, but the creature always killed me before I could get close. But now, I had a purpose. 

I didn't want to just die and rise again without meaning. I wanted to know who that figure was. And I wanted to know what was happening to me. 

I started fighting differently. I couldn't fight this creature directly, but I could learn to read its movements. I could dodge better, move faster. I started noticing its attack patterns, the way it raised its claws before swinging them, the way its jaws opened slightly wider before launching the next attack. 

I died less often. And for the first time, I managed to get past the creature. I ran. The figure in the distance became clearer. I could see them now, their long hair, their white robe fluttering in the emptiness. 

I reached out. "Who are you?”

The figure didn't answer. Instead, they raised their hand, pointing towards my chest. I looked down. There was something there. A wound - the same stab wound I had before I entered this world. 

I was startled. Instantly, the world began to shake. The creature that had been chasing me disappeared, dissolving into darkness. And suddenly, I could hear another sound.

This world wasn't real, but the pain was more than just a nightmare. 

I fell, my body hitting the ground that felt like sand, but thicker, heavier, like mud that swallowed me slowly. My breath was ragged, my chest felt like it had been struck by lightning. I could feel warm blood flowing from the wound on my arm, but there was no time to think about it. 

Above, the sky cracked like glass hit by something far bigger than my understanding. Purple-blue light pulsed through the cracks, flashing like electricity dancing in the air. In the distance, creatures walked slowly, their silhouettes tall, imposing.

Princeps. 

I recognized them from an event years ago, amidst the fire and dust, when the world I knew was destroyed in the Regnaria of Thunder Eruption. 

A blinding flash of light exploded in front of my eyes. I stumbled, looking up with bated breath. Before me stood a woman with purple-black hair. Her body was covered in a flowing robe, with lightning symbols swirling around her. Her eyes shone, not with human light, but something far more terrifying. 

"Do you remember now?" 

The voice echoed, sharp and cold like the air before a storm. I clutched my head, pain hitting like waves continuously crashing against my mind. Memories flashed, screams, my mother's hands pulling me with panic, my father's face covered in wounds as he stood before this creature. 

"What happened...?" I muttered, trying to regulate my breathing. 

"You've returned to the starting point." 

Starting point?

Before I could understand what she meant, a thunderous sound shook the ground. I turned around and saw a black aura - the energy of the Honkai, distorting the sky, making the air swirl like a spiral, transparent black energy emitting a dark aura as if purifying the world. 

I felt a chill run down to my bones as the energy touched my body. Purple light emanated from the distortion of radiation, making the air vibrate like heat waves. I tried to step back, but something gripped my foot. 

The ground beneath me began to rot, no, melt, like ice melting rapidly. From within it, black energy pierced through me, trying to pull me into the void that gaped below. 

I screamed, trying to break free, but their grip was too strong. "Not again!" I gritted my teeth, adrenaline surging wildly through my body. 

Suddenly, something exploded inside my chest, not pain, but power. Heat. Light. And in an instant, my arm was burned by a blue lightning flash. 

I didn't understand what was happening, but my body moved on its own. I raised my hand, and the lightning burst from my fingertips, destroying the hands that tried to drag me into darkness. 

My body was thrown backward, my breath ragged. I looked at my palm, which now pulsed with absorbed energy. This wasn't the first time I'd seen power like this. I hadn't seen it in years - on my hand. 

Transformation.

I was startled. My breathing was rapid. This... was something that had long been buried within me. I almost gave up. My body was too exhausted to get up again. Every breath felt like a dagger stabbing my lungs, and the energy absorption that had corrupted my hand to my feet. 

Ahead of me, the figure in black iron armor with golden eyes still stood, watching like a predator waiting for its prey to take its last breath. I knew I wouldn't be able to win. Not with this nearly shattered body. Then, something happened. 

The air around me suddenly churned, bringing with it a sharp whistling sound that pierced the darkness. I tilted my head with what little strength I had, and in an instant, a spear shot from a distance, spinning in the air with a silver flash before striking the ground right between me and my enemy. 

The ground shook. The shockwave hit my chest, making me jolt. I tried to focus, and that's when I saw her. Someone stood there - a figure who seemed almost unreal amidst this chaos. A woman who had saved my life before. 

Her silver-white armor shone under the light emanating from the cracked sky. Her long golden hair flowed, and her eyes were cold, sharp like the tip of the spear she had just thrown. She stood tall before me, her stance full of confidence, as if the presence of the terrifying creatures around us wasn't a threat to her at all. I recognized her uniform.

Valkyrie. 

And not just any Valkyrie - that armor, the symbol on her shoulder... she was a Rank A Valkyrie. 

My childhood memories of being saved by that woman came flooding back, and then she pulled back her spear with a single-handed motion, as if the two-meter-long weapon weighed nothing at all. With light steps, she advanced to face the figure in black armor who had almost killed me. 

"What are you doing here?" 

The black figure didn't answer. He just stared back with his shining golden eyes, as if weighing something. Then, suddenly, the air around him vibrated, and in an instant, he vanished - absorbed into the shadows like mist blown away by the wind. Silence enveloped the place. 

I was still lying on the ground, too weak to stand up. The Valkyrie woman was part of my past memories, and finally, the woman turned towards me, her expression still unreadable. Then, she walked closer and crouched beside me in the darkness. 

"Can you still stand?" 

That voice... somehow, felt familiar. I blinked, trying to understand the question. But all that came out of my mouth was a weak sigh. The woman sighed, then without warning, her hand reached out and grasped the collar of my shirt. In one swift motion, she pulled me to my feet. My legs almost gave way, but her grip was strong, supporting me easily. And that's when I saw it.

My eyes... 

A golden flash shone from within her irises, pulsing softly like embers that were almost extinguished - but still alive. I was startled, breathless, because that... wasn't my usual eyes. 

"This... is impossible." I whispered. 

The woman nodded slightly, as if she had expected it. "You have something within you. Something that can help you survive in this world." 

I bit my lip, still trying to digest everything. The flash of light in my eyes gradually grew brighter, like a flame that had been given a new supply of oxygen. And for the first time since I got trapped in this world, I didn't feel like a victim. I didn't know where this power came from. I wouldn't run anymore. With my breathing stabilizing, I raised my head and looked straight at the Valkyrie in front of me. 

"What do I have to do?" I asked. 

The woman smiled faintly - the first smile I had seen from her, still the same as the incident in the past. "Fight." 

In the distance, the rumbling sound was heard again. The monsters began to move again, targeting us. I clenched my fists, and this time, the black aura from the energy that emerged no longer felt foreign. I wouldn't back down.

.....BERSAMBUNG.....