Emberlight

[A soul forsaken by the Gods and a body on the verge of death - The Darklord of the Endless Abyss has noticed your existence and is offering you a contract. Will you accept?]

As he lay on unfamiliar land, his body covered in wounds and blood, Levi heard the voice of providence that he had craved for years.

In a magnificent and mutated future, the advancement of technology and space exploration has opened new paths unknown to humanity. Being the curious creatures they are, and with hopes of saving the dying Earth suffering from resource depletion, humans began to explore these unknown lands.

It was there that they discovered the treasures of the otherworld - artifacts and magical items that defied all scientific knowledge. But along with these treasures, humans also encountered dangerous and vicious monsters capable of tearing them apart with a flick of their fingers.

However, humans were persistent. The treasures of the otherworld were too enticing to ignore. They struggled against the odds and found a way to fight these monsters by making contracts with the gods.

The gods of the unknown lands bestowed extraordinary powers upon humans in exchange for the promise of extinguishing all the monsters. But not everyone was so fortunate, like Levi, who failed to pique the interest of any gods, and became one of the Forsaken.

The Gods had forsaken him, so Levi decided to forsake the world - he made a contract with the Demon King himself!

***

Forsaken By The Gods, I Made A Contract With the Demon King

The first arrow had only been the beginning. More projectiles filled the air, each one humming with deadly purpose, their trajectories forming a lethal web around our group. Jin's barriers flared brilliantly as they intercepted the attacks, but even I could see the strain etched across his features. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he maintained the shields, his hands trembling slightly with each impact.

"These arrows... they're enhanced with essence," Jin called out, his voice tight with effort. "Each hit is degrading the barriers faster than I can reinforce them!"

Clearly, whoever was targeting was stronger!

And those didn't seem like they were ordinary arrows - each impact seemed to eat away at Jin's essence-reinforced shields like acid consuming metal, leaving patches of sickly purple corruption that spread like cancer through the protective field.

Ambush (1)