the certainty of truth

This must be it."

Drank hadn't lied to him.

as Alex stood at the edge of the forest, an unsettling silence filled the air.

It wasn't the dense undergrowth or twisted branches he saw on the right side forest. No. This place was vast. The trees stood tall and isolated, their gnarled trunks stretching toward the sky. Some were barren, their blackened bark resembling withered bone, while others bore deep crimson leaves that barely stirred, even in the breeze.

The air was heavy and suffocating—not with mist, but with something else, something bizarre. It clung to his skin, coated his lungs, leaving a faint metallic taste on his tongue, like blood.

Alex took a step forward, and in that instant, the forest seemed to close in around him.

He moved swiftly, his body a blur as he leaped effortlessly from one tree to another, the silent air beneath his feet parting with dampness. Perched atop the highest branch, his eyes scanned the horizon.

His senses sharpened.

The soft rustling of leaves—though no wind moved them.

The faint hum of energy—dark, alive, pulsating beneath the surface.

And beneath it all, a low, guttural howl that didn't belong to any beast or man.

He could hear the knights—distant, their voices strained, desperate. The clang of metal echoed through the trees—swords clashing against something unyielding.

Without hesitation, Alex dropped from his perch and moved deeper into the woods. Every step was precise, calculated.

He stopped at a distance where the knights couldn't see him, but he could see everything.

And what he saw had already claimed the lives of countless men. A sight that had shaken an entire kingdom.

The Blood Sphere.

A massive, crimson orb hovered just above the ground.

But this wasn't a mere construct. It moved—not like fire flickering or wind gusting, but in a slow, circular motion.

As if a sea of blood had been distilled into a single, ever-churning sphere. Its surface writhed, twisting in on itself, folds of crimson liquid spiraling and shifting endlessly.

Alex saw knights falling, one by one.

They were being devoured.

The sphere's tendrils, thin as silk yet unbreakable as chains, snaked out. The moment they touched their victims, the knights convulsed. Their armor cracked. Flesh and bone peeled away, merging with the swirling crimson mass.

In seconds, they were gone—absorbed, erased from existence, as though they had never existed.

No screams. No resistance.

Only death awaited them.

Alex's eyes narrowed. Horrendous.

It was feeding.

A living prison. A cursed hunger that would never end until its victims breathed their last.

When the final knight fell, Alex stepped forward without delay. The blood-soaked ground squelched underfoot. Each breath tasted of decay.

Then, he fell to his knees.

Why? No one knew.

His voice was steady, almost prayer-like, as if confessing to a god.

"Oh, God… I have sinned."

Silence followed.

From within the blood sphere, a voice rose. A whisper at first, then a laugh.

A woman's voice. Cold. Cruel. Yet Familiar.

"So, you've finally understood, haven't you?"

The sphere shifted. The blood twisted in on itself, swirling, parting—

And then she emerged.

Raven.

Her figure materialized from the writhing blood, her body still dripping, still part of the sphere itself. She was barefoot, her dress a flowing cascade of crimson liquid, her eyes gleaming with an unnatural glow.

And then the sphere resumed its former shape.

Alex's gaze didn't waver. He didn't flinch.

Instead, he smiled.

No—he grinned.

His silver-white hair shifted slightly as he tilted his head, his eyes gleaming with something darker than fear.

Excitement.

His voice was low, cutting through the air like a living blade.

"I know I have sinned, dear God… and I deserve to die. But enlighten me, how does a superior being know me? And why do you and the Lord want a petty being like me dead?"

Raven's smile deepened—cruel, knowing. She took a slow step forward, her bare foot pressing against the bloodstained earth.

"Do you remember that night, Agniverta?" she purred, her voice laced with malice. "The night you fought that creature?"

Alex's breath hitched, but he nodded, his grip tightening.

"You remember, then?" she continued, her smile widening. "Do you remember the creature you almost killed? And failed? His plan… or rather, the Tower's plan?"

She sighed, almost bored. "Still, I would have killed you that very day."

Her smile returned, malleable this time.

"Do you know why I didn't?"

Alex remained silent, his eyes narrowing.

"Because you gave our dear tentacled Kirokas a nightmare," Raven teased, amusement dripping from her words. "And I wanted to give you the same nightmare."

Her eyes gleamed with mockery.

"That's all. That's why I waited. But don't flatter yourself—you're just an ant to me. I'm here for something far greater."

Alex's teeth clenched, a seething rage coiling in his chest. His blood boiled, but outwardly, he remained calm, controlled.

And why shouldn't he feel this way?

The Tower. The same wretched Tower. The same force that killed his mother.

One of them stood before him now, mocking him.

Hearing her words, Alex no longer cared about the artifact. He no longer doubted the scenario unfolding before him.

He only wanted to kill her. Mercilessly.

He stood slowly.

His voice turned dark with a laugh, it was cold yet absoluteness flickering from it. 

"Haa… haa..

haa…. Haaa…

His hand ran down over his eyes and forehead.

Then He stopped laughing letting his hand down

 Today, Heaven is truly with me. The artifact… and one of you standing, right in front of me. I've been searching for the Tower's existence for all these years and found nothing—yet now, one of you stands before me?

You call yourselves gods, don't you? So the gods that have given affinity to lower beings enlightening them with power are also with the Tower? Haa… haa… What a terrifying group you have, don't you?

Leon was right. Leon was right. It really is terrifying for humanity. But hear my words."

He stopped, then let out a deep, purring sound that could make even a god sweat with fear.

"I'll slice you into tiny pieces and feed you to the pigs, dear god."

Raven felt a sudden shift in the air as With those words of Alex, his Qi surged.

The blood within him responded.

Hundreds of blades erupted from his back—not forged of steel, but of his own blood. Each one was sharp. Each one was deadly. Each one thirsted to tear her apart.

And at that moment—

The Blood Sphere trembled, shrinking.

Raven rose into the air with eerie precision, her laughter low, almost melodic.

"So, you've chosen death, Agniverta?"

Alex chuckled.

"Death? What are you even talking about?" His grin widened as his blood weapons swirled behind him like a crimson reaper of death.

"I will slay you. And I will slay your Lord.

Heed my words."

His voice worsened with a crushing loud sound.

"From this moment on, every last one of you will fall at my feet.

Trembling.

Terrified.

Desperate Begging for death's mercy."