Prologue

People say that when one dies, their soul either goes to heaven or hell. But the truth is—they're going nowhere.

When someone dies, their soul is sent to an empty void, falling into eternal slumber. Although every soul ends up in the same place, a few exceptional ones remain conscious. They are tormented by the emptiness, where time doesn't exist. 

A fate worse than death—being trapped in a place where the only source of light comes from the souls that sleep in eternal slumber.

Every once in a while, a space turbulence occurs, opening a portal and dropping countless souls into this accursed place.

Among the souls sent here, the conscious ones are extremely rare—like one in a million.

Even when they awaken, souls rarely interact with one another. Everyone will try to explore the void rather than discuss life.

Now, a new situation has arrived. Among the souls that were in deep slumber, one of them is showing signs of awakening. 

But that is not normal at all—because all conscious souls know they were sent here already with their memories intact, while the others were in deep slumber. They had never seen a case where the soul that was already in deep slumber, regained their consciousness

Three awakened souls have gathered around this soon-to-awaken soul. None of them remember how long it's been since they were sent to this cursed place. Now, they are forced to converse with one another.

Honestly, it's a bit awkward, as they all stand still, staring at each other for a while.

A little girl looks around for a moment before deciding to start the conversation, breaking the silence.

"My name is Nanami Yasuri. Nice to meet you all." says a slender girl with long, dark green hair decorated with pink markings of cherry blossoms and purple eyes. She introduces herself with a smile, looking at the giant and the white-haired elf.

"My name is Heracles," the giant replies with a gentle smile. This little girl reminds him a lot of Illya. Standing more than two and a half meters tall with an immensely muscular body, Heracles appears beyond human—more like a statue of a god. The life force flowing from his body feels divine. Every fibre of his muscles and every drop of blood in his veins overflows with life energy so pure it could be called divine.

"You all can call me Licht. The pleasure is all mine," the elf says politely after seeing everyone else introduce themselves.

He's a tall, slender-framed elf with pale skin, somewhat effeminate facial features, and golden eyes. His white hair is pulled back into a single braid.

"I think we can all feel it," Licht says, getting straight to the point. "That innate fear deep within our souls—just from looking at this new awakening soul."It's been a long time since he last spoke to anyone, so he wastes no time.

"So straightforward. I like you a lot," Heracles says with a grin.

Licht returns the smile as a sign of acknowledgement.

"This awakening soul might be the end of all of us," Nanami says calmly. "But personally, beyond fear, I also feel a strange sense of relief. True death might be better than staying in this cursed place where time doesn't exist."

Hearing this, the giant and the elf glance at each other, realizing they share the same sentiment.

"I think we both agree with you," Heracles says. "But this void is just too vast. There might be other awakened souls hiding, waiting to make a move on this poor soul."

What Heracles said makes a lot of sense. Although awakened souls are rare, the void is massive.

Not to mention, none of them were sent here at the same time. There could be other entities lurking in the dark.

"I think we should temporarily work together," Licht proposes. "At worst, it's just death. We have nothing to lose. In the meantime, we can share our life stories to pass the time."

Hearing this, Nanami lightly shakes her head. "Any existence that could kill this soul might be able to kill all of us as well. Either way, we can wait and see for now. Sharing our stories to pass the time doesn't sound too bad, though. So, who wants to start?"

The other two quickly agree—having someone to talk to is better than wandering this endless void alone.

As they begin sharing their life stories, the awakening soul is about to fully awaken.

At the final moment, all three turn their focus to the awakening figure.

The soul shines brightly, taking the shape of a human youth in his twenties, standing at 1.85 meters—slightly taller than the elf.

Just as the three onlookers start to move closer, a massive dragon head suddenly appears behind the awakening soul.

The ferocious dragon, with four cross-shaped pupils and clad in silver armour, bites down instantly—swallowing the poor soul in a flash.

The three onlookers are stunned beyond words. Who would have thought a dragon existed here?

Not only that—it seemed to possess an overwhelming stealth ability. None of them sensed its presence.

Licking its lips, the dragon eyes them like they're dessert.

But then, the situation changes.

The dragon's body begins to shine, illuminating the dark void with blinding light.

In a split second, the four-eyed dragon vanishes. In its place, once again stands the same young soul it had just swallowed.

The onlookers are speechless. Somehow, the soul that was supposed to be devoured ended up devouring the dragon instead.

The soul lets out a small burp before turning toward them and saying:

"My name is Enso, and I am here to eat."