A gift.

Liam stared, frozen in place, at the colossal eye that loomed above him. Black wings, countless in number, spiraled outward from its form, blotting out everything else. For a long moment, his mind refused to process what he was seeing.

His mouth felt dry. Words scraped his throat.

"What… what are you?"

The voice came again, cold and resonant, echoing inside his skull rather than through the air.

"I have watched you since the moment you stepped into the fragment. I witnessed how you cleared it."

Liam stiffened, his mind spinning. 'Fragment? Cleared it? What is it talking about?' He managed to choke out, "What fragment? Who… what are you talking about?"

The eye seemed to glow faintly, a silver gleam pulsing in its depths. When it spoke again, there was no hesitation, only certainty.

"The creatures you fought were not of this world. They were born from the residual energy of a fragment. Stronger than most of your so-called S-rank beings… but fragile. Their existence is unstable, their defense almost nonexistent. That is why they fell to you so easily."

Liam's breath caught. His mind reeled back to the fight, the strange monsters, their unnatural forms, their overwhelming aura despite collapsing in a single strike. He had thought they were some kind of hidden mechanic, like an Easter Egg in the game Elyndra. But this… this was something else.

"They were… created by that energy?" he asked, his voice low, uncertain.

"Yes," the being answered, its tone absolute. "A fragment is an error, a broken shard anchored to a specific spatial point. It is the remnant of something torn from another world… or the ruins of a civilization that has long ceased to exist."

Liam's head throbbed with the weight of the words. 'Another world? Ancient civilizations? Errors that create monsters?' His fists clenched slowly. His heart was pounding, not just from fear, a pull he could not explain.

"And you…are the anomaly who was able to open its nodes."

Liam swallowed hard, staring at the colossal eye framed by countless black wings. and for a moment, a cold thought flashed in his mind.

'Did I break some law of this world? Is contacting a fragment forbidden? Could this harm Elyndra?'

"You need not be concerned. You have violated no law, and I harbor no intent to bring you harm."

The weight pressing on his body vanished at once. The pain in his head and the exhaustion in his limbs faded completely, leaving only confusion. Liam slowly raised his eyes again, staring at the massive silver iris without speaking.

"Have you noticed anything after today's battle?" the voice asked.

Liam frowned. 'What is it talking about? Battle?' After a few seconds, realization struck him. The mercenaries… those fourteen men.

The voice didn't wait for him to reply.

"You killed more than ten people today. Normal mortals break after their first. Some vomit, others faint. Most can't sleep for days. But you… you feel nothing. No guilt. No fear. No weight on your soul. Why do you think that is?"

Liam froze. It was true. Not once did he feel uneasy about the blood he spilled. He remembered how easily his sword pierced their bodies, how their screams faded, and yet his heart stayed calm, his hands steady. It was unnatural.

His expression changed slightly as the truth dawned on him.

The voice continued, as if reading his thoughts.

"That reaction you are searching for… I erased it. The hesitation, the weakness, the chains that break men during their first kill, I removed them all."

Liam's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

The countless wings shifted slowly around the eye, and the silver pupil fixed him in a way that felt absolute.

"Because you entertained me."

Liam's body tensed as he heard the word.

"Entertained?" he repeated, his voice cold but edged with disbelief.

The massive eye shimmered faintly within the darkness, its silver pupil never leaving him.

"Yes," the being said calmly. "You entertained me. And I did something more than simply erasing your hesitation."

Liam's grip tightened. "What did you do?"

The countless black wings around the eye stirred slowly, like shadows in a storm.

"The killing intent you absorbed from those you cut down… it has taken root in you. That intent has turned into bloodlust. You carry it now, in your eyes."

A chill ran through Liam's spine. He scowled. "Bloodlust in my eyes? What does that even mean? Stop talking in half-answers and tell me what will happen to me."

The air grew heavy. For the first time, the eye fell silent, its gaze piercing through him like spears of light. Then it spoke, voice echoing like the toll of a distant bell.

"Very well… look closely, Ashborn."

Pain struck before Liam could react. His entire body convulsed violently, and a roar of agony tore from his throat.

"AAGHHH!"

He dropped to his knees, clutching his skull as if it would split apart. His vision blurred, red and black swallowing everything around him. His veins bulged, crawling across his skin like dark serpents. The boiling heat inside his body made his blood feel as if it were on fire.

"Our time ends here," the voice thundered through the void. "But we will meet again. Either by fate… or when you come crawling for my aid. Until then, take this gift. Use it well… make my wait worthwhile."

Before Liam could speak, the colossal eye dissolved into the darkness, vanishing like smoke in the wind.

"ARGHHH!"

Liam's scream shattered the silence. Blood seeped from his eyes, tracing down his cheeks like tears of crimson. His muscles trembled as if every nerve was being torn apart. He slammed his fists against the cold, black floor, teeth grinding hard enough to draw blood.

His vision was no longer his own. Everything turned crimson, trees, sky, ground, even his own hands were soaked in a sea of red. His breath came in harsh, broken gasps, and a primal fury he couldn't control surged inside him.

He reached out with one trembling hand toward the empty void where the eye had disappeared.

"Damn… you…"

But the words broke into a ragged breath as his consciousness crumbled under the weight of the pain.

The last thing he saw before darkness swallowed him was his reflection in the black floor, eyes glowing faintly with a crimson gleam, like embers of an infernal fire.

Then everything went silent.