"You and I were once the same person, yet we walked different paths..."
—A skeleton somewhat resembling Taga
In a dark void...
Taga slowly opened his eyes in this void, looking around at his surroundings.
"Have I returned to the void...?"
Taga carefully examined his surroundings. He felt this void was inexplicably ethereal, filled with deathly energy...
"This isn't the void I know... The deathly energy here is too heavy..."
Taga pondered, then took a step forward. The only sound in the void was the sound of his footsteps.
Taga walked and walked... and walked and walked...
After wandering aimlessly for five minutes...Taga came to a world blocked by a strange barrier...
The barrier emitted an eerie aura and light. Taga looked up at the barrier, then slowly raised his hand and placed it before it.
"This is...? A barrier? Why is there a barrier here..."
Taga touched the barrier in confusion, but with a slight push, he fell directly into it.
"Damn it! Why isn't this barrier hard..."
Taga, trapped in the world within the barrier, slowly got up and rubbed his head.
Taga looked up... He saw a red sky, and a deathly aura slowly seeped into his body.
"The deathly aura here is even heavier... What happened here..."
Taga slowly stood up and looked around. He stood on the grass stained red by the crimson sky, a strange breeze blowing against him.
Taga stepped onto the open grassland. He raised his hand to his brow and looked closely; he saw a person standing on the plain.
"Is anyone here?"
Taga immediately ran towards the plain, wanting to see what was happening in this world and, perhaps, ask if the person needed help.
The figure standing on the plain was cradling a female corpse, gazing sharply at the sky. His eyes scanned the heavens with a sharp intensity, and the patterns on his face glowed with an eerie red light.
"Hey! Buddy! What are you doing here? What happened?"
Taga quickly approached the figure and politely inquired.
The figure slowly turned to face Taga, revealing half of his face etched with strange energy.
"!!! Your face..."
Taga stared in shock at the extremely bizarre patterns on the other's face, and he saw fear in the other's eyes...
The figure slowly lowered the female corpse, muttering to itself...
"Tina... rest here... I'll be back soon..."
The figure slowly turned around, revealing a face almost identical to Taga's, except the patterns were completely different...
"You! You're also me from another world?! What happened to you..."
Taga stared in shock at the person who looked exactly like him. He never expected to encounter a skeleton who looked exactly like him in this world.
The figure simply looked at Taga silently. Taga slowly walked forward...
Suddenly, a punch came flying!! This punch struck Taga directly in the cheek, even sending Taga flying dozens of meters away!
"!!!!!!!"
Taga didn't even have time to react; the speed of the punch was too fast! After regaining his balance, Taga quickly looked up at the other.
But he found his opponent had instantly teleported in front of him. Taga immediately gathered divine power in his arm to block the heavy punch.
Taga was knocked back dozens of meters, but his opponent showed no sign of stopping, beginning a rapid barrage of punches.
The weight of the punches felt to Taga like dozens of mountains piled together were crashing down on him.
"Are you crazy?! You start hitting me right away!"
Taga warned his opponent angrily, dodging to the side and throwing a punch!
But his opponent didn't even look, easily catching Taga's fist and tossing him backward, sending Taga flying over a hundred meters away.
"You bastard! Looks like you really are crazy! I have to beat you up to shut you up!"
Taga steadied himself, unleashing a burst of power as he charged towards his opponent, gathering divine power in his fist.
Just as Taga threw a punch, his opponent darted behind him and kicked him heavily to the ground.
Taga didn't have time to react before being kicked so hard that his body slammed into the ground, shattering it instantly.
"How come I never noticed before... why did I talk so much nonsense..."
The opponent spoke slowly, walking up to Taga and crouching down to look at him...
"You... who are you...?"
Taga stared intently at his opponent, his body paralyzed with pain.
"I...? I am you... Don't be afraid... We'll meet again..."
With that, the other person picked up the female corpse and vanished instantly before Taga's eyes, while the world formed by the barrier began to slowly crumble...
The crimson sky shattered like glass... fragments falling onto the plain...
The plains and grasslands gradually collapsed... Taga, along with the collapsing ground fragments, fell into nothingness...
Taga was unable to move in the nothingness... He watched the fragments of the world fall into the void... He began to think...
"Who is he...? Who is the corpse he's holding...? Why did he say we'd meet again...?"
As Taga pondered all this, familiar voices entered his ears...
"Taga! Taga! Wake up! Get up!"
Suddenly, Taga felt a burning pain on his face. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Syl and Tina standing beside his bed.
Syl was slapping Taga hard across the face, while Tina stood by, watching worriedly.
"Okay...stop hitting me...I'm getting up..."
Taga slowly sat up, feeling a sharp pain in his back. The pain felt strangely familiar, like...the pain he felt in his dream!
"What time is it...? How long have I been asleep..."
Taga gently touched his forehead, speaking in a low voice.
"You slept until the afternoon. What happened to you...we saw you were sweating profusely, we thought you were sick."
Tina's worried tone revealed her concern, and Syl nodded frantically.
"Yeah, yeah! I thought you were going to die...waaaah..."
Syl pretended to cry, but he wasn't really crying; he just thought it fit the current situation.
"You seem to really want me to die..."
Taga stared silently at Syl. He slowly placed his feet on the edge of the bed, then smiled gently at Tina and Syl, indicating he was alright and asking them to leave so he could change.
Taga looked down at the lingering divine energy on his hands... He felt it all felt so real...
And in the void...
The figure from the previous world walked through the void, looking at the dark figure sitting on the throne. He knelt on one knee.
"My lord... I have seen the chosen one..."
The dark figure on the throne revealed his face... It was Rhazoth!
"You saw him, didn't you? What do you think?"
Rhazoth spoke with an air of absolute authority, looking at the skeleton kneeling before him.
"I saw him… He's a very powerful being… but he hasn't fully grown yet…"
The skeleton spoke respectfully, yet a hint of helplessness lingered in its voice…
"That's right… So you still remember your mission… right?"
Rhazoth spoke with an unquestionable tone, slowly opening his single, blood-red eye. His aura began to creep up the skeleton's spine.
"I haven't forgotten… I know what I should do, and please don't forget the deal you made with me…"
The skeleton spoke with a respectful tone mixed with an unyielding anger.
"Of course I haven't forgotten… I wouldn't break my word. As long as you complete the task I've given you, I will naturally grant you what you desire."
Rhazoth waved his hand and vanished into nothingness…
The skeleton slowly stood up, looking at the space shrouded in darkness and nothingness. He stood there, stroking his cheek, which was eroded by eerie patterns.
"I hope... you really can do it... Taga, Taga... there's no difference between us... I hope you can understand me... it doesn't matter if you can't... I will save Tina..."