What is this darkness? Where am I? Am I truly dead?
I repeated these words amidst the darkness… I felt nothing—neither cold nor pain…
My mind threatened to explode under the weight of all the unanswered questions, and my thoughts and fears were drawn to Elena more than anything else.
"I want to end this and return to Elena quickly… I want nothing but to know she's safe…"
I tried to move, to rise from my place in the darkness, but I couldn't.
Something gripped my body tightly, as if fused to it, and yet I felt no pain.
"Is this death? Does everything end for our bodies the moment we die? But what about our souls? Those souls, worn out by time and the twists of fate… They are the ones that carry our memories, our emotions… They are not just souls, but the reason we keep going, the reason we long to live again, to relive moments and emotions filled with both pain and joy… We do not care for the suffering that awaits us when we are reborn; we care only for the feelings that bring us joy, even if just for a fleeting moment…"
As I struggled to rise, I heard footsteps echoing around me…
I could not tell their direction, yet a strange aura radiated from them.
I shouted at the top of my voice: "Who are you? Where am I?!"
Helplessness washed over me…
After all my strength and glory, here I was, cast into darkness, bound, ignorant of my fate.
Does death humiliate me to this degree?
Is this the consequence of my actions?
Suddenly, without warning, the place lit up, candles flickering to life all around me.
The figure behind the unknown footsteps had ignited them in the blink of an eye, without moving a muscle.
I looked at myself and was shocked…
My once-strong, whole body had become weak and frail, like a skeleton.
I could no longer move…
I had lost everything: my strength, my authority, my prestige.
Nothing remained… I had become pathetic, like the scum of mankind—those who cling to life despite their helplessness, seeking only to satisfy their own pride, not others'.
Yet I did not care, for all that filled my mind was Elena.
I took in the place: vast, endless, built from ancient, unyielding stone, solid as flint, perfect, flawless down to the smallest detail.
I searched for the source of the footsteps, but there was no one.
Suddenly, the space shifted, as though a star had fallen, sending a deafening quake through the ground.
Everything transformed, and from the earth emerged bells the size of humans, carried by people no larger than cats.
Their forms varied, and from their eyes one could see the depth of suffering and exhaustion etched into their bodies.
Their ugliness was evident, inside and out, their souls radiating torment, their very forms revealing the intensity of their pain.
Time seemed to stop…
My breath caught, sweat poured down my forehead.
Colors vanished from my sight; all became gray, as though I had lost my senses entirely.
I tried to stand, but could not move a single limb.
Those people began to circle the space, ringing the bells as though venerating something…
The sounds were no ordinary chimes—they thundered like a storm, mingled with a wail crawling up from the depths of hell toward my soul.
I lifted my head toward the ceiling, and saw the same people hanging by their necks, drowning in suffering and torment.
The scene was a true nightmare… No, it was the nightmare itself.
As these thoughts gnawed at my mind, the air grew thick, my breathing nearly impossible, my lungs feeling as if they would burst under the pressure.
Then a dark shadow enveloped me, revealing a man in a black cloak, showing only his hands, marked with tattoos resembling the symbols on the mask of the man who hurled his spear at us.
At first, I did not fully perceive him, overwhelmed as I was by exhaustion and pressure.
The man was massive, unmatched in size, his face covered, revealing only his eyes—eyes like those of a wild dog, merciless and unyielding.
In his hands he held a collection of small bells, each differing in size and color…
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-To be continued...-