The world erupted in a cataclysm of fire.
Before Alista Tudor's eyes, an immense forest was engulfed in furious flames. Corpses—hundreds of them—were burning, their forms twisted and consumed by the inferno. He watched the gruesome spectacle, a chilling echo of the war-torn reality he had been plunged into. Then, the vision abruptly began to rewind, the flames sucking back into the trees and the dead rising from the ashes, until everything dissolved into the familiar, profound blackness.
He heard the cold, metallic resonance of the Nightmare Spell once more:
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial…]
Alista woke with a gasp. He was lying inside a crude, makeshift shelter, the coarse fabric of the tent scraping against his skin. He was wearing shaggy, coarse clothes, and to his immediate alarm, his hands and legs were tied securely. He looked around the small space. The walls of the tent were adorned with a terrifying assortment of tools that seemed specifically designed for torture.
'Seriously, did Will or Amanises curse me with misfortune? Why the hell did I land in a torture chamber?' he thought, referencing the deities of the world he had transmigrated from.
A sudden burst of panicked noise filtered in from outside the tent. It sounded like chaos—shouting, hurried footsteps. 'It seems something is happening,' Alista noted, his mind immediately sharpening.
Instinctively, he recalled the system interface. Thinking the simple word, "Status," a translucent rune screen flickered into existence before him.
Name:Alista Tudor
True Name: —
Rank:Aspirant
Soul Core:Dormant
Memories: —
Echoes: —
Attributes:[Instincts], [Lawyer], [Battle Analyzer]
Aspect:[Suicide Soldier]
Aspect Description:[A Soldier is a member of a troop they serve. A Suicide Soldier is forced to carry out a suicide mission.]
Alista's eye twitched as he read the description of his Aspect. "Seriously, a suicide mission? Well, at least it's a soldier, which means I'll have some basic skills. On the bright side, there is no [Fated] attribute."
He quickly focused on the individual Attributes, reading the descriptions with growing relief:
[Instincts]: Your sense is sharpened when danger is imminent.
[Lawyer]: You are highly skilled at discovering and exploiting loopholes in the rules and the weaknesses of your opponents, possessing excellent eloquence and reasoning skills that aid in this process.
[Battle Analyzer]: You are proficient at analyzing the battlefield and gathering critical details.
A genuine, albeit slightly maniacal, smile stretched across Alista's face. "At least these are beneficial."
The tent flap was suddenly thrown open, and three figures strode in. One, who appeared to be a Captain, stopped directly in front of Alista.
"A message is carved into your back," the Captain announced, his voice devoid of emotion. "Your only purpose is to carry it to the temple and die. Give your life for the War Goddess. It is an honor."
'Honor, my ass! And they carved my back?' Alista thought, his initial shock quickly morphing into cold fury.
The three men moved to quickly unwind the ropes binding him. Once free, they roughly escorted him outside the tent. The surrounding area was a military camp—multiple tents housing crowds of soldiers preparing for some war, the air thick with tension and the smell of fear.
The Captain quickly delegated the task. "Call those two. You guys are in charge of protecting this carrier. Once everything is ready, we will leave."
It was then that Alista's [Instincts] screamed a warning. His head snapped to the right. He saw it—a subtle, unnatural shift in the forest foliage.
Those with sharper senses in the camp immediately drew their weapons, a low murmur of alarm sweeping through the ranks. Before a full defense could be mounted, a flock of huge, flaming birds—Flame Ravens—swooped down and attacked the camp in a group, their assault immediate and overwhelming.
One of the predatory birds targeted Alista. He instinctively dodged the attack, then lashed out, kicking the creature in its chest. The spot he struck, though covered in fire, seemed to have the least concentration of flame, but the heat still scorched him.
Alista's [Battle Analyzer] instantly activated, processing the chaos. He turned and spotted a sword lying on the ground—likely dropped by a dying soldier. He snatched it up and immediately started attacking the incoming Flame Ravens. His quick analysis paid off; he targeted the birds by driving the blade into the chest area, the point where the flame was weakest.
[You have killed a Dormant Beast, Flame Ravens]
[You have killed a Dormant Beast, Flame Ravens]
...
As Alista fought desperately, two soldiers—the ones assigned to protect him—finally arrived.
"We better leave! It's the order!" one of them yelled over the din of battle.
Before the last syllable left his mouth, an arrow pierced through his mouth. The soldier dropped, his brain instantly pierced, dead before he hit the dirt.
Alista's gaze shot upward, following the trajectory of the arrow. He spotted the attacker: a woman wearing a deer skin as a rough dress, her dark hair cut short to her shoulder. She held a bow in her hand, a sword hanging at her waist.
'Did I know her? Is she an important character?'Why I am I getting a feeling that she is important?' The thought flashed through his mind, fueled by his transmigrator knowledge.
Wasting no time, Alista plucked the arrow from the dead soldier, used it as a tool to gain momentum, and ran in the opposite direction. The woman on the hill looked down at him, her expression one of cold calculation, as if Alista Tudor was prey she was intent on hunting.
Alista, now paired with the other soldier—a grumpy-looking man who had been assigned to protect him—pushed forward through the wilderness. They moved in silence until, after a considerable distance, they came to a small lake and paused to rest.
Alista crouched by the water, intending to wash the soot and grime from his hands. As he looked into the water, he saw a skeletal corpse lying dead on the lakebed. More critically, in the reflection on the water's surface, he saw the grumpy soldier silently drawing his sword. The look on the soldier's face, a mixture of grim duty and betrayal, was unmistakable.
'So, that's it, huh?' Alista thought, his [Instincts] roaring.
He feigned washing his hands, making a show of being completely preoccupied. The grumpy soldier charged silently, aiming to pierce him from the back.
Just as the sword came close, Alista executed a sudden, sharp sidestep backwards. The grumpy soldier's eyes widened in stunned surprise. In the same fluid motion, Alista tripped the soldier forward and then forcefully shoved him into the lake.
The soldier shrieked as he hit the water. Instantly, his skin began to dissolve, peeling away from his bones. In seconds, everything about him vanished, leaving only a perfectly intact skeleton sinking slowly to the bottom.
"So, it is an acid like water," Alista stated flatly, his voice devoid of emotion.
Under normal circumstances, this horrific sight would have made him vomit. But three years of surviving in this cruel, Shadow Slave world had permanently desensitized him to an extent.
"How much have I changed?" he whispered, sitting back on his heels. "How much will I change?"
He took a moment to salvage what he could—the soldier's sword,the arrow he picked up and sturdy boots. As he did so, he pulled off his scorched upper clothing.
"What type of message did they draw on my back?" he wondered aloud.
He turned, contorting his body to see his back reflected in the dark water. He saw the message written in crude runes, but his gaze locked onto something else. On one of his shoulder blades, there was a distinct drawing.
As Alista Tudor examined the symbol, he was utterly shocked. It was the symbol of the Weaver's Mask.
The message was not just about the War Goddess. Alista now understood the full implications: the message was about the First Daemon. The revelation also instantly clarified the identity of the woman who shot the arrow.
"Orphne of the Nine," Alista murmured, his voice heavy with the realization that he was already entangled with key figures from the story.
===============
This is my New Fanfic,Kindly give some reviews and comments.