*POV: Linfer*
"Where am I?" I thought. "Am I... dead? Just like that? Did that bitch kill me?"
I stood naked in a crimson world, an infernal landscape where desolation and fear seemed to breathe around me. The sky was veiled by thick, red clouds. Beneath my feet, the coppery earth stretched out, crisscrossed by rivers of blood that lazily snaked through, feeding a world of morbid terror. Grotesque creatures slithered along these courses of horror, some even leaping into the sky, casting nightmarish shadows over the apocalyptic landscape. Around me, apple trees with dark, cracked bark grew in this dead soil, bearing vivid red apples, shiny and tempting.
"Is this my inner world?" I wondered, plucking one of these radiant fruits. Everything felt strangely familiar, as if I had trodden this infernal ground before. But when I brought the apple to my lips, I noticed with horror that my hand was cracked, like fragile ceramic ready to shatter at any moment.
"My spiritual body is disintegrating..." I thought, a shiver of dread running through me. "How much time do I have left?"
I took a bite of the apple, which burst into a juicy, sweet nectar on my tongue.
Looking down at this inner world from above, so haunting, stretching for hundreds of miles, it reflected the primal form of my soul: that of a thousand-headed serpentine being. Every moment in this place felt both real and unreal, a fragment of eternity stretched beyond time itself. I didn't know if years, decades, or centuries had passed. But I remember spending those endless days gazing at the crimson sky, bathing in the bloody rivers, and mingling with the gigantic serpentine creatures that populated this macabre realm. I knew them all, every form and movement. As if they were part of me—and they were.
Sitting on the red grass, staring at the horizon as usual, an unexpected sound echoed.
*Crack.*
I looked up. There, in the sky, a gaping fissure opened, tearing through the very fabric of space-time. A portal hung in the sky, slowly widening. The other side of this breach was not merely a cosmic void. It was a vision, no, a creature. A monstrous entity.
It emerged, colossal, nightmarish. Its dark tentacles floated in the air, each swaying like undead serpents, held by black thorns that dominated it. Its head was framed by smaller tentacles forming a crown around its multiple glowing eyes, each eye fixing on me with terrifying intensity. Gigantic wings stretched behind it, tattered membranes spreading in dark hues on the outside and purple on the inside. These wings seemed to engulf much of the environment, making the atmosphere oppressive.
Its skin was thick, like a black carapace, embedded with patterns that pulsed with chaotic energy. Yet, this creature, despite its unimaginable power, was motionless, trapped by the thorns that bound it. But these vegetal chains were constantly disintegrating, eaten away by a force I didn't understand. They regrew quickly, tightening their grip, in a perpetual struggle, as if its own power eroded the roots that held it.
A deep rumble shook my inner world, and the creature finally spoke. Its voice resonated like an earthquake, making the ground tremble beneath my feet.
"So, you're finally ready?"
I felt my entire body vibrate under the magnitude of its presence. My already weak soul contracted to resist this overwhelming force, keeping me from collapsing. I clenched my fists, struggling to stay standing.
' That bastard! '
"Who are you?" I shouted, my voice weak against this titanic entity.
The creature ignored my question, its attention momentarily elsewhere, as if it perceived something hidden. Its gaze lingered on a detail I couldn't understand.
"That symbol? So, she did it... as expected," it murmured, almost to itself, before returning to me, its piercing eyes plunging into mine. "I see you've already forged your inner world. But your soul is cracked."
It coldly analyzed my state, "It's not enough if you want to avenge me."
'Avenge you? I don't even know who you are! Is he messing with me?' I thought, hiding my irritation behind an impassive facade as best I could.
"You know I can hear your thoughts?" it growled.
"Shit!"
"Never mind. I believe she's done good work. But the rest is up to you. Prove your worth to me, and only then..."
Before I could grasp the meaning of its last words, my vision blurred. Everything around me cracked, shattering like glass, reality exploding beneath my feet.
And in an instant... everything vanished.
***
*In one of the distant worlds of the lower plane.*
*Kingdom of ZiXiao*
In a room bathed in soft light, a man stood silently, visibly immersed in deep meditation. His face, with finely chiseled features, was marked by an ethereal, inhuman beauty. His skin, of almost supernatural whiteness, seemed to shimmer under the cold glow of the lantern floating beside him.
He wore a sumptuous black robe, richly embroidered with elegant floral patterns. Long silver hair, fluid and silky, framed his face, cascading over his shoulders and blending with the subtle smoke swirling around him, suggesting the serenity of the atmosphere. His expression was impassive, cold, yet exuded a quiet inner strength, like a sleeping tiger.
The environment around him seemed to be a meditation chamber, marked by a palpable silence. Smoke rose delicately in the air, and the dim lighting from the lanterns created a mystical ambiance.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes, and instantly, a violent earthquake shook the room for several minutes. The man remained in the lotus position, completely unaffected.
His eyes, shining with a piercing and luminous glow, emitted a silvery aura. They fixed on an invisible point in space, his concentration ethereal. When the quake subsided, silence settled, only disturbed by a heavy, dull heartbeat. The aura surrounding him slowly dissipated, as if he were emerging from a state of enlightenment.
Linfer, disoriented, looked around, his face shifting from confusion to annoyance.
"Where am I, again?" he wondered, glancing at his hands, foreign yet familiar. He frowned and tried to stand but stumbled, ending up on the ground, face down.
"Huh?" he muttered in disbelief. He felt heavy, as if he weighed a ton, and his body seemed devoid of all energy. His forehead was covered in sweat as he struggled, painfully, to get up.
Once seated again, he took a deep breath to calm his breathing. "I'm in an unknown place, in an unknown body..."
"... but given the opulence of my clothes, I must have a decent status." He whispered to himself, calming down.