Ender approached Bahul, his eyes blazing with righteous fury. The embodiment of a thousand fallen worlds, he radiated power that could shatter mountains and boil oceans. Defeat hung heavy in the air, a suffocating weight on the Darkain warrior.

"You may be a champion of your stupid race," Ender boomed, his voice echoing across the desolate battlefield, "but before me, you are nothing but a fool, a flicker of darkness soon to be extinguished."

Bahul, his obsidian armor cracked and smoking could only offer a defiant snarl. He knew his defeat was inevitable. Yet, a flicker of morbid curiosity sparked within him.

"Why hesitate, old man?" he rasped, his voice hoarse with exertion. "With such power at your command, why not eradicate us all? Wipe the stain of our existence from this universe?"

Ender paused, a tinge of doubt clouding his features. He felt the power coursing through him, a torrent of defiance fueled by a thousand lost civilizations. He could obliterate the Darkain forces with a mere thought.

'But is that truly the answer?' a thought echoed in the vast expanse of his being. 'Is vengeance the only path?'

With a deep breath, Ender came to a decision. A wry smile touched his lips, surprising even him.

'Will of the world, forgive me,' he thought, extending his hand towards the broken husk of Bahul. 'If this power you've bestowed upon me is truly limitless, then I place my faith in a different path.'

A blinding white pearl erupted from his palm, hovering over Bahul. The overwhelming power that moments ago thrummed with the promise of annihilation receded, replaced by a gentle warmth.

"I could easily eradicate every last one of you," Ender declared, his voice ringing with newfound conviction, "but I choose a different path. I choose to believe in the potential for good that resides within my people."

Bahul stared, dumbfounded. This wasn't the response he'd anticipated. Fear morphed into something akin to… respect?

"You don't deserve any last words, so I'll say this instead. You and your kind, you can all go fuck yourselves," Ender roared, snapping his fingers and activated the pearl.

Instead of a world-ending cataclysm, a wave of pure energy surged outwards, pushing back the Darkain forces and enveloping them in a blinding light.

"This is not the end," Ender proclaimed, his voice echoing with unwavering hope. "It is a new beginning. A chance to choose a different path."

The battlefield shimmered, and the once blood-soaked ground began to mend.

"BOOOOOOOOMMM"

A soft sigh filled the air as the Will of the world began to fade, a hint of a smile gracing her spectral form. "So you chose not to succumb to vengeance in the end, Ender," she murmured. "You chose hope."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

With those words, she vanished, leaving but nothing amidst the ruins of war, the faint echo of a newborn world's heartbeat thrumming in the air, and the wish of an old and broken man.

'Hope.'

__________________________________________

In the sterile confines of a hospital room, a woman lay exhausted but content. Her husband held her hand tightly, his eyes filled with a love that transcended words. A moment ago, they had welcomed their newborn daughter into the world, their hearts overflowing with joy.

Suddenly, the woman's face contorted in pain. Panic seized the room as the medical staff scrambled to understand the unexpected turn of events.

"What the hell is happening?" Her husband and mother screamed in unison.

The doctor's face became so pale, it looked as if every ounce of his blood had disappeared. He knew that in the room was the head of one of the most powerful families in the world, and he could lose his life faster than a heartbeat.

Recovering from the shock, he said, "M-Master Elio, t-there is a second baby."

"What!"

"What!"

"What!" Everyone in the room couldn't believe the words that came out of his mouth.

"Twins?" Elio muttered. It was unheard of in his family line for generations.

"Do everything you can!" he boomed, his voice laced with a mixture of shock and unexpected excitement. But beneath the surface, a sliver of unease gnawed at him. He couldn't explain it, but a strange feeling, a premonition of sorts, settled over him.

As the doctor carefully delivered the second baby, a wave of blinding light engulfed the room. In that instant, something… shifted. The air crackled with unseen energy, and a deep, primal cry shattered the tense silence.

__________________________________________

'Finally… peace,' Jayden thought, a wave of serenity washing over him. He regretted nothing. The pain, the suffering – all of it seemed insignificant now.

But the peace was short-lived. An insistent, high-pitched wail pierced the blissful oblivion, shattering the silence.

'What the hell is that annoying sound?' he groaned internally. 'Even in the afterlife, I can't seem to find peace?' His train of thought was derailed by the constant crying.

'Ugh, is this some kind of cosmic joke? A baby in the afterlife? Seriously?'

As his frustration grew, a faint memory flickered at the edges of his mind. A memory of a blinding light, a voice filled with hope, and a battlefield… but it was hazy, like a dream half-forgotten.

The crying grew louder, pulling him further from the remnants of his past life. He strained to locate the source, a bizarre sense of commitment stirring within him despite his annoyance.

'There's no way a baby is here with me, whatever this "here" is,' he thought with a grimace. Yet, the sound persisted, undeniable and undeniably close.

With a sigh of resignation, he willed himself to move, a formless entity adrift in the darkness. He drifted towards the sound, a sense of curiosity battling his annoyance.

As he neared the source, a faint, ethereal glow pulsed faintly in the distance. It grew brighter as he approached, revealing a small, translucent crib bathed in the soft light. Inside, a tiny baby boy lay swaddled in white, his face scrunched up in a furious cry.

Jayden froze, his nonexistent breath catching in his non-existent throat. The baby's features, the shape of his head, the way his tiny fists clenched and unclenched… it was him.

A wave of emotions, a torrent he hadn't felt since his last moments on Earth, crashed over him. Confusion, disbelief, a flicker of terror, and a strange, unfamiliar warmth that bloomed in his… well, wherever his emotions resided now.

The baby continued to cry, oblivious to the existential crisis brewing within the formless entity that was Jayden.

Looking down at his – it's? – tiny form, a single thought echoed in the vast emptiness that was him.

'This can't be happening!'