Born of the flame, we angels seek a fleeting sense of safety in the smoldering remains of the Holy Realm.

I see people to all sides of me, fleeing as our society collapses in on itself. 

The bloody scar on my heart continues to worsen and drip worse as I slowly walk forward and leave behind my own house. 

I can hear my heart beat violently as it resonates with a dark flicker that sends shudders throughout my body, and a vein bursts as the thudding of my heart continues to worsen.

I could hear a faint sound whisper through the air; a scream in the fire and the chiming of the giant bell.

God help me, not the bell. Anything but the ominous black bell, I refuse to think about it right now.

I continue to stare in shock and wonder how this could possibly be happening to my home. How could the Seraphim and Zolrant alliance allow this to happen?

The bleeding bite marks on my hand remain for a while, slowly regenerating. I can feel it burning up, but it's nothing that I'm not used to, the burning is sensation is part of my life and always has been.

I look into the fire, wondering if I'll see the pained and hateful stare of Charon Sieve one more time before his death, I wished for things to be better, but I knew that his life was far past repair even if we survived the fire:

I didn't get to see his glare again sadly, not even to justify his scorn and let it reach me as it should, he's already died and faded from his horrible burns and wounds in the midst of the awful fire.

He hated the bell too, didn't he? How could he not, the crimson streaks on it served as an awful reminder of the Black Bell Incident that happened at the bottom.

I am Xxink, drawn to the flaming rubble like a moth. The red and orange horizon spreading ominously above.

Suddenly, a middle aged man with an unkempt beard hobbled through the fire, a look of pure determination on his face. This was the man everyone looked up to, the one person who truly treated others as family, even when they treated him horribly.

"Run, citizens. We can escape to the Community Core. They dislike visitors, but this is the only way!" He shouted aloud, directing the stampede of angels down the road, trying to reach the center of the realm. Everyone knew what to expect, a rift would certainly be open in there. 

Suddenly an angel got hit by a talon of flame that reached around her in every direction, crushing her into a charred corpse. 

The smell of ash, not much different from hell itself, littered the air and flooded my nose. 

It was all a single blazing inferno. The world seemed to be determined to pin us in. 

The searing torment wouldn't end as the flames approached, and as we stepped, we continued to kick up ashes, most hitting my eyes and making it hard to see. Nobody seemed to know if we could make it.

"This has to be the work of Ginzolg. He's come to wipe us out! We have to escape!" The bearded man shouts, barely being heard over the crackling flames. 

It is getting hard to breathe, and the sky is painted a deep black as the smoke contaminates its clean, white plane. The smoke looms over us like a god, as if to tell us that our real god abandoned us. 

The bearded man's name is Dust, and he got that name for a reason. He kicked up ashes and dust in every direction, channeling a form of divine energy into each speck of it all, creating a wave of energy that erupted with so much force that the flames surrounding us were extinguished. Rubble from fallen buildings on all sides got pulverized as the dust combusted mid air.

We all continue marching forward, however I take the time to look behind me, at the ruined landscape behind me. It's all like a dream, the collapsing buildings, the ruined rubble and endless clouds of smoke, the tall flames scraping against the air, and the stained sky. 

I feel something wet hit the back of my neck, and I wipe it with my hand, only to find it stained in golden blood. I turn around, and see the corpse of an Arch Angel, crushed by flaming rubble. A fire so unnatural and deadly that it could burn even an angel of a higher plane, such an unimaginable horror. Their blood littered the ground, Dust was desperately trying to lift the rubble, but he was too late. 

He refused to cry, as we were still trapped in the middle of a burning realm. He marched forward with confidence, flapping his wings with force, clearing up smoke around us and making it easier to breathe. 

Few people care about me here, and Dust cares less than anyone else. I usually don't care about that fact either, but the look of genuine anguish that I wasn't the one who died was enough to hurt even me, a reminder that I am nothing but a festering disease to those around me, even the most pure of people look at me with more contempt than they would muster towards Ginzolg himself.

My only hope is the crowd that hardly permits me to be among them, I struggle to avoid being trampled under their immense numbers and Dust goes out of it's way to help me as little as possible, only pushing back flames that would hit others besides me.

Still, our numbers were vastly shrinking. There were at least a few thousand of us in one incredibly long line, melting together and somehow fitting, but now we were down to two hundred left. 

More flames consume more and more angels on the cracked path.

Ruth, a spiky haired angel with a reputation for pranking everyone, had a solemn expression. She conducted magic energy into the air, and tried to form a barrier strong enough to hold off the approaching flames, but there was nothing normal about this fire, and her barrier wouldn't last forever.

We were still 10 blocks away from the portal, and we were down to 50 people. Ruth being nearly exhausted, and having a dead look in her eyes. 

We keep moving forward, despite the fact that we likely all realized the impossibility of escape. 

The flames closed in on Ruth next, she didn't even bother to resist or fight. She just stared into the flames as they completely shattered the barrier, rushed over her, and reduced her to a skeleton. 47  angels went up in flames with her.

We were down to two people, me and Dust. I'm sure my eyes looked like Ruth's, I'd given up all hope of life as soon as I saw the fire. Or did I give up before the fire even began? Who knows, my memory is fuzzy.

Dust looked me in the eyes, and for a split second, I could see that he was just as afraid as Ruth. His face contorted unnaturally, and he fell to his knees.

The fire started gnawing at his legs, eating their way up from the very bottom as he stared down, watching the flames eat him and strip him down to the skeleton.

Tears streamed out of his eye, but were quickly evaporated by the touch of another tendril of flame, which licked at his eyes until they were reduced to a small puddle and moved up to the rest of him.

I fell to the ground, looking into the blackened sky. The smell of ash being the one thing keeping me from drifting into unconsciousness. 

This feels like a sick joke, just after my life started looking up, just as I thought that I could escape death, it's all fallen apart. How cruel is fate? Is all of our order really that fragile?

I see a floating figure above me, far into the air. 

It looked like a hunched over old man, a malicious grin on his face.

"Ginzolg- You've crossed the line!" I sputter out, my head spinning as my world seemed to fade. 

"Your time isn't here yet, Xxink. Do yourself a favor, and live a little longer. You are my little ace in the hole, my insurance against Qetor."

As my world turns black, I feel certain that it all is over. I think about my life a lot, remembering my last time speaking to my father, and remembering how things played out with him and my mother that day, realizing that with this fire, we're all dead.

The bloody knife scar serving as a reminder of everything that happened, temporarily. A reminder of the hole in its place, in the center of my heart.

I can feel my memories fading, it all seems to disappear into unintelligible darkness and garble as my vision blurs, and becomes incoherent.

I take what I'm sure is my final breath, before all feeling and thought vanishes.

Suddenly though, my eyes flood open with renewed sight, as my mind resumes its thought and regulation of emotions. 

I look around, unsure of what is going on for a second, before the shock hits me again.

I'm the last survivor of the Holy realm. There is nothing left for me, for anyone, for this world at all. 

I can see the fire spreading over the city I had lived in as all is wiped out. My memories are partially gone, I can only remember the fire that I just survived and that this realm is doomed, and that Ginzolg is responsible for this all.

A divine revelation has come to my head, a directive, a message of ultimate truth. A message to get revenge, a message to kill Ginzolg, and a message to reclaim the light of the Holy Realm and bring it forward to create a new Holy Realm in its absence.

However I don't know if I'll be able to make it, the knife wound and bite still remain, and I now have no memories to go back to.

This is the last stand, but I have no idea how this will end- the fire is spreading as more gets erased, it is time to leave. 

I rush away from the fragmented world and enter a rift, these open everywhere, nobody in this realm knows why. This is the first step, it is tough, but the subsequent steps 

should be easier. 

I make it through and stumble out of my former home. I had one destination, the community core. A world filled with travelers of all kinds, spirits, demons, monsters, you name it. 

Most of them are sketchy or even terrifying, but there is nothing I can do about that, Ginzolg is out there. He's the one responsible for this all. Not much is known about him, besides him being an alien god that specializes in corruption. 

He's cunning, cruel and, dare I say it, brilliant. These people should have better knowledge in that regard than me. 

I walk down the street looking for people to question. Everyone seems to either scowl at me or frown. They don't like me even slightly, I need to make a move soon. 

I see a small store selling food and minor technology, and as I walk in I see a strange man slurping on tea. 

I would ignore him, but he looks in my direction as well, and he doesn't look away. He wipes his mouth and points at his name tag, showing he works there. 

The man looks a lot like I do, but he has a few notable differences. He has a scar on his head where it is nearly split in two. He also seemed much taller and had 3 daggers strapped to his arm, with a high tech looking gun in a holster. It probably fires concentrated plasma since that is the main weapon of these technologically higher realms. 

He seemed slightly older, maybe 23. He motioned for me to come to the counter. I do so and stand there, waiting for him to talk. 

"Odd seeing an angel in these parts." His glare is terrifying and it feels like he's burning through my skull.

 "Let me guess, some wannabe hero who has no idea what he's doing, and is now running away from home?"

"Excuse me? I do intend to act as a hero here, but my entire home was burnt down by Ginzolg, I have come here to carve a path to him and reclaim the light of the Holy Realm."

"Ever heard of Cross Molecule, The Whispering Storm? He was just like you, and yet eventually he disappeared. Most likely realizing the flaws he contained. I can read people at first sight, and both of you are the same. I wanted you to come here, so I can ask you a question. 

Could you handle seeing everyone around you die?" 

"What? I already have, those that I cared about were melted into disgusting mush right in front of my eyes, I saw endless destruction hit my entire world.

I saw people in tears, their wills breaking and snapping as they accepted death. I was forged by this tragedy, and yet you are so quick to ask me if I can handle what I've already experienced."

"Such a simple minded little fool. When you set off to fight an unstoppable force, you have no choice but to rally up others to help your goal, and you know what happens there?

The simple answer is that their lives become used as stepping stones for your own goal, they die because of you, and nothing can be done."

"I will never allow someone innocent to die because of my goal, that contradicts everything that I am searching for, I don't think you understand that."

"Death doesn't care who you allow it to claim, you ignorant fool. The moment you try to become a hero, and even further the moment you forge alliances, you become death's plaything, and it slowly picks off all.

You are nothing, you are just a fallen life trying to seek out revenge against a stronger force, ignoring how much your own world must have tried to resist, and yet you are willing to put all on the line just for this idiotic goal?!

Answer me, right now, would you be able to handle all of the work of building up alliances, just for everyone around you to slowly die in front of you?"

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

I didn't know what to say. The sheer spiteful disrespect in his voice alone was ridiculous, but I found his words about my capabilities still entering my mind, leaving a trail of doubt.

The answer should be obvious, but is it all really possible? Will I really get what I seek? Will it all be worth it? 

He sees my hesitation and looks down on me. 

"Exactly, you are a naive fool who knows nothing of the world that you are rushing into, how pathetic.

You have no idea how things end for heroes. Me, Cross Molecule, the rest of my friends- No happiness comes from trying to save others, just a desire and pressure to do better than you already are, because everyone turns on you the moment you fail." 

I don't know who Cross Molecule is, but I decided that it wouldn't be good to give him a reason to judge me as ignorant again. I see his tears fall down his face, he seems simultaneously furious, depressed, and uncertain. 

Weirdo, I don't go around judging others as unworthy and then cry.

Such a worthless fool in his own right, lecturing others and yet having a breakdown like a toddler, I swear I have never seen someone more condescending and self important than this man in front of me.

"All of us have lost years of hard work. You are after Ginzolg, aren't you? He has numerous allies. They are not as simple as you think, any of them could have destroyed this world already, the only reason we are still here is because they want to watch us struggle. You think you can come strolling in with your head held high?" 

I swear if this idiot stops speaking like a lunatic that would be the end of the world for him, because he's clearly allergic to talking like a real person.

He pulls out a card with a sequence of numbers and a picture of his face on it. It labels him as a royal figure, interesting.

 "If you ever make the choice to get your hands dirty, and decide that you can handle everything that comes with being a hero, then that's when you will be worthy of my time." 

He walks away, and gives this cold aura that tells me to leave. 

I exit the store wondering what's happening. I can't believe I froze like that, this guy is certainly capable of helping. He seemed insane, dangerous, and aggressive, but at least he could tell me what he knows. 

I already know that this is a bad situation but I need to learn as much as possible so I can stop it all. Otherwise we are all doomed. Somewhere in this city I'll find the information I need, then I can prepare for the end results. 

Still something about that guy before is ominous, and I can tell that this is too calm, something is coming sooner or later. 

I walk along the street, trying to ignore this nightmare and the terrifying questions. 

Nobody will ever get a chance at happiness until I succeed. These people don't know how bad it is to be attacked by Ginzolg, he's too dangerous. 

I got jumped by a man with long hair on a walk down the street. 

He looked tough, he seemed to be from the infamous gang the Alpha Cross. They're a gang that is run by martial arts masters with incredible strength and skill, rather than weapons. 

He spoke, with a high pitched raspy voice. I've never liked people with raspy voices, the sound alone seems to piss me off always. I so badly wanted to punch him already.

"You look new to this place. I assume you don't know, but this is my turf. You can leave, or face the wrath of the crew." 

This is bad, I have never fought before and if I didn't leave, I'd need to fist fight a martial arts master. 

I may have felt tempted to punch him because of his voice, but I'm not stupid enough to pick a fight with somebody like that yet.

This land probably has anti magic inscriptions somewhere, I'd be forced to fight barehanded against a physically superior foe.

Technically angels should have more raw strength than Community Core denizens, but the one magic that they allow themselves to use is infusion subdivision magic, which is entirely unreadable to inscriptions.

Mana is complicated in its functionality, its use is reliant on a few things. 

For one, you need to have a basic understanding of spells and how each system works, this one wasn't a problem.

However I know about Alpha Cross, they are strengthened by Infusion subdivision Magic, which makes them trillions of times stronger than normal.

I should probably give a simple explanation for how it works, essentially Infusion Magic is what happens when liquid Mana is injected from an organ and circulates inside your blood, causing it to harden everything and enhance it's strength, this can also shut down or dim pain receptors.

I did not want to have to fight anyone like that, at least a normal mage would work. Alpha Cross' hand to hand fighting style would be difficult to manage, I'd need a weapon.

I will come back later when he isn't patrolling. I need to get past this square. Until then, I guess I'll check another place.

I walk away and I see a notably large screen suspended in the air, most likely utilizing Alamo III's brand of space bending technology to put it in a pocket outside of space's affect, leaving it floating. 

It plays a program. Showing propaganda against angels. 

"So, I think we all know about the war against those filthy creatures from The Holy Realm. But did you know that most are finally dead? Well, as luck will have it, they lost the war. Their enemies have wiped them out, mostly. We can't rule out the possibility that some angels escaped to this realm, so we need you all to lookout for any angels, and bring them directly to me."

This is just great. I was already hated enough but now they are directly trying to cause conflict. 

They definitely weren't human. They sounded human, but their accent wasn't a human thing. I hope that they don't cause too many problems, because this can go down hill quickly.

I walk anyway, sure that the more time I spend pondering it, the more time it has to get out of hand.

I see a small tavern that's called "Space Endeavor". 

Sounds like a good place to look. I step into the room with reinforced metal floors that have technology integrated into every space. 

The people who have to be the regulars are looking at me funny. However this is not the time to get aggravated by such trivial matters, this is the time to move forward. 

I slam an angelic coin onto the table, and make an order. Angels use these coins because no races have access to it's metal and therefore it is worth more to the unholy. 

They all stop looking at me funny. I guess money can calm anyone down, how stupid.

However they soon continue after I speak to them. 

"Do you know anything about Ginzolg?" 

A portly man came up to speak with me. He had scars covering his arm and face, one peg leg, and a sharp dagger sticking into his knee, he was using his leg to store the knife, he was definitely insane. 

He spoke. His voice was weird, it sounded like the hum of an engine.

"How do you know that name? You have some nerve barging in here, mentioning that freak Ginzolg in my perfect presence." 

The guy sounded strong, and he looked like he could rip me in half. However nothing can get in my way, this isn't the time to be scared by anyone.

 "How much would you like me to pay to get an answer?" 

He looked in my direction for a second, and then smirked. 

"You can't bribe me, however I have a proposition. For me, fighting others is a source of entertainment, it never gets old. 

Further more, duels in general are a good way for a knight to obtain glory and honor, and I only entrust knowledge to those that I meet in battle, those who earn my trust through the clash of blades.

Now, if you win a duel, then I shall answer any questions." 

This wasn't good, however it wasn't bad. All I have to do to get the information I seek is to defeat him, even if that itself wouldn't be easy by any means.

However, despite my knowledge of combat and magic, I've never fought myself. 

Still, he should be easier than that Alpha Cross prick. 

Everyone has numerous abilities. Any being that isn't a human has thousands bare minimum that they could potentially unlock, however some never get unlocked. 

I just have to hope that some unlock themselves fast enough to win, as abilities tend to be unlocked quickly via the Spirit Motor's synergy with brain wavelengths that associate with magic. 

However there was one glaring issue.

 "I don't have a weapon, you have a dagger. You have an unfair advantage." 

He had already anticipated this, luckily that meant that the battle could be fixed to be more fair. 

"Then we shall each choose a weapon to duel." 

He summoned a sword to his hands, sheathing it like a samurai, warming up. 

After he stopped I knew he was going to ask what weapon I wanted, it was an obvious little detail, about as obvious as what weapon I should choose.

I'm good with a sword, however this guy is far better just shown from his footwork and finesse drawing it, he wields the blade like he's used it for centuries. 

My only chance is to wield a different weapon. I need a weapon that I an naturally suited to, something that I can see a mental image of myself using in combat.

I know the perfect weapon, one that I can picture myself winning with. Something like a sword won't cut it, there is only one choice.

"I'll use a scythe. That is all I need." 

He looked a little surprised, as if this was something uncommon. Maybe the people here aren't used to scythe wielding.

"You aren't related to the Grim Reaper are you?" 

I wish, maybe then I'd be skilled enough to find Ginzolg on my own. Sadly, the reality is that I'm going to have to rely too much on random people from a tavern just to learn tiny scraps of information.

"No, I just have natural affinity towards scythes." 

He looked uninterested. We both head outside to begin. 

He takes a deep breath, however it isn't for the oxygen, he is inhaling the ashes of combusted souls. 

I can tell when someone does this. Some people have an abstract power source known as a Spirit Motor. 

I have one too, luckily he doesn't know about mine. The Spirit Motor always is created either as a result of internal iron and Mana levels meshing too much, but it is also possible for it to exist within others as a genetic mutation.

If someone has it as a mutation, then you can sense directly that they have it, such as him.

When someone dies their soul explodes into the air and is sucked into the oxygen. Billions of people die every second on this planet and their souls are all released into the air. 

The Spirit Motor is powered by the souls of others and that's how it sustains itself. 

People can also rip the souls from living beings, this would provide much more sustenance. Luckily he doesn't seem like the kind to try such a thing. 

I got so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't even notice his attack until he hit me. His sword stabbed into my ribs, sending a wave of pain through it. 

I quickly threw his sword out and jabbed him back with the stem of my scythe, but this is already a problem.

This is my first fight and it shows, I couldn't even keep a consistent train of thought and got so caught up in minor details that I hadn't realized that the attack had started.

He's rushing forward, I manage to block his first blow from his sword but he throws a sharp roundhouse kick with his metal leg that sends me flying back. 

He's fast, it took only a picosecond for him to kick me, and the sheer force was unbelievable. 

However he uses that speed in short bursts. He's slightly slower before he activates it. He runs forward again but I am ready, I snag his sword and send it flying into the air with the scythe, simultaneously stabbing his hand with it. 

This is how the fight is going to work. We will win by injuring the other until someone gets sent to a regeneration chamber. 

He explained this ahead of time: This world makes its citizens functionally immortal, as it immediately scans the bio signature of anyone in the dimension and teleports them to a chamber that can reconstruct people from the soul to the skin.

This means it is impossible for one of us to die, but this will still hurt regardless.

He backs up and catches the sword without flinching. 

He is tough. I catch him again with a punch to the jaw, but he takes it and throws a vicious uppercut that I barely have time to dodge. 

However that maneuver left me vulnerable and he retaliates with a low sweep that knocks me down. 

I swing the scythe will all my strength and just barely miss due to him throwing his dagger. 

This guy is too tough, he is countering everything. He launched himself forward at incredible speed but this time I manage to stop him with a kick to the gut, then I managed to pull a second kick to his face while he was winded from the first one. 

Finally I try to go for another swing- but he dodges yet again and retaliates with a parry, his sword flies through the air, having been thrown, and hits my leg. 

The blood pours out in a constant stream. At this rate I'll lose the fight. I need to think smart. 

I have just enough time to see him charge wt me and kick me in the gut with a field of golden energy stored into his peg-leg.

This kick sent me flying and the force seeped into me, feeling as if it was rattling my organs and shaking them on the inside.

He repeated the same trick twice at even greater efficiency the next time as he stored up even more energy in a kick to my face.

My vision went black, white and purple dots spread across my vision, dancing tenaciously into tiny sparks after the hit.

I could feel blood oozing out of my nose, it was not a surprise that I couldn't win without being hit, but it's sure surprising just how hard this guy hits.

I have plenty of souls in the motor already, time to try and make a move. 

When people decide to feed the motor a soul it makes a weird feeling come over them that varies depending on what kind of ability it is and how intense it is. 

When I did it, my eye sight stopped. For a while I only saw black and suddenly stopped feeling things. I could tell I was still fighting and conscious but I couldn't feel it or control my movements, I couldn't see, it was just nothing. 

The complete absence of emotion in that time was also weird. This had to be a potent affect. 

Suddenly I could see again and a field of dark energy was suspended around me, cloaking me. The scythe was covered in dark energy as well and a dark sword had appeared in my other hand. Two more scythes and two more swords were suspended in the air around me, hanging off of a string of dark energy as they swung in an omnidirectional pattern around me.

This was strange, I've never used dark magic before, but this isn't the time for that, it is time to act. 

I rush forward and swing the blade through the air and slash his ribs vertically causing him to flinch in pain. 

I put my hands together and a massive red stream of energy streams out and flies in his direction, pummeling him until the blood leaking out seems to be vaporized from sheer force. 

I then move forward and swing the dark sword with incredible force but he easily knocks it out and slashes my knee. 

As if his arm is propelled by an all powerful engine, it flies at me with extreme space to deliver a sword swing into my skull.

One of the dark energy scythes floating in the air moves to intercept it, but the force he swings with is incredible and they move into a blade lock.

His sword is pushing forward, the scythe isn't gonna be strong enough to stop him, it's just barely too weak.

I lift the scythe in my hand, and use the front if it to push the first scythe forward, balancing it against his sword so that the combined force of the two manages to overpower him.

I swing at him with absolutely all of them. The blades attached to me via the dark strings and my own held scythe all slice into him, but it's as if he is immune to pain because he simply doesn't stop no matter how painful a wound should be.

This fight is too tough, I do not like it at all. All of these tricks the motor gave me are imperfect compared to his. 

The affects are strong but he is used to them and seems to have more. This is evident when he clasps his own hands together and he summons a monster approximately sixty three feet tall. 

The gargantuan being had jaws that were 10 feet tall alone, and 9 feet wide. It had a large skull with eyes that popped out of it's head and were hanging by the optical nerve.

This monster kept breathing fire onto the battlefield in a phoenix pattern and somehow raising spikes from the ground, which were catching on fire as well. 

The giant jaw meant that the jets of flames were far less concentrated, but covered absolutely everywhere for a full 9 feet to either side of his face

The spikes ended up tripping me as I walked, and I stabbed my arm on them trying to keep from falling. 

This wasn't helped when I saw the flames coming down on me. But... my will is not so feeble, I still have a chance. 

I rip my hand out of the spikes, feeling nerves peel off as they stick to the spikes, but nerve wounds are somewhat easy to heal in the grand scheme of things.

I dash past the monster as fast as I can, through the hideous smoke and over the horrible columns of flames, narrowly avoiding the final hit it would take for him to win. 

The man pulls his hand together one more time and a stream of fire flew at me at incredible speed, but I narrowly dodged it and the flame hit his own monster, causing it to fall onto the now flaming spikes. 

There was a shriek as it impaled itself with spikes, however the shriek was quickly cut off by the sound of it drowning in its own blood.

 I leap forward as fast as I can and take him by surprise, he swung his sword several times rapidly but this reaction only hurt his chances because he sacrificed all skill to swing at random. 

As he kept swinging wildly I kept avoiding it last second to outlast him, however that wasn't easy. 

Frankly my ribs are hurting as well and I feel like I could black out. But either way the battle can't last much longer. Someone has to lose sooner or later. 

That's the thing isn't it? As long as there is a winner, someone loses. I can't let that be me. 

"This is fun, however you are finished!" 

He shouts loudly as he continues to swing with much more force. I dodge it as expected but he expected this and did another low sweep to knock me down and threw his sword at my head. 

I managed to tilt so that I only got a graze. This was a critical error on his part, if he would have cut off my leg after tripping me, then I wouldn't have been able to fight back so easily.

I finally swing the scythe and make the move that he didn't think to, I cut his peg leg off. The scythe easily carves through it and travels up into his stomach to eviscerate it as well and he screams loudly. 

He is teleported away by the technology and begins to regenerate. 

Since I won, I was automatically healed and all pain vanished. 

Meanwhile I head out, back into the tavern to wait. 

While in there I overheard a few people talking about me weirdly, but I couldn't listen very long, because the man ran over. "You have shown yourself to be strong  and competent kid. I will tell you everything."

 He spends several hours explaining who he is and his knowledge on Ginzolg. He explained that he is Getton Smillyon, the space knight.

He was known for cosmic missions throughout space and was once very renowned for his particular competence in combat of all forms against angels and demons alike.

 I thank him for all the information and set out. He apparently is a knight who explores space to discover the laws of reality in the space beyond the limits of simple planets, he also intended to find the place where the universe ends and where it disconnects from other dimensions. 

He discovered that this universe goes to a total of 60 Decillion light years before this disconnect happens, but in doing so he got close to Ginzolg and another cosmic entity that's name escapes him. 

They seemed to be in conflict but neither seemed to be good. The unknown one is supposedly really strong and also huge. 

He temporarily left his job because those creatures were too dangerous to deal with and overtime he began to become portly and get less interested in ever returning to his job. 

As I walk through the streets I am reminded of a simpler time, a time where my world was just fine, we were managing to hold out even in the center of the false haven that is the Holy realm. 

People in Heaven think it is such an honor, without understanding the true terrors of the Holy Realm beyond them. The rift that brought me here will close soon. 

I will have to find another way back, after my work here is finished. None of us are allowed to permanently leave our homes or we die for defying the divine order. 

However I won't succeed for a while. But I will succeed, my life depends on it and the man's words still echo in my head constantly. 

I can't accept defeat nor can I doubt myself, otherwise I won't even be given a chance to try to help. 

The man from before appeared in front of me again, I am still spooked by how much he looks like me. His name tag is off, but I do remember it. 

Earlier it said "Zinlot", though that is a familiar name, I can't place where I know it from. He began to speak. 

"It seems you've made your decision. So tell me, are you ready for your first step into the madness that awaits, are you ready, to prove your worth?" 

This time I don't wait, I don't stop, I don't even hesitate, I say it as soon as he stops talking. 

"Yes, I am ready. What do you want me to do, what will make you give me a shot?" He cracked a small smile for once. 

"I need you to find the Sigil sector at the temple of Aon. There is something important there that I will not disclose right now. Afterwards go to the center of universe E-4595-7B. In the center of it will be a special mirror. Your success here will decide your own fate, as well as that of Ginzolg."

He paused for a split second, as if deep in thought. I saw an unreadable expression cover his face as he stared into my eyes. 

"If you can bring the mirror back you are good enough. Any questions?""

There are none. I am just as good at reading others as he is, nothing I ask will help me, he will only get infuriated and take me less seriously. 

I can't ask more or he will decide I'm not good enough before I even start. 

I walk off and barter for a ticket to leave this dimension and head to the universe I am being sent to. 

Since there are no rifts here, I need to work with their lousy dimensional travel technology.

As I get onto a train, the name of the planet I want to go to echos in my head and is read by the mind-wave sensors in the ship. This sends me to the universe and exact planet I need to go to, the destination is the odd planet Valence.

That's where I'll find the first objective. There's a civil war going on through the planet though, so it'll be tough to survive.

Everyone's eyes are averted from me as I take my seat on the train. It feels not as if the air is suffocating, but as if even the air itself is being suffocated and dying around me.

I am a mage, a class of people in any race that are capable of utilizing Mana to my own advantage, and therefore the feeling of even needing oxygen is alien to me, and yet it still exists here, for reasons that I will never understand.

The atmosphere is covered with a thick tension, breathing is difficult. My heart is aching from the lack of oxygen intake, my head throbs horribly.

However as sudden as it started, I was able to breathe again. Weird. 

I also noticed that my breathing is taking conscious effort right now, what could this mean?

I want to ponder this more, but as time goes by in the moving train, the feeling disappears more and more until my breathing is finally back to normal. It's almost time. 

Once I complete this, I'll be able to figure more out, that'll help me defeat Ginzolg.

When I find him, I will make sure that he regrets what he did to the Holy Realm. Either he dies, or I do. Nothing else matters.

I stare out the window and into the deep world beyond it, but nothing good comes out of it in the end. There's a void surrounding the train as it goes through it's path.

I hear a bell, god not that sound. It shudders coldly, I can feel the scar on my heart burn and itch painfully and lock up as the sound continues to ring around me.

Please no, not this- I can't do this, why does that dreadful sound haunt me so much?

I need that sound to disappear, why can't it? Please, please, Holy Ghost, answer my prayers and silence the dread and send me on a path of virtuous justice and revenge.

Those burnt and forgotten souls who get stuck in the heart of the fire with their lives remaining wake up to themselves forged as a different person.

I can feel the Holy Ghost's will resonating, an all powerful sensation, a feeling of divine knowledge as I fight to calm my burning heart, staring into the horrifying void outside the train.

As I stare into the window, my eyes burn deeply, and my reflection seems to change and distort in front of me.

For a split second, I can see my own face contort. A thousand yard stare looking me in the eyes as weird shapes begin orbiting me. A viscous black substance pouring from my arm as the same happened to my skull, only that it was a disgustingly vivid red, more extreme than blood.

I look around, but none of it is real. It's just the reflection. I look back at the window, but the weird reflections are gone.

Everything is back to normal, everything is fine. I have no time to worry about something that isn't directly harming me, I refuse to think any more about it than that.