Rooted on the spot, Dean fixed his eyes on the slowly opening gate.

After a few moments, the gate opened completely, and what Dean saw left him gasping for breath.

There was no ground; even with his enhanced vision, Dean could see no bottom.

All he saw was a dark abyss that seemed to stretch for eternity.

[Rejoice, child.]

[You are about to acquire true power. You are about to begin the journey to shed your skin of mortality and ascend into godhood.]

Dean found his body moving once more toward the abyss.

The positive aspect was that at least now he could notice his movement.

However, the only thing this left him was panic.

[For I have decided to take you as my successor!]

He crossed the opened gate and stepped into the abyss.

He thought he would fall yet he didn't.

Even though what lay beneath him was empty darkness, he felt like he was still on land.

He tried to gain control over his body but he couldn't.

His body failed to respond to his will.

He felt so powerless.

He opened his mouth to speak, wanting to convey his intentions of having no interest in being the so-called successor of whatever inheritance.

Yet...

No sound escaped from his mouth.

'What is this?'

'It is as if this body isn't mine. All I have left is my consciousness.'

He was pulled out of his thoughts when black tendrils began to rise from the deep abyss beneath him.

They all drew towards him from seemingly every direction.

'AAAAAAHHHHHHH!'

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'SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP ME!'

He wanted to scream, but no sound came out.

Having no control over his own body, all Dean could do was continue to watch the black tendrils move closer to him.

He was engulfed by fear.

'Mother.'

Dean felt so sad.

'Why me?'

'What did I do to deserve all this?'

The endless black tendrils clung to him from all directions.

His entire figure was soon covered.

He thought he would die, yet...

<< INITIALIZING...>>

A blue panel appeared in front of his vision.

It was a stark contrast to the now endless darkness around him.

<< SYSTEM BOOTING FAILED! >>

<< REQUIREMENTS NOT MET. >>

'Requirements?'

'What is going on?'

<< REQUIREMENT:

COLLECT SOULS: 27, 436, 850. >>

'Huh?'

Dean's mind went blank for a second there.

<< LARGE NUMBER OF SOULS DETECTED! >>

<>

<>

More messages continued to pop up.

<>

…..

<>

Dean's mind was still clouded in confusion.

For some reason, the number kept decreasing at a very fast pace.

He had a hunch about what might be going on, but he subconsciously refused to believe such a thing.

He could feel some movements around him.

It felt like the black tendrils that were clung to him were releasing something.

However, he couldn't tell exactly what was going on.

…..

The soul count kept decreasing until...

<>

<>

When the soul count reached zero, a change occurred.

<>

<>

…..

<>

The number finally stopped rising.

<>

<

00:59:59>>

A series of messages continued to flash on the blue panel before him.

<>

<>

Still in his state of confusion, Dean felt the surrounding darkness begin to recede.

The black tendrils that clung to him began receding into the abyss.

When the black tendrils retreated completely from view, Dean finally felt the shackles on him broken.

With the shackles now broken, he regained control over his body.

He checked his body to see if there was anything amiss, but he didn't notice any change.

"What the hell just happened?"

He gazed at the abyss beneath him and tried to find anything about the place.

"Hello!"

He called out.

'What about the voice I heard before?'

"Hello!"

Turning back, he was about to call out once more, but his voice immediately died down before coming out.

Focusing his attention on what was outside the gate, he realized that the corpses that loitered the ground were gone.

What was left of them were empty clothes and...

Black dust!

Dean had a premonition.

*Ba-dum.* *Ba-dum.*

His heart started beating erratically.

He took a step forward.

Two steps.

Three steps.

Until he found himself running.

Coming out of the gate, Dean's face turned pale.

What greeted him was silence.

There was no screeching of birds, no creaking of insects, there was only absolute silence.

Aside from the silence, there was nothing.

No grasses in view, no trees.

There was only black dust.

They covered the whole ground in his view, giving an impression of death.

"No!"

"It can't be..."

Tears started streaming down his face as he felt his previous hunch coming true.

Gazing at the faraway city, Dean raised his legs and ran with all his might.