He was the only one left.
His body charred, blackened, and torn. Both his arms, gone. Looking around him, Erik only saw a grey wasteland. The ashes, either falling from the blackened sky or rising from the volcanic terrain, filled his vision. Yet Erik knew – he was the only one left. He was the last human alive.
Within a moment, he heard the familiar ring of a notification. A holographic screen popped up in his vision.
[Congratulations! You and your party have defeated The Timeless: Emperor Ragnorok. As a reward, you have received 2,900,000,000 experience.]
[You have obtained the Spear of Raging Flames - Legendary]
[You have obtained the Goddess’ Tear - Mythical]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!}
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
Seven levels from a single battle. Erik knew, it was because the rest of his party had been wiped out, and he had been the sole living member of his party to receive the reward for the battle.
In a rush of light, Erik’s body healed as a result of the level-up. His arms were still gone, however. It was always like this. Whenever someone leveled, they would be healed to their body’s original, maximum potential - but lost limbs would not heal.
Although the Emperor Ragnorok was defeated, Erik felt no joy. In order to achieve this victory, his party had been nearly wiped. The only reason Erik was alive was due to his class, Archemage. As the sole mage of the party, he was stationed at the rear, the only reason he had not been slaughtered by Emperor Ragnorok. And as a result, Erik was the last living human.
Erik breathed a rough sigh, and thought back to when it all started. 25 years. It felt so short, but that was how long humanity had lasted. 25 years ago, on a dark October night, the System first announced itself, and humanity faced the worst crisis of its history. Humanity, deemed by the System to be technologically and intellectually sufficient, was transferred to Minerva. To be precise, Minerva was a world in itself, and it could be described as a battlefield. Minerva was the place of gathering for 7 different intelligent races on a single world to fight amongst themselves, to determine the strongest.
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It was a sick joke by the gods. For pure entertainment purposes, the gods pitted the 7 intelligent races under their jurisdiction under a cruel game of survival. Winning meant survival, while losing meant the eradication of the entire species. And only one species of the 7 could win.
Humanity had survived the onslaught of the war for 25 short years. Within the first 7 years, the weakest species, the Ratteans, were eliminated. Nearly two decades later, humanity was the next to go, it seemed.
With a glance, Erik checked the items he had received from the battle in his inventory. One was a legendary spear, a weapon Erik knew he would not use since he was a mage. The other, however, quickly grabbed his attention. It was the first mythical item he had seen, and its effects were indeed truly mythical.
[Goddess’ Tear – Mythical
Description: A lonely goddess’ tear of sorrow, crystallized through the power of her sheer emotions. ‘If only I could reverse time.’
Effect: Invoke this item to reverse time to a period of the user’s desire.
A target may be selected.
The target will retain his memories of this timeline.]
It was an item befitting its mythical rating. With a shock, Erik realized. It… could save humanity. If he reversed time, with his memories intact, he could change so much. He could become stronger than ever before! He would know the location of priceless treasures and eliminate humanity’s worst disasters at its roots.
But… Erik shook his head.
He should not be the one to go. Erik knew, he had already maximized his potential. As the Archemage of humanity’s last surviving party, he was strong. Unbelievably strong. Strongest, in fact, than everyone else, including those in his party.
But he was not the one with the most potential. Erik’s closest friend, Isen, most definitely was. He was humanity’s greatest swordsman, and also a member of humanity’s final party that had defeated the Emperor Ragnarok. But he was woefully unlucky during the beginning, and had lost his right hand within the first month of coming to Minerva. Isen had once told him that it was his biggest regret. Despite losing his dominant hand, Isen still became the greatest swordsman of humanity, which was representative of his potential.
And also, Erik didn’t want to go back. It had been a ridiculously harrowing 25 years, and he was tired. Erik wanted to rest… and so he would push the task of saving humanity to his longtime friend.
‘When we meet, please take care of me. Good luck, Isen. I’ll see you on the other side.’
Erik activated the Goddess’ Tear, and selected Isen’s corpse as its target.
In a brilliant flash of light, the Goddess’ Tear activated. Erik closed his eyes, a tired smile plastered on his bloody face. When the light receded, 25 years earlier, Isen opened his eyes.