“Uhh…”

When he woke up lying on the sandy wasteland, he didn’t know who he was.

As his eyes opened, and he slowly adjusted to the bright, scorching sun above him, he turned his head to the left.

Nothing was in sight except a few rock formations.

He then turned his head to the right.

About a few miles away from him, something large was sticking out of the sand. As he guided his eyes to the top of the mysterious object, he could see carvings and engravings, weathered but still visible.

It seemed to be a statue of some kind, probably something some people used to worship, although of who, he hadn’t the faintest idea. The features had long faded into an unknown shape, and even if they were clear enough to make out, he doubted he would know.

It slowly dawned on him that he didn’t know where he was either. Or why he was lying on the ground. Or how long he had been lying there.

It wasn’t that he had forgotten everything. He still remembered a lot of things, such as how to walk and talk, along with some helpful knowledge on survival, but he still couldn’t find an answer as to who and where he was.

He tried to recall any memory, anything that could give him a clue, but his mind drew blanks. All he could do right now was think of what he had to do next.

I have to get up.

As he slowly stood up, a sudden flash of pain shot through his head, and he stumbled a little before catching his footing.

Gah! What the hell?

The pain had been brief, but something had caused it, and he could tell it was something important.

A memory?

However, even as he tried his best to recall the thing he saw, it would not return to him, and the pain soon subsided.

…maybe it wasn’t important.

Right now, there were more important things to focus on, the most important thing being that he had to find out where he was.

“Hmm…”

This turned out to be more difficult than he had thought. While he was in a desert-like area, the fact that it was so barren and empty, save for the statue, made it difficult for him to pinpoint any points of interest or landmarks.

In addition, even as he walked up to the mysterious statue and studied it thoroughly, he could not find anything that could give him any clues.

Alright, he mused as he walked in circles around the statue, if I can’t find anything, I need to at least go somewhere, but where should I go?

Even if he could use the position of the shadows as indicators for directions, he still had to pick a direction to choose from, and considering he had no idea what lay in each direction, all of them seemed promising, but at the same time felt worrying, as the possibility that wherever he went could turn up nothing was significantly high.

Ah, screw it.

In the end, he decided to walk in a random direction, bracing for the worst.

**********************

He walked along the barren lands for hours, and still his surroundings didn’t change.

Apart from the occasional rock, it was completely empty. Not even any other weird statues appeared.

His situation was definitely bleak. Or so he had thought.

In reality, despite the overwhelming heat rising from the ground, and despite the fact that he had walking for hours without drinking anything, taking a break or finding some shade, he was still able to continue walking. He didn’t even feel hot or tired.

The nagging feeling that something was decidedly off with himself was growing stronger and stronger as he gradually came to that realization. Still, he shook it off and persisted.

Very soon, the sun set, and the freezing night soon arrived. And yet, despite the rapid drop in temperature, he still felt fine.

Even though he was sure he had walked the distance of a marathon, maybe even longer, it was as if he hadn’t even started it yet.

As he pondered his seemingly unlimited supply of stamina, he decided to do a little test.

He stopped walking, and crouched down in a sprinter’s position.

3, 2, 1… go!

Immediately as he took off running, his surroundings zoomed by in a flash. Rocks and dunes were mere blurs. The cold wind was blowing directly in his face in a feeble attempt to stop him.

In just 10 seconds, he had covered what he felt was a few miles.

And still despite all that, he was only out of breath for a second before he quickly recovered and was ready to go again.

What the hell is with my body?

Despite having no memories of who he was at all, he knew that a human could not be physically capable of doing such a thing. It was almost as if he was something… different.

Am I not… human?

Just as he was trying to process it, a sudden noise startled him.

“Click, click.”

It was a distinct clicking noise. A noise that he knew was not natural. A noise that could have only come from…

A living thing.

Perhaps he was on the right path after all.

Pushing the strangeness of his body to the back of his mind, he ran towards the source of the noise, though in the event he could potentially run past it, he deliberately slowed down such that he was running at what he believed was a normal human’s running speed.

Eventually, he spotted it.

The small fire, being protected from the wind by what looked like a small tent made from some kind of fireproof material.

Huddled close to it were a bunch of hooded figures, all varying in different shapes and sizes. Despite them wearing what appeared to be incredibly thick coverings, they were still shivering from the cold.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

People.

This was his first encounter with anything living, let alone possibly human, since he had woken up.

So of course, he ran up to them, with a list of questions he was prepared to ask.

The shivering figures turned to look in his direction as he got closer.

“…”

For one second, they stopped. They kept staring. Their faces were covered in wrapped cloth and goggles, so he couldn’t tell what their expressions were.

Were they shocked? Were they happy? He didn’t know.

“………………..!!!!!!!”

Suddenly, one of the smaller figures let out a scream, stopping him in his tracks just a few feet away.

“…!!!”

“…….!!!”

The other figures began to speak loudly. Their voices were muffled as they were blocked by his distance from them, the loud wind, and their cloth coverings, but he could hear the scream very clearly.

It wasn’t a scream of surprise either.

It was a scream of fear.

He knew that it wasn’t something behind him that caused that scream. It was him. Something about him was making them afraid.

“….!!!!”

“………!!!!”

All the figures had stood up now. The one closest to his position pulled something from his back and pointed it at him.

A… gun?

It looked slightly different, more haphazardly designed than what the mental image in his mind showed him as he made the connection, but it was definitely a gun.

“Agh!”

Another burst of pain shot through his head, but it wasn’t a bullet.

Another memory.

Something about that gun triggered it. Something that was strangely familiar.

“…!!!!”

As he stumbled, the figure pointing the gun shouted at him once again, but he could hardly register it.

What the hell… is happening?

A gun.

A bullet.

A gunshot.

Pieces of jumbled memory raced through his mind, struggling to connect together.

Damn it, this isn’t the time! I’m about to die! I need to…

Suddenly, everything cleared up.

The wind died. The flapping cloth covering the figure’s mouth came loose, exposing their mouth.

“…!!!!”

…monster?

With the sudden dying of the wind, the fire roared, briefly illuminating the area, and his shadow, which he hadn’t paid attention to during his walk, became much more vivid and clear, so he could see what it was showing.

…oh.

As the gun the figure held flashed, he finally understood.

The shadow he was casting was much larger than those from the other figures. Taller, wider, and most importantly, it had some things the other shadows did not have.

Horns and four arms.

His body twisted backwards, and he felt a searing pain in his chest, but even as his consciousness faded, only one thought came to his mind.

I’m… a monster.

**********************

“Crunch.”

“Ughhh…”

When he came to once again, the pain he felt in his chest was gone

Did I die?

It did feel like he was fine, as though nothing had happened. Yet, he knew that probably wasn’t the answer. He was still alive.

Is it because I’m a monster? One that cannot die?

“Crunch.”

As his consciousness returned, the revelation came back to him, and he begrudgingly accepted it.

If I’m a monster to everyone, maybe it’ll be better for me to not interact with anyone anymore. Maybe I should just disappear.

“Crunch.”

What the hell is that noise?

The crunching sounds seemed to be coming from an area disturbingly close to him.

It can’t be…

It was the area he saw the hooded figures before he was shot.

He quickly got up, and laid his eyes on the area again.

“…”

It was a scene of carnage and death. The small fire had long died out and was now a pile of cinders and burnt wood. There were scattered pieces of cloth around it, ripped and torn apart. Guns and other makeshift weapons were strewn about, with some of them broken beyond repair.

And accompanying the many bloodstains on the sand were the remains of several people, gory and messily brutalized by a powerful force.

He felt like looking away or throwing up.

Briefly, a thought came into his mind.

Did I do this?

“Crunch.”

However, he quickly dismissed it as he heard another sound, and he turned.

Near the bloody scene was something chewing on a body. It looked like a wolf, but about three times bigger than normal. Its 6 limbs looked oddly humanlike, several growths protruded from its black fur, and its mouth stretched all the way to nearly half of its body.

Much like what the figures had called him, he could only describe the thing as a monster.

A monster… like me?

The wolf-thing had stopped crunching the body in its disgustingly wide mouth as soon as he spotted it, and now it turned to look at him, snarling and growling.

No, I can’t take this. Why must I be here right now? Why am I even here?

It began to walk towards him, becoming faster with each step from its 6 legs.

If I’m a monster, should I work together with the thing? Should I kill it? How should I even kill it? I don’t have a weapon!

It was charging at him now, its jaw wide open and ready to strike.

Ah, screw it.

It all ended in an instant.

The wolf beast stumbled behind him before both of its cleanly-split halves burst into flames. It burned until its flesh and bones were nothing more than a pile of ashes.

He was covered in its blood, with its remains and entrails lying around him in chunks. He hadn’t moved a single step at all.

And in his hands was a sword made out of fire, having materialized out of thin air.

He blankly stared down at his newly-created weapon in slight shock before it quickly disappeared as soon as it appeared.

He didn’t know what had happened. He was sure he had been prepared to die. After all, he didn’t feel like he needed to exist in this world as a monster.

Despite that, he still saved himself.

Why did I do that?

Perhaps deep inside his mind, he still felt like he needed to live. To find out his true purpose.

But what was his purpose?

Without any regard for the remains of the beast he was standing in, he crumpled to the ground and held his head.

Was his purpose to bring death? Was it to kill people, or destroy beasts? He hadn’t the faintest idea.

Just then.

“I found you.”

He heard a female voice, calm and soft, yet full of energy. It seemed to be coming from above him, so he tilted his head upwards.

“…”

What he saw was something he couldn’t fully comprehend. The closest description he could give to it seemed preposterous as well.

It was a girl in a white dress, glowing brightly like the sun, or perhaps even brighter. Behind her, two big white wings flapped with the wind, sending feathers down to him. Above her head was what looked like a halo, although as she floated down to the ground and he could see her more clearly, it was just a strand of her pearly silver hair that was shaped like one.

An… angel?

Maybe he was dead after all, and she was coming to guide his soul back to the afterlife.

“I would say that went quite smoothly. And I haven’t even used these things before, so it’s truly a miracle I got them to work.”

Or maybe not.

“Anyway, I finally found you. You didn’t make it easy for me, you know? Especially considering this place is ridiculously empty. It’s like finding an ant in a field.”

She seemed friendly. Way too friendly.

“Hey, what’s wrong? You seem a bit stressed out. Just relax.”

No, I can’t. I’m a monster, I might hurt you! You seem like a nice girl, so I don’t want to do it! Stay away!

He took a few steps back, raising his hands up towards her, motioning for her to stay away.

“Oh, for god’s sake.”

In response, she sighed and briskly walked towards him.

“Listen to me.”

She was quickly in front of him. Before he could even react, she grabbed his head and without hesitation, she lowered hers until both of their foreheads were touching each other.

“I see you.”

That was that. It was as though those three words that she whispered were the ones he had been waiting to hear his whole life. It felt like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and he slowly relaxed.

“Calmed down?”

“…yes.”

For the first time in a while, he finally spoke.

“Good,” the girl gave a radiant smile, “I understand you have a lot of questions. I’ll try my best to answer them, but here’s what I need from you first.”

She took a step back before dropping her request on him.

“I need your help in reversing the end of the world.”