A man can be seen running away in the middle of a burnt forest, his steps quick but exhausted it's obvious looking at his appearance that he was in his last moments. His body missing an arm, his right eye bloodied to the point of being unusable, the left part of his torso with a burn so brutal that his torso appears to be made of coal. Even still, he ran.

What was once a blue sky was now pitch black. What was once green grass now was an ashen grey. It was as if all color was drained from the world. Even when it was day, the sky made it seem like night, even when light was present.

Suddenly, a noise could be heard in the distance, a grunt? No, it doesn't make a sound, but then what? Maybe... just maybe it was resistance?

"If we talk about her, then it's actually possible," the man smirks to himself. But his little peace ends quickly as an object is thrown at him at such speeds that it would normally be impossible to react.

-Eye of Intention-

With a quick activation of the artifact installed in his remaining left eye, he feels the incoming attack and manages to dodge it. 

"Damnit...that was close...heh... she hasn't lost her touch, although maybe she wouldn't have missed in the past. " 

The man continues to run. Even though it delays the inevitable, he still tries to survive even a second longer. Maybe he could think of a plan to escape the situation like he always does. 

'No. That's a stupid thought. I am too tired and damaged to be able to pull it off. Heck, even my artifacts are broken at this point. It looks like this is truly my last day on earth...' The man is starting to realize that this is the end.

The man eventually ends up in a clearing in the middle of the forest as his legs give up, and he falls to the ground.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"...*huff*...*huff*...looks like...this is it..." The man takes a breather after a long time. His lungs have been burning since a while ago, but due to the adrenaline, he didn't notice. 

Footsteps can be heard coming from the forest. Slowly, a familiar figure steps into the light.

Her blonde hair flaps in the wind, and her eyes, which were once a beautiful deep blue, were now completely black except for her purple Irises. And it appeared as if purple veins were coming out of her eyes, and they were pulsating. Her armor, once a silver tone, now was dirty with mud and blood. Her body now covered in vine like growth. Her sword once a symbol of salvation was now a sign of the end.

"...you know...if I am going to die, at least it was in your hands... not everyone can say that they died in the hands of the "Destined hero"..." The man was losing his breath, even still a laugh escaped his mouth.

"..." Nothing escaped her mouth, no...it was better to say, Nothing escaped its mouth.

"So...end of the road...I wonder what are you gonna do..." The feminine figure gets closer, her sword being brandished in a menacing way. 

The man slowly reaches behind him as it starts reaching its hand towards him.

"You know... I always thought that you were never fit to be a hero." It is a few steps away, but that doesn't bother him."but...I never realized that people like you are needed...people..." it is about to strike, but then...

"...living in a lie despite knowing it is one..." The man grabs a stone with a mark in it and brings it up. It opens its eyes wide, but before it could do anything.

"Sorry I couldn't do anything." The Man presses the stone as hard as he could, and the moment a crack is heard...

An explosion so powerful that it could level an entire mountain range happened in front of both figures, leaving only a massive crater where one human used to lay.

Then...

Black.

Nothingness.

Peace.

But... even in that peace, a voice is heard.

"It took you a while to come here, huh?"

The man opens his eyes and sees that he is in a boat in the middle of the ocean.

"I thought the afterlife would be more pretty" he says while accommodating himself 

"Ha...kid this place isn't the afterlife... at least not yet" the figure guides the boat while talking.

"Then let's go. After all, I am probably currently ashes. " The man quickly accepted his fate. After all, he was ready since a while ago.

"Believe me, i wish I could do that, but sadly, things aren't good enough for that to happen" 

"What do you mean?"

"***"

"Shit... I guess that explains quite a few things about the Calamity"

"Yeah, that's why sadly your rest must be delayed."

"I thought beings like you couldn't intervene in such a way?"

"This is an exception. The balance accepted the intervention."

"So it's that serious, huh?"

"Sadly, yes, my good friend."

"So what do I have to do? Go to some different realm to get a weapon or something? I heard that the soul realm managed to resist to some degree the Calamity"

"***"

"...really?..."

"Sorry."

"The world really hates me, huh?"

"..."

Suddenly, everything turned white.

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