The girl ran across the forest.Mist covering her sight, she couldn't see even an inch further than her nose.

However, she kept on running.

After all, she couldn't afford to stop.

As she ran, the branches to her right creaked.

Then, the ones to the left did too.

The tree she had just passed now had big claw marks on it's surface.

Three thin and long white lines that scratched the strong tree.

She ran, moving forward.

Her beautiful red dress torn apart in various places, she had discarded her shoes long ago.

Her blonde hair swayed with the wind.

Suddenly, her hair was cut by one inch.

She was crying.

Tears flowed down her face, like a grieving waterfall.

As she ran, she decided to look at her sides for a second.

And she saw.

She saw it.

It that had been chasing her for so long.

A black beast.

A shadow that could run much faster.

It was just toying with her, like a cat would toy with a mouse.

It's purpose was to scare her, to drown her in despair, to let her know that she had no way out of that hellish forest.

And it fulfilled it's goal, the girl despaired. She cried, she begged for help, she screamed her heart out, looking for hope, for a light other than the white mist, for something, anything, that could save her from her demise, from her faith.

However, in this world, faith is written in stone, and there's no escape.

Like she tried to escape from the forest and the beast, many others had tried to escape from their respective faith.

Towns that would grow to become a Kingdom, Towns that would stay as a rural field, and Towns that would burn to the ground after gaining their first inhabitants.

Heroes that would defeat the Demon King, Heroes that wouldn't even get to the Demon Land, and Heroes that wouldn't even be recognized as so.

Demons born to be the Demon King, Demons that would die in their first battle, and Demons that would be eaten by their own kind.

Such a world this is.

Such a world, is Qualia.

A world ruled by faith, where Gods are no more than a mere word, where Heroes and Demon Kings are no more than stories in old books, where people are born, live and die for no reason, a world that has already seen the same cycle repeat itself millions of times.

In this world which has completed it's own story more times than it should originally have, a gear remains still. A gear that will change it all. A gear that will mark the end and the beginning. A gear that is the world, God and faith itself.

And so, as the gear remains unmoving, the girl's faith will not change.

What her faith is, however, she doesn't know, neither does the black beast chasing her, and neither does the boy walking near them. But, as for now, the girl runs, the beast chases and the boy walks.

And the girl doesn't stop.

She runs and runs.

She has cuts all over her arms and legs, bruises in her beautiful face. Her blue eyes seem red because of the tears, and her blonde hair is covered in dirt.

She is tired, her breath erratic, she is approaching her limit.

But even so, she runs.

She knows it very well, she knows that should she stop, that'd be the end.

No reincarnation, no second chances, no God to pick her up because of pure mercy.

That's why, she keeps on going.

How much time has passed since she started running, she doesn't know.

How many times she has seen the same trees, she doesn't know.

Or, are those trees really the same?

It doesn't really matter. After all, as long as there is no way out of the forest, nothing's of use,

But she is certain.

She is certain that she will be able to find the exit.

Her sight covered by mist, occasionally seeing a black blur running next to her.

Branches creaking, bushes moving and trees being scratched, it wouldn't be strange for her to go mad.

Still, she clings to her sanity.

She's young, but she keeps on fighting, not losing hope.

She hears a growl.

The beast is getting bored. And hungry.

There's no time left.

She's done what she could to escape, to entertain it.

She has no ace up the sleeve. She wasn't born to be a Hero, she doesn't have a sacred sword given to her by the King, she doesn't have a forbidden magic that some mysterious man taught to her because she was special. No, she was supposed to be just another villager in just another town.

A villager who happened to pass by the forest which happened to be near her village.

But nothing about that mattered anymore.

Her time had run out.

Something grabbed her leg, making her fall.

As she stayed facing the floor, something turned her around.

In that moment, she hit the something with a little rock in her hand.

She wasn't dumb.

During the time between she fell and something turned her around, she grabbed a rock on the floor, her only available weapon.

She smashed the rock against the something's head with all her might.

What little strength was left within her, she used all of it, in hope of making the beast retreat, giving her a chance to stand and run, at least for a few more meters.

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But nothing really happened.

The something, a black beast in shape of a wolf, didn't even flinch.

The wolf twitched a little, slightly moving it's mouth.

The girl could only look as the beast tried to laugh, mocking her, making fun of her useless attempt to survive, to return to the family that had been worryingly waiting for her since some time ago.

The girl had a house.

In that house, a father, a mother and a newborn brother, they were all waiting for her.

She shed a single tear as she remembered.

What would become of her family if she died now?

Would anything really change?

They would grieve for her, of course they would. But, in a week or so, they would move on, continuing with their lives, doing as they please, blindly following the faith chosen for them.

In less than a minute, the girl had noticed how horrible this world is.

Qualia grants no mercy, and neither does the beast.

Drool fell from the beast's mouth, making her face even wetter.

She closed her eyes, waiting.

Death was only natural for her.

The only thing she could wish for, was for the beast to make it as fast as possible. Preferably, without pain.

However, she knew that that wouldn't happen.

The beast would continue to toy with her even after death.

It would devour her, as slowly as possible, trying to keep her alive just to hear her scream. To look directly at her eyes, making sure she knew she doesn't have a way out.

As the beast's mouth drew close, a bush moved.

「Hey, you.」

A voice said.

Nor the beast nor the girl paid any attention.

「Hey. Hey! That girl over there!」

Surprised, both the beast and the girl turned to see who it was that was disturbing the scene.

A boy stood there.

With short, black hair and eyes as blue as the ocean.

Clad in armor forged of Black Iron, an uncommon material even in rich cities.

A big black sword on his back, almost as if consuming light itself.

Even if no one told her, the girl could tell just by his appearance that he was what people could call a hero.

If so, that would be convenient.

A hero, would save the girl from a beast, almost like in a fairytale.

「Do you need some help?」

The girl, hearing those words, stared at him, amazed.

With more tears falling down her face, she happily nodded.

「Then, I guess it's time to fight.

Come at me, you unsightly beast!」

The beast growled.

Then, it jumped towards the Hero at lightning speed.

However-

「Just like I predicted!

<>!」

The hero- no, the black hero unsheathed the sword on his back and pointed it towards the beast.

Then, he sliced twice at almost the same time, making a cross.

The moment the cross touched the beast, the beast vanished, leaving a black cloud of dust on the air.

「Well, that was easy for a Beast.

Now, you, come here, I'll guide you to the village.」

The girl was amazed.

She had never in her life seen someone do that to a beast in a single attack.

The black hero, was fated to meet this girl.

She was sure of this.

And, as if confirming this, the black hero extended her hand towards the girl on the floor.

「Here, let me he-」

He couldn't finish his sentence.

The girl's smiling face was tainted in red.

The black hero, on the other hand, had three claws growing out of his chest, where his heart one was.

The beastly hand which pierced his chest returned and immediately stroke again, the black hero's chest now with two holes, blood gushing out from both.

But it didn't stop there.

The claws pierced the black hero again and again.

But, somehow, due to his strength, he hadn't died. Or at least, not yet.

Using all he had left, he turned his head.

What he saw, was a long black arm coming out from the cloud of dust the beast had left behind when it vanished.

Following the arm, he could see that, indeed, it was piercing his chest.

And then, from the cloud, a black figure came out.

The beast.

As a dust being, it had returned to it's amorphous state before the strike, where it stayed for some seconds before finding the chance to attack the black hero.

Then, the beast looked at him in the eyes.

Red eyes, glowing like rubies started at the blue eyes of the black hero.

A second later, the black hero's head was bitten off.

The decapitated body of the boy, fell to the ground, lying next to the girl.

And, as for the girl with the frozen smile and blood on her face, she just started laughing.

Two days later, in a village not too far away from there, two corpses were found.

One clad in black iron armor and the other one in a torn off dress.

Well, those weren't really corpses.

After all, some limbs can't be considered as people.

The black hero's faith was to encounter the girl and the beast on his way to the Kingdom's Capital.

The beast's faith was to find two preys instead of one.

But none of them knew, and neither did the girl.

And even then, Qualia is what it is, and remains as what it is.

And even then, the gear stays still.