Chương 1: One last time

The sky was angry—if such a thing was possible. Not in the way of storms or wind. Though lightning still tore through it, but that wasn't what made it feel hostile. It was the fire that churned overhead in a massive vortex, spiraling endlessly. It was a burning crown that never settled and where the flames didn't reach, there was only void. No sun to mark the day or stars to guide the night. And beneath it, people were dying. Some still stood tall.

Figures like the Witch of Decay moved through the battlefield like a walking extinction event, rot spreading in her wake. The LightFather burned like a second sun, each gesture erasing hundreds of demon spawn at once. They were forces unto themselves, untouched by the chaos that consumed everyone else. But they were the exceptions. The rest, the ordinary survivors—if anyone could even be called ordinary anymore—were being overwhelmed.

Demon spawn poured in by the thousands, inky bodies slick with ichor, claws sharp enough to tear through armor, bone, and flesh without slowing. They swarmed in waves, relentless, and looking for death. Ethan fought, moved, killed—but his eyes kept drifting. Less than fifty thousand. That was all that remained of humanity's army. If someone had told him all those years ago that it would come to this, he would have laughed. Told them to get their head checked.

Standing among the dwindling survivors now, the truth settled in with crushing weight. There was no hope. Even if they killed the Demon King, then what? The dead wouldn't rise. The erased wouldn't return. Power could bend reality, but it couldn't bring back the dead.

"What the fuck are you doing!" Alex's shout snapped Ethan out of it. Impact hit him a heartbeat later. Alex slammed into him from the side, hard enough to knock him off his feet. Ethan hit the ground and rolled, breath forced from his lungs. He looked up just in time to see why. Alex had both hands locked around a hell hound's jaws. The creature was massive, its teeth slick with blood, saliva dripping as it thrashed and snarled. Its claws tore gouges into the ground as it tried to pull free. But Alex didn't budge.

With a raw shout, he pulled. There was a wet, grotesque sound as the hound's jaws split apart. Black blood spilled across the ground as the creature shrieked, thrashing wildly, but it was already over. Alex ripped the lower jaw free and hurled the hellspawn down. Blue flame ignited around Alex's fists, the air around them vibrating, warping under the pressure. One clean strike followed and the hell hound's head ceased to exist. By the time Alex straightened, Ethan was already back on his feet.

"Thanks for the save," Ethan said. Alex flicked his hands, blood and ichor snapping free from his knuckles.

"Just buy me a beer once we finish this level."

"I'll buy you ten," Ethan said. Alex laughed, the sound sharp and brief. Then his expression shifted. The humor drained away as he turned toward the castle. Ethan followed his gaze. The fortress loomed above the battlefield, massive and absolute. Its walls were obsidian-black, darker even than the void-choked sky behind it. Fire from the burning heavens reflected across its surface, crawling along the stone like living things, but never truly illuminating it. The castle radiated menace.

Ethan wasn't sure whether the fear tightening his chest came from the structure itself or from what waited inside. Ever since they had reached the final level, he had felt it. The presence of the Demon King pressed down on the realm like tar. It clung to everything. Seeped into thought, into muscle, into resolve. Slowly, relentlessly, it wore away at those exposed to it. Ethan drew his aura tight around himself, keeping it close as possible. It dulled the worst of the pressure but couldn't erase it entirely.

And for that, he was regretful. He should have tried harder to gain power. Now it was too late, and he tried all he could just to keep the Demon King's presence from overwhelming him. As his aura tightened around his body, his armor creaked. It likely wouldn't see another battle. It was dented, cracked, and black ichor smeared across the metal that had once been clean and polished. It was evidence of their advance. His grip tightened around the hilt of his greatsword.

The blade was no better, but it would at least see him through once more. Ahead of them, the Sage of Elements hovered above the battlefield. Their last hope. The only one among them with even a chance of saving humanity. Ethan's perception couldn't fully grasp it, but he could feel the mana rolling off the Sage in massive waves, pressure rippling through the air and washing over the ruined field. The Sage raised his staff. A spark ignited at its tip. It grew quickly.

Fire condensed, folding inward on itself, expanding at the same time. Within moments, it burned like a miniature sun. Then it was launched. Ethan watched it descend. If it had been anyone else, he would have braced himself. Would have raised defenses, prepared to endure the impact. The Sage may be an arrogant prick, but he wouldn't harm the last people who could help him. The fire struck the battlefield and spread outward in a roaring wave. Demon spawn caught in its path were erased.

Bodies burned to nothing, their screams swallowed by the inferno. But when the flame reached the human lines, it changed. A cleansing warmth washed over them instead. Ethan felt the fire slip through the seams of his armor, threading through him. The sensation was like standing near a fire on a winter night—deep, steady warmth that soothed torn muscles and sealed shallow wounds. Fatigue eased slightly, though the exhaustion beneath it remained. Still, it helped.

The Sage descended through the fading embers, lightning crackling across his form as wind spiraled around him. His feet touched the ground softly, dust puffing up around the impact. He stood closer to the front lines now, nearer the thick of the fighting. Yet his voice carried as though he stood beside Ethan.

"The time has come," the Sage said. His gaze swept across the remnants of humanity.

"For too long, we have suffered. For too long, we have endured—scraping by, clinging to survival, searching for our place in this new world." He lifted his staff and pointed toward the castle.

"But now we are here. This is the final step. The demon hides behind stone and shadow. What strength does a coward truly possess?" His voice hardened.

"It is time to end this. For all of us. For humanity." The remaining army roared. Power surged from the Sage as the elements answered his call. Fire, wind, lightning, and earth spiraled together. His staff—little more than a twisted branch—crackled violently as chunks of ground tore free beneath him. Stone compressed, fused, growing larger and denser with every heartbeat. Then he hurled it. The mass streaked through the air and slammed into the castle tower. Obsidian shattered.

Debris exploded outward as the structure buckled under the impact. That was the signal. As if a dam had broken, what remained of humanity surged forward. Spells ignited the air. Blades flashed. War cries echoed across the field. Spells tore the castle apart. Entire sections of obsidian wall lay shattered, half-melted, half-collapsed, spilling debris and fire into the field below. From the broken ruin, hellspawn poured outward—hounds first, then winged shapes, then larger silhouettes that signaled demons.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Ethan had pushed his way to the front line, greatsword already drawn. He would protect the mages so they could cast. The light dimmed as dusk settled unnaturally fast, the sky darkening as though the world itself was holding its breath. Then the pressure came. The air grew dense. Hard to breathe. Harder to think. Ethan's pulse quickened even as he tried to calm himself. Something moved within the dust.

A shape emerged, tall and massive. Two horns rose first, curling high into the sky before twisting back down, thick and ridged like a goat's. Red light bled through the haze until Ethan realized they were eyes. The dust finally settled. The Demon King stood revealed. Power rolled off him in visible waves, violent enough to hurl loose debris away from its form. A cloak of shadow billowed behind it. In its hand rested a long, thin sword, dark and unadorned but somehow already dripping with blood.

Even the hellspawn halted, frozen mid-motion, as though waiting for permission to breathe.

"You dare?" The voice carried across the field with ease, low and resonant, echoing through stone and flesh alike. The Sage of Elements stepped forward. So did the Witch of Decay, the LightFather, and the other most powerful Sovereigns of humanity. The Sage opened his mouth. He never spoke. The Demon King vanished. He reappeared directly in front of the Sage, blade already in motion. The sword cut through the air faster than Ethan could track, a single arc of shadow. Impact followed a heartbeat later.

The Sage was hurled backward, his body smashing into the ground hard enough to crater it. He rolled end over end before coming to a stop, smoke and dust erupting around him. The silence shattered. Hellspawn surged forward as one. Hounds bounded across broken ground. Harpies screamed overhead. Armored demons thundered into the charge. The last of humanity met them head-on. Ethan raised his sword.

The first demon reached him—a brute with skin the color of dried blood, towering over him, a spiked mace gripped in one massive hand. The ground shook as it charged, each step heavy enough to rattle Ethan's armor. Ethan didn't retreat. The mace came down in a brutal arc. He pivoted back, the spikes missing his chest by a breath, wind tearing past his helm. He stepped inside the swing, slipping behind the demon as its momentum carried it forward, and brought his blade across its side. Steel bit deep.

The demon's crude armor split easily. The cut carved through flesh, and a second impact followed an instant later. One of his only spells—Echo Strike. The second attack hit directly where his blade had connected, deepening the wound until half its torso was cut through. The demon roared and dropped to a knee. Ethan's blade came down in a follow-through and decapitated the lesser demon. He didn't stick around to see the demon hit the ground.

He drove forward, speed surging through his limbs, power feeding into each step as his aura powered his strength even further. His awareness sharpened, the battlefield narrowed into threads that showed the optimal attack. A hellspawn lunged from the side. Ethan turned into it, blade rising, cleaving upward through its open jaw. The blade cut through, his enchanted sword slicing it like butter.

Bodies fell everywhere he moved, and slowly he felt his potential fill until he was close to leveling up and entering the Sovereign ranks. Somewhere to his left, a devastating battle was taking place. Rot exploded outward as the Witch unleashed her power, entire swathes of hellspawn collapsing into decayed ruin. Blinding light burned through the darkness as the LightFather and the Witch fought the Demon King. Then the Witch screamed. Ethan risked a glance. The Demon King stood before her. Its blade flashed once.

The Witch of Decay fell apart mid-motion, her body severed cleanly, decay unraveling into nothing before it could take hold. She hit the ground in pieces that dissolved before they stopped moving. A second later, the LightFather charged, a look of rage covering his old features. Radiance surged, brilliant enough to sear the air. The Demon King met him head-on. They clashed—light and shadow colliding in a violent shockwave that flattened demons and humans alike. Ethan staggered but stayed on his feet.

When the glare faded, the LightFather was on his knees. The Demon King's sword pierced his chest. The LightFather looked up in defiance. The Demon King's face was seared. One eye was missing, though it didn't seem in pain. It reached down and held its claws over the LightFather's skull. They dug in, and the man screamed. Blood poured down his face until he went limp. The Demon King's claws embedded deep in his skull. Light flickered. Dimmed. Then went out.

A scream echoed across the battle, and Ethan knew the Sage had risen unsteadily to his feet. He looked at the Demon King with pure hatred. Lightning and fire swirled around him as he reengaged, power crashing against power. The Demon King met him blow for blow. Ethan carved another demon in half but took an axe to the back. He turned and attacked the demon with abandonment. One by one, the army fell, ground down beneath claw, fang, and blade.

The battlefield shrank as bodies piled higher, the noise dulling into something distant and hollow. Ethan fought until there was no one left near him—until every direction held only enemies or corpses. Blood pooled under his boots, so thick that it clung to him every step he took. Notifications flashed through his mind, telling him he had leveled up. He knew he had reached a class evolution but paid it no mind. He didn't have time—not as he turned just in time to see Alex get impaled.

A greater demon caught him mid-charge, its spear punching clean through his abdomen and lifting him off the ground. Alex still managed to land one last blow, blue flame erupting as his fist caved the demon's skull in—but the damage was done. He hit the ground hard, blood spilling fast, breath rattling in his chest. Hell hounds pounced. They attacked him in droves. Fists of blue fire ripped them apart. Ethan ran toward him. Anything in his way got cut down. But he reached him too late.

Ethan cut the last hellspawn down and kicked it out of the way. Alex looked up at him, eyes already glazing, his mouth parted as he went to speak, but only blood poured out. Ethan dropped beside him and held his head.

"Not you. Please not you. You'll be alright." Ethan pleaded, but despite his wishes, no one answered. Alex was gone. His lifeless eyes looking up at Ethan. Something inside Ethan broke loose. He didn't remember the next stretch of time clearly. Only fragments—steel striking flesh, echoes tearing through bodies, the sensation of being hit again and again without falling. His sword never stopped moving. Neither did he. Until finally, it was his time.

A greater demon slammed into him from behind, the impact driving the air from his lungs. Pain exploded through his chest as something punched through armor, through flesh, through bone. He twisted, but the demon kicked him over. A hell hound pounced, latching onto his neck. It bit through, but his chainmail saved him from the worst of it. He stopped worrying about using his aura to protect himself and instead fused it into his muscles. His power exploded, and he wrapped his arms around the hound and squeezed.

It whined in pain until he felt bone give, and it fell on top of him lifelessly. He shifted the hound off him, expecting the demon to attack. Luckily for him, it was gone. He lay in the mud and blood, his sword beside him. Each breath came shallow and wet. He stared up at the sky, fire still swirling above, void still yawning behind it. The presence of the Demon King assaulted him, leaving him paralyzed. From where he lay, he watched the end. One by one, the remaining figures fell. No rallies. No miracles.

Just death. Ethan wanted to get up. Wanted his body to mend. But after looking internally, he realized that wouldn't be happening. His aura was spent. All he had was his own bodily strength, and it wasn't powerful enough to mend a punctured heart—even if the demon had only just scraped it. So he lay there, slowly dying, watching until only two remained standing. The Sage. And the Demon King. Their battle tore what was left of the field apart.

Elements bent and collided in violent harmony—fire compressed into cutting arcs, lightning chained and folded, earth lifted and crushed. Blood and shadow answered in kind, flowing like living things, hardening into weapons, tearing through defenses with brutal precision. It was like watching gods fight. Ethan couldn't look away, even as he bled out. The Sage screamed defiance as he poured everything he had left into a final assault, the air screaming as power peaked. The Demon King met it head-on.

There was a flash. Then silence. The Sage collapsed, his body striking the ground once before going still. The Demon King knelt before him, a gaping hole in its chest. Ethan exhaled slowly. The Sage lay at the Demon King's feet. He was facing Ethan as he took his last breath. It was in that moment that Ethan remembered how young the man was. He couldn't have been older than twenty, and yet he was their hope. Ethan's gut twisted. He should have protected them. Faces passed through his vision of people long gone.

He should have protected all of them. Don't give up. The command came from nowhere—and everywhere. His body screamed refusal. His heart had been pierced. Blood pooled beneath him, warmth fading fast. He clenched his jaw and forced his arms beneath him, but the rest of his body wouldn't listen. The system prompted once more. His mind was foggy; he couldn't find the strength to look at it. He only had one class upgrade available, so he took it. Power flowed through his body, but it wasn't enough.

Even as he entered the realm of Sovereigns, he was dying—if slowly. Still, it would have to do. Muscle tore. Bone ground. The Knight rose. Step by dragging step, he moved forward, sword reclaimed, armor dangling off him. Every movement sent agony screaming through him, but he didn't stop. The Demon King turned. It frowned.

"You still live," it said, voice quieter now. Tired. It tried to stand but stumbled, blood flowing out of the open wound where its entire torso should have been. Ethan didn't answer. He just kept dragging himself forward. The Demon King finally stood up just in time. They clashed. It wasn't much of a fight. Despite the Demon King's power, it was obviously spent—and so too was Ethan. Their blades connected, and the vibration made Ethan waver.

The Demon King's blade carved through him again and again, shredding armor, opening wounds faster than they could close. Steel rang. Shadow bit. Blood sprayed. Ethan fell. Stood. Fell again. Still, he swung. Still, his blade landed, adding to the multitude of wounds covering the Demon King's body. Echoes followed each strike, phantom impacts tearing at the Demon King's form where his own strength should have failed. The creature staggered once. Then again. Finally, it fell.

The Demon King hit the ground hard, shadow bleeding away, blood evaporating into nothing. Ethan collapsed beside it, feeling his life fade. They lay side by side. Ethan had no right to be there. The Sage was nearby and should have been the one to end it all. The sky dimmed. A presence pressed in once more, and a message appeared before his fading vision. Humanity has cleared the final level. Proceed to integration with the multiverse? Ethan laughed. It came out wet and broken.

"What for?" he rasped, blood dripping from his lips.

"There's no one left!" His vision dimmed as the system awaited his response. Slowly he realized, even if he wanted to agree. He would be dead soon. The only wish he had was to start again. To go back to times when everything was simpler, when the world made a little more sense. The world trembled. The system message flickered and glitched. If Ethan wasn't dying, he might have questioned that. But as it was, another message replaced it. Restart available. Confirm? Yes / No If he could have, Ethan would have laughed.

Was this some cruel joke the trials had conjured. One last fake hand out before everything was taken. Ethan turned his head, staring across the battlefield one last time. At the bodies. At the blood-soaked ground. At everything that was gone. He decided he didn't give a shit. Resolve hardened. He didn't fully understand what it meant. But he understood the alternative. And if it meant he could change all this death, then he would do it all again. As was his knightly duty.

"Yes," he whispered with his last breath. As darkness closed in, one final message surfaced. The Concept of Time will be watching.