[Edanian Journey] Sylvia

Chapter 12: The World Without Me

Darkness swallowed the battlefield, and Hadum descended. I threw myself at her once more, but it was as if the attack had done nothing at all. The flame of Ynix wrapped around my hand still refused to fully ignite.

Hadum's counterattack sent me flying, and even my fusion came undone. When the final blow came, I had no strength left to avoid it. Just as I thought it was over, I looked up and saw the <b>Heart of Atomagia</b> floating before me. It soon crumbled apart, and Illezra appeared beneath it.

Hadum drew Illezra in and swallowed her whole. She did not return as the First Goddess Sylvia. Instead, Hadum took hold of Illezra herself and absorbed her.

Then Despair began to proclaim the end with a will of its own, forcing another time upon me. Before me unfolded a world where I had never existed: Velia in ruins, Serendia and Calpheon swept up in war, Mediah reclaimed by its old regime, Ulukita left without the king it was meant to receive, Drieghan burning beneath the dragons, Valencia torn apart by civil war, Seoul shrouded in darkness, the Land of the Morning Light suffering under plague, and Kamasylvia and O'dyllita drenched in each other's blood.

Hadum whispered that once I was gone, the world would return to what it had originally been meant to be. This was the destined end, and I was to accept it. Despair. Yield. Obey. What is fated shall come to pass.

Whether it was a future that had not yet happened, or a possibility that may already have come to pass somewhere beyond my sight, I could never accept it.