On a busy road full of festive joy, the wind swept across the dancing leaves, cheering along with the people's happiness.
The sun glowed a harsh light, hiding an unusual spark forming in the middle of the street. A tiny system slowly emerged from its slumber, casually gazing at the loading progress bar of this plane's main timeline.
Written in the lost history, the prophecy once said that both light and darkness shall be born in the abyss. With hope and despair intertwined, the long-awaited birth of the hero shall signal the return of the demon.
Both races with extreme contrast engaged in war. One waiting for their hero while the other for their king.
"There's only that much content for following the mainstream themes. Is the architect a newbie?"
Aria watched the people run to the plaza center. Seeing as the progress bar just won't issue the completion prompt, the little system instead finalized her materialization and strolled along with the beings who remained ignorant of her existence.
As of today, the war has ended.
The clear bright sky, dispelling all the darkness, brought blessings to the land.
The people celebrated, drunk in their renewed hope in life.
And then... that was probably it?
This Plane World foundation was built through the endless war between the believers of light and the devotees of the darkness.
A clear start with a clear goal. A clear separation of two extremes.
The main timeline cannot be anything more original. A pure, brutal, and straightforward conclusion for a controlled plane.
Of course, as the protagonist, the hero will always win and bring peace.
Today, the last bit of evil shall be purged.
Along with the sounds of the church bells, the crying and the laughing, a broken hum dissipates into the air, desperate to be heard.
In the plaza's flatform, multiple men in chains with varying bruises were displayed. Their head low, the light in their eyes has long gone. One by one they were dragged to the middle to be butchered, beheaded, and hanged.
Deaths to the tainted. Deaths to the traitors. Deaths to the ones living in the darkness.
Finally, the executioner hauled the last man. Dressed in tatters, with his top destroyed to show all his wounds, whip marks and burns, with none left still intact, as if all of these were some sort of achievement. His hair was then yanked, displaying a bloody face, his once handsome features can no longer be recognized.
There was silence. And then uncontrolled curses, damning all of his beings, wanting him to die fast. Some even cried while the rest were agitated to the point of violence.
It was none other than the so-called demon king.
Despite being raised as a human, he let the darkness consume him, falling into the abyss. For power and ambitions, he has awakened as a demon.
The hero watched as his sworn rival was reduced into an unspeakable state. Although it was what he deserved, the demon king was also once like a brother that he grew up with. Unable to watch, he painfully closed his eyes.
A glaring burst of light suddenly appeared atop the execution platform. It was enough to blind but despite that, the demon king struggled to open his already bruised eyes.
Dressed in the shade of darkness, giving a stunning contrast to the light that forms her, a young girl with an unspeakable beauty appeared. The wind carried her grayish-white hair, like a soft caress. He too wanted to reach out but was unable to. Her pale golden eyes stared at him with shock, an expression full of fright and dismay. It dulled the spark of her eyes a bit, truly a pity.
He wanted to tell her that he was missing her, and that he frequently dreams of her. Finally, he wanted to tell her he was fine and that seeing her in confusion hurts more.
But they cleaved his tongue off. Let alone calling her name, the few grunts were already his most desperate attempts.
Ah, why, why must she see him this way?
Reaching a hand towards him, she kneeled towards him. In an awkward attempt, she moved to embrace him. His dislocated limbs, as well as his broken fingers, tremble and he flinches away as an instinct.
Trying to touch each other, but never really touching. For once, he was thankful that they could never touch. This way, he will not be able to dirty her.
In an almost childish way, he heard her clumsily appeasing him.
"It's okay. No. It won't hurt anymore. It won't hurt in a bit. I'll take you home, okay?"
No one can see her, just like before. Only him, it's only him who knew she existed. So it's also only him who longed for her.
They didn't know, didn't understand, and he also didn't want them to gaze upon his faith. They only know that he was a madman, searching for his lost god.
She must be a ghost, a spirit, or an illusion. No matter what, she must be an existence unable to stand in the light, then she must be in the darkness and so, he walked towards the darkness.
Forcing a faith smile, he contorted his face as if forgetting pain before his expression collapsed, leaking uncontrollable tears.
He must be unsightly. Finally, he saw her, and yet he was dirty. He gasps and gasps, trying to speak but except for a few groans and sobbing, his decapitated tongue could no longer utter a single word.
"...A-Xian… I'm here."
Those people waiting below saw that the once-powerful demon lord finally expressed emotions that could be called humane. That he cried at his last moment and that he was so sad, devastated and purely pathetic.
With the glint of the sun reflecting the sharpness of justice, the heavy sin of the demon lord was brought dow, putting an end
Until the very last second of his life, he greedily stared at the apparition he sought after his whole life. Even in death, he never closed his eyes.
Aria stood stunned as a glaring shade of red overflow. She was shocked by the unexpected ending.
A strange flow of heat overwhelmed her, making her astral form. She felt her whole system crashed and a series of warnings echoed.
[Plane World's Main Circuit Loading…]
[Loading forcefully interrupted…]
[Sending host to Infinite Night.]
[Commencing consciousness extraction]
"Ah?"
Liliam was slow to react when he was forcefully extracted from the Plane World.
While still in a state of confusion, he was knocked by a strong mental probe then saw a flash of his precious daughter pouncing into something.
"Eh? What happened? Is the Main Circuit properly working? How about the evaluation?" Liliam asked, scratching his head.
If he remembered correctly, they still need to stay until the conclusion. After all, he picked this Plane World to run away for a few days and therefore, was the longest mission he took his young system to.
To his dismay, his daughter ignored his entire being and focused on a little tattered thing.
A flaming orb flashing on the verge of fading. The ring of codes orbiting around has many missing parts. Inhabitants of the Plane Worlds believe that this is the human soul. For Deamons, is it mainly a gear, a condensation of different energies with set programs, one of the many components of a Plane World.
But to say that the little tattered thing is a gear, it is more accurate to say that it's already a shattered shard.
Cannot be recycled. Cannot be reused. Better off deleting it directly into the trash.
"Look at the little thing, it won't probably pass the last circulation and will be directly absorbed like a candy by the Plane World."
As if being reminded, the frowning system grinned at her host. "Right?"
Liliam was happy to see his daughter's rare smile that his IQ took off.
In that moment of inattention, Aria snatched control out of her host and released all the energy they accumulated in the previous plane world.
The vast amount of energy poured out, blinding Liliam into a daze.
Aria focused on igniting the dying orb but no matter what, most of the energy was leaking. This way of nourishing a Gear is the most wasteful and also the most desperate of acts.
Still, she held on until all energy was wasted and even until the plane world was pulling the orb away for a final circulation.