In the dimly lit surroundings, a middle-aged man pushed the weight of the stretcher as he walked along an ominous, dark path, muttering in a barely audible voice.
"Another poor soul."
On the stretcher, hidden beneath the sheets, lay the lifeless body of a human, disturbingly disoriented and appearing as if a balloon had been placed beneath the white curtain fabric. Every inch of the sheet was drenched in a macabre shade of crimson in various places, making it evident what transpired.
"Merciless humans will stop at nothing to attain their deepest desires," he murmured, acutely aware of the facade that dominated the earthly realm, where powerful individuals suppressed the knowledge of the supernatural from the general population. They led seemingly happy lives, all the while kidnapping individuals capable of harnessing these concealed powers.
"I pray that you shall be reborn in a realm untouched by tragedy, free from suffering."
With those words, he finally arrived at his destination—a place where multiple incinerators were present, resembling a crematorium. The man brought the stretcher to a stop before one of the incinerators.
Each incinerator was attended by humans discarding the remains of dead bodies, similar to the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man pushed the lifeless body into one of these incinerators, waiting patiently for it to transform into ashes.
As he observed, the once-bulging body gradually started to turn into ash. He stood silently, witnessing the ongoing process, noticing that it was taking longer than he anticipated. Nevertheless, he focused on the body.
The body was only half-burned, while the burned half's ashes seemed to merge together, forming wisps that danced along the transparent wall of the incinerator. Meanwhile, the remaining portion of the body started to bleed, the blood unaffected by the heat, enveloping the body and taking the shape of a black curtain, creating a hauntingly eerie spectacle.
Suddenly, an explosion reverberated through the air, jolting the man from his thoughts.
BOOM!
The force of the explosion shattered the entire structure of the incinerator, scattering metallic debris in every direction.
Amidst the chaos, the blood-covered body seemed to awaken, its presence attracting vibrant, multicolored particles from the surrounding environment. The blood acted as a magnet, absorbing the particles with increasing intensity.
Above the blood-covered structure, a vaporous form seemed to guide and direct the particles towards the body.
The middle-aged man, now in a state of shock, watched in awe as this enigmatic phenomenon unfolded before his eyes. With each passing moment, the rate at which the body absorbed the multicolored particles quickened, while the blood curtain slowly transformed into a deep, pure black solid shell, then took an egg-like shape, while the vaporous substance above it assumed the form of a protective umbrella, refining and channeling the multicolored particles towards the black egg.
The middle-aged man stood with wide-open eyes, his face etched with a single emotion—fear. An overwhelming fear gripped him, permeating his very fiber of body. The surrounding onlookers joined him in witnessing the bizarre manifestation of the black egg.
In a mesmerizing display, the vaporous umbrella began to spread, creating a strange field that encompassed everything within its reach. Objects within the field started to transform, disintegrating into multicolored particles that were drawn towards the egg. Ancient carvings gradually emerged on the dark surface of the egg, cryptic symbols etching themselves upon its previously smooth shell.
At this mystical display, surrounding humans instinctively wanted to escape, attempting to break free from the inexplicable pressure that immobilized them, but their efforts were futile. The mysterious force held them captive, severing their chances of escape. The field surrounding the egg expanded relentlessly, enveloping everything in its path. When it reached the middle-aged man, he began to visibly age. Lines etched themselves deeper on his face, his once-black hair turned stark white, and his vision waned. His body withered, losing muscle and fat, vitality drained until the body resembled a corpse, pale and ghostly. The man's form also started to disintegrate into multicolored particles, which then gravitated toward the black egg after passing through the vapor.
The absorbing domain expanded further, growing beyond the confines of human corpses and absorbing the surrounding environment. The domain spanned a distance of 10 meters, then 20, eventually spreading over the entire area, transforming everything within its reach into a swirling cloud of multicolored particles.
When the field reached the walls, they crumbled, succumbing to the same fate as humans, gradually disintegrating into particles, layer by layer.
With one final boom that resonated through the air, the surrounding wall collapsed, meeting the ground with a thunderous crash. The eggs continued their relentless absorption, unaffected by the destruction surrounding them.
The vaporous entity took form again, but this time it no longer acted like an umbrella. It traversed through the remnants of destruction, leaving the egg behind. It continued to absorb the surrounding debris, vanishing within a few minutes, only to reappear in an entirely different location—a city shrouded in an eerie atmosphere.
The particles of vapor wove their way through the desolate streets, moving towards another building where lab technicians were conducting experiments.
The vapor particles tore through the walls, engulfing the unsuspecting workers. It etched in their bodies for a while, until finally departed. In the body of the ab technician, nothing remained but skeletal, devoid of flesh and muscle, hollowed out from within.
The vapor, now set on a hunt, proceeded to target humans one by one, transforming them into sources of energy.
Meanwhile, the egg remained buried under the debris of a collapsed building, with no visible cracks on its surface. Instead, a protective field with an entirely black color, measuring a five-meter radius surrounded the egg.
The egg was placed under the heavy weight of cement stone,
Unaware of the passing of time.
Days passed, but nothing significant occurred with the egg neither it was crawling, nor it was growing.
There was not a single trace of hatching in it.
Meanwhile, in the city in which the vapor had transpired, each second intensified the chaos as the vapor continued its relentless hunt of humans, collecting multicolored particles to sustain itself. Time marched on.
One day, two days, then weeks turned into months until a year and six months had elapsed.
The vapor, now missing with the energies of numerous humans, no longer returned to deliver the refined energy as it once did.
Still, the egg remained unchanged, concealed beneath the debris, silently biding its time.
And then, a golden-haired girl with piercing silver eyes emerged, her attire exuding a witchy aura that unintentionally revealed glimpses of her bosom. Oval-faced with a sharp eye, she sported a hat atop her head.
As she surveyed the area, which lay in ruins with multiple collapsed buildings, eventually her attention was drawn to a conspicuous object.
There, she beheld a large, pure black egg, measuring two meters in height and one meter in diameter.
Dark carvings of ancient nature adorned its surface, evoking a sense of mystery.
Seeing that she said, "Ashborn! I've found something!"