Alden slowly walked forward, having no control over his body.
All around him, a vast and broken plain stretched as far as the eye could see. The ground was rough and uneven, with wide craters and large depressions marring the landscape like a gruesome scar.
The orange glow of twilight shrouded every inch of the land, including the craters, making one think they had stumbled upon numerous burning seas.
Alden did his best to ignore the acrid smell of death lingering in the air. Despite his best efforts, however, it remained at the back of his throat, suffocating and oppressive.
Just like this strange place… Alden thought he saw the broken remains of weapons littering the ground, the few scraps of metal reflecting the fiery glimmer of sunset.
At the horizon's edge, a forlorn mountain jutted up wordlessly. It stood there like an immutable object, the sole witness to the carnage which had plagued the plain below.
For Alden did not doubt that this place was a battlefield.
The scent of death and the deep depressions running through the earth served to support this conjecture further. A couple of times, mysterious-looking objects caught his eye.
He wanted to explore them in more detail.
The problem, however… was that he could not move. Or more precisely, nothing he did with his mind seemed to affect his body. It was as if his figure had a will of its own.
No matter what he tried, it did not listen to his demands. Like a puppet on strings, Alden traversed the broken plain.
'Weird… This is very weird.'
After losing consciousness due to the harrowing pain, Alden suddenly found himself in this strange place, surrounded by the remnants of bygone chaos.
He was quickly overwhelmed by the sheer destruction and decimation on display.
Then, after he had calmed down and realised that he could not act, he settled into the role of a spectator.
…That was also when he noticed this stubborn body of his heading straight for the mountain in the distance.
It seemed oddly determined to reach it, something which puzzled Alden greatly.
And made him very curious.
An unknown length of time passed as he inched towards the large peak. Because of the uneven ground, Alden's progress was excruciatingly slow. Numerous times, a sudden change in the elevation of the land caused him to lose his footing.
It was only through sheer luck that his body was able to right itself at the last second and spare him from falling face-first into the earth.
Finally, just as Alden feared he would have to traverse the battlefield for all eternity, he neared the mountain's base.
Here, the signs of destruction were more pronounced, with larger and more alarming cracks running through the land. As well as vaster and more harrowing craters.
It was as if two Colossus had entered a dire clash, both intent on wreaking as much havoc upon their surroundings as possible.
Suddenly, Alden squinted.
There, in the distance, right beside the foot of the summit, he thought he saw a figure huddled over… as if they were experiencing monumental pain.
As he walked closer, their laboured grunts and shallow breaths streamed into his ears.
Feeling a chill crawl down his spine, Alden paused near the figure. At first glance, he could tell it was a man. Parts of his clothing were torn and shredded, numerous wounds and lacerations marring his figure.
It was as if he had just emerged from a dire battle.
A sword lay abandoned a few meters away on the ground.
Yet, all those details did not attract Alden's attention the most.
Instead, his gaze was fixed on the crumpled body beneath the man.
His eyes widened.
As if sensing his arrival, the man slowly turned his head.
Alden froze.
Goosebumps erupted all over his body.
Dirty-white hair. Pale skin covered in grime and blood - mostly likely from his enemies - and eyes the colour of deep crimson.
Gazing into those bloodshot eyes suffused with an infinite hatred, a feeling of dread chilled Alden to the bone.
'H-How…'
This man…
…was none other than him.
Older perhaps, but still nonetheless him.
This was probably a future version of himself.
However, that revelation did nothing to ease his fear.
In fact, the sense of foreboding in his stomach only increased as he shifted his gaze to the lifeless body lying limp in the man's arms.
On further inspection, he realised it was a female.
And not just any young lady…
'Celeste!'
As all the hair on Alden's body rose and his gaze constricted, his future self suddenly moved his lips.
"Do not trust the Asterons."
His cold, jarring voice echoed across the broken plain like an omen of dread.
In the next second, darkness enveloped Alden's vision.
***
Alden awoke with a scream.
His back was drenched in cold sweat.
Sitting up straight, his dilated pupils quickly flitted through the Outpost.
His heart raced while his face turned incomparably pale.
'What was that?'
Alden pinched himself.
Pain.
That was a good sign.
It meant he was still alive.
It also meant that whatever he had just seen was only a dream.
His shoulders sagged in relief.
Cry!
Turning his head, Alden found the little phoenix staring at him.
It hopped from foot to foot, seemingly in a restless state.
"I'm okay."
He smiled at the bird, extending his hand forward in invitation to stroke its head.
The fiery bird cried and leaned into his touch.
'Aww.'
His chest warmed, a contrast to the cool flames flickering on the phoenix's plumage.
Satisfied, Alden withdrew his hand and sat cross-legged on the wooden floor.
His brows scrunched into a frown.
He struggled to make sense of the dream.
A decimated battlefield… a lone figure huddled over a corpse…. A man with similar features.
His future self?
Alden groaned, clutching his head.
His temple throbbed painfully like someone had just inserted a scorching rod in his brain.
He suddenly flinched, recalling the figure's declaration at the very end.
"Do not trust the Asterons."
Alden mumbled the words, at a complete loss.
A blank expression appeared on his face.
The Asterons… to Alden, it was an inconceivable thought that they had bad intentions.
One he would have never dared to entertain.
They were the reason humanity was able to fight back against the Defiled, after all.
Still, in the back of his mind, Alden had always wondered where the Asterons had come from, and what they gained from saving his world.
Now, he realised with a sense of dread that things weren't as simple as they first seemed.
'I'm way out of my depths here.'
That thought inevitably appeared in Alden's mind.
Just what could he do with that piece of information?
Realistically speaking, nothing.
Objectively, he was an ant- no, he could not even be called that.
To the Asterons, he was not even a speck of dust.
His existence was utterly meaningless.
Like an inconsequential bug.
Alden gritted his teeth and clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.
His eyes frosted over.
Even if the gulf between him and the Asterons was as wide as the heavens and the earth.
Even if he was insignificant.
Even if he currently amounted to nothing…
If they dared harm a single hair on Celeste's head, Alden would make them pay.
That was his oath.