I stood frozen in place as the man approached me, an unsettling sense of intimidation washing over me for the first time in my life.
After a few moments, he stood directly in front of me.
"So, you have arrived."
I was taken aback by his words and instinctively replied, "Were you waiting for me?"
Instead of answering, he began to examine me from every angle, his gaze penetrating and unyielding. Once he was done, he faced me again and placed a hand on my shoulder.
(....It felt as though I were being swallowed by the earth....)
Suddenly, we were suspended in midair, enveloped in smoke and the sounds of chaos from below. It felt like we were hovering over a battlefield.
"What's happening? Where are we?" I asked, bewildered.
"My name is Ares," the man said.
"Right now, we are within my memories. You must observe carefully, for these memories may present the biggest dilemma of your life in the near future."
With that, Ares turned his back to me and began narrating the scene below.
"This is the last standing human country, currently embroiled in war against the Dragon Realm."
"But it's not just the humans; every species has united against the First Dragon God, including some dragons."
I listened intently, absorbing his words.
"Now, you might wonder why all these species harbor such animosity toward the First Dragon God. Perhaps you've concluded that he was a tyrannical ruler, a believer in dragon supremacy who oppressed the other beings of Gremin."
"But the truth often differs from appearances. To grasp the reality of this situation, you must look further back in time—back to when the First Dragon God was still unaware of the outside world..."