Noel ran.
His breath came in ragged gasps, his arms locked tightly around the fragile body of his little sister. The rain blurred his vision, mixing with the blood streaked across his skin, but he couldn't stop. He had to keep going. "If he stopped, they would die".
Behind him, the sound of laughter slithered through the night. Twisted. Inhuman. Mocking.
They were playing with him.
The demons could have killed him already. They had torn his parents apart, razed his village to the ground, and left nothing but fire and ash in their wake. But they wanted him to break first. To hear his sister scream. To beg.
Noel's grip on her tightened. I won't let them take her.
The alleyway ahead cut into a dead end.
Trapped.
His body skidded to a halt. He turned sharply, pressing his sister's trembling body against his chest. He could feel the faint rise and fall of her breath—
She was still alive.
But if he didn't find a way out, she wouldn't be for long. The demons emerged from the shadows, their glowing crimson eyes slicing through the rain.
"Nowhere left to run, boy."
Noel barely heard them. His thoughts were a storm, his mind running through every possible escape, every last option he had.
There weren't any.
He had nothing. No weapons. No strength. No way to fight back.
And then, for the first time in his life—
He truly understood what it meant to be powerless.
His fists clenched. His jaw tightened.
But if he was going to die, he wouldn't go quietly.
Carefully, he set his sister down behind him, shielding her with his body as he took a slow, shaking breath.
One last fight. One last chance.
Noel stepped forward—
The world collapsed.
The rain froze mid-air. The wind stopped. The demons hung in stillness, mouths twisted in mockery, yet silent.
A pulse of something unseen slammed into his chest, forcing him to his knees.
Then—
[System Awakening.]
A voice. Cold. Mechanical. Absolute. It thundered inside his mind, carving into his very existence.
[Subject: Noel Valtier.]
[Status: Mortal.]
[Initiating Ascension.]
Noel's screamed as pain ripped through him, his body breaking apart. He reached out blindly, his fingers clawing toward his sister—
But she was gone.
"No please no, not now please not now, please am begging you" he screamed to the darkness but silence the system listens to no mortals plies it continued to take him.
Darkness swallowed everything.
And then—
The Abyss
He hit the ground hard.
His body rolled across the cold, cracked earth before coming to a stop. He groaned, coughing, his hands gripping the ground beneath him. It wasn't dirt. It felt… different. Too smooth, too lifeless.
Where—?
His thoughts cut off as a sharp, metallic scent flooded his nose.
Blood.
His breath caught in his throat. His head snapped up, eyes widening at the sight before him.
He was in a wasteland.
Jagged chains the size of mountains stretched across the horizon, leading into the storm of shadows above. And in the distance, a monolithic gate loomed, pulsing with power.
He flinched, his heartbeat slamming against his ribs.
Something collapsed beside him, gasping in shock.
A voice burned into his mind.
[Welcome to the Abyss.]
[Survive.]
His chest tightened.
This wasn't just another nightmare. This was real.
A new message flashed before his eyes.
[True Race Confirmed: Revenant.]
[Title Acquired: Chain Master.]
[Initializing System Integration…]