Zack wandered the cobbled paths of Aether Academy, his spear strapped to his back as always, though his steps were aimless. Students bustled around him, laughing and chatting, their carefree voices blending into the serene atmosphere. Yet Zack's mind was far from the peace of the academy grounds.
His gaze lifted to the sky, a brilliant expanse of blue streaked with lazy clouds. It was beautiful, almost painfully so, but Zack couldn't appreciate it. The sight only reminded him of something far more horrifying—a memory etched into his soul like a scar.
The crack in reality.
It had been a scene of unspeakable terror. He remembered standing on the battlefield, battered and weary, side by side with Arthur and the others. The Demon King had fallen at last, his once-immense power reduced to nothing but ash. They had thought it was over. They had thought the nightmare had ended.
But then the sky split apart.
The world itself seemed to scream as a massive rift tore through the heavens, a gaping wound that oozed darkness. From the rift emerged writhing, grotesque tentacles that smashed through mountains and cities alike. A colossal, unblinking eye peered through the crack, its gaze paralyzing and all-consuming. It wasn't just destruction; it was annihilation.
"Voraxus," Zack whispered under his breath, his hand instinctively tightening around the strap of his spear.
Voraxus, the manifestation of chaos, was unlike anything the Demon King could ever hope to be. The creature's very presence twisted reality, its tendrils infecting the land, the sky, and even the hearts of those who gazed upon it.
But Voraxus wasn't alone. It was a harbinger of something worse.
The Five Apostles of Chaosbringer.
Zack shuddered as he recalled their names, each one a representation of the darkest parts of existence:
The Apostle of Envy, whose whispered lies turned friend against friend.
The Apostle of Wrath, a being of unbridled rage that consumed everything in its path.
The Apostle of Fear, a shadowy figure that invoked despair with a mere glance.
The Apostle of Despair, whose presence alone drained all hope.
And the Apostle of Deceit, the most insidious of them all, capable of unraveling minds with a single word.
They had come through the rift, their forms grotesque and otherworldly, heralding the awakening of the Three Pillars: Chaos, Destruction, and Shadow—the ancient gods who sought to unmake the world itself.
Zack stopped walking, his eyes still fixed on the sky. He could almost see it again: the rift, the tendrils, the Apostles descending upon the world.
He clenched his jaw, his nails digging into his palms. That had been one of his most bitter failures. Despite his knowledge, despite the alliances he had forged, he and Arthur had been powerless to stop the Apostles. The world had crumbled beneath their might, and Zack had died once again, dragged back to the start of his cursed cycle.
But that wasn't the only time he had encountered them.
In another life, desperate to uncover the truth of this world, Zack had ventured into a forgotten dungeon hidden deep within the Emerald Peaks. The dungeon had been ancient, its walls covered in intricate carvings depicting the history of the Five Apostles and their master, Voraxus.
He could still see those carvings in his mind. The twisted, deformed figures of the Apostles loomed large, their features grotesque yet hauntingly human. Beneath them were the Three Pillars—Chaos, Destruction, and Shadow—towering over the world like gods, their forms barely comprehensible.
That was when Zack had truly understood the scale of the threat. The Demon King was nothing more than a pawn, a distraction. The real enemy was far greater, far older, and far more powerful.
The students around him laughed and joked, their carefree voices a cruel reminder of the ignorance they lived in. They had no idea what was coming. They didn't know about the cycle, the Apostles, or the inevitable end that awaited this world.
Zack sighed, tearing his gaze away from the sky. His steps resumed, slower this time, his mind still haunted by the memories.
The Apostles weren't just a threat to this world—they were a threat to existence itself. And no matter how many times Zack tried to stop them, no matter how much knowledge he gathered or how many allies he rallied, the result was always the same.
Failure.
Still, Zack walked forward, his shoulders heavy with the weight of a truth no one else could see. The garden paths, the academy halls, the bustling students—they were all pieces of a fragile world on the brink of annihilation.
And Zack was cursed to witness it all. Again and again.