My vision, obscured by the light emanating from that entity, tried to adjust to the new reality.
There was no sky, ground, or any sign of anything tangible around me. The emptiness that once surrounded me now seemed alive, pulsating.
And in the center of it all, the celestial figure shone, watching me with eyes that held the weight of eons.
"God?"
I asked, my voice echoing like a whisper into infinity.
I don't know if it was due to disbelief, tiredness or fear of discovering that even after death my journey was far from over.
"Yes and no."
The entity responded, its voice like a harmony of thousands of tones, none of them human.
"I was once what you understood as 'God', but I am beyond any definition your mortal mind could conceive. Let us say that forces beyond your understanding removed me from power."
Despite its cryptic response, its presence conveyed an overwhelming, almost welcoming calm, although I couldn't ignore the gravity of its words.
"I... died?"
I asked, staring at my hands, now completely reconstructed, without signs of the disintegration that had consumed me moments before.
My body felt stronger, more whole, but I still felt the weight of the sacrifice I had made.
"Yes, you died. And you didn't. The explosion that destroyed Baahl and his domain also marked the end of your existence as a human. However, the Ancestral Mark you carry has connected you to me, preserving your essence in this space between existing and ceasing to exist."
"Between existing and ceasing to exist?"
Confusion took over me.
"So why am I here? Haven't I done enough? Why can't my soul rest in peace?"
The entity remained silent for a moment, as if pondering the best way to respond.
"You, Qoran, have accomplished something extraordinary. With your sacrifice, you have freed the world from the threat of the Demon King Baahl. However, the balance has been disrupted. Your victory, although necessary, has brought consequences that neither you nor your race could have predicted."
I felt a cold run down my spine.
"Balance? What are you talking about? There is no one left to fight, no one left to save! I destroyed everything for the sake of the future!"
The entity raised a translucent hand, interrupting my protest.
"Listen. The cycle of life, death and rebirth is delicate. What you have done is put a definitive end to an immortal entity. Baahl will not return to Hell, but the void his absence has created has already begun to destabilize the barriers between the planes. Lesser demons and other monsters once kept in check by his domain, are now free to wreak havoc across what remains of the mortal plane. Humans may be gone, but other creatures still exist, and they are now under direct threat."
My mind was spinning. I had given my life, my body, my blood, and now I was being told that my sacrifice wasn't enough?
"Then why did you bring me here? Why didn't you let me disappear with him?"
I asked, my voice thick with frustration and exhaustion.
The entity lowered its hand, and its light seemed to waver, almost as if it was mourning.
"Because you have an ultimate role to play. But believe me, it wasn't easy to bring you here. It is not just the fate of the world that is at stake, but the fate of all planes of existence. The Ancestral Mark you bear was not a gift; it was a contract. A bond with forces beyond what you can understand. Your journey is not over, Qoran. It has only begun."
Those words hung over me like an unbearable weight. Everything in me wanted to refuse, I wanted to scream against that injustice. But at the same time, something deep inside me knew there was no choice.
"So what do you want me to do?"
I asked, resigned.
"First, I must show you something."
Said the entity, extending its hand. The void around us began to shift, and suddenly, we were back in the mortal world.
But it wasn't how I remembered it.
The sky was dyed red, cracks in the fabric of reality opened like festering wounds.
Grotesque creatures emerged from these crevices, monsters that made Baahl's demons seem like harmless toys.
The ground, once covered in forests and abandoned cities, was now a landscape of destruction, where there was no sign of life.
"What is that...?"
I whispered, horrified.
"This is the future you saved."
The entity responded, with a palpable sadness in its voice.
"But it is also the future you have doomed. Without Baahl to maintain order among the demons, the chaotic forces that were once under your control have begun to spread. You have eliminated the king, but left the kingdom without a ruler."
My mind was on the verge of collapse.
"But… there is a way to fix this."
Those words invaded what was left of my sanity and caught my full attention.
"How… How can I fix this?"
"There is a choice to be made"
The entity said, turning its attention to me.
"You can renounce the burden of the Ancestral Mark and rest. Your soul will be welcomed into the eternal flow, free from pain but unable to intervene. Or..."
He pauses for a moment, almost as if he wants to make me extremely anxious about what comes next.
"You can accept a new purpose. I will grant you the power to go back in time."
My eyes filled with confusion.
'God' – or whoever he is – continued to speak.
"Don't get me wrong when I say that the balance was broken with Baahl's death, I have a love for your world. I have a love for humanity. Seeing them extinguished by demonic forces was truly sad."
He says full of whining.
I finally realize that he appears to be chained by his arms. Someone had trapped him in that infinite void.
But who was powerful enough to even do that?
"That's why I'll give you another chance, Qoran. My powers are no longer the same. I tried with countless other souls, but I wasn't fast enough. In the fraction of seconds in which your soul crossed the plane between life and death, I managed to capture it for this purpose. Please accept this gift."
I still didn't fully understand.
Go back in time? Another chance?
The idea was absurd.
I was tired, exhausted to the bone – or what was left of it.
All I wanted was peace.
But the vision of that desolate world didn't let me choose rest. If I gave up now, all the sacrifice would have been in vain.
"If I accept... will I be able to avenge them?"
I asked, clenching my fists. I feel the nails trying to tear the flesh of my hands, but that place seemed to prevent them from hurting me.
"Yes. You will be able to avenge humanity… and me."
I closed my eyes, trying to process it all.
Baahl's voice still echoed in my mind, mocking our sacrifice.
I thought of my dead comrades, their faces blurred by memory.
There was no going back. There was no way to escape.
"I accept it."
I replied, my voice steady despite the fear in my chest.
The entity seemed to shine even more brightly.
Even without a face, I feel as if it is smiling beneath that virtuous light.
"Then prepare yourself, Qoran. For the journey you face will be unlike anything you have ever known. The burden of a regressor is eternal, but it is also necessary."
Suddenly, I felt my body disintegrating again, but this time it wasn't pain.
It was as if I was being transported somewhere.
"You will go back seven years in the past, to the beginning of your academic life. You will have exactly five years to gather your allies and become powerful as quickly as possible to stop the demonic invasion on the earthly plane."
He said as my body transmuted between that empty plane and some other place in the past.
"I don't know if it will be possible to help you on your journey... but I will make up for it with gifts that will help you on your journey. If 'they' try to stop you… don't hesitate to kill them."
I pondered how best to respond, but my mind was already going elsewhere.
"Qoran?"
The entity calls me, shaking the handcuffs that imprisoned it in that terrible prison.
"Yes?"
I asked in momentary reflex.
"Good luck."
When I opened my eyes again, I was in a new place.
It was a familiar and cozy place.
I was standing in front of a huge hall decorated in countless jewels and covered in gold as a way of demonstrating power and influence.
That's when I realized. I was at the Royal Battle Academy of Reach, surrounded by students no more than sixteen years old each.
It was seven years in the past as 'God' had said.
My war was far from over. And now, I was the last line of defense against chaos.