Shen Mu's mind burst into a blaze of light. For a moment, all that existed was pure, searing illumination.
It did not emanate from any location; it filled the space and nowhere. It did not burn, yet it was hardly comforting. It was there, ancient, unyielding.
Then the pain.
His head split apart as an overwhelming torrent of information poured into his mind. It wasn't just knowledge, though. No; it was memory.
His muscles locked. His breath hitched. His body felt like it was being torn apart from the inside out. The sensation of something breaking inside him, of snapping, unraveling his very essence, was enough to make him scream. But no sound escaped his lips.
But instead, the memories came flooding back. He saw a battlefield—a war unlike anything he had ever known. The sky above was a swirling vortex of purple and black, twisted and unnatural, crackling with energy. Below, vast armies clashed in an unholy war
A gigantic figure, standing out over the battlefield, wielded a weapon of unimaginable size and power. It was not a sword, nor an axe, but something that seemed to ripple and shift as it moved, like it was forged from the very fabric of space itself.
Shen Mu felt his heart racing, watching the figures shout across the battlefield in some language he couldn't quite understand. However, the intensity was unmistakable.
The armor the warriors wore seemed to hold unknown symbols that were reflected in the glittering metal and the set of their faces filled with fury, grief, but most of all the desperation to stay alive. This was not a war over land and resources; this was a survival battle, and their world.
A tremendous shadow fell over the sky and covered the tangled stars. Shen Mu's blood grew cold. Not a storm-it was a thing, a monster of darkness, so immense it shaded heaven itself. Eyes were voids into which everything went down. As it fell, it appeared to warp the very fabric of reality.
One by one, the warriors fell. Not from swords or arrows, but from the very air around them. The shadow consumed everything it touched-life, energy, existence itself. It was like reality was effaced wherever it crossed.
The battlefield was like a graveyard. A whole city that once stood tall and powerful now lay in ruins, with towering spires reduced to rubble. Creatures which once were the good side of their home now turned into nothing but ash. The memory was so vivid, so real, that Shen Mu felt he was living it.
But just as quickly as the vision had arrived, it shattered. The world around him fractured like glass, and he was thrown back into the void. His mind reeled, his body trembling from the aftershocks of the experience. He gasped for breath, his lungs burning, but it was as if the air itself had become thin, suffocating.
The entity's voice came again, this time calm, almost detached.
"This was the world before your own. The one that was lost."
Shen Mu clutched his head, his fingers grasping into his scalp as if trying to hold himself together.
"What happened to them?" His voice was hoarse, barely a whisper.
"They were devoured." The entity's words came like a death sentence, cold and final. "By the Devourers. Those who came from beyond the stars."
The vision vanished, yet he carried the weight of what he had seen. The scope of what was lost… it was something which Shen Mu couldn't fathom.
A whole civilization, a whole world, erased from existence in the blink of an eye. Not by one war, not by one enemy, but by something far beyond that scope. Something that consumes everything in its wake, so obliterating existence that nothing is left in existence.
"Devourers…" Shen Mu said, savoring the word. It was heavy, present, and felt heavy in the air. He had seen many dangers: mutated beasts, rival factions, but this was something different. This wasn't something that could be fought with brute strength or wit alone. This was something beyond his understanding.
The voice of the entity pierced his thoughts.
"You are the last of your kind. The last line of defense."
Shen Mu felt his pulse quicken at the words. He had survived, yes, but this… this was something he had never prepared for. He wasn't just a survivor anymore. He was the last. And that weight… it was more than his mind could handle.
"How do I fight something like that?" He barely could even muster up the question. The idea of confronting something that could remove an entire world was just too much to comprehend, too huge, too gigantic.
The creature didn't say a word for a long time. Its presence just seemed to linger in the air like an oncoming storm waiting to unleash.
"You will awaken the power within you."
Shen Mu's brow furrowed. "What power? The system. it's everything. I have nothing to live for. It's all I am. It's not enough."
But the entity's response wasn't reassuring.
"The system is more than a tool," the entity said. "It is a weapon. A relic of a forgotten war. And you are its chosen.
The words stung like a slap to the face. He was supposed to be special. The one chosen to carry the remnants of a lost war, to wield a power that could stand against the Devourers.
But even as the entity spoke, Shen Mu knew he wasn't ready. He was still just a survivor. A man who had learned to fight, to survive. But this… this was different.
"What do you mean, 'chosen'? I didn't choose any of this." Shen Mu's voice was raw with frustration. "None of this was my decision."
The entity did not change its position.
"Fate is not a choice. It is a force beyond your control. But how you respond to it… that is yours."
Shen Mu's mind was racing. The weight of those words, settling over him like a fog. Fate. Survival was a choice, he always thought.
The sum of every decision, every action, leading him to the next. But that was not how things were. Now, he understood that there were things far more powerful than he. Forces he couldn't control.
And yet, he was being given a second choice. To become the power in him and deal with the horror of the Devourers.
But could he? A force that has wiped out the entire universe-what could possibly stand against it?
His chest pounded, but Shen Mu knew at the bottom of his heart.
He was the last. And if he didn't rise to the challenge, then there would be nothing left. Not just for him, but for everyone.
He took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the decision settle in his bones.
"I will do it," he whispered. "I will awaken the power. I'll face whatever comes next."
And in that moment, he made the choice that would define the rest of his life.