The world was broken.
Ashen skies loomed overhead, choked with dark clouds that never parted. The air was thick with the scent of rusted metal and decay, carrying the weight of long-forgotten battles. Jagged mountains, split as if by a god's fury, stood like the skeletal remains of an ancient war. Rivers of molten rock slithered through the cracked earth, casting an eerie glow over the desolate landscape. This was a world long abandoned by hope—a land where the strong preyed upon the weak, and fate was written in blood and suffering.
In this forsaken place, a lone figure staggered forward.
His name was Rael.
His body bore the scars of countless battles, wounds both fresh and old telling the tale of a man who had fought and lost more times than he could remember. His clothes, tattered beyond recognition, barely clung to his battered frame. His breath was ragged, each step a struggle against the weight of exhaustion and despair. His vision blurred, and he knew his body wouldn't last much longer.
'I… can't…'
His thoughts drifted, drowning in the abyss of hopelessness. He had tried, fought, bled, and yet, in the end, it had all been meaningless. The world didn't care. The heavens didn't care. The strong crushed the weak, and he was nothing more than another nameless soul soon to be forgotten.
Lightning split the sky. A deep rumble echoed through the land, shaking the ground beneath his feet. And then—
[Host identified.]
A voice unlike any he had ever heard resounded within his mind. It was vast, boundless, carrying the weight of something eternal. It wasn't cold, nor was it emotionless. It was… absolute.
[You have been chosen.]
The words cut through the haze of his consciousness like a blade of divine clarity. His knees buckled, his body giving way as he collapsed onto the ground. Was this another trick of his dying mind? A cruel illusion before the darkness swallowed him whole?
[No illusion. No deception. I am the God of All Systems, the eternal essence of Chaos itself. And you… are my chosen host.]
A surge of something unfamiliar coursed through his veins. Strength? Warmth? Hope?
For the first time in what felt like an eternity, he lifted his head.
The world was still bleak, still merciless, but now—
Now, he had a reason to stand again.