Dancing on the golden ashes

The cold abyss of darkness surrounded me, a void so all-encompassing it felt alive. It wrapped itself around me like a cocoon, suffocating and unyielding, as though the mother of death herself had drawn me into her embrace. Time passed, but it was impossible to grasp how much—minutes, hours, years? It all blurred together in the unrelenting void.

At one point, a powerful aura surged toward me, crashing against the walls of darkness that bound me. For a fleeting moment, hope flickered. It's over. This torment will end. But no matter how fiercely the force struggled, it was futile. The darkness held strong, its grip unshaken. The pain remained—a constant, merciless presence.

"Death…" The word slipped from my lips, over and over, like a chant I couldn't stop. My voice, once defiant, now trembled with desperation. "Kill me… enough…" I whispered, the words barely audible in the suffocating silence. "What did I do to deserve this?"

It felt like an eternity. No light, no warmth, no reprieve—only the endless cycle of agony and despair. Each passing moment stretched into infinity, and I was left with nothing but the haunting echo of my own broken words.

I want to end this. I want it all to stop. But I have to keep going.

Another hundred years, give or take, passed... I began counting the time, desperately clinging to it as a lifeline to keep myself sane. Yet, the more I counted, the more it threatened to pull me into madness.

Why am I even trying? My friends? I have friends now… don't I? But… are they really worth sacrificing myself for? Maybe... Maybe not...

I was already numb to the pain. It didn't bother me that much anymore, which made it a bit easier to get through this.

No. I need to keep holding on—not for them, but for myself. Yes. In this world, I can only trust myself. Only believe in myself. Right now, only I can make it through this. Not them. They can't save me. They never could.

Suddenly, an intense pain shot through me, like electricity coursing through every nerve in my body. It felt as if a thousand white-hot needles were piercing every inch of my skin. My muscles seized, locking me in a prison of fire and steel.

Fuck! STOP! STOOOOOOOOP!

I had never felt pain like this before. It was even worse than the time Nam Ji-Ho's attack hit me… far worse.

I'm all alone. I've always been alone… Nobody is helping me.

I started to sob inwardly, the despair clawing at me. Slowly, I could feel my emotions being stripped away, leaving me hollow. I'm becoming colder, more detached as if the pain itself is reshaping me into something unfeeling.

Perhaps another decade had passed. Each second of it, the lightning tormenting me grew stronger, as if it were toying with me. Then, at one point, my eyes opened. In the endless darkness, a small ghastly light flickered into existence, faint but unmistakable. It enveloped me, casting an eerie glow over my body and revealing the truth—I was bound. Massive black chains wrapped around me, coiling tightly over every inch, imprisoning me completely.

The light grew stronger, illuminating the vast expanse of darkness around me. The chains, thick and ancient, pulsed with an unnatural energy. I tried to move, but the restraints tightened in response, their cold, jagged edges biting into my skin.

I clenched my teeth, the weight of the chains pressing down on me like the judgment of a thousand lifetimes. This wasn't just a physical prison—it was something deeper. Something meant to break my very soul.

"Why… why am I still here?" I whispered, my voice trembling but defiant. The ghastly light seemed to respond, flickering with a strange rhythm as if it were alive. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, I felt something other than pain—a faint spark of determination.

No. I'm not going to let this place destroy me. Not now. Not ever.

I tugged at the chains, testing their strength. The effort sent searing pain through my body, but I didn't stop. I won't stop. If these chains want to hold me, they'll have to fight harder.

"I am not going to rot here," I growled, my voice growing stronger with each word. The light around me pulsed again, brighter this time, as if responding to my will.

The torment still burned, but somewhere deep within, I felt a shift. The beginning of something... more.

My heart burns with an overwhelming desire. For a moment, the need to break free consumed me so completely that the ghastly light surrounding me exploded outward, illuminating the vast darkness.

I saw myself, suspended in the air, surrounded by a surreal expanse. Ghostly ships floated through the void, their hulking forms gliding on an invisible ocean. Despite the nothingness beneath them, they rose and fell as if riding unseen waves. The soundless crashes of those phantom swells reverberated through the eerie silence.

On each ship, countless creatures resembling people moved mindlessly, their hollow forms hauntingly mechanical. At the helm of every vessel stood a captain, motionless but commanding, their dark presence controlling the eerie fleet.

Then, without warning, they all turned. Every single soul—thousands of empty, lifeless eyes—locked onto me. Their stares pierced through my very being, exposing every vulnerability, every hidden fear. A dark aura rose from them, thick and suffocating. Slowly, one by one, they smiled, their expressions a grotesque mixture of malice and glee.
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Before I could react, their forms dissolved into black wisps, vanishing like smoke carried by a violent wind. But the relief was short-lived. In the next instant, they came for me—all of them—rushing at me like a tidal wave of shadows.

The pain that followed was unimaginable. It tore through me, sharper and more excruciating than anything I had endured before. It feels as though my very soul is being shredded, ripped apart and reshaped, molded to their will. Their darkness seeped into me, invading every corner of my essence.

I can feel them settling in, their presence overwhelming, as if they are making themselves at home inside me.

"I'm the ruler here. Submit to me!"

The eerie entity within me screamed, its voice echoing with authority and dominance. It wouldn't allow the black souls to take over, to usurp its control. Its tone was like a decree from the heavens, undeniable and absolute.

At its command, the dark souls stopped. Their chaotic assault ceased instantly, their malevolent energy shifting. Slowly, they began to reconstruct my broken soul, piece by piece. Yet, as they worked, the darkness within me grew stronger. It surged like a relentless tide, completely overpowering the faint golden flame that once flickered inside me. I can barely feel its warmth now, buried beneath the crushing weight of the void.

The loneliness returned, sharp and suffocating. My thoughts spiraled, turning darker with every moment. An overwhelming urge to destroy consumed me, a burning desire to annihilate everything that stands in my way. But there was something else—a purpose buried within the chaos. I wanted to protect something...

Protect what? The answer gnawed at me until it became clear—the world. This world that I hate and love so much.

The Emperor of Death's words echoed in my mind, and the realization hit me like a blow. The darkness wasn't just reshaping me—It was aligning me with its will, pulling me into the role the Emperor of Death had chosen for me.

Suddenly, an intense surge of power coursed through me. The darkness was overwhelming, corrosive, and all-consuming. It felt as though my very being was expanding, straining to contain its sheer force. My soul, once at the peak of the Soul Orb realm, couldn't endure. With a deafening crack, it shattered.

The pieces of my soul split into three distinct fragments. The largest, at the center, was pitch black—a dense, overwhelming darkness that radiated strength and dominance. To its left was a smaller fragment, glowing with a pure golden light. It was my golden fire energy, the flame that had once been my anchor. On the right, the most enigmatic fragment appeared, much smaller than the others. It shimmered with a kaleidoscope of colors, five distinct energies swirling and intertwining: Fire, Earth, Wood, Water, and Metal. Its presence felt ancient and primordial, as if tied to the very fabric of creation.

But it didn't end there.

To my shock, a new soul began to form, entirely different from anything I'd read about in the mysterious cultivator's world. From the void, a medium-sized fragment emerged, glowing with an ethereal, bluish-white hue. It pulsed faintly, its aura both ghastly and serene. It carried the unmistakable power of death, an energy that sent shivers through my fragmented being. Yet, within its core, there was a tinge of something else—life. Fragile, subtle, but undeniably present.

Just what is that? The thought echoed in my mind as I stared at the new fragment, its presence filling me with a strange mix of fear and awe.