Time moved differently in the Divine Realm.
The sky still carried that unnatural golden hue, but it was no longer completely frozen.
The light shifted—subtly, almost imperceptibly—fading into dimness before rising again.
There was day.
There was night.
But neither felt… normal.
Shadows stretched longer than they should.
Darkness lingered in ways that made it hard to tell how much time had truly passed.
Thanex had tried to count the days at first.
Tried to keep track.
But somewhere along the way, he lost it.
The cycles blurred together.
One day became two.
Two became many.
And eventually—
He stopped trying.
But his body didn't forget something far more important.
Hunger.
Monster essence could sustain him for a while, but the energy never lasted long.
The upside to consuming the essence was that he didn't need water, as the essence nourished his body in ways even water couldn't.
"Well that's for thirst," he thought, "but hunger….."
That was another case entirely.
His stomach constantly ached with a dull, gnawing pain that never ceased. It was a relentless reminder of his mortality, a cruel echo in a realm that seemed to mock the very concept of life.
So Thanex learned to hunt.
At first his fights were reckless.
Desperate struggles where survival depended on luck as much as skill.
He charged blindly into battles, driven by the raw need to fill the emptiness inside him. But the monsters of the Divine Realm were not simple beasts.
Some were fast, darting like shadows between the ruins.
Some were enormous, towering over the shattered remnants of temples and statues.
Some possessed strange abilities that defied logic—creatures that could vanish into thin air, or spew corrosive mists that burned flesh and bone alike.
Thanex's reckless attacks nearly killed him more than once. He bore scars that throbbed with every shift of the unnatural light, wounds that refused to heal fully.
So he changed his strategy.
Instead of charging into battle, he began watching them.
Studying them.
Learning their habits.
Some monsters wandered randomly, aimless and slow.
Others guarded territory fiercely, marking invisible boundaries with growls and claw marks.
A few even fought each other, locked in brutal contests for dominance.
Those were the best opportunities.
Thanex learned patience.
He hid among the ruins and waited for the right moment to strike.
On a bright and sunny day Thanex crouched low behind the shattered remnants of a broken wall, his breath shallow and ragged. The ruined courtyard stretched out before him, bathed in the eerie golden light of the Divine Realm's distorted sky.
The massive creature he watched was a nightmare made flesh—a giant boar, its body sheathed in thick, cracked armored plates that looked like ancient stone. Black corruption seeped from its tusks, curling like smoke into the stale air, a visible mark of the realm's dark influence.
Every instinct screamed at Thanex that fighting this beast head-on was certain death. The sheer size of the creature was overwhelming—larger than any beast he had ever encountered, its muscles rippling beneath the armor plates with terrifying power. Its eyes glowed faintly with malice, and it's gaze seemed to be unhindered by the ruins and debris.
Thanex's heart hammered in his chest, each beat a thunderous drum of impending violence. He knew he had only one chance—and it was a gamble that could cost him everything.
His gaze flicked to the cracked stone archway looming above the courtyard entrance. The ancient structure was barely holding together, its pillars fractured and unstable. A plan formed in his mind, fragile but promising.
He picked up a small stone from the rubble at his feet and hurled it across the courtyard. The rock clattered loudly against the ground, echoing through the silence like a gunshot.
The monster's head snapped up instantly. Its nostrils flared as it sniffed the air, then it snorted angrily and charged toward the noise.
Thanex's pulse quickened. The beast thundered straight beneath the archway.
He sprinted forward, every muscle screaming in protest, adrenaline flooding his veins. His makeshift spear was clutched tightly in his hands, the tip shimmering faintly with residual energy. He could feel the weight of his own exhaustion, the dull ache of hunger gnawing at his insides, but there was no room for hesitation.
He slammed the spear into the weakened pillar supporting the arch.
The cracked stone groaned ominously, then shattered.
For a heart-stopping moment, nothing happened.
Then the entire archway collapsed.
Massive chunks of stone crashed down with deafening force onto the monster.
The creature roared in fury, a sound that shook the very air, as the rubble buried it halfway.
Dust and debris exploded into the air, stinging Thanex's eyes and clogging his throat. He coughed violently but forced himself to move.
Without hesitation, he leapt onto the pile of rubble.
His spear plunged downward.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Each strike was a desperate gamble, a test of endurance and will.
The monster thrashed beneath the rubble, its tusks scraping against stone, its breath ragged and furious. The weight of the debris did not stop it; it fought with the raw, brutal strength of a cornered beast.
Thanex's arms burned with exertion, muscles trembling under the strain. His vision blurred at the edges, sweat and dust mixing on his skin. The spear felt heavier with each thrust, but he refused to relent.
Silence.
Suddenly, the rubble shifted violently beneath him.
The monster surged upward, breaking free with a terrifying roar that echoed like thunder.
"Curses", Thanex cursed as his makeshift spear gave in to the strain.
Thanex was thrown backward, crashing hard onto the cracked stone floor. Pain exploded through his ribs, breath knocked from his lungs. He struggled to rise, every movement agony.
The boar charged again, tusks lowered, eyes blazing with fury.
Thanex rolled to the side just in time, the beast's tusks gouging deep furrows into the stone where he had lain moments before.
He scrambled to his feet, heart pounding, breath ragged.
There was no time to think.
Only to act.
He darted toward the archway's fallen stones, searching for anything to use.
His fingers closed around a jagged shard of crystal, sharp and cold.
The boar turned, its heavy hooves pounding the ground as it advanced.
Thanex's mind raced.
He couldn't outrun it.
He couldn't outmuscle it.
He had to outsmart it.
He circled the beast, keeping low, watching for an opening.
The boar snorted, steam rising from its flaring nostrils.
It charged again, faster this time, a living battering ram.
Thanex dove to the side, barely avoiding the tusks that could have impaled him.
He scrambled up, lunging forward with the crystal shard aimed at the beast's exposed throat.
The boar reared back, sensing the attack.
Thanex's blade caught the soft flesh beneath the armored plates, slicing deep.
A roar of pain and rage erupted from the creature.
But the wound was shallow.
The boar swung its massive head, catching Thanex's arm with a brutal blow.
Thanex hissed as pain exploded through his shoulder, and he stumbled, nearly falling.
Cobalt blood dripped from a fresh cut on his cheek.
The beast charged again, relentless.
Thanex's breath came in ragged gasps.
His vision darkened at the edges.
He knew this was the end.
But then, with a final surge of desperate strength, he drove the shard deep into the creature's throat.
The boar screamed, a sound of pure agony, and staggered.
Its legs buckled beneath it, and it crashed to the ground with a thunderous impact.
Thanex collapsed beside it, chest heaving, every muscle trembling.
The monster thrashed weakly once, twice.
Then stillness.
Silence fell over the courtyard.
Thanex lay there, bloodied and broken, but alive.
Another corpse dissolved into black mist.
Another crystal remained behind.
Another meal.
He picked up the monster essence and stared at it.
Survival in the Divine Realm had become brutally simple.
Kill.
Eat.
Move.
Repeat.
Thanex swallowed the crystal.
Pain burned through his veins as the energy spread through his body.
But when the sensation faded, strength returned to his limbs.
Thanex looked across the endless ruins of the Divine Realm.
Somewhere in this broken world, an exit existed.
And until he found it…
He would keep hunting.
Thanex looked over at his broken makeshift spear, the rod was laying about a stone throw from him, its tip broken.
"Tsk, what a pain", Thanex groaned.
He would have to fix it or face fighting abominations with bare hands.
" Hell no, that is not happening",Thanex shivered at the thought.
Thanex strained visibly as he forced himself to stand, he was tired, True. But staying in an exposed place as this was not an option, or rather risk he was content on taking.
"Chaos".