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Singularity of the Void [Power at the Cost of Humanity]

Keluken
7
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Synopsis
WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO SACRIFICE YOUR HUMANITY FOR POWER? ​Follow SOREN: a liar, a sticky-fingered con artist, but kind-hearted, in a world that wants to turn you into something else. ​To survive, he will have to negotiate, deceive, and assimilate SINGULARITIES: spheres capable of granting power, often in exchange for what you cherish most. ​This is a PROGRESSION story. Yes. But every ounce of strength comes at a price. ​[ DAILY UPDATES — NO DAYS MISSED ]
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Chapter 1 - Chapter 1: Ash Field — The Eye That Shouldn't Exist

[ SYSTEM NOTICE ]

Environment detected.

Rules: unknown.

Cost: inevitable.

Memories… unstable.

▶ Continue ◀

 

Chapter 1: Ash Field — The Eye That Shouldn't Exist

Ash fell slowly from the sky. He didn't remember how he had gotten there. Enormous black vultures, with eyes too human, circled above the battlefield as if waiting for something precious buried beneath the mud and blood. Torn arms and legs reddened the field, and the dry earth choked on the spilled blood.

In the middle of the thick crimson pool, among the severed heads of terrible wolves, lay a teenage boy. His right hand — full of scratches and pale as ice — held a leather pouch embroidered with living symbols that blinked like fireflies. He clutched it tight… even though his body had long since stopped radiating warmth, and the blood no longer flowed. His lungs barely remembered how to breathe.

This couldn't be real.

With one last breath, his body contracted. His back arched and he shot upright as a deep, guttural inhale — soaked in death — tore through his throat. It was as if he had fallen from above… and woken up on impact. His eyes opened involuntarily. With his left hand he touched his chest; his heart felt like it was about to burst out. The cold bit into his bones. The sky spun as if he were submerged in water.

A few seconds passed, and he went still. He couldn't move a single muscle until his broken breathing and the confusion in his mind settled just a little. Disoriented, he glanced up. Everything was blurry… until the colors began to come into focus. Strangely, his throat worked. The sound was more of a murmur than words.

Where…? Where am I?

In that moment, his body felt light, incomplete, fragile. He studied his hands — thin, pale, like those of a gaunt teenager. The boniness of them, almost skin over bone, made him go rigid. Terrified, he tried to touch his face… but stopped. One of his hands was gripping a leather pouch tightly.

This… this person can't be me.

Just then, the pouch vibrated. The embroidered symbols began to glow more intensely. Without thinking, he released it. It hit the ground and five brilliantly colored spheres rolled out with a dry chime. They immediately seized his attention.

Each one was a different color. They seemed to hold galaxies inside them. One blazed like fire. Another was blue, deep as the sea. A yellow one, with electric threads leaping through its core. Another held a sandstorm spinning without rest. And the last one was green. It didn't seem elemental like the others. Inside it… a reptilian eye watched him.

The boy was transfixed. A chill crept down his spine.

Then the eye blinked, and he threw himself backward on instinct. His hands sank into the thick, still-warm pool. The contact made him react. He glanced around… and turned pale. Beside him lay the severed heads of incredibly large wolves, scattered across the ground. He couldn't understand what kind of force could have achieved such a thing. Their bodies were nowhere to be found.

But what truly terrified him… was that every single one of those heads had a third eye open in the center of its forehead.

Cautiously, he edged closer. He studied them for a moment.

They didn't match. The wolves' eyes were not the same as the one in the sphere. And every one of the five wolves had its own third eye.

Suddenly, a screech exploded from the sky. He jerked his gaze upward. A group of monstrous vultures was spiraling down toward him.

He had no time to process anything else. Not the spheres. Not the wolves. Not his own body. His knees trembled and he collapsed again onto the ground. The mere sight of those creatures — nearly three meters across — made him want to wake up from that nightmare. One of them climbed higher and higher into the air. Just by watching the movement, he knew. And he wasn't wrong. At its highest point, the vulture stopped beating its wings. Its body curved… and it let itself drop.

Like a predator.

He grew pale, and fear made him react.

He lunged for the spheres, shoved them into the pouch, and ran. Gathering whatever little momentum he had left, he leapt over one of the wolf heads and sprinted toward the trees in the distance. But his body was weak, his steps heavy. The grass reached his knees, and every step weighed on him as if he were sinking. Every movement was like dragging dead weight — as if something invisible was pulling him from behind.

It was torture.

The vulture dropped without restraint. When it was about to touch the ground, it snapped its wings open. The recoil shifted its trajectory straight toward him. The air shrieked. In seconds, its talons were nearly within reach.

Ten steps. Only ten steps to enter the forest.

For one instant… he believed he could make it.

Until the shadow fell over him.

Suddenly— A golden thread cut through the air from the trees. Its whistle split the sky.

Shickkk. Shacck.

The vulture was cleaved into three, and blood fell like dark rain. The boy stumbled and rolled out of control.

He lifted his gaze. And saw her.

A white figure with golden hair and a knight's armor walked calmly toward the remains of the vulture. She crouched down. Picked up a black sphere. Inside it, something like living ink swirled — dense… contained. She stood, looked at him, and smiled.

"Hey, SEEKER. Find anything good?"