Existence in Paradoxical Changes

Chapter Ten: Fragments of Despair, Whispers of Hope

In the chaotic atmosphere of the battlefield, the remnants of the struggle lingered heavily in the air. Jared, lying prostrate on the ground, faced an unimaginable fate. His limbs were gone, severed in the relentless chaos that had unfolded. With sheer determination, he pressed his mouth against the device's button he bought with his last 3T from the system.

The moment the detonator clicked, a surge of energy pulsed through him, almost like a final breath. Each second felt drawn out, and the grim realization of his impending doom battled against the flicker of hope that this explosion might save his friends. But just as he completed his task, the ground beneath him trembled violently as the old man reached for him with a monstrous grin, ready to consume him.

On the sidelines, Anne and Jeanne bore witness to this horrific sight. Their screams pierced the air as they shouted for Jared, their voices raised in panic. "No! Jared, don't!" they called out, their hearts breaking as they watched the old man devour him whole, taking away their friend before their very eyes. It was a gut-wrenching scene that tore at the very fabric of their existence.

With each second that passed, despair sunk deeper into their hearts. They cried out, tears streaming down their faces as their emotions boiled over. Frustration clawed at their insides— angry at their own helplessness and powerelessness. They grit their teeth, the pressure in their jaws so intense that their gums bled, and their nails dug deep into their palms, leaving crescent-shaped imprints as they clung to their resolve, despite the overwhelming feeling of despair.

Then, the earth shook with a thunderous roar as the explosion erupted behind them. A blinding light encompassed everything, and a shockwave shot forth, sending Anne and Jeanne tumbling through the air. The immense force propelled them towards the gaping space portal, its swirling depths gleaming with a chaotic energy that drew them in like moths to a flame. They grasped for anything, but the world was slipping through their fingers, and in that instant, they were consumed by the vortex and lost to the void.

As the smoke faded, a deafening sigh resounded from the center. It was the old man who had tried to eat Jared; he stood there completely unscathed, with not a single hair on his balding head out of place, and even his clothes bore not a speck of dust. The old man then muttered, licking his lips, "An interesting food indeed." He took a device from his pocket, which proceeded to open a space crack that produced a sound like chalk scratching on a slate board, just as before.

Before moving on to his next destination, he inhaled the air of Earth one last time and his face lit up with ecstasy as if smelling the scent of his cherished lover. Then thousands of tentacles shot into the sky, capturing every living being within a radius of several kilometers—an area so vast that it engulfed all in chaos. Plants, animals, and humans—nothing was spared—as the old man chuckled while muttering to himself, "I guess I needed some snacks on the way, after all." The shadows of the writhing horrors darkened the world that had once shone brightly. As they tightened their grip, reality began to shimmer and blur around him.

As Jared's consciousness traveled through the void, fear surged through him as the last vestige of the old man's monstrous form dissolved into tendrils of darkness, pulling everything in until he felt himself being swept away, as if his very essence was being unspooled from the fabric of time. The world around him warped and twisted, an overwhelming force dragging him through the fissures between realms.

Then, in an instant, the fray of battle faded into quietude.

Suddenly, Jared awoke to a ceiling he recognized but had long forgotten—a low, off-white expanse decorated with posters of animes from his youth. Sunlight filtered through the curtains, painting warm patches on the wooden floor. He quickly sat up, heart racing, grasping at memories that felt both familiar and foreign.