The fragmented world on the verge of awakening

To the inhabitants and beings of the world of Ky'lar, the destruction of the thirty-five-layer barrier was no subtle event; rather, it was the beginning of the end...

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡BRRRR-KABOOOOMMM-KRRRRRRRR...!!!!!!!!!!!!)

In an instant, the containment holding back the mass of energy within the forest burst apart like a pressure cooker reaching its critical point of detonation.

(¡¡¡SHRRRRRR-VROOOOM-KRRRR-SHHHHH...!!!!!)

As a result, the destructive forces accumulated throughout the battle were unleashed without restraint in every direction, spreading a colossal shockwave that shook the very core of the entire planet.

(¡¡¡CRACK-KRRRRZSSSSS-FSSSHHH...!!!)

The balance of nature shattered completely.

(¡¡¡¡¡RATATATATA-KRAK-SHRAGH-BOOOM!!!!!)

Within seconds, the skies of Ky'lar filled with violent static as earthquakes of devastating magnitude cracked distant mountain ranges; electrical storms of golden and violet lightning discharged their fury over the valleys, while gusts of snow, mystical frost, and waves of incandescent steam blended together in an unprecedented climatic chaos.

"How could this happen...?!"

"The barrier has broken!!"

"And the Queen?!"

Even the high spirits—born from the very vitality of the world and standing among the oldest existences in Ky'lar—reeled as the earth and atmosphere spiraled into instability and chaos.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡BRRRR-VROOOOMM-ZUNNN...!!!!!!!!)

High above, covering the firmament from horizon to horizon, the frantic, fluctuating light of the geometric cage expanded until it became a celestial mantle.

<... No... This is...>

And for the second time in the recorded history of Ky'lar, a primordial aurora unfolded across the heavens once more.

(¡¡¡ZUUUUUU-FZZZZ-VROOOOMM...!!!!!)

Yet among all existences in the world of Ky'lar, only one was aware that this psychedelic splendor brought no peace...

<IMPOSSIBLE!>

... Instead, the energy, the essence saturating it... For the Spirit Queen, it was like witnessing a nightmare...

<<HA! HAHAHAHAHAHA!>>

... That was the unmistakable mark of an existential calamity.

(¡¡SHUUU-VRRRRRRRRR-ZHHH-KRAK-TCHHHHWWWWWRRRRRR!!)

As the shockwaves generated by Mireya's hyperluminal accelerations ceased to dissipate, they began to swirl above the destroyed forest instead—feeding on the unleashed energy until they morphed into a destructive vortex of wind, entropic mass, and shredded vitality in an ascending spiral.

(¡¡VMMMMMM-SHHHRRR-KZZZZ-TK-TK-TK-VRAAA-ZZZTTT~~!!)

In parallel, at the very center of the destructive typhoon, the epicenter continued to rise without pause, ascending toward the highest layers of the atmosphere while the uninterrupted rain of slashes kept tearing apart and reassembling the Spirit Queen's form.

(¡¡¡KRA-SPLASH-TTTK-BOOOM-VREEE-KRA-SPLASH...!!!)

As if trapped in a continuous execution, the Spirit Queen's body was battered and dismembered without a moment's respite, falling into a frantic cycle where the vegetation and energy composing her exploded before they could fully reform...

<No...! If this is really what I think it is... My core...! I have to... preserve the core...!>

Yet despite that, cornered in the twilight of starry space where the kaleidoscopic glare of the cuts illuminated everything like a dying sun, the Queen concentrated every thread of her existence into a desperate defense, acutely aware of the true threat.

(¡¡¡ZHHW-SZZZT-SHWIII-FLLLLP-SHWIII-KZZZT!!!)

As a result, filaments of natural energy twisted within the void to reconstruct her limbs, her torso, and her face again and again—struggling to hold her physical form together before the next slice dissolved her completely.

<... There's no doubt about it... This presence...>

... But as the light of the auroras stained the cosmic void, a horror far deeper than the destruction of her body began to gnaw at her mind.

<<—Hihi... ihihi... AHAHAJAHAJA!—>>

In the vastness of the void, a laughter grew increasingly joyful, strident, and unhinged, vibrating directly through the fabric of reality.

<After all this time... It's her...!>

In that moment, the presence emanating from the chimera was no longer merely that of a wounded beast or an out-of-control anomaly... Instead...

(...thump... THUMP... ¡...BDUUUUUMMMMMMM...!)

... What pulsed before her was a beat she never believed she would hear again.

(¡...THUUUMMM-vrrrRRR-OOMMM...!)

The Spirit Queen was known by many titles—the Original Spirit, the Great Mother, the Mother Tree, the Sovereign Queen, and the World Tree whose canopy sustained the very life of the world...

(¡¡THUMP-THUMP... PUM-PUM... PUM-PUM-PUM...!!)

... Yet precisely because of that—being so ancient, the very root of nature—the Queen knew the hidden truth behind the genesis of that world... The origin of how everything changed... And the primordial entity to whom the shadow belonged that once again...

<<¡Hi-hi-hi... KI-KI-KI-HAHAHAHA! KYAAA-HAHAHAHAHA!!>>

... Was on the verge of awakening.

<<—¡¡AHAHAHAHAJAJAJAJAJAJA~!! —>>

And with a lunatic laughter, completely stripped of any trace of sanity and vibrating with abyssal glee, time itself seemed to dilate in the void.

"¡¡¡GROOOOAAARRRGGGHHH!!!"

Long before the existence of spirits, natural energy, and the majesty of the Mother Tree, Ky'lar was nothing more than a mundane world.

(Ssssshhhhhiiiiiiiiiuuuuuuuu...)

Like a passing breeze, its eras drifted by in a gray and ordinary silence while life unfolded in strict accordance with the laws of physics and living matter—plodding forward through a mundane medieval era, devoid of magic, miracles, or the slightest trace of the supernatural.

Back then, humanity was born, struggled, and died in absolute ignorance of the forces governing reality.

(¡¡¡CRACK-KRRRR...!!!)

Yet that fragile order was eradicated forever in a single instant.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡CRASH-GLASS-KRRRRZZZZZT...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

On that day, space did not fracture from a natural phenomenon, but from the inevitable collision of two calamities of cosmic scale descending from the outer abyss.

(¡¡¡SHRRRRRR-VROOOOM-KRRRR-SHHHHH...!!!)

On one side stood the Incarnation of Matter: a dantesque biological abomination condensing the totality of physical substance. Composed of a living mass of fur, scales, claws, fins, wings, and more, it resembled a demon that reconfigured the anatomy of everything it touched.

(¡¡¡¡¡BRRRR-KABOOOOMMM-SHWWWAAAAA~~!!!!!)

Opposing it on the other side was the Incarnation of Energy: an entity whose presence mirrored the tragic harmony of a living spell. A being devoid of flesh, woven solely from the entire network of fundamental forces in an abyssal lattice that distorted the laws of the universe into a labyrinth of kaleidoscopic light.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM—KABUUUUUUUUUM!!!!!!!!!)

Thus, from that moment on, both calamities locked themselves in a relentless conflict—a titanic clash of absolute forces where the concept of a victor was nonexistent.

(¡¡¡CRACK-KRRRRZSSSSS-FSSSHHH...!!!)

The Incarnation of Matter and the Incarnation of Energy fought as equals for eons or perhaps even longer, razing everything in their path as collateral damage.

(¡¡¡¡¡ZUUUUUU-FZZZZ-VROOOOMM!!!!!)

That confrontation was like a dance where every strike from the beast reconfigured the flesh and substance of the earth; every flicker of light from the entity of energy twisted concepts, while the friction between both altered the linear flow of time and distorted the fabric of space.

"¡¡¡—!!!"

Their battle seemed to have no end...

(♪♫... ♪♫... ♪♫...)

... Until, at the zenith of that eternal chaos... the universe fell silent.

(♪♫... Ssssshhhhh... ♪♫...)

In the midst of the storm, a single life stepped between the tragedy, and a melody resonated like a requiem amidst the suffering.

(♪...)

Even while it was barely a faint vibration, that melody drifted above the din.

(¡¡¡BRRRR-KABOOOOMMM...!!!)

Even as both calamities continued to tear each other apart without respite...

(♩... ♪... ♫...)

... The melody did not fade.

(♬... ♩... ♪...)

Little by little, the intermittent beats of that instrumental prayer began to weave through the roar of violence.

(♪♫... ♩... ♬... ♪♫...)

The melody rose with an overwhelming melancholy, modulating its chords not through the atmosphere, but within the very marrow of both existences.

(♩... ♫... ♬... ♩...)

... Amidst the insufferable pain and the frenzy of eons, a miracle bound them together for a single, fleeting instant.

"......"

<<...>>

In that moment, looking into each other's eyes, both monsters reached a shared decision...

(¡¡¡¡¡SLASSSSSSHHHHH—STABBBBB...!!!!!)

And at the end, to bring an end to the agony, both calamities impaled one another.

(¡¡CRACK-KRRRRZSSSSS-BOOOOOOOM!!)

As a result, from the demon's flesh and blood emerged the organic life that populated the world of Ky'lar—composed of demons, elves, demi-humans, and even new human lineages. Meanwhile, from the incorporeal entity exploded a surge of brilliant energy that saturated the entire world, giving birth to magic, miracles, and the very phenomena that forged the foundations of everything.

(♩... ♪... ♫...)

In this manner, the roar ceased, and the final chords of the composition dissolved into the surroundings, amid the flames consuming the remains of what they once were...

"¡¡~!!"

... The only thing remaining in the midst of that wasteland where life flourished was a little girl, weeping in mourning and praying with faith toward the sky, holding onto hope.

(♪♫... ♩...)

Thus, time flowed over the wounds of Ky'lar.

(¡¡¡SHRRRRRR-FSSSHHH...!!!)

And across the millennia, with the unyielding march of eras, the truth behind that sacrifice diluted into myth.

<.....>

The men, the elves, and the creatures of the new era raised altars and dogmas from the ashes: the Incarnation of Matter was named with dread as the Demon God, while the Incarnation of Energy was worshipped with devotion as the Goddess of Creation.

<¡¿?!>

Faith, religion, and mystical scriptures were born. Meanwhile, the true memories of the tragedy remained buried in that distant battlefield, where a small sprout—nourished by the child's grief—began to slowly take root until it became the Mother Tree.

<<—¡AHAHAHAHAJAJAJAJAJAJA!—>>

And now... eras later... in the icy vastness of starry space...

(¡¡¡SLASSSSH-SLASSSSH-SLASSSSH-SLASSSSH...!!!!!)

The body of the Spirit Queen, pulverized again and again, had spent its very last drop of natural energy—leaving her exposed core bare, right at the center of her fractured chest.

<... It should be impossible... But... This confirms it...!>

In the middle of the void, with her core utterly exposed and her regeneration failing to cover the damage, the Queen looked up.

(¡¡¡THUMP-THUMP... PUM-PUM... PUM-PUM-PUM...!!!!!!!!)

There, millimeters from her face, floated a beast.

<You... You—! The anomaly... is you...>

High in the firmament, drowning words in the void of space...

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡BRRRR-KABOOOOMMM-SHWWWAAAAA...!!!!!!!!)

The Queen's warning was smothered before the words could cross the cosmic vacuum.

<<¡¡¡KYAAA-HAHAHAHAHA!!!>>

... From the sky, a star fell.