Rain stood before the two gates, his heart beating in a slow yet profound rhythm. He knew this choice was more than just two paths—it was a decision that would change his future forever.
On one side, the first gate glowed with a familiar light, as if calling him back to the world he came from, where battle, blood, and betrayal awaited. On the other side, the second gate was completely dark, radiating a strange aura, as if it were calling his name—one that had never been spoken before.
"Choose wisely, Rain Irthon."
The voice of the Shadow Master was calm, yet it carried a hidden warning.
Rain did not speak immediately. His mind worked rapidly, analyzing the available choices, searching for any hidden trick in this scene.
Then, without hesitation, he took a single step—
—toward the second gate.
Nothing changed as Rain approached the dark gate, but it seemed to react to him. There was something like a faint pulse resonating in the air, as if the gate itself was a living entity waiting for his passage.
Rain turned slightly, glancing at the Shadow Master, who was watching him with an unreadable expression.
"If I cross this gate…" Rain spoke in a calm voice. "What will I find on the other side?"
"Something you have never seen before."
"That is not an answer."
The Shadow Master smiled, but his smile was more enigmatic than ever.
"Because some answers cannot be given with words—they must be lived."
Rain's foot paused for a moment, but his eyes did not waver.
Then—
He stepped through the gate.
There was no instant transition as he expected. Instead, it felt as if he was dissolving into countless fragments, melting into the void before being reconstructed elsewhere.
When he regained his sense of existence, he found himself standing in…
A completely different world.
There was no sky. No real ground. Only an endless expanse filled with floating lights that moved like spectral beings and massive stone pillars suspended in the air, defying gravity.
But what caught his attention the most—
Was the presence of an enormous entity sitting on a colossal stone throne, towering over everything else in this place.
As those giant eyes lifted their gaze toward him, Rain felt—just for a moment—as if his entire mind had been laid bare, as if he had witnessed something he was never meant to see.
"…At last, the Heir of Fate has arrived."
The being's voice was not loud, yet it echoed within Rain like an eternal resonance, as if it was not heard through his ears but directly within his soul.
Rain stood motionless, but he could feel something unnatural stirring within him. There was a… strange vibration inside his spiritual insect.
The Black Butterfly… was reacting to this entity.
"Who are you?"
His question did not carry fear, but it did hold deep caution.
The entity did not respond immediately. Instead, it extended its hand—
And its hand was the size of a mountain.
But instead of crushing Rain, it merely touched the space between them with its fingertips, and suddenly, a strange vision formed before him.
Rain saw scenes from the past—
A world different from his own, where there were no spiritual insects, but rather other beings, older than time itself.
And he saw something else…
A figure that resembled him.
Not just another person, but someone who possessed the exact same Black Butterfly.
"…This is impossible."
Rain whispered in a low voice as the vision slowly faded.
But he knew that what he had seen was not an illusion.
There had been someone before him, someone who possessed the same power… and had ended in complete destruction.
He turned to the colossal entity, his eyes burning with fury.
"What does this mean?"
"It means that your path… was never a new one."
A strange coldness crept inside Rain, but deep within him, there was something else—
Absolute defiance.
"I don't care who came before me." He spoke firmly, his eyes glowing with a newfound intensity. "I am not that person."
"Everyone who came before you said the same thing."
"But the difference is, I will be the last."
Those words carried an unshakable will.
Even the colossal entity, who had been observing Rain from the beginning, did not move for a moment.
Then, after a long silence, it laughed.
A laugh that was not mocking, but rather like thunder shaking the void itself.
"Very well, Rain Irthon."
Then, it raised its hand—
And everything changed.
Rain felt nothing as he was pulled into the void, but when he opened his eyes, he found himself—
In the middle of a dark forest.
He did not know how much time had passed.
But he knew one thing—
He was no longer the same as before.