The fall should've ended.
But it didn't.
Diego kept screaming—
But his voice was eaten by the air itself.
He was no longer falling through Earth.
He was falling through something else.
The light around him turned red.
The air grew heavy. Boiling.
Below him, a world of molten fire and rivers of lava stretched endlessly.
Mountains cracked open like eggshells. Smoke coiled in the sky like serpents.
Is this Hell?! Am I dead?!
His skin burned just being near it.
His bones felt like they'd melt.
He couldn't breathe.
But just when it became too much—
A second rift opened beneath him.
This one was blue.
Icy wind hit him like a wall.
He screamed again—but this time, it was from pain.
The cold clawed into his skull, his lungs, his spine.
He fell past floating glaciers, giant icicles suspended mid-air, and clouds of frozen mist.
His vision blurred. His teeth chattered.
I… I can't… I'm going to freeze to death…
But the fall didn't stop.
Another rift opened.
And suddenly—
Pink. Candy. Clouds.
He burst through a world so absurdly sweet it made him dizzy.
Giant floating donuts. Lollipop forests. A sky the color of bubblegum.
Flying cupcakes buzzed around him like bees.
Am I hallucinating?!
His scream turned into a confused, horrified laugh.
Then—splash.
Water.
He hit a deep, dark ocean with a crash.
Sinking, spinning, breath knocked out of his chest.
Shapes moved in the deep.
Silhouettes. Beautiful. Elegant. Human—but not.
Mermaids.
Male and female, their eyes glowed underwater, hair drifting like ink in waves.
Some of them turned to look at him.
He reached out—
But another rift opened below.
This one was… black.
Pure black.
No light. No sound.
A void.
He fell through it—weightless, lost, empty.
Nothing but the sound of his own breath and heart—
Am I going mad? Am I still falling? Will this ever—
THUD.
He landed.
Back.
On the same rooftop.
Gasping. Shaking.
And in front of him…
The creature with the golden horns.
Still standing. Still waiting.
"No more tricks," it growled, stepping forward. "You don't escape fate."
Diego's legs refused to move.
His entire body ached, frozen, burned, waterlogged—done.
The creature raised its black spear.
Its edge gleamed—ready to pierce.
And then—
Screech—CLASH!
A sword, silver and furious, slammed into the spear mid-air, deflecting it in a burst of light.
The boy.
The strange boy was back.
Hair glowing, eyes electric, his feet landing between Diego and death.
"Told you I wouldn't be long," he said calmly.
"Now move, Diego. This one's mine."
Diego stood behind him.
Behind the strange boy—still nameless, still smiling.
The wind tugged at Diego's ruined shirt. His body trembled, but not just from the cold. From fear. From confusion. From the echo of falling through dimensions like dreams and nightmares stitched together.
But that boy...
He stood tall. Calm. As always.
His back straight, sword in hand, that same grin on his face. Unbothered. As if nothing in this world could reach him.
Then—they fought.
The golden-horned creature—Athez—charged.
The clash was thunder.
Athez's black spear came down like lightning. The boy moved like mist.
They were blurs of shadow and silver. Sparks flew. The rooftop cracked.
Diego could barely follow them.
Each swing of Athez's spear created shockwaves.
Each counter from the boy sent arcs of light through the air.
The sky above them turned dark. Clouds swirled unnaturally.
It was as if reality bent around their fight.
The boy laughed, spinning mid-air, his sword grazing Athez's side.
But Athez roared, retaliated with raw power—
A strike so fast, Diego didn't even see it coming.
The boy didn't either.
The spear came straight toward his heart.
"NO!!"
Diego moved without thinking. His body screamed—but he was faster than ever before.
He leapt.
Everything slowed.
The air thickened. Time dragged like syrup.
And as the spear approached, Diego threw himself between it and the boy.
But he didn't die.
Instead—his hands lit up.
A pulse of violet energy erupted from his palms—wild, raw, electric.
The spear slammed into a barrier that wasn't there a moment ago.
A wave of power blasted outward, sending Athez flying back, crashing into the far wall with a monstrous crack.
Silence.
The wind stopped.
Smoke rose from Diego's hands.
He blinked. Trembling.
What... what did I just do?
The boy slowly turned toward him.
His face, for the first time, showed something new—shock.
Then the grin returned.
Wider. Brighter.
A glint of madness in his blue eyes.
"You really are," he whispered, eyes fixed on Diego.
"You really are."
Diego was frozen.
"Am what? What is happening? Who ARE YOU? Who AM I?!"
He clutched his hair, breathing hard, his mind unraveling.
"What the hell is going on?!"
His legs buckled. He fell to his knees.
"I thought the voices were the worst! I thought the monsters were the end of it! But this?! This—this power—this... this madness—!"
His body shook.
"What did I just DO?!"
The boy sat nearby, casually fixing a few strands of his golden-pink hair.
"Breathe. Relax. You'll understand everything soon."
That calmness only infuriated Diego.
He shot up and stormed toward him, grabbing him by the collar, lifting him off the ground with a strength that shocked even himself.
"No! I'm DONE being calm. You're going to talk! NOW! Because I can't take one more second of this insanity!"
The boy dangled in his grip, completely relaxed.
His smile never wavered.
He tapped two fingers together.
Then-
Snap.
The world around them shattered like glass.
In an instant, the cold rooftop, the stars, the cracked bricks—all vanished in a wave of white light.
And then—a new world formed.
Stone tiles beneath their feet.
Massive pillars rising high into a violet sky.
Torches burned along the walls, casting flickering shadows. The air was thick with incense and tension.
It was a hall—but not just any hall.
It was a sanctum, a place built from magic and mystery, ancient and alive.
And it was full of people.
Dozens—maybe hundreds—of cloaked figures stood in rows, weapons at their sides, eyes glowing faintly under hoods. Each one radiated power. Aura. Danger.
For a brief second... silence.
Then—they all turned.
All of them.
Their eyes locked on Diego.
A strange hum echoed through the space—like the entire room had just felt him arrive.
"What is this place…" Diego whispered, his voice barely holding together.
The boy said nothing.
Because he didn't have to.
The crowd began to murmur. Some backed away. Others raised their weapons.
One of them gasped:
>"That mark… it's him."
"It's awakened."
"Kill him. Now."
And without a signal—
They charged.
All of them.
Blades, arrows, spells glowing at their fingertips—rushing straight toward Diego.
The floor trembled. The air crackled.
He could hear the clash of boots, the whistles of spears, the thrum of incoming death.
No no no no—
His eyes widened.
He took a step back—
And everything went black.