The crater was silent.
Thoos was gone.
Markil sat there, breathing heavily, staring at his hands.
"It's over…"
Suddenly—
ZING.
A high-pitched ringing pierced his ears.
"Argh?!"
Markil grabbed his head.
It wasn't a headache.
It was an invasion.
BOOM.
Images flooded his mind.
Not his memories.
A thousand battlefields.
A million sword swings.
The sensation of cutting through dragon scales.
The precise flow of Mana required to split an atom.
The feeling of standing alone against an entire world.
"GAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"
Markil fell to his knees, clawing at his scalp.
"STOP! STOP IT!"
"I DON'T NEED THIS! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
His brain felt like it was expanding, rewriting his very neurons.
"NOOOOOOO!!" Markil screamed, tears streaming down his face.
"I am Markil! I am just Markil!"
SNAP.
The pain vanished instantly.
Markil gasped, his chest heaving. He slowly opened his eyes.
They weren't shaking anymore.
The purple ring in his iris sharpened into a perfect, geometric shape.
A crest of power.
He stood up.
He looked at his body.
His clothes, which had been torn to shreds during the fight, were mended.
His skin was flawless.
His muscles felt dense, charged with infinite energy.
"What… is happening?" Markil whispered.
"Am I dreaming?"
He clenched his fist.
He knew exactly how to throw a punch that could shatter a mountain.
He didn't have to think about it.
He just knew.
RUMBLE.
In front of him, space tore open.
A purple portal swirled into existence—identical to the one he had entered.
Markil stared at it.
"This is the way out…"
He took a step.
Then froze.
"Wait."
Doubt crept in.
What if…
What if this isn't the exit?
What if this takes me to another world? Another Level? Another monster?
He looked back at the empty red world.
"Should I go?"
He hesitated.
Then—
A face appeared in his mind.
Maria.
His mother.
"She is waiting," Markil whispered.
"She is alone."
He gripped the hilt of the invisible sword in his soul.
"I don't care," Markil said, his voice firm.
"I have to get stronger. Even if I have to kill a thousand Thoos…"
"I will go back to my world."
"I will go home!"
He ran.
He sprinted toward the swirling purple vortex.
"HERE I COME!"
He leaped into the gate.
FLASH.
"Hey!"
Markil blinked.
Green.
Sunlight.
Trees.
He was standing mid-stride, his foot hovering over a tree root.
Beside him walked Melian.
Behind him were Elrond, Arwen, Kalmen, Alith, and Amreth.
They were walking.
Calmly.
Markil froze.
His foot hit the ground hard.
THUD.
He stopped dead in his tracks.
"Huh?" Markil blurted out.
The sudden stop made Melian bump into his arm.
"Oh!" Melian stumbled slightly.
"Markil? Why did you stop so suddenly?"
Markil stared at her.
Then he stared at his hands.
Then he looked around.
The forest was exactly the same as it was before he entered the portal.
Elrond stopped and turned around, his face annoyed.
"Human. We are losing daylight. Keep moving."
Kalmen Solas scoffed, crossing his arms.
"Hey, fucking asshole. What is it now? Did you see a squirrel and get scared?"
Markil didn't answer.
His heart was hammering against his ribs.
I was just… I was just in a red world.
I fought a general.
I lost my arms…
He grabbed his head, eyes wide with shock.
"Hey…" Markil whispered.
He looked at Melian.
"Melian…"
Melian tilted her head, concern washing over her face.
"Yeah? What is it, Markil? You look pale."
Markil swallowed hard.
"Do you know… where was I?"
Melian frowned.
"Where were you?" she repeated.
"What kind of question is that?"
She pointed at the ground beneath his feet.
"You were right here. Walking beside me."
Markil felt a cold chill run down his spine.
"No…" Markil stammered.
"I mean… didn't I disappear? Into a portal? For a long time?"
Elrond narrowed his eyes and stepped closer, towering over Markil.
"What the hell are you saying?" Elrond asked, his voice low.
"You haven't left my sight for a single second since we met the bandits."
"You have been walking here. In silence. For the last hour."
Markil stared at Elrond.
Time stop.
The realization hit him like a truck.
When that portal opened… when the world froze… it actually froze.
I spent three years in the Void.
I lived a lifetime.
I died and came back.
And in this world… not even a single second passed.
"Ha…" Markil let out a short, breathless laugh.
"Hahaha…"
"Are you crazy?" Amreth asked, twirling a dagger.
"Did the heat get to your brain?"
Markil looked down at his hands.
I have the power.
I have the experience.
But to them… I'm just the guy who stopped walking.
Markil looked up.
He forced a smile.
A bright, fake smile.
"Ah! Sorry!" Markil laughed, scratching the back of his head.
"It's nothing! I just… I felt dizzy for a second! Totally zoned out!"
"I have a weak memory, you know? Sometimes I forget where I am! Haha!"
Silence.
The elves stared at him.
"You forgot… where you were… while walking?" Alith asked, her voice flat.
"Yep! Weird, right?" Markil beamed.
Elrond didn't smile.
His eyes sharpened.
He is lying.
Elrond's instincts, honed over centuries of war, were screaming.
A second ago, this human felt like a civilian. A confused boy.
Now…
Elrond studied Markil's posture.
Relaxed.
Rooted.
He stands like a master swordsman.
"Fine then," Elrond said slowly, turning around.
"If you don't have any issues… we should move straight."
He began walking—but his hand rested closer to his sword hilt than before.
"Let's go, Markil," Melian said gently, tugging his sleeve.
She looked at him with worry.
I haven't seen a human like him before, Melian thought.
Is he… mad or something? Talking nonsense about disappearing?
She glanced at Elrond's back.
But… Elrond isn't scared.
And Markil defeated those bandits.
She squeezed Markil's arm.
I should trust him now.
Because he saved me.
"Come on," she smiled.
"We are almost there."
Markil nodded.
"Yeah. Coming."
As Markil started walking again, the atmosphere shifted.
Elrond didn't look back.
But his thoughts were racing.
I'm sensing something different in him.
Sweat formed on Elrond's brow.
Is this imagination? Or…
His eyes darted sideways, watching Markil through his peripheral vision.
Why does his shadow look so… dark?
It feels like an army is walking behind him.
(Chapter 16 Finished)