Chapter 1

Lilian knelt atop a mound of corpses, her armor slick with blood. Her sword lay discarded at her side, its edge dulled by the battle’s end. She gasped for breath, her golden hair clinging to her sweat-streaked face, and stared at the beast before her.

The dragon towered over her, its scales a deep, seething crimson, its dark blue eyes gleaming like polished obsidian. Smoke curled from its nostrils as it observed her in silence.

Tears traced thin lines down Lilian’s pale cheeks.

“This... is... the end,” she whispered, voice broken.

Karvrous, the Father of Dragons, exhaled slowly. Then, with deliberate care, he raised a massive claw and tilted her chin upward.

“What’s your name, human?” His voice rumbled like distant thunder.

She blinked, dazed. “…Lilian.”

“Lilian,” he mused. “Let me tell you a little secret.”

Her breath hitched. “A secret?”

The dragon’s fanged mouth curled into something resembling a smile.

“Have you heard of Ashriya?”

Lilian’s fingers clenched weakly against the earth. “The goddess of the world?”

“Yes,” Karvrous said, his voice tinged with amusement. “We struck a bargain. If I could destroy her world, she would grant me godhood.” His wings unfurled slightly, casting an immense shadow over the battlefield. “And now… I have done it twice.”

A deep, rumbling laugh shook the ruined land.

Karvrous leaned in close, his burning breath washing over her. “You are the last human alive, Lilian. The world is mine. I win.”

A blinding light erupted, carving through the battlefield like divine judgment.

From its core, a woman emerged. Her golden eyes burned with an ethereal fire, her silver hair cascading over robes so white they seemed woven from the very essence of light itself.

She stepped forward and exhaled, almost... weary.

“You win.”

Karvrous didn’t hesitate. His claw flashed through the air, and in one swift motion, slashed Lilians head off

A brilliant explosion consumed the battlefield.

Elsewhere...

Laughter and casual chatter filled a bustling classroom. A teacher scribbled equations onto the board, oblivious to the faint hum of energy rippling through the air.

Then—without warning—light erupted in the center of the room.

A massive magical circle formed beneath the students, its ancient symbols pulsing with otherworldly energy.

Gasps. Shouts. Chairs scraped against the floor as students scrambled, but before any of them could react—

The light swallowed them whole.

They awoke in a vast, endless void of white.

Before them stood Ashriya, her golden eyes unreadable.

But elsewhere, far removed from the others…

A lone boy stirred.

Darkness surrounded him, thick and suffocating. His wrists ached, bound by heavy chains that clanked with the slightest movement.

A presence loomed before him.

Ashriya.

She stood in silence, watching.