CHAPTER 44: CHAPTER 44 - THE CHOSEN ONE

The moment the transformation was complete, the silence shattered.

A deafening roar tore through the battlefield as one of the towering shadow giants lunged forward, its massive arm crashing down like a falling mountain. Mikail threw himself to the side, narrowly avoiding the devastating blow. The ground where he had stood exploded into a crater of twisted stone and dust.

00:04

Another came, this time from the left. Mikail raised his hand instinctively, Solar Veil flared to life, but the force behind the strike cracked through it like glass. The barrier held, barely, and Mikail was thrown backward, skidding across the ground before stopping against a jagged black pillar.

00:03

His body screamed in pain. His vision blurred. But the monsters didn’t relent.

Three giants advanced in unison, their movements unnaturally synchronized, as if controlled by a single malevolent will. One raised a blade formed of condensed shadow, its edge warping the air around it like a tear in reality. Another opened its gaping maw, a swirling abyss of darkness, before unleashing a torrent of searing black fire.

00:02

Mikail forced himself to his feet, swaying, blood dripping from his split lip. His vision blurred, his breath ragged.

He couldn’t win like this. Not without Soul Resonance.

But he refused to die like this.

00:01

His trembling fingers clenched into a fist. His battered body screamed in protest, but he ignored the pain.

00:00

[System Alert: Soul Resonance - Entering Cooldown Period]

’Shit!’

A cold wave surged through Mikail’s body the moment the timer hit zero. The radiant aura that had suffused his form flickered and died, vanishing like mist beneath the pale moonlight.

The constellation of spectral weapons, blades of celestial fire, and lances of pure energy shattered into motes of light before fading into oblivion.

He was alone now.

No divine armaments.

No infinite light.

Just raw instinct and a body teetering on the edge of collapse.

The first shadow giant struck.

*BOOM!*

The impact shook the battlefield, sending violent tremors rippling through the earth. Mikail twisted his body at the last possible moment, barely escaping the full force of the attack.

The razor-sharp wind from the blow sliced into his side, and a shock of pain lanced through his left arm. Numb. Possibly fractured. Maybe worse.

No time to check.

Then came the follow-up, black fire, a searing beam of corrosive darkness roaring toward him, hungry to consume.

Mikail gritted his teeth, forcing his body to move despite the exhaustion clawing at him. He could feel the last remnants of his strength slipping away, but he had no choice.

He dug deep, reaching into the shattered remains of his mana core, draining every last drop of energy.

Then.

A flicker.

A spark.

Light flared in his hands, golden and defiant, like the last embers of a dying sun.

A sword formed.

Not the infinite arsenal of Soul Resonance, not a divine weapon forged from celestial will-

But it was enough.

Mikail raised his hand, the sword of light trembling in his grip as he brought it before him, bracing for the incoming attack hurtling toward him like a storm of shadows and flame.

*BOOM!*

The beam struck Mikail’s sword with a deafening roar.

A shockwave exploded outward, carving a massive crater into the blackened earth. Black mist surged into the sky like a plume of ink, swallowing everything in its path.

For a heartbeat, the world fell silent. And Mikail’s figure vanished within the swirling darkness.

But the shadow giants did not stop.

Their towering forms moved with grim purpose, trudging through the scorched earth, black fire still smoldering around them. They didn’t celebrate. Didn’t retreat.

They knew.

Mikail wasn’t dead.

Not yet.

Drawn by some primal instinct, or perhaps guided by the same dark will that bound them, they marched toward the heart of the crater, where the black mist churned like a living thing.

They came to finish what the beam had started.

Each step the giants took stirred the air, sending gusts of wind sweeping across the battlefield.

The black mist swirling within the crater began to disperse, peeled away by the force of their approach until the shroud lifted completely.

There he was.

Mikail.

Kneeling at the center of the crater, his body battered and bloodied, one hand gripping the hilt of his light-forged sword, the blade embedded in the scorched ground.

He wasn’t standing.

He wasn’t attacking.

But he hadn’t let go.

A lone figure silhouetted against ruin like a fallen hero refusing to collapse.

Even on the verge of defeat, he faced the giants head-on.

--------

"Hey, doesn’t that look dangerous? Shouldn’t we step in already and help him? What if something bad happens to him?"

The man spoke anxiously, eyes locked on the battlefield below. From the edge of a jagged, shadow-forged building, he watched as Mikail knelt in the crater, barely holding on.

"What will Sir Mahesa say if he finds out we just watched while the Harbinger of Light died?"

Beside him, a woman sat calmly on a jagged outcrop, legs crossed, her gaze steady and unreadable. Despite Mikail’s worsening condition, she hadn’t moved.

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?!"

She let out a slow sigh, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

"You’re so noisy. Honestly," She muttered. "Maybe this really is all the so-called Harbinger of Light can do. But considering how recently he awakened, this much is already-"

She didn’t finish.

Because, at that moment, something changed.

The air around Mikail shimmered. The wind stilled.

And then-

The strange phenomenon began.

--------

Is this... how I’m going to die?

Are Moona and Melisa safe?

And the girl... Did she make it through her awakening?

I can feel them. The shadows. They’re getting closer... Heavy steps pressing against the earth, like the end itself marching toward me.

What about Grandma?

If I die here... Won’t she be alone again? After everything?

Where did it all begin?

Was it the day I got the system?

Or maybe when I started working at the café?

Or... Was my fate already sealed from the very beginning?

Will I really die here... Before I find out who murdered my parents?

’...Mom, Dad... I’m sorry’

It seems I’ll see you soon.

What was it all for?

This power...

This system...

If in the end, I’m just another failure.

’Haaa~ From the start, I should’ve just stayed in my comfort zone... Sipping coffee, watching the world pass by, contemplating life, and questioning everything about it’

What is a Chosen One, really?

A symbol? A weapon? A savior?

Whatever it is, someone else should’ve had it... Someone stronger, smarter, more prepared.

Not me.

This burden... This title... It was never meant for someone like me.

I lifted my head, my vision blurred, and my breath shallow.

One of the shadow giants loomed closer, its massive form blotting out what little light remained.

And then...

A memory.

Flashing through my mind like a blade through silence.

The day my parents died.

Right in front of me.

I looked up.

There was nothing above me now but darkness.

No stars.

No moon.

Just the void.

’...What a great place to die,’ I thought bitterly.

That day... I should have died with them.

Maybe I was supposed to.

’*Sigh* I should just accept my fat-’

[DING]

A soft chime pierced the haze.

[Title: Chosen One - Active]

[Effect: Defies Fate (Small) - Activated]

The sound didn’t reach my ears.

It rang in my soul.

Faint... Yet absolute.

Then I felt it... A pulse. A thrum deep in my chest.

Like a second heartbeat.

Steady.

Inevitable.

The air shifted. Heavier. Charged with something ancient and immense.

The shadows around me quivered, like prey sensing a predator.

One of the giants moved... A towering beast cloaked in darkness, raising its colossal arm.

Its blade, forged from pure night, cleaved downward with crushing force.

Straight at me.

I didn’t move.

I couldn’t.

But something else did.

*BOOM!*

A blinding flash split the world in two.

Not from me... Through me.

From the sword of light still embedded in the earth at my side.

A shockwave exploded outward, golden and radiant, slamming into the giant’s strike and throwing it off course. The titanic blade scraped past me, carving a deep scar into the ground... But I remained untouched.

The impact exposed something beneath the crater.

Runes.

Glowing with forgotten power, carved into the very bones of the world.

As if they had been waiting for this moment.

The darkness recoiled with a hiss.

Wounded. Afraid.

And I... I stood.

Not from Will.

Not from strength.

But because something refused to let me fall.

A whisper echoed in my mind:

"Defy it. Even fate can bleed"

"Huh? What...?"

The words slipped out before I could stop them, barely more than a breath.

My body trembled. Not from fear. Not exactly.

From something else.

I looked down at my hands.

They weren’t glowing. I wasn’t glowing.

But the air around me still shimmered faintly, like heat rising off the sacred ground.

I turned slowly, almost afraid to move too fast like I’d break the moment.

The giant staggered back, its blackened blade cracked and hissing.

It feared me.

No... Not me.

The sword.

I glanced at it, half-buried in the earth, still humming with light.

That wasn’t mine, not the one I made. That was will made manifest.

"What the hell is going on...?"

My voice sounded distant like someone else was speaking.

But deep inside, something stirred.

Something ancient.

Something angry.

Something that had waited.

I felt it again, that second heartbeat.

Not mine.

But... Somehow mine.

"Chosen One," I whispered.

Like saying it would make it make sense.

The runes still burned beneath my feet.

The crater felt like a wound in the world.

And I was standing in the center of it. Alive.

No. More than alive.

Defiant.

....

...

..

.