A middle-aged man staggered along the sidewalk, hands buried deep in his coat pockets.
His face was worn by time, his eyes dulled by drink and despair. Life had long since soured, and tonight he wandered with no destination, just the quiet hum of streetlights and the occasional honk in the distance.
Then—he saw her.
A girl, barely thirteen, stood at the edge of the road. Long black hair, pale face, frozen like a ghost.
A truck was barreling toward her.
He blinked slowly, not out of shock—but apathy.
"Well, rest in peace, little one. Life's a mess anyway," he muttered, clasping his hands together in lazy prayer.
He bowed his head.
Then—
"Hey—what the—?!"
OOOUUAAHHHHH!
A force shoved him forward. Hard.
His body slammed into the girl, knocking her to the sidewalk. In the next instant—
BANG!
The truck crushed him.
His skull shattered. Bones snapped. Blood painted the asphalt in strokes of red.
His last thought? Strangely amused:
"Heh... Guess that counts for something."
Somewhere Else
Rain lashed down on an ancient mountain, a world away from Earth.
A demoness climbed, her black horns gleaming under stormlight, her long hair soaked and tangled. Each step was a defiance of gravity. Each breath—millennia of sorrow.
How long has it been? she wondered. Thousands of years? Millions?
Time passed differently here. One day in the world below was a lifetime up this mountain.
She didn't care. She kept walking.
Every step carried memory.
A baby's laughter.
An obsidian cradle.
Her voice, soft and proud—"Mom will be back soon."
She had turned to the sitter. "Watch over her. Just a moment."
Steam. A warm bath. Oils. Quiet humming.
Then—
A scream.
Curtains still clung to her as she burst through the nursery doors—
Blood. Cradle overturned. Babysitter decapitated.
Her child, limp.
She hadn't screamed. She sat. Trembling. Cradling the body.
Still. Silent. Lifeless.
Then—he came.
A man stood atop her shattered palace. Black coat. Flat cap. Eyes hidden. Cold.
He took a drag from his cigarette.
She rose, barely standing, power flaring.
"You..." she whispered.
He flicked his cigarette at her.
KABOOOOOM!
The palace burned.
His voice echoed as the flames devoured everything:
"Mission completed."
They called him the Hero of Humanity. But he carried no warmth. Only death.
Now, she wandered.
She reached a massive tree in the rain. Towering. Ancient. Beneath it—hundreds of thousands of bodies.
Enlightenment seekers, turned to statues of silent death.
She knelt, trembling. "What... is this place?"
A tear slipped from her cheek, falling onto one of the bodies.
The corpse shimmered. From its navel, a lotus bloomed.
Inside—a baby.
A boy. Crying.
She gasped. Something in her long-dead heart sparked to life.
She cradled him, held him close. He didn't stop crying.
Without hesitation—she nursed him.
Her life force drained instantly.
Skin aged. Body withered. Time devoured her.
But she smiled.
"Thank you... Sweet Child O' Mine ."
As her body turned to ash, her soul felt light. She was at peace.
The child crawled from her lap, tiny fingers pressing into the sacred earth.
Then—he stood.
The world shook.
Heaven cracked.
Hell quaked.
The stars dimmed.
Gods tumbled from their thrones.
The King of Gods rose, alarmed. "This power... it does not belong to our world."
The Demon King panicked. "What dares disturb our domain?!"
Humans wept. Cultivators fell to their knees.
"He has taken one step!" someone screamed. "Just one!"
And yet the child stood.
A second step. Mountains crumbled beneath his feet.
To stop him, warriors from every realm rushed forward. Gods, demons, sages—they built mountains under his feet, desperate to halt the third step.
"PLEASE! DON'T TAKE ANOTHER STEP!"
But the child... yawned.
Then fell asleep.
Atop the tallest peak, an old man appeared.
Eyes kind. Wrinkles like rivers of time. He smiled.
He picked up the boy gently. "Sleep well, little one."
Then vanished.
Terra(Different planet.)
A grand mansion. The stars twinkled above.
A baby lay at the doorstep, swaddled in mystery.
The wind whispered through the trees.
And the world held its breath.