The sky was gloomy and dark, dragons took to the sky, and thunder roared, threatening to cause an earthquake.
Scattered across the vast land were corpses, each one with injuries worse than the last. Adding to that was the massive number of monsters roaming around the terrain, destroying anything that moved.
Total annihilation.
And right at the center of it all was an injured man. His hand gripped his stomach, blood dripping down his fingers, his back pressed against the rock.
Cough!
He spat out, barely able to catch his breath.
It was quite obvious that he was dying; his eyes had gone pale, and he could barely see anything too far away.
However, one sight didn't flee from his dying gaze:
The faceless woman.
Her black hair danced in the wind, and her red dress, as though having a life of its own, moved in perfect symphony.
With her piercing red eyes, she looked at the man, tears dripping down her cheeks.
"Please don't die…" she uttered, her voice cracking, "Why would you protect me? I am broken… lost; I don't deserve your kindness."
The man could not respond; actually, he didn't know how to respond.
What could he possibly say to the woman before him, whom he had no recollection of?
She was crying her eyes out; no one would cry this much for a stranger.
Yet, he could not remember her.
In that moment, the only thing he could say was a single word.
"Live."
His response broke something in her, her cries echoing even louder.
After what seemed like forever, the man finally died, right in front of her.
She made a decision.
One she kept to herself.
Moving closer to the man, she grabbed him by the cheeks and kissed him, her palm pressing directly on his chest.
"I… I want you to live."
Those were her final words, and then, with a single flick of her finger, the man's body burst into dust, disappearing into the atmosphere.
Not even a second later, seven beings hovered behind her, each an embodiment of power.
One of them asked in a cold tone, "Where is he?"
To which she replied,
"He is dead, just as you wanted. And just as I want, I will send you to him as well."
The battle of the gods took place, right in history.
…
"I love you…"
"I love you…"
"I love you…"
The voice echoed continually in his head.
Instantly, his eyes fluttered open.
Before anything could set in, he felt a sharp pain in his head.
"Rch!"
He quickly turned his gaze to his left hand to see a long needle halfway inside his head.
Right after, a woman's voice resounded.
"Careful, removing that needle from your head will do more harm than good."
Upon hearing the voice, the young man turned his gaze to the left, and there he could see a table next to the window.
Seated on the chair was a woman with long red hair packed in a ponytail with a golden pin holding it up. She was wearing a black sleeveless dress that reached all the way to her feet.
She was also twirling a pen in her hand while smiling mischievously at the young man.
"Where am I?" the young man asked; that was the first question that popped into his head.
"Already asking questions, eh? Hehe, you're in my home. I brought you in after I found you passed out at the top of Yuen Mountain. Must say, that's a pretty ballsy place to get to."
"Yuen?"
A sharp headache hit the young man; he quickly held the side of his head, groaning before he laid back down on the bed.
Seeing this, the red-haired woman stood up from her chair and walked toward him.
"Take it easy. As I said, I found you on Yuen Mountain. Most of your essence had been absorbed by the harsh miasma. The pin is there to restore it; you should still be resting."
She sat down on the side of the bed. "So, what's your name? And why the hell did you think it was a good idea to climb such a dangerous mountain?"
"I don't remember…" he replied.
This caught the woman by surprise.
"You don't remember why you climbed the mountain?"
"I don't remember anything."
"I see…"
For a while, she used her eyes to examine the man, trying to see if she could find anything off on his body.
Though there wasn't much she could see since his body was covered with clothing.
Come to think of it, when she found him, that was the first thing she noticed. His clothes were unique and quite different from regular clothing.
The best term to use was supernatural.
Despite the fact the young man had been lying in mud for who knows how long, his clothes did not collect a single stain.
However, this only made her more curious about who he was—and also why she hastily took him back to her place.
But to think he doesn't remember a thing.
Amnesia?
She wondered, but there were no records of low essence in the body causing amnesia.
Suddenly, the woman let out a loud sigh.
"If you don't remember anything about yourself, then this might be an issue. Anyway, just rest until you feel better, then we'll know what to do about you."
She calmly stood up.
"W-wait…" said the man.
The woman turned to face him, a teasing smile on her face. "Oh? What is this? Are you missing me already?"
"Your name?"
"Oh." The woman flipped her hair to the back, ever so dramatically. "Call me Shirly."
"Shirly."
"Yes."
"Thank you for letting me stay in your house."
Shirly was silent for a while.
Then, from nowhere, she burst out laughing.
"HAHAH! You are so adorable. Hehe, rest up; I'll go get us something to eat."
And she walked out of the room.
As she walked out, the young man turned his gaze toward the ceiling.
'Why can't I remember anything?'