A dense fog blanketed everything in every direction. It thinned slightly over the land, yet it retained a cold, spectral quality. Visibility was limited to a few hundred meters; ahead, the faint silhouettes of a vast forest began to emerge.
Ade stepped onto solid ground and turned back to look at the colossus out at sea. Enveloped by the mist, it appeared only as a massive, dark shadow.
“Thank you, Kraken!” Ade called out toward the beast.
The Kraken retracted its gargantuan tentacle, emitting a series of sounds that would have made a normal person tremble with terror. To Ade, however, the monster seemed like a familiar companion.
“I don’t know if he or the others are still alive. But I will do everything I can to find them. Wait here for my news!”
As Ade spoke, the creature let out more bone-chilling cries, sounding almost as if it were rejoicing and acknowledging her promise.
With that, Ade turned and ventured deep into the mainland.
“There are people in the bushes ahead!”
The Artificial Intelligence suddenly alerted her. Ade stopped cautiously, scanning her surroundings. She raised her machine gun, ready for combat.
Rustling sounds echoed from the forest ahead, and several figures slowly emerged, moving toward her.
“Humans!” Ade whispered, her heart a mix of relief and anxiety. She was glad to finally find her own kind, yet wary of how they might react.
More than twenty people stepped out from the trees. They gripped weapons that Ade guessed were the firearms of this era—they bore a resemblance to the Winchester rifles common in the American West during the previous age of humanity.
Ade slowly lowered her gun as she realized the group had no immediate intention to attack. They were all tall men, dressed like Eskimos in heavy furs that covered their bodies.
“Just now… was that Lord Kra? Did Lord Kra bring you to land?”
A man draped in a black bear skin, wearing a red fox-fur hat, spoke up. Ade froze; the sound of a human voice filled her with an overwhelming sense of familiarity.
“Kra? I assume he means the Kraken?” Ade asked the AI. “Highly probable,” the AI replied.
“You mean the Kraken?” Ade asked, glancing back, but the beast had already vanished, likely returning to the depths.
Hearing Ade’s words, the men began whispering urgently amongst themselves.
“I want to know what they’re saying,” Ade commanded. The AI responded instantly: “Enhancing auditory sensors.”
“Kraken? She speaks of him without honorifics?” “She called Lord Kra a ‘monster’?” “How disrespectful. She is profane toward Lord Kra.” “To disrespect Lord Kra is a death sentence.” “Shut up! Didn’t you see Lord Kra deliver her from the sea to the shore himself?” “That… Or could she be The One?” “You’re finally waking up. Remember the prophecy.” “Then it must be her!”
Ade listened to the exchange and deduced they held a prophecy involving the Kraken.
“Was it Lord Kra who brought you ashore just now?” the man in the fox-fur hat asked loudly.
“If you call the Kraken ‘Lord Kra,’ then yes. It brought me ashore,” Ade replied. Her answer left the men stunned.
“Praise the Goddess of Destruction! We are of the Brav tribe. We have awaited this moment for a long time.”
All twenty men dropped to their knees. The man in the fox-fur hat shouted with a voice full of pure ecstasy, leaving Ade bewildered.
“The Goddess of what?” she asked.
“The Goddess of Destruction,” he answered firmly.
Ade almost laughed at the terrifying title, but she quickly turned her mind to the prophecy. What exactly was it?
“What is this prophecy?” she questioned.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“When the creatures of shadow and the Demon Lord consume the world, Lord Kra shall bring forth the Goddess of Destruction to bring a blinding light to humanity.”
The man in the fox hat recited the words with grand solemnity.
“How long has this existed?” Ade asked.
“The prophecy has lasted nearly a thousand years, passed down through generations of the Brav, the Wari, the Assi…”
I'm not sure if I'm the figure mentioned in that prophecy, but this seems like the perfect opportunity to fulfill my mission, Ade thought quickly. This was her chance to unite humanity and execute her ultimate objective.
“If you want a Goddess, fine—I am your Goddess,” Ade smiled inwardly, her mind already calculating her next moves.
“Very well. First, lead me to your tribe and tell me what has become of the world.”
“By your command, Goddess!” the man in the fox hat shouted, visibly elated.
They led Ade to where their horses were tied. The man offered Ade the finest horse, while he and another man shared a different mount.
Ade examined the creature. It was pitch black like the night, with a single horn protruding from its head. It wasn't just this one; every horse in the group shared the trait. They looked like the unicorns of legend.
“These horses… where do they come from?” Ade asked, fascinated.
“According to the legends passed down, they are descendants of the Heavenly Steed, Pega,” the man replied respectfully.
“Peg! Pegasus?” Ade nearly screamed. “Pegasus—I mean, the Heavenly Steed Peg—do you know where it is?”
“Legend says the Heavenly Steed Peg lives atop Peak Aconga,” the man said.
Is Peak Aconga actually Aconcagua? Ade wondered, recalling the location of the Andes.
“Peak Aconga is a place of great peril. It is swarming with demons and Grey Shadows.”
“Grey Shadows?” Ade asked.
“Creatures with human forms but pale, grey skin. They are bloodthirsty. If they bite or scratch you, you turn into one of them,” the man answered, causing Ade to frown. These Grey Shadows… they must be undead. But why have they existed for so long?
“Do the Grey Shadows appear anywhere else besides Aconga?”
“They are everywhere. When the light fades, they emerge,” the man said, glancing at the sky. “The darkness is coming. We must hurry.”
The group spurred their horses into a gallop. In the dim light of the fog, the darkness slowly crept forward, bringing with it a bone-chilling cold.
“Open the gates! Open the gates!”
The man in the fox hat—whose name was Thelo—shouted as the group reached a fortress. It had soaring stone walls and sat silently in the middle of a vast valley. Ade looked at the structure; it reminded her of a medieval castle.
From atop the walls, spotlights cast a pale yellow glow down upon the riders.
“Open the gates!” a voice called from above. A heavy metal gate lowered, forming a bridge across a wide moat. The group thundered across and entered the interior.
They didn't stop at the gate but rode together through narrow streets lined with low houses. Their destination was a large building in the center of the fortress, known as the Great House.
Ade was escorted inside. The Great House was built of wood and stone; inside the spacious hall, a large fire blazed in the center. Four people were huddled around the hearth. They stood up in unison as the group approached.
“Thelo, you’ve returned!”
“Chieftain! I have glorious news!” Thelo cried out.
“What news?” the Chieftain asked, eyeing Thelo and Ade with suspicion. The three people behind the Chieftain also stared at Ade with strange looks; her clothing was entirely alien to the women of their tribe.
“Who is this woman? Why have you brought her into the Great House?” the Chieftain pointed at Ade, his voice laced with displeasure.
“Chieftain! You cannot imagine it. You have to see it to believe it. Lord Kra has brought the Goddess of Destruction to us. The prophecy has been fulfilled!”
“What are you babbling about, Thelo?” someone behind the Chieftain barked.
“Don’t you understand? The prophecy! Lord Kra brought her to us. We all saw it!” Thelo shouted joyfully.
“It is true! Lord Kra brought us the Goddess!” the men who followed Thelo confirmed in unison.
The Chieftain stood in silence, looking at Ade with an expression of shock. Behind him, a man who clearly didn't believe a word stepped forward, his eyes bulging. “Thelo, you bring a woman into the Great House and claim she is a Goddess brought by Lord Kra? By the law of our tribe, any woman who enters the Great House must die!”
The man—Joan—rushed to the back wall, grabbed a sword hanging there, and charged toward Ade.
“Joan! Stand down!” the Chieftain yelled.
Ade suddenly began to tremble as she looked at the sword Joan had taken down. Her entire body felt as if it were on fire.
“That sword! Excalibur!” she whispered.
Her body moved with blinding speed as she lunged toward Joan. The man swung the sword, aiming to cleave Ade in two. Ade slipped past the blade, her hand shooting out like lightning to seize the hilt as she delivered a powerful kick.
A wretched scream echoed through the hall as Joan was sent flying several meters backward.
Immediately, the guards inside the Great House aimed their guns at Ade. Seeing this, Thelo’s men leveled their weapons at the guards.
“Joan! To disrespect the Goddess is a capital crime, even if you are the Deputy Chieftain!” Thelo hissed, his eyes fierce. The Chieftain stood in the middle, paralyzed. His own people were pointing guns at one another because of the woman before them.
“This sword… where did you get it?”
Ade ignored the muzzles pointed at her. She gazed at the sword with an affectionate look, as if reuniting with an old, dear friend.
“It is the treasure of our tribe. It has been here for nearly a thousand years,” the Chieftain managed to say.
Ade gripped the hilt tightly and closed her eyes. Everyone inside the Great House froze in awe as the blade began to glow brilliantly, as if a massive surge of energy were heating it from within.
“What… what is this?!” the Chieftain’s eyes went wide. Thelo and the others stood with mouths agape.
“Long time no see, Excalibur!” Ade whispered.
“Weapon connection complete. Excalibur energy at 50%,” the AI displayed in Ade’s mind.
“As you said, I am the Goddess of Destruction!” Ade gripped the sword and pointed it at Joan in the distance, her voice ringing with authority.
The moment the words left her mouth, a blinding beam of light erupted from the sword, striking Joan. With a sharp shredding sound, Joan’s body was sliced in half by the beam. He died without ever understanding how.
As Joan’s remains fell to the floor, every man inside the Great House dropped to their knees, bowing their heads toward Ade.