MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

"I am back!"

A female opened her eyes in a vast place, drowning in shades of gray and black.

The heavy and cold silence permeating the space was broken only by the low hum that hung in the air, coming from a swirling portal that stood like a wound in reality, a massive tear of swirling gray and black energies.

She was tall and strikingly beautiful, her skin pale and smooth like white jade. Her thin lips were a deep red, matching the crimson of her eyes, and her long hair flowed down her back like quiet, burning flames.

She looked down and realized she was naked. So, in an instant, flames bloomed around her, shaping into a robe that covered her body, an armor of flowing crimson fire.

Her eyes, once calm and gentle, grew brighter and darker all at once, sharpening with the fierce focus of a predator.

There was hope in her eyes, but as they settled on a man standing some distance away from her, that hope was replaced in an instant by boiling rage and contempt.

The man was tall, his physique forged through years of effort, and his features unnervingly attractive. At a glance, it was clear that he was extraordinary.

At the moment, his abyssal eyes were lit with surprise and delight as he studied the blade that floated before him.

"Another faliure." She murmured under her breath.

The lady stepped forward and then stopped. 'Why waste my time? He will just turn into a twisted mutt,' she said.

The thought almost drew a chuckle, as if she remembered something, but her smile faltered, giving way to an expression of raw anguish.

"How long has it been? When will fate let our paths cross again?" she whispered, before silencing the storm within her with a calm blink.

Her gaze hardened as the man wrapped his hands around the blade. In the next breath, his body began to wither, his skin paling, his flesh hollowing, his once-proud features sinking into the lifeless mask of a corpse.

He collapsed on his back. The female stepped forward, ready to pry the weapon from his cold grip, return it to its resting place, and consider her next move.

Realistically, there was nothing to decide.

She would return to her slumber and wait for the day she might reclaim her rightful place at her Queen's side.

But as she descended, she froze. Her immaculate features twisted into a frown of disbelief.

"How… how can this be…?" she whispered. The impossibility before her struck so deeply that even her words seemed to wither, refusing to leave her lips.

The stupor broke within moments. Her crimson eyes ignited, burning with a rage so fierce it seemed to set her whole body trembling.

Her crimson eyes flared with unrestrained fury, her intent sharp and clear, yet, just as she moved, ready to end the man's life, she froze, and the flicker of confusion on her face revealed it was not by choice.

"Dýseira… what is the meaning of this?" she demanded, her voice measured and steady, yet it did little to conceal the seething rage beneath.

However, no reply came for many seconds.

"If this is a joke, then I am not laughing," she said coldly. Around her, space itself twisted and melted like candle wax, betraying the anger swelling within her.

"Agneyi… you are always so hot-headed," another voice replied, calm and serene as the ocean.

The darkness beside the melting space unfolded like a dark flower, its petals blooming outward until a woman stepped through. Her presence eclipsed even the flame-clad beauty who burned like a living inferno.

For several breaths, silence reigned as the two regarded one another, the first radiating anger barely held in check, the second watching with a calm, amused poise.

The newcomer was a vision of shadowed elegance, her black attire flowing like liquid night. Her features were flawless, sculpted with a cruel perfection, and her eyes, depthless voids rimmed in faint silver, seemed to drink in everything they touched.

Even her silence carried weight, as though the space itself bent to accommodate her presence.

Her gaze shifted, softening as it fell upon the man sprawled on the lightless floor, oblivious to the two powers who observed him.

After a long breath of silence, her lips curved faintly, and she spoke. "Give me a moment, and I will tell you about a Chaos Queen roaming my realm."

The voice continued, quiet but cutting. "Because she is not normal… at least, not by the standards everyone is familiar with."

At those words, Agneyi's composure cracked. Her eyes widened in shock, disbelief written plain across her face.

"How is she any different from other legacy carriers?" she murmured, but quickly shook her head as her gaze fell back on the man, who was now rising from his withered state.

"Dýseira, what did you do to Chaos Blade?" Agneyi demanded, her confusion and unrest plain in her voice. "How can she recognize him as her master, when not even most Chaos Queens could get her to acknowledge them, let alone submit?"

"Maybe she likes him," Dýseira replied, her tone more dismissive than serious. "In any case, you only need to know he will be borrowing it for a while."

"I can't allow that," Agneyi roared, her aura blazing brighter, like a sun breaking through shadow. "You, more than anyone, know what that blade means to us," she said, her voice cold and steady.

"I understand," Dýseira said evenly, "But as I told you, he'll only be borrowing it for some time."

Agneyi wished to argue, but she understood too well that if Dýseira had decided the man would keep the sword, nothing she said or did could alter it.

So she had no choice but to go along with her arrangement.

The sheer thought of someone else becoming master of the Chaos Blade was an impossibility in her mind, but clearly, this was a day of surprises for her.

And it was not like she was losing the Chaos Blade, since it was safer with Dýseira than her anyway, so setting aside the matter of the Chaos Blade, Agneyi's thoughts shifted to the other matter of importance.

What did Dýseira mean when she said that a Chaos Queen roaming her realm differed from other legacy carriers?

Agneyi's gaze lingered on the man as he departed the pocket space, the Chaos Blade in his possession, a weapon she had sworn to guard above all else.

Her fiery eyes, the deep red of smoldering embers, turned reluctantly to the woman in flowing black. She waited for Dýseira's explanation.

Dýseira stood silent for a moment, seemingly lost in thought, before stepping forward. Without so much as a glance back, she raised her hand, and the space ahead warped and folded in on itself.

Darkness thickened and spiraled, blooming into a portal.

Agneyi followed at her heels. One step carried her across the threshold, and the world dissolved.

Around her stretched a boundless expanse of gray and black energies, twisting and writhing in endless flux. There was no sky, no ground, no horizon, only chaos itself, clawing at her body, mind, and even soul as if trying to reshape her into one of its own.

'The Void Realm.'

Agneyi recognized it instantly. She was not surprised, since the one they sought could only dwell here.

This place bore many names throughout existence, but the most common was the Void Realm, the dark side of the universe.

It was the reflection of real space, but where the bright side was ruled by matter, energy, and law, this realm was shaped by raw, unbound forces, chaos in its purest form.

The two descended deeper into its shifting depths, their steps swallowed by silence until Dýseira finally spoke. Her voice carried a weight of memory, tinged with a sadness too clear to disguise.

"After Lady Sera's death, her legacy passed into the hands of many across the universe," she said, her tone almost reverent, almost mournful.

"Those who inherited her gift became known as Chaos Queens, for their command of chaos and their dominion over its creatures."

She paused, her gaze distant.

"But the original truth was buried, buried by that vile one. And so the universe came to believe that Chaos Queens were destined to succumb to chaos, lose themselves, and become nothing more than heralds of disorder."

Her voice grew sharper, edged with scorn.

"Yet the true purpose of a Chaos Queen was not to spread chaos, but to rule it, to shape it, to keep the balance."

"But now… almost none remember this truth." Her eyes narrowed, and her voice dropped. "Perhaps it was that wretched thing's design… to ensure no new true Chaos Queen would ever rise again."

Before she could say more, Agneyi's voice cut through, sharp with restrained fury. "You don't need to remind me about my Queen."

Dýseira tilted her head, her lips curving in the faintest smile. "Then tell me, Agneyi... How much of your Queen do you see in that child?"