The Fallen Curse

The words of a veteran knight echoed through the avenue, the citizens began to panic and the enlightened ones instinctively went on guard.

'Damn it... it had to be now' thought Safwane as he blended in with the citizens.

The knights surrounded the entire avenue and the enlightened ones were asking the veteran about the situation. The huge door was closing quickly, Safwane had to decide what to do.

If he went out, he would definitely be seen and the enlightened ones would chase him, if he didn't he wouldn't find a safe place and would be caught. Even though in both cases it was an unfavorable situation, it is better to fight with ten enlightened ones than against hundreds of knights plus enlightened ones.

Taking advantage of the chaos of the crowd, Safwane slipped through the agitated people, each step a calculated risk. The huge door creaked as it slowly closed, and with each passing second he felt like the gazes could fall on him. With his breath held and his heartbeat echoing in his ears, he quickened his pace, knowing that a single stumble would doom him.

After moments of desperation, Safwane rushed towards the small gap left in the door before it closed completely. He felt the wood creak as it brushed against his back, but he managed to get through just in time. However, his shirt got caught between the hinges. The sound of the fabric tightening made him curse in his mind, the danger was not over yet. Without hesitation, he unsheathed the sword he had taken from the young knight, accurately cutting the trapped piece of fabric.

He began to run as fast as possible, but felt a chill on his back, he quickly turned and with the sword he hit what seemed to be a magic arrow, it was the enlightened ones.

'Damn it,' Safwane cursed in his mind.

Safwane ran desperately, dodging the ranged attacks that the enlightened ones launched relentlessly. Meanwhile, others approached quickly, stalking his back, the battle was imminent.

Safwane was a genius in martial arts and swordplay, thanks to that he was able to defend himself in many moments in which his life was in danger, but that would not work against the enlightened ones, much less if there are ten of them.

The enlightened ones are geniuses who have managed to reach the physical and psychological peak, thanks to that they obtain supernatural abilities that no human being could defend themselves against, and despite the fact that this means that there are a small number of enlightened ones in the world, only one is enough to end the human race.

It is true that Safwane is a genius in the physical section, but he never trained his psychological abilities, making it impossible for him to become an enlightened one.

As Safwane ran away from an imminent fight, he could see the apocalyptic landscape surrounding him. The earth was red and there was hardly any vegetation, the sky was so grey that hardly any light came through, the stench of death was present with every step he took and the feeling of danger was constant, so much so that it made him wonder if it was better to be caught.

This world seemed to be without hope despite the presence of enlightened ones, they were not enough, the nightmares in the abyss are almost infinite and not to mention the cracks that despite their small presence, every time there is one, it threatens the extinction of humanity.

'I'll think about it later...' thought Safwane as he blocked a blow from an axe.

They had already reached him, but he kept trying to run.

An arrow pierced his side, but without time to think about the pain, he had to block another blow from the axe, this time a thin young man attacked from the side threatening to cut Safwane.

Safwane grabbed his sheath, hit the young man's attack and jumped back, this time he was facing them and behind him there was a huge crack in the ground which seemed to have an infinite darkness.

"You better give up and come back with us" said a young blonde woman threateningly as she slowly descended to the ground.

"It is impossible for you to win and we have the order to kill you if you resist." added a large man, who was the one carrying the axe.

Safwane smiled closing his eyes.

"I'm going to die anyway" he said shrugging his shoulders.

The blonde girl quickly shot a magic arrow, which Safwane caught with her hands, while the large man launched a vertical attack with his axe.

Safwane dodged to the side, but the thin young man attacked him. Despite blocking him, another man punched him in the side, making the wound more painful.

Without any respite, a magic arrow pierced his chest and a small woman with a dagger that seemed to have poison cut his cuff.

Defeat was imminent as was his death. With no other choice, Safwane, at a moment when he was about to lose consciousness, used all his strength to jump into the dark crevice.

The young blonde clicked her tongue and launched what would be her last attack.

"Craig, use your detection ability on my arrow" the young woman ordered.

A weak-looking man wearing glasses nodded and used his spell on the young woman's arrow.

"This will go towards her head" said the young woman before firing the arrow.

The arrow went out at great speed and entered the crack, Safwane who was close to losing consciousness, saw the arrow heading towards him, with a last effort he hit the arrow with his sword, but it was not enough.

The arrow that had been deflected, changed direction and pointed towards Safwane again.

'I have no strength left, I guess it's over...' he thought as he finally lost consciousness.

'Having to limit our forces to catch him alive is a pain in the ass' said the big man.

'Those are orders... Let's go back' replied the young blonde.

The ten enlightened ones began to head towards Shattered Realms.

'He hasn't hit him' thought the young man with glasses in surprise.

'...He should die anyway, he fell through the crack, he's poisoned and has serious injuries, he should die right?' He continued to think, showing clear concern.

"What's wrong Craig?" the thin man asked.

"It's nothing..." he replied with a nervous smile.

On the other hand, Safwane seemed to be falling through a dark and infinite ocean, murmurs began to fill his mind and he slowly opened his eyes.

Surprised, he began to swim desperately, but it was no use, Safwane seemed not to be moving, murmurs began to fill his mind and he was running out of oxygen.

"Are you a cockroach?" "How do you always manage to survive?" asked a strange voice in the darkness.

Safwane tried to find where the voice came from, but he was running out of oxygen. Suddenly, hundreds of huge human figures appeared in the darkness.

They were the villagers he had killed.

"You are disgusting, just like your grandmother was," said one of the figures.

The figures began to show macabre smiles, they were taking impossible shapes for a human being.

"We are going to be your nightmare," said the figure again, this time with a deeper voice.

"Did you think we would stop tormenting you if you killed us? "We will chase you all your life" said a strange voice in the deepest darkness.

Safwane's lungs filled with water and he began to lose consciousness.

"... Wake up"

The voice echoed in Safwane's mind, who stood up suddenly.

He was in a beautiful place, there were leafy trees and the vegetation was green, in the background there was a waterfall with crystal clear water falling and above all, the air was pure.

There were animals running around the place, as if the existence of nightmares was not present in this place.

"Is this a dream?" Safwane murmured as he looked at the place in stupefaction.

"It is not..." said a cold voice.

When Safwane turned around, he saw a man sitting on a log while his gaze was lost in a campfire.

"You do not need to get upset, I have brought you to this place" he said again. said the man.

"And why did you help me?" Safwane asked as he touched his wounds in pain.

There were a few seconds of silence.

"I just didn't want there to be blood in this place" the man replied without taking his eyes off the campfire.

Safwane was confused, but he knew that this man had helped him since the arrow didn't seem to have hit him.

"It seems that you were having a bad time up there" said the man, this time directing his gaze towards Safwane.

The man's eyes were gray and looked dead, he also had black, wavy hair with white tips, in his ears he seemed to have a small black earring on each side. Unlike his sharp and cold voice, he was young.

"Yes... Even though they were limiting themselves, I haven't been able to do anything" Safwane replied with frustration as he looked up.

The man looked at him indifferently.

"For someone who's not an enlightened person, you've done pretty well..." he said as he looked back at the campfire.

Safwane frowned.

"How do you know?" Safwane asked seriously, looking at the man.

"It's simple... The enlightened ones don't have nightmares, on the other hand you've been suffering for hours" the man replied.

Safwane looked down, his grandmother had always flattered him by telling him he was a genius, there even came a time when Safwane thought he was one of the strongest in the world, but after arriving as a prisoner in Shattered Realm he realized that he is just one more in this cursed world.

Despite being immersed in thoughts of weakness and self-hatred, he couldn't get a question out of his head:

"What are you doing living in this place alone?"

The man looked at him for a few seconds and got up from the log he was sitting on.

"I am Ilkay, the leader of one of the six great clans and this is my territory"

Safwane opened his eyes in surprise, after all the members of the six great clans are usually the strongest in the world and where above all are the few ecliptics in the world.

The ecliptics are humans who possess such powerful singularities that they seem unreal, but since there are fewer than can be counted with two hands, it is questioned if their existence is real.

If this man is not only a member of the six great clans, but the leader, that means that his strength is beyond the reach of practically everyone, this man is one of the strongest.

Safwane despite his surprise, began to feel helpless when he realized how small he was compared to others.

While Ilkay began to approach Safwane, until he reached him.

"The truth is, for more than a century I have been alone, I have had a complicated life... I have lost my wife, my children and the members of my clan." said the man with some nostalgia in his words.

Safwane looked at the man with pity, as he knew the feeling of having a difficult life.

"...Since the day I lost everything, I swore that I would never take on any subordinates again, but I feel that you have also gone through a difficult life." said the man while looking at the waterfall.

Safwane did not understand what the man was getting at, but one thing was clear: this was going to be very beneficial.

"What are you getting at with all this?" Safwane asked, surprised and with a slight hint of hope in his chest.

The man turned and looked at Safwane with his grey eyes, which showed great determination.

"I'm going to make you an enlightened one."