Step…
Step…
Step…
The endless march continued.
No one spoke.
No one resisted.
Hundreds of thousands of souls moved together like a silent river flowing toward an unseen destination.
Only the sound of countless footsteps echoed through the crimson mist.
Lucas walked among them, his violet chains rattling softly with every unwilling step.
Clink…
Clink…
Clink…
His eyes wandered across the procession.
Every soul looked different.
Some still wore school uniforms.
Some carried the appearance of soldiers whose armor had long since rusted away.
A little girl hugged a worn teddy bear against her chest.
An elderly woman clutched a broken wedding ring.
A man in a business suit stared blankly at the road beneath his feet.
None of them cried.
None of them screamed.
Their emotions…
Had been buried somewhere beyond this place.
Lucas swallowed.
“…They’re all dead…”
The realization settled heavily inside him.
This wasn’t a nightmare.
This wasn’t an illusion.
Every person surrounding him had once lived.
Every one of them had laughed…
Loved…
Dreamed…
And now…
They marched in absolute silence.
A sudden scream shattered the stillness.
“NO!”
Lucas instinctively turned.
A young soul had broken away from the line.
He looked barely older than Lucas himself.
Wild panic filled his eyes.
“I don’t belong here!”
“My family needs me!”
“I HAVE TO GO BACK!”
Ignoring the chains around his wrists, the young man turned and ran.
For a brief second…
Hope flickered across several faces in the procession.
Then—
BOOM!!
One of the towering Wardens appeared before the fleeing soul.
It hadn’t run.
It hadn’t jumped.
One moment it was standing hundreds of meters away.
The next…
It stood directly in front of him.
The soul stumbled backward.
“P-Please…”
“I don’t want to die!”
The Warden stared at him without emotion.
“You already have.”
CRACK!!
The thorned whip descended.
The sound echoed like thunder.
The young man’s scream ripped through the crimson mist as he collapsed onto the black stone road.
His back had split open.
Yet…
No blood flowed.
Only pale fragments of light escaped his wounded soul.
The Warden spoke again.
“None return.”
The march resumed.
As if nothing had happened.
Lucas’s hands slowly tightened into fists.
“…No…”
“…This isn’t right.”
A quiet voice answered beside him.
“It never is.”
Lucas turned.
Walking beside him was a broad-shouldered man with silver-gray hair.
Unlike every other soul…
His posture remained straight.
His eyes still carried life.
Lucas blinked.
“…You can talk?”
The man smiled faintly.
“So can everyone else.”
“They simply stopped believing anyone would answer.”
Lucas stared at him.
“…Who are you?”
The man remained silent for a moment before answering.
“…A forgotten warrior.”
Lucas frowned.
“…Forgotten?”
The man nodded.
“When enough time passes…”
“The living forget your name.”
“When no one remembers…”
“You become nothing more than another wandering soul.”
His eyes drifted toward the endless crimson horizon.
“…I’ve walked this road for a very long time.”
Lucas felt a chill run through him.
“…How long?”
The warrior gave a small laugh.
“I stopped counting after the first thousand years.”
Lucas froze.
“…A thousand…”
“…years?”
The man simply nodded.
“In this place…”
“Time has no mercy.”
Lucas lowered his head.
If souls remained here for centuries…
What kind of judgment awaited them?
Before he could ask—
The crimson mist ahead slowly began to thin.
Something enormous emerged from the darkness.
Lucas instinctively stopped breathing.
Far beyond the procession…
A bridge stretched across an endless abyss.
Its pillars reached into eternity.
At the opposite end…
Towering black gates stood half-hidden beneath the crimson sky.
Even from this impossible distance…
Lucas could feel an overwhelming pressure pressing against his soul.
The forgotten warrior lowered his head.
“…We’ve arrived.”
Lucas looked toward him.
“…Arrived where?”
The warrior’s expression became solemn.
“The place every soul fears.”
He slowly lifted one chained hand and pointed toward the colossal gates.
“The Hall of Judgment.”
For the first time since opening his eyes in the underworld…
Lucas felt genuine fear.
Not fear of death.
But fear…
Of what waited beyond those gates.
….
“…What happens after Judgment?”
The man remained silent for several steps.
His chains scraped softly across the ancient stone.
Finally, he answered.
“…Most souls return.”
Lucas frowned.
“…Return?”
The warrior nodded.
“To life.”
“They are cleansed of their memories… their regrets… their names.”
“They are born again.”
Lucas’s eyes widened.
“…Reincarnation…”
“It exists?”
The warrior gave a tired smile.
“It has always existed.”
“Death is not the end.”
“It is merely the road between two lives.”
Lucas looked at the endless procession around him.
“…Then why does everyone look so hopeless?”
The warrior’s smile disappeared.
“Because not every soul reaches the next life.”
Lucas felt a chill crawl across his back.
“…What do you mean?”
“The Judge weighs every soul.”
“The weight of your sins.”
“The weight of your virtues.”
“The weight of your existence.”
“If your soul is accepted…”
“You begin another life.”
“If it is rejected…”
The warrior’s footsteps slowed.
For the first time, genuine fear appeared in his eyes.
“…There is no second death.”
Lucas frowned.
“…Then what happens?”
The warrior looked toward the colossal gates standing beyond the crimson mist.
His voice dropped to little more than a whisper.
“You cease.”
“No heaven.”
“No hell.”
“No reincarnation.”
“No memory.”
“No existence.”
“Everything that ever made you… you…”
“…is erased forever.”
Silence settled between them.
Lucas unconsciously tightened his fists.
“…So everyone here is waiting…”
“…to learn whether they’ll live again…”
The warrior nodded once.
“Exactly.”
Then, after another long silence, he quietly added,
“…But you…”
Lucas looked at him.
“…Me?”
The warrior frowned.
“I don’t know why…”
“But your soul feels…”
“…wrong.”
“Almost as if…”
“…it doesn’t belong on this road.”
Before Lucas could ask another question—
BOOM!
A Warden struck its axe against the bridge.
“KEEP MOVING!”
The endless procession resumed.
Far ahead…
The colossal gates of the Hall of Judgment slowly began to open.