His once-white hair had turned completely red under the endless crimson rain, and every step he took left bloody footprints behind him.
Yet Ank continued walking without stopping, carrying a blue-haired girl carefully in his arms as though she were the most precious thing in existence.
His face showed no emotion.
There was no sadness, no anger, and no despair.
Only emptiness remained in his eyes as he silently moved across the battlefield.
The blue-haired girl was completely covered in blood.
A massive wound had ripped open her stomach, and blood continued flowing endlessly from it, soaking her clothes and staining Ank’s arms crimson.
Her body remained motionless in his embrace, yet Ank held her with unimaginable gentleness, as though he feared she might disappear the moment he loosened his grip.
Around him lay countless corpses of gods.
Millions of broken bodies covered the battlefield in every direction.
Some had been torn apart, while others had been reduced to nothing more than fragments of flesh and bone.
Many still tightly clutched their weapons even in death, their lifeless hands refusing to release the weapons they had carried into their final battle.
The metallic smell of blood filled the air, and the entire battlefield had become a place where death was the only thing that remained.
Yet Ank continued walking as though none of it mattered.
He never looked at the corpses beneath his feet and never stopped to observe the destruction surrounding him.
His attention remained entirely on the girl in his arms.
Suddenly, a golden figure appeared before him, blocking his path.
Her entire body was covered in brilliant yellow light, a light so beautiful that mortals would worship it without hesitation and so divine that even gods would willingly kneel before it.
She silently watched Ank approaching before sadness slowly appeared on her face.
“Ank…” Her voice was soft, gentle, and sweet enough to mesmerize anyone who heard it.
A single sentence from her could make mortals abandon reason, while a single word from her lips could make even gods lose themselves.
“You have to let her go.” Ank continued walking without even looking at her.
“Leave.” He spoke only a single word, yet the moment it left his mouth, the golden figure quickly vanished without another word or another attempt to stop him.
She knew very well that this was not a conversation she could win, and leaving Ank alone was the safest choice she could make.
The scene suddenly changed.
The endless rain of blood disappeared, and Ank now stood alone in the center of another battlefield.
Millions of gods surrounded him from every direction, while countless more filled the sky above until almost no light could pass through them.
The entire planet trembled beneath the overwhelming presence of so many gods gathered in a single place, and cracks spread across the ground as though the world itself could collapse at any moment.
Every one of them had gathered for a single purpose.
To stop one calamity.
Ank.
Yet Ank showed no fear before the millions of gods surrounding him.
Instead, a smile slowly appeared on his face, one powerful enough to make countless gods hesitate and death itself seem insignificant.
Before anything else could happen, the scene changed again.
The blood vanished, the corpses disappeared, and the battlefield was replaced by a vast field covered in beautiful grass.
A blue-haired girl was running through the field while her cheerful laughter echoed through the air, and Ank chased after her from behind.
He was smiling.
It was a genuine smile, untouched by power, greed, or war.
There was no desire for conquest hidden within it and no burden of ruling countless worlds.
At that moment, he was simply happy.
Just before he could reach her, a voice suddenly echoed around him.
“Ank.” The field began to fade.
“Ank.” The blue-haired girl slowly disappeared from his sight.
“ANK!” Ank’s eyes suddenly snapped open, and the dream shattered completely.
The old man stood beside him, watching him with concern.
“Ank, I know you’re shocked that you don’t have a Blessing, but don’t lose hope.
There are other ways.
You can conquer a dungeon or find someone willing to share a Blessing with you.” The old man continued speaking, trying his best to encourage Ank and convince him that his future was not completely hopeless.
However, Ank did not hear a single word.
His mind was somewhere else, far away from the small room and still lost within the fragments of the dream he had just witnessed.
Eventually, the old man sighed.
Seeing no reaction from Ank, he quietly left the room, deciding to give him some time alone.
Silence covered in the room.
Ank remained sitting motionless on the bed.
His lack of a Blessing did not concern him right now.
There was something far more important occupying his thoughts.
The blue-haired girl.
Who was she?
Why did seeing her hurt so much?
Ank closed his eyes and desperately tried to remember her.
He searched through his memories again and again, but no matter how hard he tried, there was nothing.
He could not remember her name or understand why she kept appearing in his dreams.
Only broken fragments remained.
A smile, a familiar voice, and the image of a blue-haired girl laughing as she pulled him into a dance whose steps he did not know.
Somehow, Ank had not cared about his mistakes or how foolish he might have looked.
He had simply allowed her to guide him.
That was all he could remember.
Ank grabbed his head as pain suddenly spread through his mind.
The harder he tried to remember, the worse the pain became, as though something hidden deep within him was desperately preventing those memories from returning.
Yet Ank refused to stop.
Deep inside, he felt that she was important.
More important than anything else.
While Ank remained lost in his thoughts, far away from Duskwild, beyond countless stars and even beyond the place where the gods lived, a dark being sat upon an enormous throne and watched Ank with a smile.
“So…
you’ve already found my gift.” His smile slowly widened.
“How do you like it?” A laugh escaped his lips and echoed throughout the endless darkness surrounding his throne.
“Hahaha…” He was the same being who had been watching Ank every moment since his awakening, silently observing every struggle and every moment of confusion.
“I wish I could have seen your face more clearly.
How angry were you?” Another laugh escaped him.
“Hahaha…” The dark being leaned back against his throne, his glowing eyes never leaving the image of Ank floating before him.
“Ank, you should have stayed asleep.” His eyes glowed brighter within the darkness as he slowly leaned forward.
“I will…” He suddenly stopped.
A slow smile appeared on his face.
“No.” “We.” His voice became colder.
“We’ll make sure you bleed.
We’ll make sure you suffer, beg, and ask for forgiveness.
Every single day of your life will become a living hell, and no matter how desperately you search for someone to save you, no one will come.” His smile slowly twisted into something colder and crueler.
“No one will save you.
Not even your mother.
She won’t be able to protect you this time.” The darkness surrounding the throne suddenly trembled.
Then countless figures began appearing behind him, one after another, until the darkness itself seemed unable to contain their numbers.
Thousands appeared, followed by millions, and every single one of them was a god.
Some were far older than the Universe itself, while others had witnessed its birth before the Universe had even been given a name.
Some were so ancient that even their names had completely vanished from history, forgotten by mortals, forgotten by gods, and eventually forgotten by the Universe itself.
Yet every one of them still existed.
They were among the most powerful gods in existence, beings whose names had once made entire civilizations tremble and whose mere presence could change the fate of worlds.
At that moment, every single one of them was watching Ank.
And every one of them smiled.
They waited patiently in the darkness, watching every struggle Ank faced and every moment of suffering he endured.
None of them were in a hurry.
They had already waited for countless ages.
They could wait a little longer.
All they wanted was to witness the day when the Fallen Waestor finally broke.
Author’s Note A small update about the writing style.
From this chapter onward, I’ve started replacing excessive one-word and short sentences with longer, smoother sentences and paragraphs.
The story, characters, and tone will remain the same, but the chapters should now feel more natural and easier to read.
I’m still improving my writing with every chapter, so thank you for reading and supporting Waestor: The First Emperor of the Universe!