author's note :Hello everyone, I remade chapter 1 and I wanted your opinion, what do you think of it?
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"ZZZZzz..."
It was the only constant sound in that desolate, empty, and nearly lifeless world. Everything there screamed death — from the fragmented gray sky to the uneven, broken terrain...
Occasionally, tremors rippled through the space like waves, toppling the remains of a city that, even in ruins, still bore traces of its former glory.
"Ding... Ding..."
With each tremor, the cracks in the sky widened, and buildings collapsed, swept away by the wind. And so, the world seemed to die a little more. But amid this world so hostile to life, a voice echoed:
"Another quake! I'm running out of time..." — spoken by a figure cloaked in a tattered, filthy mantle. She staggered, struggling to stay upright.
Yet it wasn't only the space around her that twisted — her sight, hearing, and touch all began to fail. The world turned into a chaotic swirl of colors until only black and white remained.
Then the universe spun, and a storm of visions exploded around her:
— "Rarará! Mana flows more abundantly than ever... This is the golden age!"
— "Can't you see the threatening signs?!"
— "Fools! You've doomed our world!"
Images and voices clashed and shattered before her eyes, but she merely sighed and watched:
— "All races have perished. The world is dying!"
— "This is not the end!... There is still hope..."
Before the visions could continue, they vanished abruptly. The spatial distortion ceased, taking the mirages with it. But what remained were memories awakened deep inside her:
'A world once full of life, legends, and stories. In the end, nothing will remain — not even its beautiful blue sky, nor its tales. All shall turn to nothing...'
The tremors knocked back her hood, revealing a pale-skinned girl with short hair, covered in dust. But her appearance marked was the least important thing in that world, in that moment.
"Everyone's dead! But..." — She tore her eyes from the crumbling city and locked onto the massive structure in the distance with determined resolve. — "There's still hope — for this world and for the souls that remain!"
On the horizon stood a furnace so massive it seemed to bridge the heavens and the earth.
"I won't fail!" — With those words cast into the wind, she pressed forward toward the heart of the city.
With each step, the burden on her mind and soul grew heavier, and her thoughts spiraled: 'I, Tang Li, was born in the heart of this dead world. Now, I am the last one left.' — That thought left a bitter taste in her mouth, and she finished: 'All I can do is survive... but not live.'
Since childhood, she had learned to endure this extreme environment — lifeless, mana-deprived, hopeless. She had survived through remnants of knowledge left by her lineage.
'In their final breath, all races, factions, and kingdoms joined forces to create the Forge of Creation. This city was transformed to serve that purpose.'
"Ugh... But in the end, when it was supposed to activate, nothing happened." — She spoke her thoughts aloud as she ran. Talking helped her stay sane — helped her resist becoming one of the Tormented...
"Zzzz... ZZZZ..."
As she moved through the city, the wind began to rise and fall in intensity. She knew what that meant. It was a warning!
"ZZZZ... ZZZZ..."
Suddenly, the noise surged, and a building to her right collapsed — disintegrating into a cloud of dust that engulfed the street, swallowing Tang Li whole.
"The countdown to the end of the world has begun!" — The thought, and a wave of urgency, overtook her. Her expression, hidden in the dust, was seized by rising panic: "I have to reach the forge — now!!!"
Her figure distorted, consumed by the dust cloud.
Tang Li dashed with such urgency that she became a mere blur through the collapsing streets! Her silhouette streaked past wave after wave of dust as buildings around her fell like dominoes.
With each heartbeat, Tang Li could feel death drawing closer, along with a weight that sought to consume her. Something intangible was filling the world. And she knew — it was written in her memories:
'With the Forge's failure, hope gave way to despair. Mana vanished from the world in an instant, and something else took its place.' — Tang Li took a deep breath before continuing: 'That thing — the Desolate Aura — merged with everything in the universe. It gave rise to events and beings of such destruction they wouldn't stop until nothing was left. And I... I am all that remains.'
As her anxiety grew, so did the call that pulled her forward. The collapse around her intensified. The wind howled like it was alive, scattering the dust into the air.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a cacophony of screams amid the chaos:
— "HaHaHa... Help me, someone help me..."
— "Mom? I'm scared..."
— "We'll be okay. Let's all just sleep, and everything will be fine..."
The voices made her skin crawl, and a bone-chilling cold replaced the anxiety.
— "A Tormented!" — She couldn't see clearly through the dust, but recognizing the danger, she veered off her path and avoided the nightmarish murmurs.
— "Those things are born from the lingering, shattered souls... disintegrating over time..."
Barely evading one of the distorted creatures, she reached the Teleportation Plaza and let out a breath:
"Thank goodness you're still intact."
Tang Li knew she had to reach the Forge, but the way was filled with danger and Tormented. Alone, she wouldn't make it in time — this was her answer!
"Finally, I have everything I need." — With a swift motion, she pulled a crystal from the pouch on her waist and placed it at the center of a symbol-covered circle. "Please let this work!"
"Wuuu..."
The circle glowed, and she vanished — her last words filled with pleading hope: "Please... don't let a tremor strike now."
But the plea would have the opposite effect. At that exact moment:
"Tring... Tring... Tring..."
The cracks in the sky spread at a terrifying rate as space itself twisted and warped, adding to the collapse of the city.
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Tang Li hovered in a pillar of light, nearly reaching her destination — but the column fractured, and she was ejected!
Tumbling from a spatial rift above a circular platform, the symbols flickered wildly and the platform split in two.
"Ah!" — Space split, and a figure appeared over ten meters above the ground, falling with a deafening crash: "BOOM!" — loud enough to drown out the city's distant destruction for a second.
"I knew this could happen. And it did. But at least I made it!" — Tang Li gasped, her voice anxious and urgent, ignoring the many injuries that marred her. Her body was broken and twisted — only her head remained intact. But in a flash of magic, her body began to mend itself!
"I should thank this ability — but there's no time." — This regenerative power didn't rely on mana. It was innate — a gift of the vampires.
"I need to move!" — Even with her wounds barely healed, she sprinted through the Forge's intricate corridors, marked with symbols and crafted from the finest materials of a dead world.
With each step, the call grew stronger, and hope flickered in her eyes. She had arrived.
A light shone on her face, and for a moment, peace settled over her. "I'm here!" — The words echoed through the chamber.
The light faded... and the heart of the forge — its very core — was revealed. She froze at the sight.
The chamber was spherical, enclosed by a crystalline dome dotted with gleaming stars. Sixteen towering pillars adorned with intricate symbols curved toward the center, forming an arch as if holding up the sky.
At the heart of the room, an oval opening in the ceiling let a beam of light shine down into a bottomless pit. Around it, a massive metal wheel stretched across the abyss, connected to the edge of the forge by four narrow bridges.
Through the translucent dome, the fractured world could be seen — as fragile as glass, ready to shatter at any moment.
Then she realized something terrifying: "No... no, why did you vanish?! What do I do now?" — The call that had guided her all this way... was gone. Panic flooded her mind. And far in the distance, the last piece of the city collapsed, extinguishing what remained of life.
Desolation wrapped around the world. For an instant, all sound ceased. Then came:
"Tring... Tring... Tring..." — the very space around her began to crumble, fragments breaking away into a void that rapidly devoured all.
As the sky shattered and the universe took its final breath, she allowed herself a moment of despair. She sat before the forge, tears falling freely.
'That feeling wasn't an illusion!'
Then, something changed.
A rising heat radiated from the Forge. She looked up — and a flame emerged from within the artifact. Unlike anything she had ever seen — the Flame of Desolation, a fire that seemed to devour the very void.
Its energy pulsed with destruction and creation, as if the universe whispered: "This is the moment."
Suddenly, everything made sense.
'Life and death... Creation requires the sacrifice of the last spark of life. I am the last. I am the key.'
Her heart sank — but determination lit her tear-filled eyes.
With slow steps, she approached the abyss, feeling the Flame of Desolation's heat intensify. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
— "If I am the last flame of life, then let me burn with the strength to be reborn."
Without hesitation, she leapt into the Forge.
The flames roared around her — but they did not consume her. They transformed her.
Life and death merged in a single instant, and the collapsing universe was engulfed in fire. The void gave way to brilliance — stars blooming from nothingness.
The flames around Tang Li were searing and unbearable. Every spark carried the ruin of the old world... and the hope of a new dawn.
At first, she thought she was being destroyed — obliterated along with the world she had tried to save.
But then... something shifted.
Within the flames, she began to feel. Not just pain, but every moment of her life — every triumph, every failure, every smile and every tear. As if the universe, in its infinite wisdom, was sculpting her soul — cutting away what was unworthy, and strengthening what was unbreakable.
The sensation was excruciating. Like being dismantled and rebuilt, over and over again.
"Is this the end?"
A silent voice answered from within:
— "No. This is the beginning."
Her body no longer existed, but her essence fought to remain whole. The flames tried to consume her — but something within them recognized her.
It became a battle — to surrender to nothingness... or resist.
With every moment, more of her seemed to unravel. The pain was unbearable.
Tang Li bit into her very soul, clinging to a strength she barely understood.
'I survived the end of a world. I won't fall apart now.'
Each wave of pain forged her soul — stronger, purer.
And floating near her was a strange material — molten essence from the forge itself. It melted and was purified alongside her.
As her essence merged with the flames, her soul and the forge's core united — and an artifact began to form: a silver structure, delicate as a moon forged in metal.
The Lunar Umbrella, shaped from her very soul, shimmered with ethereal hues — half silver, half shadow. A symbol of destruction and rebirth.
When the artifact was complete, Tang Li felt a deep connection — as if it were an extension of herself.
But the process wasn't over.
The flames turned inward — seeking to fuse her soul with the umbrella.
Tang Li screamed — or thought she did — but no sound echoed in the void. Every fiber of her being neared collapse.
A voice rang out — maybe hers, maybe something greater:
"You are the link. The one who connects the end to the beginning. Endure, or all will be lost."
With her last remnants of strength, she resisted.
The suffering felt eternal — but surrender meant the end of everything.
The umbrella blazed with fierce light, reflecting her unyielding spirit, until at last, the flames vanished.
When all was done, Tang Li floated in an unfamiliar space. Her soul now radiated nobility and mystery — a beacon born from the ashes of a fallen universe.
The Lunar Umbrella floated beside her — a symbol of who she had become, and what she had sacrificed.
Before she could fully grasp what had happened, her soul was pulled by an invisible force — carried toward a distant destiny.
The void whispered secrets — promises of power, danger, and an uncertain future.
'I still exist,' — she thought, feeling strength bloom within her. 'And as long as I exist... I will continue to fight.'
A drowsiness began to settle over her.