"Artel…" he whispered his name in a hoarse voice, but his words were soaked in hatred.
"I'll tear you apart with my own hands."
He continued walking, his steps calm but heavy with rage. The killing aura surrounding him was suffocating, taking the form of a monstrous beast the size of mountains. The soldiers who had intended to attack him couldn't even lift their swords. One of the guards behind him felt as if death itself stood before him. He couldn't move, his breath was shallow. He struggled to lift his right hand and grasped his sword, but quickly realized there was only one way to survive—
he inflicted a deep wound on himself, cutting off his entire left arm, just to escape Ryoma's deathly aura.
But Ryoma noticed nothing. His mind was fixated on one person—Artel.
Artel stood retreating, for the first time in his life feeling true fear. He stared at Ryoma approaching him silently, as if words were no longer necessary.
Artel tried to step back, but his legs betrayed him, and he spoke, knowing it was the end:
"Come, Ryoma. This is how the world works—full of revenge. Now it's your turn to be the avenger—"
But he couldn't finish his sentence, because Ryoma wasn't listening. He was like a beast.
Suddenly, a guard lunged at him from behind, exploiting the moment when Ryoma had lost himself to hatred. Then, with a deadly strike, a blow landed directly on his energy core—a core that had been unstable from the start.
And at that moment, a terrifying silence fell.
Ryoma's eyes glowed ominously. The air around him grew heavy, as if existence itself was suffocating. Then, in a single moment…
His core exploded, tearing his body apart.
But it wasn't just his body that exploded—
the royal palace was destroyed.
No one survived. Not the king, not Artel, not the soldiers.
These were fragments of Ryoma's memories about how he died; rage coursed through his veins from the betrayal he had suffered. But he had yet to recover the memories of his childhood, how he became a strong warrior, or the laws of the former world.
When Carter's siblings saw him awaken in bed, they all embraced him with love and worry. His friends also came and hugged him, concerned for his health. His little sister Clara tearfully asked:
"Brother, are you healed? Are you okay?"
Ryoma replied coldly and indifferently:
"Yes, don't worry. I'm fine, the poison is gone."
But Adam, the eldest brother, wasn't convinced. He knew the poison had been lethal, and it was impossible to survive it so easily. The others thought it was just a miracle and didn't suspect anything.
Ryoma remained silent. He couldn't tell them the truth—that he wasn't really their brother. He felt sadness for them, but he decided to stay quiet. He tried to force a smile and said:
"Go on and keep playing. I'll wait here. I'm still a bit tired."
Adam stayed by his side, clearly suspicious. He then said seriously:
"How did you heal without any medicine or treatment? You were on your deathbed!"
Ryoma realized Adam was too smart to be easily fooled. He had been the one caring for Carter during his illness. As they watched their friends running and playing, Ryoma looked at him seriously and answered bluntly:
"Carter is dead."
Adam was shocked by his words and asked, stunned:
"What do you mean? You're right here in front of me. How can you say he's dead?"
"Yes, I'm in front of you, but I'm not Carter. I'm someone else who came into this body from a different world than yours."
Adam looked at him in disbelief, then said angrily:
"Are you kidding me? That makes no sense!"
He stood up abruptly and grabbed Ryoma by the collar, but Ryoma didn't resist. The sorrowful look in his eyes confirmed to Adam that he wasn't lying.
Adam sat on the ground, deep in thought, then said in a low voice:
"Can you tell me… did Carter die happy or sad? Did he suffer before his death? And by the way, what should I call you? Should I keep calling you Carter, or do you have another name?"
Ryoma replied calmly:
"Call me whatever you like. As for Carter's death, I don't know if it was easy or difficult, but I believe he died sad, because he was alone and no one was by his side when he passed away."
Tears started gathering in Adam's eyes; he felt sorrow over losing his brother. Even though he knew he would die eventually, the separation was harder than he imagined.
He quickly wiped his tears so no one would see him crying, then said in a hoarse voice:
"You seem experienced in life. How long exactly did you live in your previous world?"
"I don't know. But when I reached two hundred, I stopped counting the years that followed."
Adam was surprised and asked in astonishment:
"Do all the inhabitants of your world live that long?"
"Only the strong ones."
Adam looked at him intently and asked:
"If you were one of the strong, then how did you die?"
Ryoma answered in a sad tone:
"I was deceived… I fell into a trap set by people I protected with everything I had."
Adam felt deep sorrow—partly for Ryoma's betrayal, and partly for his brother who had died. His sobbing was intense, as he tried to hide his flushed face from his friends and siblings who noticed the trembling of his shoulders from crying. He pulled on his rough shirt to quickly wipe his tears before they could turn toward him.
Ryoma asked, curiosity piqued and with a tone suggesting concern:
"Are there any particular powers in this world? Magic or supernatural abilities?"
Adam replied in a low voice, his breath short from sorrow:
"No, I don't know of any powers you're talking about, but no—this is just a normal world."
Ryoma felt a deep sense of alienation and tried to hold himself together. He paused for a moment, then asked with a doubtful tone:
"Are there caves or unnatural places?"
Adam gave the same answer, calmly:
"No."
Many questions started spinning in Ryoma's head. He seemed hesitant as he reviewed every memory he had. He wondered internally: "Were Carter's memories fake? Where did he go, then? And what kind of creature was Carter fighting?"
Ryoma turned to Adam, suspecting he was lying, and said more sharply:
"I know the reason behind your brother's death. If you tell me the truth about these questions, I'll tell you everything I know about Carter."
Adam replied with a smile, his eyes full of tears, seemingly hiding his pain:
"Why didn't you tell me how he died? Fine, tell me—how did he die?"
Ryoma replied in a stern tone:
"Answer some questions first, then I'll answer you."
Adam, starting to lose patience, said:
"Fine, ask your questions."
Ryoma asked in a harsh tone, suspecting Adam had lied at first:
"Are there any strange caves or areas that are foggy or become foggy at certain times?"
Adam gave the same answer, with an extremely cold tone and neutral expression—no sign of lying on his face:
"No."
Ryoma asked with a voice trembling with doubt:
"Are there large monsters or creatures with supernatural energy?"
Adam looked at Ryoma with confusion and replied in a puzzled voice:
"I don't understand. What monsters are you talking about? There are only predatory animals."
Ryoma began to doubt his memories about the tiger that poisoned him. A sense of confusion and anxiety seeped into his heart. A strange feeling pushed him to run into the forest, his eyes full of doubt. He ran quickly between the trees, saying in a disturbed tone, "I don't understand anything anymore. My mind can't take this. Damn it!"
Adam followed him, speaking anxiously, "Why did you suddenly start running? Tell me, why did my brother die so quickly?"
Ryoma replied, his tone quick and filled with hope for an answer, "I'm searching for the same question you're asking—and its answer."
Adam, surprised and trying to understand, said, "I don't get it. How?"
Ryoma spoke in a soft voice, as if the words struggled to leave his lips, "Your brother Carter went to a strange place, like a large cave filled with mist. When he entered, a fiery tiger monster attacked him. It was huge—about the size of giant trees. Its fangs were massive, and its claws were sharp like swords. It wounded his left arm with its poisonous claws. Just before it killed him, someone pulled him from behind and took him to another dimension. That's all I remember about Carter."
Adam responded with disbelief and shock, "What are you saying? A cave? A fiery tiger? Are you insane? These things don't exist. Maybe your memories from your world got mixed with the memories of this world."
Ryoma remained stunned, reviewing his memories, yet he was convinced this was the truth he lived in—even if it was strange. He asked, full of questions, "Where was your brother before he was poisoned?"
Adam looked at Ryoma and said, "He was at home, in his room."
Ryoma, now more puzzled, asked, "Did he leave his room?"
Adam quickly answered as if it was a simple fact, "No, he didn't leave. He was just at home, asleep."
Questions swirled in Ryoma's head, and he started thinking of different possibilities: "Was he dreaming about that place? No, I don't think so. Maybe he was transported there somehow, or maybe someone took him—took his soul and left his body asleep? Damn it, I don't know how!"
Ryoma suddenly stopped running. He looked like he was deep in thought, trying to process everything. Slowly, he began to ask new questions, "How could he not have left his house? Then where was that place?" Then he remembered Carter's injury on his left hand and asked in confusion, "What about the wound on his left hand? Did he tell you what caused it?"
Adam, hesitating and speaking unclearly, said, "No, there wasn't any injury."
Ryoma, now worried and stressed, replied determinedly, "Okay." Then he began running again, saying in a rushed tone, "Come on, hurry! We have to find that cave. I have a strange feeling."
Ryoma and Adam ran through the forest and mountains for a long time but couldn't find the cave or the misty place. After a long while, they decided to return to the village. Night had fallen, the moonlight shone brightly in the sky, and the stars decorated the horizon. Upon their return, all their friends and family were searching for them.
Adam went to his siblings and hugged them, but he couldn't bring himself to say that Carter had died. Adam told them in a shaky tone, "Don't worry. We were just talking in the forest for a bit."
His sister, worried, asked, "What were you talking about for all that time? You were gone so long."
Ryoma stepped in and said firmly, trying to ease the tension, "Is it really important to know what we talked about? What matters is that we're safe and together."
Adam looked at Ryoma, forcing a fake laugh, his smile full of sorrow, like a madman smiling for no reason, hiding his pain inside while the hurt was clearly visible in his eyes.
Then Ryoma heard a voice whispering in his ear: "So, you're the one fate chose to suffer."
Ryoma quickly turned, looking for the source of the voice, and said in a low voice, filled with confusion and anger, "Who? Who's talking to me?"
His friends and Adam's siblings saw him talking to himself. Then Ryoma heard the voice again, which said: "Don't worry. I'm Carter."
Shock appeared on Ryoma's face. He said, "How… where are you?"
Carter laughed and said, "Does it even matter where I am? I don't even know you, and you don't know me."
Ryoma, confused, said, "Yes, I don't know you, and you don't know me. But tell me where you are. Do you want me to take your place and your family?"
Carter replied angrily, "Yes, you can take my place and my family. I've lost everything."
Ryoma didn't understand and said:
"How did you lose everything? Your family is still alive—you haven't lost anything."
Carter replied:
"You didn't understand me. You'll know in the future what I meant by losing everything.
I was the one who abandoned this body, and you'll know why I did that.
I thought it would be buried once I gave it up, but it's a wonderful coincidence that you ended up in it."
Ryoma stood frozen, shocked and speechless. The voice continued:
"Beware the fate of this body—it is very difficult."
Ryoma, with a soft and confused voice, trying to find answers to the questions spinning in his mind, asked:
"Tell me, where were you poisoned? Where was the cave you were in? And what was the nature of that place?"
Everyone was watching him, their faces filled with confusion and bewilderment.
But Adam was focused, wondering who Ryoma was speaking with. Was it really Carter, or someone else who knew about the poison?
The voice said, mysteriously:
"It is a place that no longer exists. The place I was in was another world, isolated from the one you live in.
Beware of the Great Catastrophe that happened one hundred thousand years ago.
It will return again, and you are the only one who knows about it, because your fate is a difficult one."
Ryoma asked in surprise:
"Did the Great Catastrophe happen only once?"
He didn't even know how he came to ask that—it just slipped out.
Carter answered:
"No, the Great Catastrophe first occurred a hundred million years ago, in the Eternal Ancient Era.
Could it be that the world I was in… was the very place of the Great Catastrophe before it ever occurred?"
Then the voice suddenly vanished without another word.
Ryoma's friends said in shock:
"What were you doing? Talking like a madman?"
Ryoma was stunned, trying to understand the fate of the body he had taken over.
Adam came closer and whispered in his ear:
"Tell me… later."
Ryoma shoved him slightly, his voice filled with anger mixed with regret:
"Leave me alone. I need to think."
He walked into the forest. The night was dark, the moonlight glowing bright, and the sound of the river was calm.
Ryoma sat by the river, staring at the sky, his thoughts racing through his mind.
Adam came and sat beside him without saying a word. Just silence.
Ryoma said, still staring up:
"Hey… Adam."
Adam turned and replied:
"What is it?"
Ryoma, full of confusion, asked:
"If I told you that Carter is alive… would you believe me?"
Adam, his voice choked with emotion and tears falling from his eyes, said:
"Yes… but tell me, what did he say to you?"
Ryoma, surprised by Adam's response, said:
"He's alive. And he's the one who chose to give up his body."
Adam, now crying harder, asked:
"Did he tell you why he gave it up?"
Ryoma, in a low, sad tone, filled with sympathy, replied:
"Yes… he told me that the fate of this body is grim.
That things will appear in this world… worse than anything we've seen before.
That the Great Catastrophe, which appeared a hundred million years after the first one in the Eternal Ancient Era, will come again in this era."
Adam looked at Ryoma with sadness, the pain of knowing his brother abandoned his body piercing his heart.
A sense of loneliness crept into Ryoma's heart. Adam stood and asked:
"Do you want to become part of our family?"
They looked at each other, and Ryoma said in a quiet voice:
"My fate is different from yours. My fate is dark.
If I become your brother… I will lose all of you, one by one."
Adam tried to reassure him gently:
"I don't care about your fate. I just want to be your brother."
He held out his hand to Ryoma, waiting for his answer.
Ryoma took his hand and said firmly:
"Alright, my younger brother… I'll call you my older brother."
Adam was overwhelmed with joy and said with a big smile:
"From today, you are my younger brother, and your name is Carter Leo, part of our humble Leo family."
He hugged Ryoma tightly.
They sat on the grass, looking at the sky—at the stars, the moon, and listening to the gentle breeze—
until sleep overcame them, and they both fell asleep on the grass together.