Sleep did not come easily that night.
When it finally did…
It was not peaceful.
I stood in the middle of a battlefield.
The sky burned in dark crimson shades, as if the heavens themselves were bleeding.
The ground trembled endlessly beneath my feet.
Before me…
Armies.
Thousands of figures charged forward, their weapons glowing with strange energy.
Knights clad in radiant armor.
Creatures that looked neither human nor beast.
Mages chanting in unison.
Warriors screaming battle cries that echoed across the shattered land.
And standing against all of them…
Was a single figure.
A demon.
His presence alone distorted the air around him.
Black energy pulsed like a living storm.
Every step he took left cracks in the ground.
Every movement carried overwhelming force.
The armies attacked.
And were destroyed.
Completely.
Effortlessly.
A swing of his arm shattered entire formations.
A single burst of dark power erased dozens instantly.
Flames that were not flames consumed everything in their path.
No hesitation.
No mercy.
Only domination.
Only destruction.
It wasn't a battle.
It was annihilation.
The demon stood alone against countless enemies…
And won.
The battlefield fell silent.
Mountains of defeated warriors surrounded him.
Yet he did not celebrate.
He did not smile.
He simply stood there… as if none of it mattered.
As if victory itself was meaningless.
Then suddenly—
Everything disappeared.
The battlefield.
The sky.
The screams.
Gone.
I found myself standing in a strange place.
An endless white land stretched infinitely beneath my feet.
Above me…
Darkness.
Complete darkness.
It felt like standing between two worlds.
White below.
Black above.
Yet somehow…
I could still see myself clearly.
"…Where am I?"
My voice echoed strangely.
The air felt heavy.
Dense.
As if something invisible surrounded me.
Then I felt it.
A presence.
I turned.
And there he was.
The demon from the alley.
Standing calmly before me.
His red eyes stared directly into mine.
"You…" I said, instinctively stepping back.
"What did you do to me?"
The demon tilted his head slightly.
"The weak do not need to know."
Before I could react—
He moved.
Faster than before.
Much faster.
His attack felt heavier.
Sharper.
More violent.
Each strike carried deadly precision.
I blocked.
Dodged.
Countered.
But this time…
It was harder.
Much harder.
Every movement forced me to focus completely.
Every mistake could mean death.
Our clash echoed across the endless white ground.
Step.
Strike.
Impact.
Again and again.
I could feel something strange.
Something inside me responding.
Adapting.
Reacting.
As if my body remembered the fight from before.
As if it was learning.
Growing stronger.
The demon attacked again.
I stepped forward instead of back.
Our fists collided.
The impact sent a shockwave through the empty space.
I grabbed his arm and twisted.
A crack echoed sharply.
His arm broke.
Yet he did not scream.
Did not panic.
He continued attacking with his remaining strength.
I moved instinctively.
Strike.
Counter.
Break.
His leg shattered beneath the force.
Then the other.
Finally, he fell to one knee.
For the first time…
He smiled.
Not mockingly.
Not cruelly.
Almost… approvingly.
"Maybe…"
His voice sounded distant.
"Maybe you can use it."
I frowned.
"Use what?"
His body began dissolving into dark particles once more.
"Maybe…"
His fading voice echoed quietly.
"You can become… what I could not."
"What does that mean?" I demanded.
But the demon simply smiled.
And vanished.
The dark particles moved toward me.
Entering.
Merging.
Absorbing.
This time, the feeling was different.
The pressure I had felt deep inside my chest…
The constant weight…
Suddenly lessened.
As if something had settled.
As if something had accepted me.
Or perhaps…
Acknowledged me.
Everything faded.
The white land disappeared.
The darkness vanished.
Silence returned.
My eyes opened suddenly.
My room.
Morning light.
Normal.
Yet my heart was racing.
"That dream…"
It felt too real.
Too vivid.
Too detailed.
I placed a hand on my chest.
The strange pressure I had been feeling since that night…
Was weaker now.
Not gone.
But calmer.
More stable.
I didn't understand what was happening.
But one thing felt certain.
That wasn't just a dream.
Somewhere…
Deep within me…
Something had changed again.
Something had accepted me.
Or perhaps…
Tested me.
What I didn't know…
Was that something else had been present in that endless space.
Watching silently.
Observing the battle.
Waiting patiently.
A presence far older…
Far more powerful…
Than the demon I had defeated.
And now…
It had noticed me.