Pitch-black darkness surrounded him everywhere.
It felt as though even sunlight would appear dim in this place.
Above, below, left, right—
countless stars filled every direction.
Some were so dark that they could still be seen within the darkness itself.
Those stars were blacker than the void around them.
If Raijin stared at them for too long,
he began to feel suffocation in his chest.
As if they didn't just devour light—
but also the hope inside a person.
One of those stars emitted a freezing aura, cold enough to freeze even the bones.
The closer he got to it, the more pain, anger, hatred, and despair consumed him.
There were also stars that radiated pure white light.
Their glow was warm, comforting his heart—
as though a broken part of his soul had finally been returned.
For a moment, he felt—
if he could simply sit near those lights…
perhaps all his pain would disappear.
And standing amidst all of them was Raijin himself,
a white light radiating from within him—
cold, yet warm at the same time.
Those two sensations should have opposed each other.
But inside him—
they existed in a strange balance.
Raijin's gaze remained fixed in one direction.
From there, he felt both a pull… and a pressure.
It was as if an invisible gaze was constantly watching him—
and at the same time, calling him.
That voice had no words.
Yet Raijin could understand it.
As if something was speaking directly to his soul.
Again and again, he tried to ignore that pressure—
but it felt as though he was being dragged toward that place.
His unease continued to grow,
along with the pull and pressure.
He realized—
if he didn't go in that direction…
this place might not even allow him to stand peacefully.
Even the strange cold-and-warm white light radiating from within him
couldn't calm his restlessness.
Slowly, in that direction, Raijin noticed an entirely different light.
It was neither white… nor black.
Within moments, the scene before his eyes became clear.
There was a tree there.
Its lower trunk was unbelievably massive—
like a mountain.
Its roots couldn't be seen,
as if they spread endlessly into the depths of this place.
Above, its leaves were deep green.
But the strange thing was—
despite there being no wind,
the leaves continued to sway endlessly.
Around the tree floated several spheres.
Pure white.
Transparent like glass.
Looking at them felt as though infinite space existed within each one.
Inside some of those spheres, faint figures could be seen.
As if entire universes were sealed inside them.
The spheres circled around the tree,
guided by branches extending from beneath it.
Raijin observed them carefully and counted—
1, 2, 4, 6, 9… and 13.
It felt incredibly strange to him—
simply looking at that single tree.
A flood of memories passed through Raijin's mind.
He realized that strange things had been happening to him for quite some time now.
But among all of them—
the strangest thing was that he was still alive.
His heart was still beating.
Slowly… but it was there.
And that frightened him more than anything else.
While Raijin was lost in thought,
a voice echoed through his ears.
"I can't believe you reached this place so quickly."
The voice came from every direction at once.
As if the entire place itself was speaking to him.
Raijin immediately looked around—
but saw no one besides himself.
The muscles in his body instinctively tightened.
As if his instincts were warning him.
In a heavy yet steady voice, he asked,
"Who are you?"
Once again, the voice echoed around him.
"Do not be afraid. I will not harm you. Even if I wished to… I could not."
"Why don't we sit down and talk instead?"
The moment those words ended—
a table appeared before him,
with two chairs facing each other.
It did not appear instantly.
First, faint lines formed in the air…
then they slowly took shape.
Despite not wanting to, Raijin sat down on one of the chairs.
There was nervousness in his heart—
but also peace.
Because within this endless darkness—
for the first time, he no longer felt completely alone.
The moment he sat down, Raijin asked,
"Who are you… and what are you doing here?"
The chair opposite him, which had remained empty until now,
began forming an outline.
Slowly, an entire figure took shape upon it.
The moment Raijin saw it—
he was completely stunned.
The figure had no fixed form at all.
One moment it resembled a human—
the next, it shattered apart like smoke.
Then it seemed as though thousands of faces were moving within it at once.
Raijin saw every possible shape within that figure.
Just looking at it made his head spin.
The figure sitting across from him spoke softly,
"How surprising… you reached this place far sooner than expected."
"As for who I am… you may call me Zephyrus."
Raijin slowly repeated the name.
"Zephyrus…"
Staring at the figure before him, he asked,
"How long have you been here… and what are you doing in this place?"
The figure seated before him replied,
"I have existed here for several thousand years."
"And as for what I am doing here… that is something you must discover yourself, should you desire it."
Zephyrus fell silent.
Yet his presence still spread throughout the endless darkness.
As if he did not merely exist before Raijin—
but within the entirety of this place itself.
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Thank You For Reading This Chaptar.
Author: Mohammed Zaid Saifi