The immutable law of existence had echoed through every age, unchanged and merciless:
The strong oppress the weak.
It was a truth carved into the bones of history itself—a cruel hierarchy where predators thrived while the powerless were trampled beneath them. Across kingdoms and empires, beneath moonlit skies and bloodstained battlefields, the same cycle endured. Strength ruled. Weakness suffered.
January 7, 2026 — 11:49 PM. Jaden's Final Epilogue
The room felt like a tomb waiting to close.
Silence clung to the air with suffocating weight as Jaden lay motionless upon the bed, his shallow breaths growing weaker with every passing second. Curtains drifted softly in the midnight breeze slipping through the open window, their shadows stretching across the walls like wandering spirits.
Above him, the full moon hung in the night sky—radiant, distant, alone.
Its silver light poured over his fragile face, bathing him in an almost ethereal glow.
Jaden stared at it quietly.
A faint smile touched his lips.
"You're just like me…" he whispered weakly.
"Always there… yet no one really notices you when you try to shine."
His voice trembled, carrying the loneliness of someone who had spent his entire life unseen.
His tired eyes softened.
"Soon… I'll join you up there. Then neither of us will be alone anymore." His breathing faltered. "I won't leave your side… so… will you be my friend…?"
The final words faded into silence.
His eyelids slowly closed.
The room became still.
Only the curtains continued to sway beneath the
moonlight while somewhere far away, a lonely creature cried into the night.
Then
A woman's voice echoed gently through the darkness of his fading consciousness.
"I'm sorry, my child…"
The voice was warm.
Tender.
Maternal.
"Live a life that fulfills you. Make friends… so you won't face death alone again."
Something cold wrapped itself around his wrist.
A pendant.
"You are never alone, dear child. I will watch over you as the moon watches over the night. My love shall remain with you, just like this pendant."
The voice softened further.
"Walk your own path. Shine like the stars I know you can become… and when your journey ends, return home… where the lions sleep."
The warmth vanished.
Confusion swallowed him whole.
Then came noise.
Rapid footsteps.
Heavy breathing.
"There! She ran that way!"
Jaden felt himself lifted into someone's trembling arms before being set against freezing ground. Water rushed violently around him. The scent of wet earth and blood filled the air.
"…there she is—get—!"
Darkness consumed everything.
Cold currents carried him like a drifting spirit.
When consciousness returned, he found himself lying beside the shore of a tranquil lake. Morning sunlight warmed his skin while the gentle murmur of flowing water lulled the world into peace.
For a moment, it almost felt like a dream.
Nearby, a woman approached the lake carrying laundry, a baby strapped securely to her back. Beside her skipped a little girl no older than five, clutching a wooden bucket with both hands as she chased butterflies through the grass.
Her name was Aris.
Her laughter rang brightly through the quiet forest.
Then she noticed him.
A glimmer of silver reflected from the pendant resting against Jaden's chest.
Aris froze.
Wide-eyed, she slowly approached the abandoned infant lying beside the water.
"Mama…" she whispered. "Look!"
Her mother followed her gaze and immediately stiffened.
The warmth vanished from her expression.
"Aris," she said sharply, "put the child down and come here. Now."
The little girl hesitated.
She looked down at the baby one last time before carefully setting him back onto the grass.
Reluctantly, she returned to her mother's side.
Without another word, the two disappeared into the forest.
Leaving Jaden alone.
Night fell quickly.
The forest grew colder.
Jaden's tiny body trembled beneath the snowfall as hunger clawed at his stomach. Darkness pressed against him from every direction while the wind whispered mercilessly through the trees.
Far away, Aris and her mother returned to their home a treehouse built high among the ancient branches of a towering tree. Warm candlelight glowed through the windows, painting golden streaks across the snow below.
Inside, the air smelled of burning wood and simmering stew.
Animal furs covered the floors and walls while fire crackled softly within the hearth. The baby in the wooden crib slept peacefully beneath thick blankets, unaware of the tension hanging over the room.
But Aris could not forget the abandoned child beside the river.
She stood silently by the window, staring into the snowstorm outside.
"Stop looking out there," her mother said while stirring the stew.
"There's nothing we can do for that baby now."
Aris clenched her small fists.
"But Mother…" Her voice trembled. "What if he dies?"
For a moment, her mother said nothing.
Then sadness clouded her eyes.
"Some fates are beyond our control, Aris."
The answer did little to ease the ache in the girl's heart.
The door suddenly burst open.
A man staggered inside dragging the corpse of a massive bear behind him. The stench of alcohol flooded the room before he even spoke.
Aris's father.
His eyes were bloodshot.
His movements unstable.
Her mother cautiously stepped forward to greet him
Only for his hand to strike her across the face with brutal force.
The crack echoed through the house.
Aris froze.
Her mother stumbled backward while muffled cries filled the room. Fear rooted Aris in place as the firelight danced violently against the walls.
"Stay out of it," her mother had always warned her.
So she stood there trembling, listening helplessly as the sounds continued behind the bedroom door.
Then
Silence.
A terrible silence.
Aris's breathing stopped.
Another muffled cry escaped from within the room.
This time, she moved.
Throwing open the door, she rushed inside.
Her father loomed over her bruised mother like a beast.
"Get away from her!" Aris screamed.
Chaos erupted.
Startled, the drunken man turned just long enough for Aris's mother to seize an axe hidden beneath the bed. With all her strength, she struck him across the back of the head using the blunt side.
He collapsed instantly.
The nightmare ended as suddenly as it began.
Later that night, the three of them fell asleep embracing one another beneath flickering candlelight.
At exactly 12:03 AM, Marilin dreamed.
She stood alone within an endless expanse of golden light.
No sky.
No ground.
Only warmth.
Then a brilliant radiance appeared before her.
"I have waited for you, Marilin."
The voice carried divine authority.
Marilin immediately fell to her knees.
"N-Ninrir… Goddess of Light…"
"Do not fear," the goddess said gently. "I have come to ask something of you."
Marilin lowered her head further.
"I will obey any command, my lady."
The goddess's light intensified.
"Find the child you abandoned."
Marilin trembled.
"I was afraid," she admitted shamefully. "The chains on his arm… the quality of his clothes… I feared losing everything."
"The child belongs to me now," Ninrir declared.
"And from this moment onward, he belongs to you as well."
The goddess's voice softened.
"Protect him. Raise him. And my light shall forever guide your path."
The dream shattered.
Marilin awoke instantly.
Without hesitation, she wrapped herself in heavy furs and ventured back into the snowstorm.
She found the baby barely alive beside the frozen river.
His lips had turned blue.
His pulse was fading.
Panicked, she carried him into a nearby cave and quickly lit a fire.
As warmth slowly returned to the child's body, Marilin removed his soaked clothing And froze.
On his left hand rested a strange black crescent-shaped mark.
A crest unlike anything she had ever seen.
Her expression darkened.
Yet before fear could overtake her again, the child whimpered weakly from the cold.
Marilin placed her hand over his tiny stomach and closed her eyes.
Soft blue-green light flowed from her palm.
The cave glowed gently.
Then the growling began.
Wolf-like creatures emerged from the darkness beyond the cave entrance—massive beasts with black fur and twin tails. More and more appeared until hundreds surrounded the cave, their snarls vibrating through the earth itself.
Still, Marilin refused to move.
Then a divine voice echoed through the cavern.
"This will be the only time I intervene directly."
Ninrir.
The full moon outside suddenly blazed brighter than the sun.
A colossal pillar of cyan light descended from the heavens.
The world exploded.
The mountain shook violently as divine energy erupted across the forest. Snow clouds vanished instantly beneath the shockwave while nearby kingdoms felt the tremor ripple across the land.
Kings and nobles alike gazed toward the sky in terror and reverence.
To them, it looked as though a god had descended upon the world.
When the light faded, the cave was gone.
So were the wolves.
Nothing remained except ashes and a massive crescent-shaped crater carved into the earth itself.
Marilin stared at the child in stunned silence.
A goddess had unleashed such overwhelming
power… solely to protect him.
Who was this baby?
"I will protect you," she whispered, wrapping him tightly in her cloak.
"No matter what."
And beneath the moonlit sky, she carried him home.
Meanwhile, deep within the palace of the Underworld, a solitary throne stood upon a platform of black obsidian, towering above an endless abyss of darkness.
Forged entirely from pure gold, the colossal throne radiated overwhelming majesty, its surface engraved with ancient runes and twisted carvings of forgotten wars, fallen gods, and kneeling kings.
Rivers of crimson energy pulsed through the engravings like living blood, distorting the air with every faint flicker of power.
Seated upon the throne was an enigmatic entity humanoid in form, yet impossible to fully comprehend. Its face remained obscured, as though reality itself rejected the idea of defining its features.
Only a vague silhouette lingered beneath layers of darkness. Though its eyes were closed, the crimson crown resting upon its head radiated ominous energy, sending waves of scarlet aura rippling throughout the chamber like an invisible storm.
Tattered royal garments draped over its body, worn by countless ages, yet they failed to diminish the overwhelming aura of dominion surrounding the being.
It sat there like an emperor beyond death itself.
silent.
motionless.
Absolute.
"Aria… my vassal."
The instant its voice echoed through the hall, the Underworld trembled violently. Towering pillars of purple flames erupted from the floor, illuminating the massive chamber in ghostly violet light.
The shadows twisted unnaturally as the inferno spiraled upward.
From within the flames emerged a woman clad in jet-black armor etched with glowing crimson tracings that resembled molten veins flowing across steel.
Her long blood-red hair cascaded behind her like flowing fire, contrasting sharply against her pale alabaster skin. Piercing crimson eyes, cold and unwavering, locked onto the throne as she descended onto one knee before the golden seat of power.
"At your command, my sovereign."
The entity slowly tilted its head.
"A foreign energy has surfaced in the mortal realm. Remarkable… though not yet supreme among their kind. Even so, its existence disturbs the balance."
A suffocating pressure spread throughout the chamber, causing the purple flames themselves to bend and waver.
"Find the source of this power. Bring it to me. If it proves insignificant, erase it. If it proves dangerous… annihilate it before it matures."
Silence followed.
Then it spoke again.
"Show me why you bear the title… Archon of Chaos."
Aria lowered her head further, pressing one armored fist against her chest.
"As you decree, my liege. It shall be done."
The moment her words faded, her body dissolved into swirling crimson wind, scattering into the darkness as though she had never existed at all.
Far above the Underworld, beneath the silent veil of night, Marilin slipped quietly back into her home probably AM in the early morning.
The house was cloaked in stillness. Soft snores escaped her exhausted husband while the gentle breathing of her children filled the room with fragile warmth. Moonlight seeped through the cracked windows, painting pale silver across the wooden floorboards.
Marilin slowly approached the crib.
Inside, the infant slept peacefully, unaware of the danger surrounding his existence. Carefully, she lifted him into her arms before gently placing him beside her son, Randell.
For a moment, she froze.
The resemblance between the two boys was uncanny.
Their tiny faces mirrored one another so perfectly that no one would question whether they were truly brothers born of the same blood.
A flicker of sorrow passed through her eyes.
Without wasting another second, Marilin began gathering supplies. Her movements were swift yet silent as she packed thick winter furs, dried food, water skins, and every coin she possessed into a worn cloth sack. Beyond the fragile walls of the house, the winter wind howled like a starving beast.
She knew remaining here meant death.
Turning toward the corner of the room, she gently shook her daughter awake.
Aris stirred sleepily, rubbing the exhaustion from her eyes.
"Mother…? What's happening?"
Marilin: "We're leaving."
Her voice remained calm, but the urgency hidden beneath it was unmistakable.
Marilin: "Stay quiet, understand? We cannot remain here any longer."
The young girl's eyes widened slightly, excitement and fear intertwining within them. Yet despite her age, Aris possessed unusual intelligence. She nodded without complaint.
Together, they slipped out into the freezing night.
Their journey toward Ranon Village stretched across several exhausting days. Though uneventful, the world beyond the city was breathtaking in ways Aris had never imagined.
Morning breezes carried the scent of blooming flowers and fresh grass across endless plains.
Towering forests shimmered beneath golden sunlight while distant deserts rolled endlessly beneath the horizon like oceans of amber.
Strange creatures roamed the land freely.
Massive herbivorous lizards the size of wagons wandered peacefully through valleys covered in emerald grass. Birds with curved horns and serpent-like tails soared through the skies, their cries echoing across the mountains. Tiny elephants no larger than ants marched in organized colonies along tree branches, carrying leaves many times their own size.
As they traveled aboard a merchant's coach,
Marilin quietly explained the truth of their situation to Aris.
At first, disbelief filled the young girl's expression.
Then came fear.
Then understanding.
Questions flooded her mind endlessly, yet she listened carefully, absorbing every detail with unsettling maturity for someone her age.
Eventually, her gaze drifted toward the infant sleeping peacefully within Marilin's arms.
"What's his name?"
For a brief moment, Marilin remained silent, staring down at the child whose existence threatened to alter fate itself.