Inbetween the oblivion and consciousness, he’d awoken to the same unchanging dream.

 

It’s always the same dream, re-enacting the last thing that happens to him before he got stuck in this limbo.

 

He already forgot most of who were and what was, but he was sure that he was overcome with boundless anger the first couple of times watching it.

 

Now he just felt tired and detached. Nothing would ever change for as long as he was here.

 

...[]

 

It started when the abomination finally fell to his sword after a dogged and drawn-out fight.

 

He was the chosen Hero, and he was not alone back then.

 

He didn’t remember the name of those that fought with him anymore, but he could still remember why he chose them for the final fight.

 

There was The Saint. She was born into the role because in her body flow the bloodline of the previous saints. He remembered that she was of the neglected branch, and no one else had been awakened as a saint in the main branch.

 

She was brought in when her gifts awakened and from then onward, the pressure and expectation of the world fall heavily on her shoulder.

 

She was one of his oldest companions, accompanying him from the beginning of the journey whether she actually wanted to or not. After all, other than the chosen hero, the saint was one of the antitheses of the demonic being power. And he chose her for that.

 

There was The Archmage. Born of the most dismal area of the kingdom, orphaned at 5, and is found and taken apprentice by a poor wandering mage a year later.

 

He clawed for his place in the world with great determination, and became a famous strong mage at 25, making most of his enemies pause and plan another route before daring to challenge him.

 

When the empire called for the greatest mage to accompany the hero on his journey, his strength and his skill are shown to the masses, leaving all his competitors in the dust. He intended to rely on Archmage’s magic for the final confrontation.

 

There was The Sage. A wise woman with high intelligence, but truly set in her ways. Her array of knowledge from the ancient to the modern era and her various magic technique and skill was what cemented her place in the party.

 

Her knowledge is what he sought to end the abomination once and for all.

 

There was The General. As the strongest warrior in his kingdom, He was one of the strongest humans in the world. His weapon technique was peerless, and his body enduring against all that sought to fell him. He joined the journey after half his kingdom destroyed from the raid of monsters.

 

His prowess in battle is what ultimately placed him in the final fight because it would make the final confrontation easier.

 

On the eve of the final battle, after much deliberation, he chose those four from all the various people that accompanying him in his journey. He and four pinnacles of the civilized race fighting against the abomination in the void of space.

 

It was a very unreasonable fight if he had to describe it simply.  It was alone, fighting by its lone self, and he was battling together with his companion. Former companion. And it was in an advantageous position.

 

The battle was hard, the limit of their body challenged over and over, and it finally fell to the chosen hero’s sword.

 

After boundless distance that they strode, after a countless amount of battles and obstacles they’ve overcome, everything would finally end when the abomination ultimately perished.

 

That time he felt happy and relieved that their journey finally ended. There was a tiny seed of hope that another chapter in his life would start.

 

He had made preparation, he took heed of all kinds of precaution, and when he finished what he set to do, he is 100 percent certain that the abomination wouldn’t surface again.

 

This would be final, and its end would be conclusive, he thought. The abomination would be laid to eternal rest.

 

But he had wilfully ignored one factor. The things that lied hidden inside the hearts of other people.

 

‘We had been together through it all, they are walking the same path as me.’

An optimistic outlook, but it didn’t conform to reality.

 

...[]

 

The abomination, the chosen hero ‘system’, the world he found himself in, all are intertwined tightly in a closely contained ecosystem. As long as nothing changed, the abomination will arise one day, threatening the world again, and someone else will be summoned to be a hero to put it down.

 

He intended to destroy it and make sure the world would not need another person to kidnap and forced with a responsibility they don’t want. It might have been too late for him, but at least there wouldn’t be anyone else like him. He would make sure of it.

 

He walked closer to do the final rite, and his companion stopped him. ‘What you did wouldn’t succeed, and it will be all for naught’, They said.

 

He insisted that he was doing the right thing and following the footpath of the predecessor would just ensure the cycle to restart again.

 

‘It’s too great of sacrifice, we should just seal the abomination instead.’ They told him. They can’t reconcile the difference in opinion and they fought, stopping his plan in the middle of its progression.

 

He fought frantically because what he’d done can’t be undone, there was no time to waste or something bad would happen.

 

They fought against him saying ‘What you did is against what the ancient people’s warning and prohibition’.

 

He was the chosen hero, but he was just a mortal. His companion subdued him and they tried their hardest to undo what he had done.

 

But it was already too late, while they were delaying him from finishing the rite, the one thing he tried to avoid had happened.