Chapter 2

"……Soma……Soma……"

Who? Who’s calling me?

"……Soma……irra……summon……Soma……"

Who? Who is it?

Feeling as if someone had called his name, Koushi Soma woke up. He was in his room. Since it was a school holiday today, he had fallen asleep while reading a weekly magazine on his bed, which he had bought from a convenience store in the afternoon. The room, cluttered with discarded clothes and manga, was now bathed in the crimson light of the setting sun that had slanted through the western sky. When he lifted his head, the pages of the weekly magazine that had stuck to his cheek peeled off with a rustling sound.

"Whoa…"

When Soma picked up the tabletop mirror by his pillow and looked into it, the face of a sleepy boy was reflected back at him. His short black hair and black eyes that seemed to exude weakness, along with his slightly youthful features, had earned him the compliment of being cute from older women, though he was starting to feel embarrassed by it. However, now his cheeks were imprinted with the pages of the magazine he had been lying on, making him look more ridiculous than cute.

While rubbing the ink off his cheeks with the back of his hand and yawning widely, Soma got up and went down the stairs.

"Mom! Did you call me?!"

"I’m glad you’re up, Soma. I didn’t call you, though."

From the kitchen, his mother’s voice came along with the sound of oil splattering as she fried something. Soma thought it must have been a mishearing.

"Good timing, Soma. We’re out of tofu and aburaage. I’m frying tempura and can’t leave the kitchen, so could you go shopping for me?"

"Sure, no problem."

Soma put on his shoes at the entrance and picked up the key to the family’s shared bicycle, which was hanging on a key hook next to the shoe rack. Just as he was about to open the door, his vision suddenly tilted.

Soma thought he was still groggy from just waking up, but the dizziness only got worse. Eventually, he couldn’t stand and had to sit down, but the dizziness didn’t subside. He felt a floating sensation as if his body was rising, alternating with a heavy pressure that pressed down on him, playing with him.

"Soma, you forgot your wallet!"

Soma tried to respond to his mother’s voice but was choked by a wave of nausea rising from his stomach. He reached out to grab the doorknob to stand up and ask for help, but before he could, he heard the voice again.

"……Soma……welcome, Soma……"

While hearing the voice again, Soma’s hand hung in mid-air, failing to reach the doorknob.

"Soma, you forgot your wallet… Soma?"

By the time his mother came with the wallet, the door was still locked, and only the bicycle key lay on the floor in front of it. Soma was nowhere to be found.

◆◇◆◇◆

A loud thud echoed through his back, sending a strong shock through his body.

"Aa…au…aaa"

A sound that was neither a scream nor a sob escaped Soma’s lips. It seemed he had been hit hard on his back, and a throbbing pain spread across it. However, the dizziness, fatigue, and nausea that spread throughout his body were even more overwhelming.

Suddenly, the sound of people murmuring around him became audible. He opened his eyes slightly, which he had tightly closed due to the discomfort, and noticed that it had become dark. He must have lost consciousness without realizing it, but he soon realized that wasn’t the case. The ceiling he saw while lying on his back had transformed into a rock ceiling with countless stalactites hanging down, as if inverted mountains were stuck to it.

Moreover, the changes didn’t stop there. As he writhed in pain and looked around desperately, he found himself in a vast cave he had never seen before, even though he had been at the entrance of his house just moments ago. The cave was so large that an entire house could fit inside, with thick stalactites standing like pillars and candles placed here and there, creating a surreal scene. In the midst of this, dozens of men and women, all wearing black robes, were kneeling with their heads bowed, staring at Soma with blank expressions.

"…Where… where am I?"

Soma’s weak voice prompted the old man at the front of the group to speak.

"Owa! Owa!"

The words that came out of the old man’s mouth were in a tone Soma had never heard before.

"Diha noia? Fero ran dilan noia?!"

What is this person saying?

Where am I?

What is this place?

These questions raced through Soma’s mind, but the physical discomfort overwhelmed him, making it impossible to think clearly. The dizziness and fatigue worsened over time, and his body felt hot, as if he had chugged whiskey offered by relatives during the New Year. His head throbbed, and his heart pounded in his skull.

As he writhed in nausea and lay on his back, Soma noticed a woman looking down at him and let out a small scream. No, it wasn’t a living woman. It was a stone statue carved from stalactite, with sharp fangs protruding from its lips and clawed fingers that seemed to be reaching out to embrace him. It looked more like a demon disguised as a woman.

Suddenly, someone touched Soma’s forehead. The old man, who had knelt beside him without Soma noticing, was looking down at him. The old man, with his trembling hands, brushed the hair from Soma’s forehead and opened his deeply wrinkled face, where only his eyes glowed with excitement.

"Uzu yakha kiha! Uzu migoo seiha!"

The old man shouted, spitting out saliva in his excitement.

"Uzu migoo! Uzu migoo auronos!"

The old man turned to the group, raised his hands high, and let out a cry of joy. The group responded with cries of joy.

"Magulna auron! Magulna auron! Magulna migoo!"

The joyful cries echoed through the narrow cave, deafening Soma, and his consciousness slipped into darkness.

◆◇◆◇◆

The old man was a defeated man. Once, he held great power in the most noble and beautiful place on this earth. However, he fell into a trap set by despicable people and lost all his honor and wealth. Not only his enemies but even those who had flattered him turned their backs on him, and he was driven out of the capital with stones. Even the lowly people he had despised cursed him, and he had to flee to this remote area with a few members of his family.

The old man’s body, accustomed to luxury and adoration, suffered greatly during this escape. However, it was the burning hatred and anger in his heart that kept him going. How could he avenge this anger, this hatred, this humiliation? This desire for revenge was the only thing that sustained his spirit and body.

The old man clung to a passage he had found in a book in the capital’s great library. It described the most powerful and great being in this world. The old man and his family turned to this being to overthrow those who had driven them out and restore their family’s glory.

They kidnapped a lowly peasant girl and offered her warm, blood-filled heart in prayer. After what seemed like an eternity of prayer and lamentation, a change finally came. A boy, whom no one had seen before, suddenly appeared in the temple, which should have been empty except for the old man’s family.

"Oh! Oh!"

The old man could only let out a wordless cry of surprise. The entrance to the cave temple was guarded, and it was almost impossible to enter without being seen. There were no hidden passages. Yet, the boy had appeared as if he had descended from the sky.

"Who are you? Where did you come from?"

The old man asked, but the boy only writhed in pain and did not respond. The boy had black hair, like that of the barbarians from a distant island, and wore strange clothes. Even the old man, who prided himself on his extensive knowledge, could not identify the boy.

When the boy rolled onto his back, the old man’s eyes caught something. He cautiously reached out, brushed the boy’s hair from his forehead, and exposed it. There, as expected, was what the old man had hoped for.

"This is a mark! This is the chosen one!"

On the boy’s forehead was a faintly glowing symbol, a figure that combined the number 8 and the infinity symbol. It looked like two snakes entwining each other and biting their tails, a sinister mark that seemed to wriggle in the flickering candlelight.

"The chosen one! The chosen one of Aula!"

The old man, trembling with joy and excitement, turned to his family and shouted. The family, who had been watching in silence, immediately burst into cheers.

"The great Aula! The mighty Aula! The chosen one!"

Everyone shed tears of joy and raised their voices in cheers. Finally, Aula had heard their prayers. Finally, their great wish would come true!

The greater the suffering they had endured, the greater the joy they felt.

"Haha… hahaha!"

The old man, more than anyone, twisted his face in mad joy and let out a loud laugh.

"Perish! Perish, you who have betrayed, mocked, and driven me away! May you all perish! Hahaha!"

Therefore, he did not notice the loud noise coming from the cave entrance.

"Fire!"

At the command, countless arrows were fired into the narrow cave. One of the arrows struck the old man in the chest, and he came to his senses in the burning pain.

"!? What, what is this?"

The cave was in chaos. Soldiers, fully armed, stormed in and killed the old man’s family with their swords and spears. The family, who had turned to Aula because they lacked the strength to fight, fell helplessly.

"Destroy the heretics! Don’t let a single one escape!"

"These heretics!"

"Kill them! Don’t let them escape!"

The flickering candlelight cast countless shadows on the cave walls as the old man’s family were killed one by one. The old man could only watch in shock.

A captain, distinguished by a brown tassel on his helmet, stepped forward. In his right hand was a sword stained red with the blood of the old man’s family.

"You are the leader here! I’ll take your head!"

With that, the captain swung his sword, and the old man’s head, eyes wide in shock, flew high into the air, spraying blood. The captain picked up the head by its white hair and raised it high.

"I’ve taken the leader’s head!"

The cave echoed with the cheers of the soldiers. The soldiers continued to finish off those who were still breathing, and the low moans of the dying and the wet sounds of spears piercing flesh filled the cave.

Behind the captain, a small moan was heard.

"Au… uu…"

Thinking it was a surviving heretic, the captain drew his sword and cautiously looked around. He found a boy lying on his back, writhing in pain, at the foot of the sinister statue of the evil god.

The captain, about to strike, stopped. The boy had black hair and strange clothes, unlike anyone in the area. He didn’t seem to be part of the heretics, nor did he look like a child kidnapped from nearby villages.

The captain’s eyes caught a faint glimmer under the boy’s hair. He cautiously brushed the hair away with the tip of his sword and was speechless.

"…?!"

No matter how many times he blinked, the mark on the boy’s forehead did not disappear.

"Is this… a mark? Is this boy the chosen one?"

The captain, trembling, opened his eyes wide and took a step back.

This incident is recorded in the captain’s report as follows:

"On this day, we discovered the stronghold of the heretics who had been kidnapping young girls and children from the surrounding villages and brutally killing them. Leading twenty-four soldiers, we first shot and killed the two guards at the entrance to the cave and then stormed inside. Inside the cave, incense was burning, and many heretics were performing a strange ritual. We cut into the scene with the soldiers and eliminated forty-two heretics, including an old man who appeared to be their leader. During this, we found a boy at the foot of a statue that seemed to be their object of worship. The boy had black hair and strange foreign clothing, and on his forehead was a mark we had never seen before. Not knowing what to make of this chosen one, we decided to bring him to the fort for judgment."

Considering what he would later accomplish, this is a rather brief description, but it is the first official document written about Soma Kisaki.

◆◇◆◇◆

The long history of the Seldias continent has been marked by the names of many heroes and sages. Among those who have left their mark on history, there are also many so-called evil heroes, such as tyrants and mass murderers.

The "Foolish Emperor" Kashnul, who pushed through an overly ambitious reform that led to the starvation of tens of thousands of his own people.

The "Poisonous Noblewoman" Marie Serenar, who poisoned dozens of people, including her husband, lovers, and relatives, for her own luxurious lifestyle.

The "Decapitator Duke" Bagayon, who beheaded all enemy prisoners and used their heads to build a wall of terror, causing the enemy army to flee in fear.

Many other names of evil heroes are known.

However, among these notorious figures, there is one man whose name is deeply etched in the history of this world. His name is still spoken with anger and hatred, and when it is mentioned, people’s lips curl as if they have tasted poison, and their faces contort with fear and disgust. The chaos he brought about has claimed the lives of millions, and even after his death, his influence continues to claim countless lives to this day.

Even the "Cruel Emperor" Gula Gumesis, known for his arrogant and insolent words, who massacred countless people, including his subjects, citizens, and enemies, and the "Death" Otto Zaidenbecher, a mad genius scientist and army officer who developed new bombs to destroy cities and conducted horrific human experiments on prisoners, both acknowledged the man’s greatness.

One day, he suddenly appeared on the Seldias continent. He quickly spread his influence across the continent and rebelled against the empire that ruled it, eventually overthrowing its foundation and ushering in a chaotic era that would last for centuries.

People call him with hatred, disgust, fear, and awe:

"The Chosen One of Destruction, Soma Kisaki" —

5/2, 11/11 Typo corrections

10/16/2014 Major revisions and additions