A being with pale ivory skin with green-gold undertones, long, moss-green hair, pointed ears, and golden-green armor slowly regained his consciousness and opened his eyes.

The first thing he felt was the scent of grass.

Fresh, damp, and warmthe kind only his world could carry. As his vision slowly cleared, the soft gold of Greenmarchs eternal dawn greeted him.

He was lying on a wide meadowa sea of emerald blades that glowed faintly under sunlight.

Everything looked exactly like it was supposed to, like it used to, but…

But something felt different…

His surroundings felt… heavier and… dimmer.

The sky, normally bright with two silver suns and rivers of light running through the clouds, now looked pale and bruised.

The being pushed himself up with a grunt. His long green hair was messy and tangled. His golden armor, engraved with flowing leaf patterns, was cracked in several places. His own greenish and faintly luminous blood stained his chestplate.

With a hazy mind, he looked around, and the instant he did, he froze. .

Tens of thousands of his soldiers were scattered across the fieldall unconscious, some were breathing heavily, while some were… unnervingly still.

What…?

The being let out a soft, confused, and grim voice.

The being was Ravana Greenmarch, the Progenitor of Verdans, the race that lived in the Lowest Level World called Greenmarch.

The confused Ravana slowly took a step forward, his heavy shoes stepping on the grass in front of him.

Whoom

The land responded faintly.

The ground pulsed once, as if recognizing its master. Ravana also sensed his link with Greenmarchs Will, but he very quickly noticed something.

The link… it was much weaker than before, he could barely sense it.

Ravanas face turned even grimmer.

Something had happened.

However, Ravana knew he couldnt lose his calm, not at a time like this. Slowly, he started looking around.

This place he was in, he recognized it.

It was the Fields of Aurellion, the open plain that spread from the heart of Greenmarchs capital to the forests beyond. He turned to the east and saw the Verdant Pillarstall living trees that twisted together into shimmering towers of green light.

Trees that were supposed to glow endlessly, but…

But today, their light was flickering.

Farther away, the Great Bloom, a massive floating flower-city, hung low in the sky. The city itself was in complete shambles, almost no building was in one piece, everything was destroyed.

A sight Ravana had already gotten used to. He knew Greenmarchs condition wasnt stable, especially because of the constant Universal Tremors, but today, everything looked even grimmer.

Just… what happened…?

He muttered with a frown, his hand gripping his head as he began recalling everything he remembered to connect the events.

He remembered ordering his men to create temporary stays for half of their people who had lost their homes, but then suddenly, Greenmarchs Will roared through his mind, warning him of an unknown entity that had appeared out of nowhere.

What was surprising was that unlike in cases of usual otherworldly intruders, where Greenmarchs Will knew about them the moment they entered Greenmarch, this was… different.

The unknown entity had already entered Greenmarch, and Greenmarch was only able to sense it when it released its energy.

It made its presence known by itself, and if it hadnt… Greenmarch would have never known.

Of course, at the time, Ravana didnt care about these details. His Worlds Will informed him of the intruderit was his duty to go and deal with it.

And thats what he did. Gathering his men, he moved, instantly arriving in these fieldsthe place where Greenmarch had sensed the foreign energy.

Then…

Ravana frowned, trying to recall further memories, his memories, however, started becoming hazy.

He remembered standing on the same ground, facing a silhouettehe didnt remember the face or even the shape.

Just the… strange calm around him seemed… overwhelmingespecially considering that the being was this calm when he was hovering in front of more than forty thousand soldiers.

Ravana remembered trying to speak, to ask who the being was and what he wanted, but then

But then the intruder maybe released his Aura and

Nothingness.

Ravana couldnt even recall the strike, the sound, or the energy.

It was as if reality itself bent inward, forcing everything into silence, and the next thing he knew, he was here.

No matter what else Ravana tried to recall, his mind was completely blank.

It was clear,

They were all knocked unconscious even before they could do anything. Even his cracked armor and the blood on itit wasnt because of battle, it was because his armor and his body couldnt take on the pressure and crackedjust like his mind.

Ravana gulped, and a grim look appeared on his face.

Ravana wasnt an arrogant fool like most Progenitors who were the strongest in their worlds. Ravana knew his place. He knew that in the vast Universe, there were countless beings who could destroy him, his army, and his worldall on their own with a mere swing of their arms.

But…

What Ravana couldnt understand was…

What exactly happened?

They were attacked, but he could sense that none of his men were killed, his world wasnt devoured either.

So what exactly did that foreign entity do?

Also, why had his connection with Greenmarch weakened to such a degree?

So you are finally awake.

Suddenly, Ravana heard a voice.

He turned, and his eyes fell on an unreasonably beautiful woman standing in front of him.

Who are you?

Ravana asked, and for a moment, the woman didnt say anything.

Right…

I didnt come up with a way to introduce myself.

She admitted honestly, and Ravana…

…

He had no idea what he was supposed to say here.

He waited for the woman, who seemed to be thinking about something, to explain everything, and finally

You can think of me like the Universes Will.

Yes, I am this Universes Will.

The woman answered.

What…?

Ravana blinked, unable to believe what he was hearing.

The Universes Will…?

Mhm.

…and you want me to believe that?

Ravana questioned honestly.

Shadow stared at him for a moment, then she sighed, and with a wave of her hand, Ravanas daughter appeared around her.

Does that hel

Riana!!

Ravana, not listening to Shadows words, quickly rushed and grabbed his daughter, now glaring at Shadow in anger.

And Shadow…

Right,

Bringing out your daughter like that wasnt the best move eitherjust what is happening to me? Why am I not thinking things through?

Shadow muttered to herself again, still quite unbothered by the angry man in front of her.