Atop a mountainous amalgamation of ash, black substance, and human-like corpses, a man stood.

  The man appeared hardly visible, yet one could feel his heavy presence and bloodlust from afar.

  A suffocating feeling emanated from him, but the most obvious thing was the chaos around him. An absolute cataclysmic event was actively unfolding with the man at its center.

  The scene was a cauldron of destruction, teeming with raging molten lava, scorching fire, towering waves, electrifying lightning, freezing ice, quaking earthquakes, luminescent projectiles both massive and minuscule, and countless hovering spheres of destructive power. It was an overwhelming, apocalyptic devastation.

  Mana piled up, incessantly accumulating around the colorless planet, reaching a breaking point.

  The man stood impassively, his expression inscrutable, his gaze fixed somewhere in the distance.

  A butterfly, its wings shimmering with an almost ethereal brilliance, alighted softly onto his outstretched palm. Its vibrant wings contrasted sharply against the pale grayness surrounding it.

  The man said in a calm voice as he addressed the creature perched on his hand. "Are you ready, Nova?"

  The intricate butterfly named Nova dimmed, its wings fluttering with uncertainty, then said, “Yes, as ready as I could be. It's about time you left… But… Are you..?“ The talking butterfly's voice was tinged with concern and relief.

  The man stayed silent, an understanding passing through the both of them between their connection.

  Without words, he began chanting a spell.

  The bizarre surroundings suddenly turned still…

  —————————————————

  In the midst of an unknown expanse, he had woken up.

  He groggily sits straight, looking around without a sense of clarity as his mind struggles to get rid of the lethargy after a deep sleep.

  Immediately, his first reaction was bewilderment, his body stiffening.

  He looks around impassively, however his mind is anything but.

  What is this place? Where am I?

  A dull, barren, and infinite expanse. Those were the words that described it best from the first glance.

  Because it truly was that way.

  Above, 'the sky' stretched without bounds, white and with wisps of gray or black floating through it. The ground was more bizarre, a faded gray with symmetrical slabs. It was a scenery that made one's head hurt just by looking around at it.

  This... Is this a lucid dream? He thinks to himself.

  But it wasn't. It wasn't a lucid dream. No matter how much he slapped himself on the face or pinched his thigh, the pain remained and persisted. And his grogginess melted away with time as his brain fully woke up.

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  And now fully cognitive, it was apparent that he wasn't dreaming.

  "Am I dead?" He muttered, his face expressionless, not betraying any of his inner conflicts.

  His voice was hoarse and unpleasant, almost like his vocal cords were torn.

  He sat there, not sure how to feel about this... I...

  He shakes his head. Scrutinizing the surroundings a bit more as he stands up.

  The sky: purely white, with no sun in view, no moon, no clouds, no smoke. Just... White, a sickeningly bright white.

  The ground: large slabs of stone-like material, all the same size, a square with six-meter sides. The slabs were awfully smooth, not a spec of imperfection was in sight.

  The most notable feature, however, could only be that this terrain seemed to stretch on infinitely.

  Unlike the horizon which ends at a certain point like Earth, He could see the stretching slabs and white sky far into the distance, further than he ever thought he could see.

  His eyes went dizzy just staring at the far stretching dullness into the distance.

  An Endless Monochrome Expanse... Is the thought that came to him to describe what his eyes were gazing at.

  No mountains, trees, buildings... Nothing. Not even any signs of life.

  Like being in a room with walls made of mirrors, but not seeing your reflection and only the infinitely stretching area.

  He defined himself as being calm most of the time, but now, a sense of unease was beginning to crawl up on him.

  What am I supposed to do?

  He looked down at himself, the same worn and torn rags hugged his frame, clinging to it.

  His body also remained as he remembered it.

  Should I walk forward? He looked around, but all directions had the same dizzying infinitely stretching on monochrome land.

  Picking a random direction, he begins walking.

  ———————

  Patter. Patter. Patter. Patter.

  A small imperceptible sound echoed through the colorless land, the sound of barefoot steps on smooth stone.

  In the seemingly boundless space, a human existed there. Incredibly small in comparison.

  Walking, walking, and walking.

  No matter how much he walked, nothing changed.

  A sense of progress proved to be lacking. The same scenery followed him everywhere, perfectly eery, utterly silent, boundless.

  If I'm dead, then why am I here..? This place isn't at all normal. And I feel alive, I'm getting more tired, hungry, and thirsty. But there's nothing. Absolutely nothing.

  He pauses, looking down slightly, his white hair covering his eyes... But... isn't this better? ... ? Why is my hair white..?

  He examined himself, not only his hair, but his whole being was losing color. His hands touched his hair and his skin. All of it had changed at some point.

  He was shaken, nervousness and uncertainty filling his brain along with his already palpable confusion.

  After taking a moment to collect himself, he takes a deep breath, pushing down the unease that threatens to overwhelm him.

  He knows he can't change what's happened to him right now, but he's not about to give up. He has a strong survival instinct and he won't let himself die. With a renewed determination, he starts walking once again, steeling himself for whatever comes next.

  Now, He looks straight ahead, whether I die or not, it'd be better than continuing on with that... life.

  He continues walking.

  Patter. Patter. Patter.

  ———————

  The deafening silence in the land was only broken by his footsteps and breathing... He didn't know how long it had been, maybe a few hours, maybe a day, maybe more.

  He dragged his feet along, unwilling to continue but also unwilling to die.

  He at least had to try doing something...

  Something... in the distance... There's something black in the distance... Ahead, there a singular black dot came into view.

  Not white or gray - the most prominent colors in this dimension he got used to the unknown past period of time - but black.

  With a sense of motivation, he walked towards it.

  It got bigger as he drew nearer, and... It's moving. He stops in his tracks.

  Despite his mind being muddled, he felt something amiss.

  The 'black dot', almost half his size, wriggled along the floor, moving as a ball of black tendrils mashed together to form a cluster.

  It continued to move towards him.

  He turned around without hesitation and ran... Or tried to.

  Despite his best efforts though, he couldn't outrun it.

  He was too weakened. His hunger gnawed on him, like his stomach was caving in on itself. His sleep-deprived mind was begging him to rest. His chapped lips and dry throat pained him. His freezing legs and hands felt numb.

  He tried to run away, but his weak legs quickly tired out, rendering him unable to escape.

  It wriggles closer, and closer. Small sloshing sounds leaked out from its form.

  On his knees, he turns to face it, reaching out a hand on defense.

  His pupils narrow...

  Crunch... Boom!

  A sickening crunch sounds, followed by a fleshy explosion.

  On the smooth, spotless, gray ground, a mess of black wriggled and exploded, painting the surrounding area with blobs of viscous black liquid.

  "Ugh...!"

  He looks at his hand... Or lack thereof.

  Blood and flesh splattered down onto the area where the cluster-like creature exploded along with his hand.

  His hand was mangled, and his flesh and bone were visible, some of them having fallen onto the ground too.

  He stares blankly, his mind slowly processing everything, then, a broken yell of pain breaks through the eery and dull space.

  And the yell echoed not to be answered.

  Alone, in this blank 'world'.

  Though, he would find out in a moment that he would have been more thankful if he was indeed alone.

  He clutched his forearm tightly with his other uninjured hand, his scream of pain didn't last for long. Nor was it too loud.

  Tears pricked the corner of his eyes.

  He lifts his head up, groaning slightly and looking around, only to forget his pain momentarily.

  In the distance, all around, several black dots had shown up, advancing towards him.

  A white, gray, and black nightmare.

  The Monochrome Expanse.

  ———————