Everyone was watching him, their faces filled with confusion and bewilderment.

But Adam was focused, wondering who Ryoma was speaking with. Was it really Carter, or someone else who knew about the poison?

The voice said, mysteriously:

“It is a place that no longer exists. The place I was in was another world, isolated from the one you live in.

Beware of the Great Catastrophe that happened one hundred thousand years ago.

It will return again, and you are the only one who knows about it, because your fate is a difficult one.”

Ryoma asked in surprise:

“Did the Great Catastrophe happen only once?”

He didn’t even know how he came to ask that—it just slipped out.

Carter answered:

“No, the Great Catastrophe first occurred a hundred million years ago, in the Eternal Ancient Era.

Could it be that the world I was in… was the very place of the Great Catastrophe before it ever occurred?”

Then the voice suddenly vanished without another word.

Ryoma’s friends said in shock:

“What were you doing? Talking like a madman?”

Ryoma was stunned, trying to understand the fate of the body he had taken over.

Adam came closer and whispered in his ear:

“Tell me… later.”

Ryoma shoved him slightly, his voice filled with anger mixed with regret:

“Leave me alone. I need to think.”

He walked into the forest. The night was dark, the moonlight glowing bright, and the sound of the river was calm.

Ryoma sat by the river, staring at the sky, his thoughts racing through his mind.

Adam came and sat beside him without saying a word. Just silence.

Ryoma said, still staring up:

“Hey… Adam.”

Adam turned and replied:

“What is it?”

Ryoma, full of confusion, asked:

“If I told you that Carter is alive… would you believe me?”

Adam, his voice choked with emotion and tears falling from his eyes, said:

“Yes… but tell me, what did he say to you?”

Ryoma, surprised by Adam’s response, said:

“He’s alive. And he’s the one who chose to give up his body.”

Adam, now crying harder, asked:

“Did he tell you why he gave it up?”

Ryoma, in a low, sad tone, filled with sympathy, replied:

“Yes… he told me that the fate of this body is grim.

That things will appear in this world… worse than anything we’ve seen before.

That the Great Catastrophe, which appeared a hundred million years after the first one in the Eternal Ancient Era, will come again in this era.”

Adam looked at Ryoma with sadness, the pain of knowing his brother abandoned his body piercing his heart.

A sense of loneliness crept into Ryoma’s heart. Adam stood and asked:

“Do you want to become part of our family?”

They looked at each other, and Ryoma said in a quiet voice:

“My fate is different from yours. My fate is dark.

If I become your brother… I will lose all of you, one by one.”

Adam tried to reassure him gently:

“I don’t care about your fate. I just want to be your brother

He held out his hand to Ryoma, waiting for his answer.

Ryoma took his hand and said firmly:

“Alright, my younger brother… I’ll call you my older brother.”

Adam was overwhelmed with joy and said with a big smile:

“From today, you are my younger brother, and your name is Carter Leo, part of our humble Leo family.”

He hugged Ryoma tightly.

They sat on the grass, looking at the sky—at the stars, the moon, and listening to the gentle breeze—

until sleep overcame them, and they both fell asleep on the grass together.

The two of them slept on the grass by the river. The sound of flowing water was calm, the wind gently rustled through the trees, and tranquility filled the air. Ryoma dreamed of a strange place where he saw an old man standing with a staff. The elder spoke in a calm voice:

"So, you are the one chosen by fate to face a difficult destiny. Prepare yourself - your life will take a dark turn from now on. You will become the world's savior, but at a heavy price with severe consequences."

Ryoma stared at him silently in confusion, observing his long white beard that reached his chest, his short white hair, brown eyes, and the staff he leaned on - he resembled an ancient shepherd. Contemplating the word "destiny," Ryoma asked:

"What is my fate? Tell me... am I the one who will bear the world's weight, or the one who will destroy it?"

The old man looked at Ryoma and laughed:

"Hahaha... Prepare yourself. What awaits you will be extremely difficult. Powerful monsters and the dead will roam everywhere in this world you're trying to save, and what you ultimately discover will shock you deeply."

Shocked by these words, Ryoma replied:

"How can we possibly defeat these monsters without any powers?"

The old man looked him seriously in the eyes and said:

"You and your friends must find the ancient Eternal Weapon forged in the Primordial Era a hundred million years ago. All the weapons lie within the Mist Caves, along with the armor of their previous wielders. The cave is full of deadly traps you must overcome - but only one person may enter. If two enter, both will die. Only the one who enters may claim the weapon."

"I will give you the first eternal weapon: the Ancient Sword. When you awaken, it will be in your hand. You must gain experience by fighting monsters. This sword was first wielded by the original hero a hundred million years ago."

Ryoma awoke with the sword in his hand. That first savior from ancient times had immense combat experience, a fraction of which was transferred to Ryoma through the sword. He trained before fighting - each ten monsters killed would raise his level by one. For example, level ten would become eleven after ten kills.

The sword was long and razor-sharp with a black scabbard, accompanied by combat attire. Wearing the outfit with his long black hair and gray eyes, the black cloak and steel pauldrons made Ryoma look majestic.

Adam woke to sunlight and asked Ryoma:

"Where did you get those clothes?"

At dawn, a crimson moon hung in the sky like a blood-colored omen of coming catastrophe, tinting everything red - though Ryoma and Adam hadn't noticed the atmospheric change yet.

Ryoma replied:

"I dreamed of an old man warning about a coming disaster... he gave me these clothes and this sword."

He chose not to mention the future the old man had warned him about.

Returning through the trees, they found a portal had appeared on the village ground - the Great Catastrophe had begun. Everything happened suddenly. Massive monsters emerged, including a mountain-sized frost wolf that breathed freezing ice.

Shock froze Ryoma and Adam in place until they saw Ryoma's little sister fleeing a massive stone bear. Both sprinted desperately to save her as the bear raised its right claw. Each heart-pounding second brought its claw closer to her head - until their friend Evan leaped from the right, tackling Clara to safety.

While focused on Clara, Evan was critically wounded - his kidney crushed by the bear's claw. Seeing this, rage surged through Ryoma as he carried Evan on his back while fleeing the pursuing bear. Drawing his sword mid-run, Ryoma waited until the last moment to sever the bear's arm when it attacked again.

Weakly, Evan said:

"You've changed, Carter... Leave me... I'll just slow you down."

Fearing to lose him, Ryoma replied:

"Don't worry, you're no burden. I'll save everyone - just hold on."

As Evan lost consciousness, Ryoma searched for Sylvas and others. Adam found Sylvas while Ryoma located their last two friends. With a fox chasing them, Ryoma spotted Cain and Luna running nearby. He entrusted Evan to Cain to take to Adam, while asking Luna to treat Evan's injuries.

As Ryoma drew his sword and stood ready, a fox charged toward him. He waited until it closed in, then leaped and brought his blade down on its head. Though the strike was coincidental—the monsters here were far stronger—the fox was decapitated in one blow. The experience he’d gained proved immediately useful: as the fox’s head rolled, memories of the beast and of the first person to halt the ancient catastrophe flooded into him. The revelation stunned him—*Carter* had been the one to stop the original disaster.  

Ryoma pushed aside his swirling thoughts and hurried to his friends, whose faces were etched with grief and tears. Before reaching them, he called out,  

“What happened? Is something wrong…?”  

His question died as he saw Evan lifeless on the ground. Ryoma knelt slowly beside him, confirming his death, and began to weep. Rage surged uncontrollably within him, but he forced it down, steadied himself, and declared,  

“I’ll put an end to this catastrophe.”  

His friends blocked his path, refusing to let him pass. One pleaded,  

“Don’t worry about us—you’re not weak. Draw your sword and fight your way to the portal’s heart. Maybe you can close it.”  

Ryoma reached the portal, where the massive frost wolf—towering like a mountain—awaited. He stood defiantly before it, waiting for its attack. The wolf lunged with terrifying speed, sending Ryoma hurling into the air. Stunned by its agility, he crashed to the ground, scrambled up, and vaulted onto the beast’s back. He drove his sword deep into its hide, but against the wolf’s colossal size, the wound was mere scratches. Ryoma clung to its back until, moments later, the portal and all the monsters vanished.  

Baffled, Ryoma pieced together the fox’s memories: the portals appeared with the crimson moon, lingering from dawn until midday across the world. These gateways were eternal—they’d keep reappearing until whoever orchestrated their return was eradicated.  

Ryoma returned to his siblings, his head wounded and heart heavy with failure. He embraced them, while Adam’s sorrowful gaze seemed to say, *“The catastrophe isn’t over.”*  

“We’ll retreat to the forest,” Ryoma announced. “This place is too dangerous now.”  

He sat brooding, thoughts racing: *How could Carter—me—have saved the world a hundred million years ago? Is he a time traveler… or reborn?*  

Pulling Adam aside, Ryoma asked urgently,  

“Did Carter ever speak of his past?”  

“No,” Adam replied, puzzled. “Why?”  

“The hero who ended the first catastrophe was *Carter*.”  

Adam’s face paled. “How do you know? Are you certain?”  

“When I killed the fox, its memories transferred through the sword to me.”  

Adam shook his head. “He never mentioned it. After our father vanished, *I* raised our siblings.”  

Ryoma lowered his voice. “This catastrophe isn’t natural—someone’s behind it.”  

Gasps erupted. “What? Who would do this?” someone cried.  

“I don’t know,” Ryoma admitted. “But it’s deliberate.”  

Adam’s eyes lit with curiosity. “This sword absorbs memories? How can I get one?”  

“We’ll arm everyone,” Ryoma promised. “But first, we need answers: Why was Carter’s role erased from history? Are timelines overlapping? Who’s responsible?”  

Rejoining the group, they found Sylvas interrogating the monsters’ sudden emergence, the crimson sky, and the blood-red moon. Ryoma froze—he hadn’t noticed the moon shift from pale blue to scarlet. A strange familiarity tugged at him, as if he *knew* the crimson moon’s secret… but the memory slipped away.

Ryoma turned to his friends and said:

"This is only the beginning of the Great Catastrophe. It will reappear every day until someone stops it."  

Shock painted their faces. Cain, his friend, asked incredulously:  

"Wait—this is just the *beginning*? Are you joking?! And tomorrow, and the day after, someone will stop it? How in the world do you expect us to believe that? How could an ordinary person from this world save us? Where did you even get this information?"  

Ryoma replied:

"I can’t tell you how I know this."  

Cain lunged forward, grabbing Ryoma by the collar:  

"How can you keep secrets when our *lives* are on the line?!"  

Adam intervened, pulling Cain back:  

"Carter’s telling the truth."  

The group stared in stunned silence. Cain muttered, baffled:  

"You knew about this too? Are we the only ones left in the dark?"  

Adam explained:

"I only know fragments. Carter refused to share the rest."  

Ryoma interjected coldly:

"It’s too soon for you to understand. And I’ll only say this once."  

A heavy pause followed. Ryoma’s voice hardened:  

"Those who want to survive—follow me. You’ll grow stronger to destroy these monsters."  

The group hesitated. Adam broke the silence:  

"Trust him."  

Clara, Ryoma’s younger sister, stepped forward:  

"I trust my brother."  

Sylvas, her brother, and her friend joined her. Only Cain hesitated, muttering:  

"Fine. I’ll trust you… but I hope I don’t regret this."  

Ryoma eyed them warily. The memories of the shape-shifting monster he’d slain haunted him—*what if one of them isn’t human?*  

Later, Ryoma lifted Evan’s body and said to Adam:  

"Let’s bury our friend."  

They dug a grave in the forest, laid Evan to rest, and covered him with soil.  

Grief weighed heavier on Ryoma and Adam than the others—Evan had died saving Clara. Gathering the group, Ryoma announced:  

"Your mission is the Mist Caves. Whoever finds a cave—enter it. Avoid the deadly traps. The weapons you retrieve will grant you fragments of their original wielders’ power… and visions of the ancient eras they were used in."  

Cain paled:  

"Deadly traps? We’re supposed to survive those?"  

The group turned to Ryoma, awaiting his answer.  

Ryoma nodded:

"Yes."  

Silence fell. Adam added grimly:  

"It’s the only way to kill these monsters and save our world."  

After a long pause, they agreed. Before dispersing, Ryoma warned:  

"Return by midnight. At dawn, the portal will reopen. We meet here afterward."  

Adam asked:

"What will *you* do while we’re in the caves?"  

Ryoma replied: 

"I’ll search the Ancient World’s library for answers about this world’s energy and the weapons’ origins."  

The group scattered to find the caves. Ryoma sprinted westward, driven by Carter’s memories of a library holding secrets of the world’s history. 

The Ruined City.

Ryoma arrived in the western region—only to find devastation. Crumbled buildings stretched endlessly under a pitch-black sky choked with clouds. Sunlight couldn’t pierce the gloom, casting the rubble in eerie shadows.  

The city was a graveyard of memories. Buildings that once stood tall were now skeletal ruins, walls cracked and scorched by explosions. Streets lay buried under dust and debris, twisted lampposts collapsed like broken bones. The wind howled through shattered windows, a mournful wail echoing the ghosts of the past.  

Ryoma wandered through the wreckage. Charred toys, overturned carts, and ash-stained books littered the ground—traces of lives erased. He brushed his hand against a burnt wall, its rough surface whispering tales of the city’s fall.

Ryoma gazed at the horizon, where a crumbling tower stood at the city’s heart—a final sentinel of a vanished world. The place lay utterly abandoned, as if time itself had frozen here long ago, leaving only ruins as witnesses to the devastation.  

He began sifting through the debris, straining his weakened body to lift rocks in search of answers. Beneath the rubble, he found a tattered book and read a passage: