Concept of Consciousness

Riven felt the quiet embrace of his mind, its stillness calming him.He didn't want to let go of this feeling—not yet. Just a little longer would do.

He felt so safe that he almost started forgetting what was happening around him… until something bumped into him, knocking him out of his focused state. He fell to the ground.

The creeping feeling of danger loomed over him once more as he lay on his back, covering his face, his eyes shut as tightly as he could manage. After a while, he eased his tense expression and let out a deep breath.

He decided to finally open his eyes, hoping—desperately—that he would still be himself when he did.Slowly, his eyelids opened, revealing his dirty hands covering his face. Already having made up his mind, he opened his hands and lowered them from his vision.

The sky above him was beautiful… but so chillingly terrifying that a shiver ran down his spine. He swallowed hard—like forcing down a mouthful of needles.He stared at the sky for a few moments before letting out a dry laugh of relief.

He was still himself.

The voices assaulting his mind were still there, but quiet—almost unnoticeable. The pressure remained too, but it was manageable.

He got up and looked around.

The view turned from terrifyingly beautiful to just… terrifying. Around him lay destroyed homes, dead bodies, floating rocks—both large and small—and giant tears in the ground, from which the bright heat of magma emanated. Scared by the sight, he took an involuntary step back, nearly falling again.

'No… This… This can't be.'

Tears welled in his eyes as he remembered the faces of his parents staring at him from a distance just moments ago.Without thinking, he turned and ran toward them.

There were maybe hundreds of people slowly gathering in one spot—directly under the split sky. They were walking toward a shared destination, mindless, dazed.The sight made Riven shiver.

He imagined his parents in the same state—or worse.

He kept running, kept searching… but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find them. It was as if they were never there.

'Perhaps… Perhaps they already died.'

His sprint slowed to a jog. Then to a walk.His head hung low.

As if he had lost all hope, he fell to his knees.

Then—he heard a familiar voice in the distance.

"Riven? Riven, is that you?"

He immediately turned toward the source. A man in bloodied, beaten armor stood there.

"Captain?" Riven's raspy voice cracked.

His eyes slowly focused. It took a moment for his mind to register who the man was. But when he did, Riven's expression lit up.

"Captain!"

"Riven… it really is you! How—how did you survive? No, never mind that—how are you? Where are the others?"

Sir Gareth slid to the ground and pulled Riven into a hug.

Riven didn't respond for a moment.

"I don't know. I just… forced my mind to quiet down. Then I woke up. And now I'm searching for my parents." His expression dimmed. "I've been searching for a while. People around me have just been collapsing. Dead bodies falling to the ground… I'm worried they might already be dead."

Just as he finished those words, Sir Gareth slapped him across the face.

"What are you saying? Look at yourself! Is that how a knight presents himself? Did you truly look everywhere? What if there's a chance they're still out there? Will you be able to live with yourself if the reason they die… is because you couldn't be bothered to put your all into looking for them?"

Riven was stunned. He hadn't expected the captain to lash out like that—but something in those words resonated with him.He shook off the dumbfounded look and responded.

"You're right… I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

Sir Gareth smiled. "Come. Let's find them. And after we do, let's save as many people as possible."

Riven smiled and nodded.

Together, they searched through every survivor group, traversing the rough, constantly shifting terrain. The sky above screeched and cried as it ripped open further, revealing more of the other world. And with every tear, more people fell to the ground—dead.

As they approached another group, they saw someone else coming from the opposite direction: another knight. He stood tall, radiating confidence.They watched him walk up to a group of people. He clasped his hands together in prayer—then suddenly, everyone around him dropped to the ground in unison.

'Did he… kill them?'

"Ewain!" a voice shouted from beside Riven. The distant knight turned toward them, nodded once, then looked away.

Before they could reach him, the ground shook and split, opening a massive chasm between them.

"Tsk," Sir Gareth frowned.

"Hey, Ewain! We'll try to rescue as many people as we can—you should do the same!"

Sir Ewain shook his head. "Foolish idiot. These people were doomed even before we arrived. I'm taking my trainees and getting out of here. If you want to survive, I suggest you do the same."

He turned to leave, but paused.

"Oh—and I found one of yours. Put him to sleep. If you survive, just remember: you owe me."

With that, he vanished into the horizon.

"Can you believe that guy? Never mind. We need to move. At the very least, he's not wrong—what he said was the truth."

Sir Gareth shook his head and turned around.

Time froze.

A mysterious voice whispered through the stillness:

"Interesting. He's in control of his mind… but not his destiny."

The frozen moment disappeared as if it had never existed.

Riven and Sir Gareth were carrying people away from the villages, hoping they'd wake up and survive. They had already found Percival, Nicolaus… even Riven's father.

They had rescued around twenty people when the sky shook—stronger than ever before.

Something was wrong. So very wrong.

The Rift trembled and doubled in size before Riven's eyes. It looked as though it would consume the entire world.

He froze.

The pressure—the one he had almost forgotten—came roaring back.It tore his mind from his body.

He collapsed to his knees and screamed at the top of his lungs… until his lungs gave out.But the pressure kept building.

Something shifted beyond the Rift.

Sir Gareth rushed to help him. With his help, the pain slowly began to fade.

But it was too late.

A shadow reached beyond the gate.

An enormous hand touched the border between worlds—and shattered it.

The sinister hand ripped through the fabric of reality with a sound like glass shattering.The sky went dark.

The world shook beneath the weight of the hand's unholy presence.

Riven finally woke up.

But the end was already upon them.

Sir Gareth was pale with terror.Riven didn't need to look. He could feel the pressure… the power...His entire body shivered.

Then he remembered—his mother was still out there.

He couldn't turn back now.

He looked at Sir Gareth. "My mom's still out there. I have to save her."

Sir Gareth snapped out of his daze, sweat pouring from his face.

"No… you can't. There's nothing we can do—not against that. We have to run. Now!"

Riven looked at him. "I thought you were the one who told me to do whatever it takes. That I'd regret it if I didn't. This is my choice. I'll find her—and I'll save her."

Sir Gareth grabbed his shoulders.

"Listen to me. This is no time for baseless heroics. Even if she's out there… she's probably already dead. We have to run. We can still save ourselves—and the people around us."

He gestured to the unconscious survivors behind them.

"I forbid you from going anywhere near that thing. It will disappear eventually, but until then, we can't get close."

Riven shook his head.

"Captain… thank you for everything. But I think you're the one who should save these people. You shouldn't have to risk your life because of me.The mission was to save Graham. Go—complete it. Save as many as you can.

"But you'll have to do it without me. I… I can't leave her there. Not alone."

A tear rolled down Sir Gareth's cheek.

"I can't lose you… I've already lost too many."

Riven smiled. "You won't. I'll come back. I promise."

He gently removed Sir Gareth's hands from his shoulders.

Then turned.

Toward the Rift.Toward his fate.

Toward the end.

*

A young boy gasped for air as his eyes shot open.He was offered a bottle of water, which he greedily drank.

He coughed for a few moments, then looked around.

"Congratulations, Astel. As of now… you are a category one Fragmenter."