Once upon a time, there was a man named Rudeus...

"Look, she is holding your finger. Isn't she adorable?"

..He was now witnessing a miracle of life, something that he never thought would generate such an inexplicable emotion in his heart.

Rudeus could feel that his world was changing just by looking at the little girl who held his finger and smiled at him.

"Adorable." He said.

"Yes, she takes after you, after all." Rudeus's wife said in a playful tone, looking at his dumbfounded face.

Rudeus was a tough-looking man who went through a lot of perilous battles to free his world from the control of the fallen gods, abominations who were half-human and half-monster.

He was a hero, born from people's wishes, and wielded the sword of freedom and power.

At least, that was how he was depicted in the storybooks that were read to the children by their parents.

However, there was an explanation for his sudden rise, and it was more complicated than most people thought.

In their world, the abundance of primordial particles in the environment was low, and so, some people who were knowledgeable enough to notice their existence developed a plan to fight against the monsters that appeared in their world.

They put a few babies inside of a special room and then used the life force of thousands of people to condense the number of particles inside the room, hoping that at least one or two of these babies could awaken their gift. It was nothing but a gamble, but seeing that their current technology and weapons couldn't do anything to the monsters, the rulers worked together on this project for the first time in their entire history.

Of course, none of them were aware of the existence of the gift, so they called it magic and tried to exploit it to their advantage.

The rulers knew about the true horrors and the threats that came with the monsters, because it was not only their ferocity but the corruption that they spread in their surroundings, affecting everything.

This was their last desperate attempt to create a living weapon, powerful enough to obliterate the monsters to their root.historical

And fortunately, the countless of life sacrificed for the sake of their world were not lost in vain, and a level 7 gift holder finally appeared, after many failures.

This young man was known for his indomitable character and ruthless behavior, and his name was Rudeus.

He possessed a particular gift that could accelerate his movements, making it look like time had stopped. Indeed, his power was related to time, one of three sub-authorities of the Primordial authority "Creation".

Moreover, Rudeus honed his fighting skill and trained his body to the limit, making him the most powerful man in his world at that time.

And even though the monsters were depicted as fallen gods in the stories, they were nothing more than levels 4 and 5, and even the strongest was a minotaur.

In the end, Rudeus and his friend managed to beat the Minotaur and found the portal where the monsters appeared from. However, they were not able to close it so the area was turned into a fortress, sealing the portal deep underground.

From the perspective of someone who lived in a world where the number of primordial particles was abundant, Rudeus feats sounded extremely easy, but for him and his companions, it was close to a suicide mission.

After all, even if Rudeus awakened his gift, he could only use it a few times a day, and sometimes, he couldn't use it at all when the corruption in the environment was too thick.

That was when Rudeus came in contact with corruption for the first time and absorbed it as a desperate attempt to win against powerful monsters.

At first, he didn't feel that much change, and he even got more powerful.

After his victory, he returned to his country and married Rita, a woman that he had saved during his journey, and they had a baby.

Rudeus felt happiness as he spent time with his wife and his daughter. He wish with all of his heart that these moments would continue forever.

The monsters also appeared to have disappeared from their world and peace reigned.

But...

"Rudeus, how can you..?" His wife said, looking at him with an expression that he had never seen before, after all, his wife's eyes were full of terror.

Unfortunately, the effect of the corruption finally became apparent to Rudeus.

Rudeus looked at the hand that hit his wife. "I.. I didn't mean to, what's going on with me?"

Rudeus became scared, not of monsters, not of his enemies, but of himself and what he had become.

Something in him had changed, it was as if his violent side was becoming more and more apparent. The emotions that he once felt towards his wife and daughter were overshadowed by an urge to destroy, and his head was full of ominous thoughts.

Moreover, he became more and more powerful, to the point that destroying the world by himself wasn't impossible.

Even his physical appearance changed dramatically; his hair turned white and he grew taller.

In the end, Rudeus decided to go into seclusion, telling his wife that he would find a way to deal with his situation.

"Don't worry, I won't be gone for long."

His wife and his daughter sent him off. "Take care of yourself.. Vivian needs her father."

Rudeus smiled, he knew that his wife was worried, but he had become emotionally unstable. "I know, I love you two."

There was no telling when he would completely lose control of himself and become a mad beast, and Rudeus couldn't take the risk of staying with his family while knowing that, so he left on his journey and isolated himself.

Unfortunately, at that time, Rudeus was not yet aware of the true meaning of the monsters' invasion, and when he realized the truth, it was already too late.

*****

Boom!

Once again Adam crashed against one of the huge pillars and the whole place shook violently, causing the ceiling to begin to collapse.

Rudeus was better than Adam in every aspect when it came to fighting. His punches packed more power, and his agility and battle instinct helped him to dominate the battle.

If Adam wanted to win, he needed to be smart and very cunning. He thought about using the antimatter again, but the risk outweighed the advantages, so he wanted to find another way.

Verte's sacrifice granted him another chance, so if he wasted it, he would be no better than Rudeus.

After all, no matter how he looked at it, Verte was just an innocent person who wanted to live. However, she decided to use her life in exchange for a miracle.

"It's useless." Rudeus said, looking at Adam who showed unwavering determination on his face.

"Who are you to decide that?" Adam replied.

However, the Lord didn't refer to Adam's struggle but to something else. "The way you are now, you won't achieve anything. Throw away your feelings, or you will regret it."

"Man, I don't know what happened to you, but I won't become like you just because of this," Adam answered.

"You clearly don't understand anything at all." Rudeus squinted his eyes as if he scorned Adam.

For some reason, Rudeus could manage to contain himself and wasn't consumed by anger, and this was thanks to Adam's power.

This was the reason why he was still able to hold a conversation with Adam, but both of them weren't aware of such a detail.

"Just shut up, I didn't forget what you did. You will pay!" Adam said and leaped toward Rudeus once again.

Rudeus was powerful, but Adam just needed one opportunity, one strike, and the battle would be over.

After all, Rudeus would be able to materialize the shadow that destroyed Cristal again if Adam deactivated his power, however, if he wanted to win against the Lord, he needed to use the antimatter.

But when Adam use the antimatter the area covered by his power was reduced to one percent and so he needed to hit his target. Still, he couldn't control the antimatter at will, so he could only use it for a few seconds at best, and if the Lord managed to block his attack, it would be over for him.

Nevertheless, Adam couldn't just wait for such a thing to happen, since the more the battle prolonged the more advantageous Rudeus became.

Boom!

The two of them continued to exchange blows without holding back.

Adam's body was covered with wounds again, as Rudeus's attack hit and sent him crashing into the walls, pillars, the ceiling, and slamming on the ground.

Boom!

However, Adam got up again.

For some reason, Rudeus didn't use any weapon, even though he could finish Adam quickly if he did that. It was as if he was hesitating to kill Adam.

Adam didn't know about it, but his power was useful in many ways.

And more importantly, it was not apparent but like Rudeus, the more Adam used his power, the more the corruption that he absorbed affected him, little by little, even if his power nullified most of it.

At first, he thought that he was locking his emotions away voluntarily, and so he could be cool-headed in front of the situation, but part of it was abnormal.

He was too calm...