BUILDING MY OWN EMPIRE - My Journey from Nothing to Overwhelming Power-Chapter 105 - 104 – A Deal

{Ding... Ding... Ding...}

The sound was sharp... repetitive... as if it pierced the skull, not the ear.

Then—

{Special Title – Stubborn – Activated}

Silence.

A moment...

Then—

A beat.

One beat... heavy... as if a new heart had begun to pulse.

Then—

Another.

Stronger.

Deeper.

Then—

A third...

Air exploded into his chest.

He sat up suddenly.

Gasping.

As if his lungs had tasted air for the first time.

His eyes widened... staring into the void before him without understanding... without awareness.

"H... ha..."

His breaths were broken, his body trembling uncontrollably.

He looked to the right—

Trees.

But...

Not trees.

Their trunks... white... bare... smooth like bones.

And above...

They weren’t branches...

But massive fungal masses, tangled, twisted, as if growing over each other in disgusting silence.

To the left—

The same scene.

Behind him—

The same.

Ahead—

An entire forest... of something that did not resemble life.

The darkness was dense.

Not the darkness of night...

But a suffocating darkness.

As if light itself refused to enter.

"Where..."

he whispered.

But his voice came out broken... strange... as if it wasn’t his.

Suddenly—

A strike.

A sharp pain exploded in his head.

"Aaaah!"

He collapsed immediately.

His hands grabbed his head, fingers digging into his hair, his body curling into itself.

The pain wasn’t normal...

It was as if something... was being forced into his mind.

Memories.

Fragments.

Images—

Flowing.

Intertwining.

Shattering.

Then—

They began to form.

"Monali..."

he whispered.

Her face.

Her silver hair.

Her eyes...

Then—

Gone.

"Louis..."

A sarcastic smile.

A black glove.

Her voice—

"Damn you."

Then—

Shattered.

"Joe..."

Standing.

Firm.

The ivory sword...

Then—

Blood.

Then—

Void.

"Suman... the leader..."

The village.

Faces.

Voices.

Laughter—

Then—

Silence.

Another strike.

Harsher.

"Aaaaaaah!"

He screamed.

His body trembled violently.

Then—

The truth flooded in.

All at once.

Without mercy.

Without warning.

All of them...

Were dead.

He stopped.

Stilled.

As if time itself had broken.

His eyes widened...

But—

They no longer saw.

"No..."

he whispered.

"No... no..."

His voice began to tremble.

"No..."

He remembered.

The battle.

The entity.

The power.

The crushing force.

One by one...

They fell.

Without mercy.

Without a chance.

"NOOOOOOO!"

He screamed.

The sound came out torn.

Raw.

As if his heart was screaming... not his throat.

Tears burst forth.

Hot.

Heavy.

Falling endlessly.

"Why...?"

he whispered.

Then shouted—

"Why me?!"

His hands struck the ground.

Dirt scattered.

His breathing quickened.

"Why am I the one who survived?!"

No answer.

The forest...

Remained silent.

Cold.

Dead.

As if it only watched him.

As if it knew...

And didn’t care.

He curled in.

Body.

And heart.

He pulled his knees to his chest.

Buried his face between them.

His voice choked in sobs.

It wasn’t normal crying...

It was wailing.

Tearing.

Something being ripped from inside him...

Piece by piece.

"Joe..."

he whispered between gasps.

"Louis... Monali..."

The names came out like blades.

Each name—

A new pain. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Each memory—

An open wound.

"All of you..."

His voice trembled.

"Did you leave me...?"

But...

He knew.

They didn’t leave.

They...

Were killed.

And he...

Remained.

And that...

Was worse.

He raised his head slightly.

His eyes were red.

Filled with tears...

And emptiness.

"I..."

He stopped.

No word came.

No meaning.

Only—

A whisper.

"Alone."

The sound faded.

And the darkness...

Swallowed him again.

Suddenly...

From one side of the dark forest...

A void began to form.

It wasn’t darkness... nor light...

But something between them... something that devoured both.

A black spot... expanding... curling...

As if reality itself folded around it...

Nearby trees bent...

The ground cracked slightly...

The air became heavy... sticky... barely breathable.

Then—

Energy seeped out.

Dark energy... dense...

Not clearly seen... but felt...

As if it gripped the heart... and squeezed slowly.

It drew closer...

Closer...

A disgusting feeling...

Crawled into his chest.

A violent shiver swept through his body.

Every cell screamed—

Run.

But—

He didn’t move.

He raised his head slowly...

His eyes heavy... empty.

It no longer mattered.

Living...

Dying...

Both had become the same.

His body wanted to flee...

But his will...

Was broken.

He was only...

Waiting.

For death.

Then—

The void expanded suddenly.

As if something inside pushed outward.

And with it—

Wings emerged.

Wide.

Blue... like the deep ocean...

Shimmering... but not light.

They weren’t feathered...

But smooth... circular...

Like rings of frozen energy... slowly rotating.

Then—

A foot.

Stepped out.

Black... massive...

With three long toes...

Ending in sharp claws.

At their tips...

A triangular shape...

Like a spearhead.

Then—

Another foot.

Followed.

It struck the ground—

Without sound...

But the vibration reached his bones.

Then—

The creature began to emerge.

Piece... by piece...

Its body...

Strange...

Unbalanced...

As if it wasn’t meant for this world.

Its lips—

Wide... stretched unnaturally...

As if a smile was trapped within them...

A smile that did not belong to life.

Its head—

Covered by a large hat...

Its shadow concealed its eyes...

He couldn’t see beneath...

But—

He didn’t need to.

He could feel them.

Clearly.

It...

Was looking at him.

A being...

Not human.

Not fully a beast.

Something... between.

Or perhaps... beyond both.

Its size—

Five times that of any human he had seen.

Its body leaned slightly forward...

As if burdened by its own existence.

Its breath—

Escaped.

Black vapor...

Carrying with it...

Groans.

Sounds...

As if multiple voices were mixed within it.

Screams...

Whispers...

Muted laughter...

All... in a single breath.

Then—

It moved.

One step.

The ground responded.

Another step.

The air shrank.

It approached.

And he...

Did not move.

Did not flee.

Did not resist.

He simply...

Sat there.

Watching it.

With empty eyes.

As if...

Welcoming a guest.

Not... his death.

A muffled laugh...

Burst from those wide lips.

It wasn’t just a laugh...

It was a wave.

It struck the forest deeply.

The fungal trees trembled...

The air suffocated...

The darkness thickened.

Then—

Everything stilled.

Except its voice.

"What a... surprise..."

it whispered.

A heavy... dark voice...

As if pulled from the depths of a bottomless well.

Then it laughed again.

But this time—

Heavier...

Slower...

Closer to a suffocated groan...

Blending with the strange scent in the forest...

Rotten... damp...

As if something dead... still breathed.

For some reason—

He froze.

This voice...

Was familiar.

Yet...

Not.

As if he had heard it...

In a dream...

Or... in a previous death.

"That cunning lord..."

it said slowly.

"How... did you escape his grasp?"

His body trembled.

The words...

Struck something deep within him.

Then—

A strike.

A headache.

Worse than before.

"Aaaah!"

He screamed.

His hands grabbed his head...

Memories shook...

Images... voices... shadows—

Then—

Stopped.

His eyes widened.

"...Deception Beast?"

he whispered.

Silence—

Broke.

"Hahahahaha..."

It laughed.

This time—

It hid nothing.

A stretched laugh...

Mad...

As if it knew everything... and mocked it.

"So... you finally recognized me... little egg?"

His expression froze.

"Egg..."

That word—

That curse—

No one said it... except—

His lips trembled.

For the first time—

He raised his head fully.

For the first time—

He looked at it... truly.

Not as a shadow...

Not as danger...

But... as something real.

The being...

Was there.

In full form.

In full horror.

In full... awareness.

And for the first time—

He heard its voice...

Clearly.

Without barriers.

Without distortion.

Without that distance that always separated them.

"You should thank me..."

it said.

Calmly.

Slowly.

Step.

It moved closer.

The ground beneath its foot cracked silently.

"I... freed you."

The words fell—

Heavy.

Clear.

Terrifying.

His heart...

Stopped for a moment.

"Freed me...?"

he whispered.

Barely audible.

It chuckled softly.

Then leaned slightly.

Its large hat tilted...

Its shadow shifted—

Something...

Beneath it...

Moved.

He didn’t see it fully...

But—

He saw enough.

Eyes.

Or something like them.

Two deep voids...

Yet within them...

There was...

Awareness.

"Ah..."

it said.

"It seems you don’t remember... completely."

It came closer.

The air around him... vanished.

"That moment..."

Its voice dropped.

"When the seal... broke."

Then—

It raised a finger.

A long black claw...

Stopped... before his forehead.

"You were..."

it whispered.

"The key."

He froze.

His mind... stopped.

"Me...?"

He couldn’t finish.

It laughed again—

But this time—

Softly.

Terrifyingly.

"Yes..."

It tilted its head.

"You."

Silence.

Then—

Its smile widened.

Slowly.

Unnaturally.

"And now..."

it said.

"After you freed me..."

It came closer.

Very close.

He could feel its breath...

Against his face.

Cold.

Heavy.

"Do you know... what happens... to keys...?"

Silence.

A moment.

Then—

It whispered.

"...after the door is opened?"

Silence fell between them like a cold corpse—lifeless, meaningless.

He stared at it...

At that being that could neither be described nor ignored.

Its blue wings moved slowly... like suffocating ocean waves...

Its shadow swallowed what little light remained.

Its words...

Were knives.

Not threats.

Truth.

He clenched his teeth hard... tasting blood.

"You can kill me... I don’t care anymore," he said.

"Hahaha!"

The laughter echoed loudly.

"No... I want your revenge."

"Revenge...?" he whispered hoarsely.

It laughed.

Slow... heavy...

Pulled from a deep well.

"For all of them..." it said.

"For that girl... always beside you... with her annoying stubbornness."

His body trembled.

"Monali..."

"And the other..." it continued mockingly.

"The one who smiled at you as if the world wasn’t burning."

His heart tightened.

"Louis..."

"And that stubborn fool..." it added, raising a claw slowly.

"The one who stood until his last breath..."

He closed his eyes.

"Joe..."

"Suman... the leader... the rest..."

It paused.

Then stepped closer.

"One step.

"All of them... are dead."

He opened his eyes sharply.

"Shut up!" he shouted—but weakly... broken.

It came closer.

Its breath struck his face.

Rot... blood... something indescribable.

"They didn’t just die..." it whispered.

"They were crushed."

His hand trembled.

"You saw it..."

"One by one... and you—"

It leaned closer.

"—could do nothing."

The words fell like a sentence.

His chest tightened.

Something inside him... broke.

Again...

And again.

"I..." he muttered—but failed.

What could he say?

That it was his fault?

That he was weak?

That he survived?

He survived.

That was the worst part.

The beast laughed again.

But now—

There was enjoyment.

"This is what I like..."

"This brokenness... this hatred..."

It pointed to his chest.

"All of it... here."

Something moved inside him.

Shadows crawling deeper.

"You don’t want to die..." it whispered.

"You just want to run."

His pupils trembled.

"But running is over..."

"Now... only one path remains."

Silence.

Then—

"Revenge."

One word.

But enough.

His heart pounded violently—

For the first time since waking.

Not pain...

Something else.

Anger.

Slow... heavy...

Real.

He raised his head slightly...

Looked directly at it.

For the first time—

He didn’t look away.

It noticed.

It smiled.

A twisted... wide... terrifying smile.

"Now we begin..."

"I won’t help you... in your game," he said quietly... but firmly.

It didn’t get angry.

Didn’t mock.

It laughed.

"You won’t?"

"You don’t need my help..."

It pointed inward.

"Everything you need... is already there."

The shadows stirred again...

Deeper... closer... more dangerous.

"What do you want from me..." he asked.

Silence.

Then—

"I want to see you..."

"Return."

He frowned.

"Return...?"

"Yes..."

"But not as you were."

It leaned closer... whispering in his ear.

"I want you to return... as a calamity."