Rise of a predator

THE EXISTENTIAL VOID

With the proclamation of the Creator, reality itself dissolved. The space around Uranir trembled and collapsed, turning the presidential palace into an absolute pitch-blackness—a void where time and matter seemed not to exist.

 Uranir was alone.

 His ears, once accustomed to the applause of the masses and the whispers of bureaucrats, desperately sought any sound, but the suffocating silence was his only companion. His eyes searched for a sliver of light, but only the non-existent was visible. There was no floor, no ceiling, nothing to touch, feel, or smell. His empire had been revoked.

There was no more Eliza. There was no more mahogany office or wine goblets. He had been stripped of his power, his influence, and his status. The people he manipulated and the assets he had strived so hard to conquer vanished into the vacuum.

The Andola he prided himself on owning as private property was now nothing more than a distant memory.

Standing still, condemned to assimilate the crushing weight of his losses, Uranir—who still remained on his knees—felt his heart tighten under an unprecedented affliction. It was then that the void was torn apart by an unbearable flash of light.Before him, an angelical being materialized, one of the sentinels of the true God.

For the first time in his life, Uranir's mind ground to a halt.

He did not calculate escape routes, he did not draw up plans, and he did not analyze his opponent. Apathetic and dejected, he merely sat upon the nothingness and listened to the proclamation of that creature of light:

"This is the will of the Most High. Though rich in mercy, the Sovereign over all Creation is not unjust to leave unpunished the wickedness you have already conceived. Retribution belongs to God, and He will render to each one according to his deeds."

With solemn steps that made the light vibrate, the angel approached the ex-dictator. He extended his hand, lightly touched Uranir's shoulder, and continued, his voice echoing with a stern compassion:

"However, the Creator does not desire that any man be destroyed. He yearns for even the worst of sinners to reach repentance and live. Know that there is more joy in heaven over a single sinner who repents than over a hundred righteous persons who need no redemption."

Uranir, however, remained like a statue of ice. His features expressed no remorse, fear, or gratitude.It was as if the words and the benevolence of the divine messenger collided against an invisible wall, never reaching the depths of his hardened heart.

Perceiving the rigidity of that soul, the angel leaned in, fixing his resplendent eyes upon Uranir, and delivered the final warning:

"You shall be sent to the world of Teaceia. There, your mission will be to prevent the extinction of the race known as the Monsters. For this, you shall be granted the use of the very same power that shaped the cosmos—the force that the sons of men on Earth call the Holy Spirit, but which in Teaceia is known as the 'Active Force'. You must channel it purely to fulfill the purpose the Most High has assigned to you."

The angel's brilliance intensified, becoming almost cutting.

"However, heed this well: you are strictly forbidden from extending your hand to extinguish any race made in the image and likeness of God. You shall not ruin that world as you intended to do with Earth. Remember the supreme commandment: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

THE OTHER WORLD

Before Uranir could process the irony of his mission—to protect monsters—the light swallowed him whole.The essence of his life, his tyrant's memories, and his calculating mind were ripped from the void and hurled across dimensions to Teaceia.

 There, as the ultimate test of his arrogance, his entire being was compressed and transferred into the body of a woman.

That was no longer his body, nor his country, nor his world. Worse than that: he no longer belonged to the human race.

Upon opening his eyelids, the first thing to invade his field of vision was a long lock of purple hair. Uranir did not hesitate. His single eye, now a golden, predatory slit, began to sweep the environment with the precision of a radar, scanning the area for data and threats.

As he attempted to stand, the physical discrepancy struck him like a punch. The difference in height was so brutal that it caused instant vertigo; he was standing up with an imposing, two-meter-tall body. Grinding teeth that now shaped themselves like the sharp fangs of an alpha carnivore, Uranir felt the colossal weight of his new anatomy.

Then, in an explosion of blind fury, grief, and profound humiliation... Uranir roared.It was not the cry of a repentant man, but the war cry of a dethroned emperor.

Driven by a severely wounded pride, he unleashed violent punches, kicks, and strikes against the surrounding vegetation. Trees and shrubs, though inanimate, were snapped in half and shuddered under the impact of the wrath of a man who refused to accept that the Creator of the universe stood above him.

To Uranir, that violence was purely pragmatic: he needed to purge the poison of frustration immediately.He needed to empty his mind so that hatred would not cloud his capacity for reason.After a few minutes of chaos, silence returned. Uranir came to a halt.

He let out a deep sigh, controlled his breathing, and, with the speed of a chess master recovering his composure after losing an important piece, began to coldly analyze himself.He looked down, examining his own body with disdain and curiosity.

He wore immaculate white garments, gloves, and boots of a design completely exotic by his earthly standards, yet they exuded an undeniable military elegance.

"This body..." he murmured, alternating his gaze between his own hands and the trail of destruction he had just caused in the clearing. "Despite the feminine form, it possesses an absurd muscular density and physical strength. That creature of light did not lie about power. God thought He was punishing me, but He merely gave me a new instrument. This will have its use."

Closing his singular eye to test his new limits, Uranir realized that his senses were heightened to superhuman levels.

He tried to isolate the noises of the forest, listening for the sound of running water or civilized activity. Yet, nothing.

"Unfortunately, there are no water sources nearby. If I have been dropped into this ecosystem, I urgently need a reflection to catalog my exact appearance and find out what species I belong to. Obviously, my aesthetics are a crucial political factor; if my new face is too monstrous, it will complicate my interactions and the manipulation of the natives."

He paused his thoughts, discarding vanity with the surgical coldness of his intelligence:

"No, that is irrelevant now. I am unfamiliar with the aesthetic standards of this world and the level of development of its civilization. But I know civilization exists here; the divine sentinel made that clear."

Uranir brought his gloved hand to his chin, connecting the pieces of the theological conversation he had in the vacuum. No remorse inhabited his mind; he did not think about the lives he had almost extinguished on Earth, only about the mechanics of the new scenario:

"The angel commanded me to prevent the elimination of a specific race: the Monsters. If an extermination attempt is underway, the geopolitics of this world are defined by a war of biological or religious attrition. I have been placed on the board as a balancing force."

He crouched down, touching the solo to gather physical clues. It was then that the bizarreness of the environment truly revealed itself.

The air was impregnated with a dense, sweet, and artificial aroma—something that completely defied the common sense of a wild forest.Turning his head, Uranir examined the vegetation microscopically. To his utter astonishment, absolutely everything around—the leaves, the bark of the trees, the roots breaking through the earth—was made of candy, confections, and crystallized sugar.

The ex-dictator stood up, staring at that anomaly with a mixture of indignation and pure political sarcasm:

"Does the concept of diabetes even exist in this world?"

Then, Uranir began a cautious stride into the unknown.