Chapter 16 – The First Day

Chapter 16 – The First Day

Pain.

It was the first thing Ayomide felt. Not the scalding, soul-tearing agony that had filled every fiber of his existence inside the Crimson River. This was different. Every muscle in his body felt strangely heavy, yet coiled with a raw, dense power he had never experienced before. He flexed his fingers against the hot obsidian stone. Every movement felt lighter. Stronger. It was as though his physical form had been reforged from the inside out.

His fingers twitched. Then... his eyes slowly opened.

A dark crimson sky greeted him, framed by ash that drifted lazily through the air like black snow, sticking to his damp, bare shoulders. The dry, furnace-like heat surrounding them made every breath scratchy in his throat, making him shift his footing as the scorching rocks bit into his palms. Yet it was nowhere near as unbearable as the river below the bridge.

Ayomide slowly sat up. The rough black ground beneath him was covered with countless jagged cracks. Deep within them, rivers of molten lava flowed silently, casting an eerie, rhythmic crimson glow across the endless landscape. Towering pillars of black stone stretched high into the sky—some shattered into jagged spikes, others leaning at impossible angles.

The entire land looked as though the world itself had been shattered in an ancient war before being swallowed by fire.

"..."

Ayomide lowered his head, his golden-crimson eyes widening slightly.

His body... had changed. His skin was smooth, cleared of the scars, dirt, and deep bruises he had carried from the battle against the Guardian. His short black hair had grown longer, drifting down until it rested around his neck and shoulders like dark ink.

Before he could process his physical evolution, a voice echoed deep within his soul. It was neither male nor female. Absolute. Ancient. Unemotional.

Soul Manifestation...

Ayomide's breathing stopped.

Existence Debt.

Silence returned. But right behind that silence, a profound truth resonated deep within his core:

"Debt is older than existence."

"Existence itself was born into debt."

"Everything has a price."

"Everything taken, created, or changed carries a cost."

Ayomide slowly clenched his fist, feeling the steady, dormant hum of the Origin Core Seed resting at his center.

Existence Debt? Debt Collector? he thought, his jaw tightening. What happened to Collector? When did it become this?

He closed his eyes, remembering his vow in the dark subconscious. It doesn't matter what it changed into. Everything has a price... and I will use whatever this is to make sure I am never the one paying with my life again. Peace wasn't given to me. I'll buy it myself. No matter what the price is.

A weak, dry cough suddenly echoed a few meters behind him, raspy from the thick ash air. Ayomide turned instantly.

Success slowly opened her eyes, wincing as she struggled to sit upright on the burning stone. For several seconds, she simply stared blankly at the ash-choked sky and the volcanic wasteland around them, her breath shuddering.

"...We're... alive...?" she rasped, her voice frail as she looked down at her hands in disbelief. "...Did we really survive...?"

Before Ayomide could speak, Success suddenly clutched her head, her face twisting in confusion as the same ancient resonance vibrated in her mind.

Soul Manifestation... Death Dominion.

Her eyes trembled violently. "...Death... Dominion...?"

She looked up at Ayomide, her breath hitched in her dry throat. "Ayomide... what is that? What was that voice? My Authority was Necromancer... why is it calling itself Death Dominion?"

"I heard it too," Ayomide said, his voice measured. "Mine changed from Collector to Existence Debt."

Success frowned, sweat rolling down her forehead from the intense heat. "Then... the Crimson River changed all of us?"

Ayomide glanced toward Adesewa. "Maybe."

Adesewa sat up nearby. She didn't gasp or panic. She simply pressed her palm against the warm stone, testing her physical body. It was as though every movement required far less effort than before, yet contained immensely more power.

Within her mind, no grand voice echoed. There was only a quiet, interrupted resonance that left a strange fragment lingering in her awareness: ED--- (Silent Sovereign).

She looked down at her hands, then at Ayomide, and finally at Success. Though she felt the massive leap in her strength, her face remained calm, hiding the deep confusion stirring beneath her quiet gaze.

Then... Success's eyes happened to drop down to her own body.

Her face instantly turned bright red.

"...Eh?"

Her eyes widened in absolute horror. "...W-What..." she stammered, her voice squeaking, "...Why am I naked?!"

Panic seized her. She instinctively grabbed at the loose ash on the ground and pulled her long hair forward, trying desperately to cover herself before realizing none of it helped. She immediately crossed both arms tight over her chest, pulling her knees against her body as her face burned hotter than the molten lava around them. "W-Where are our clothes?! Ah, no o!"

Ayomide instinctively looked down at himself—and then at the two girls.

Not a single thread of clothing had survived. The primordial power of the Crimson River had completely incinerated their garments, leaving all three of them bare.

In his previous life on Earth, Ayomide had been a nobody. No girlfriend, no romance, no luxury—just an endless, exhausting daily grind until he died. He had never seen a woman like this in his entire past existence.

Now, staring openly at the two stunning girls sitting in the crimson light, his mind stalled for a brief second.

So this is what's under women's clothes...

A faint, absurd thought crossed his mind as he observed them with wide, golden-crimson eyes. Now I completely understand why men in history died for lust. Looks like this life really will be different from the last.

A peaceful life. Money. Freedom. Beautiful women. Power strong enough that no one could ever force him into another nightmare again. This time... he wouldn't spend his life denying what he wanted.

Adesewa, realizing her own state a second later, froze. For the first time since Ayomide had known her, a faint, visible blush swept across her cheeks. She quickly pulled her long, dark hair—now streaked with radiant crimson—over her chest, turning her head slightly away.

The atmosphere became thick with an awkward silence.

Success buried her face against her knees.

"Don't look! Ayomide, turn around!"

Ayomide raised an eyebrow.

"...That's not exactly fair."

The two girls looked at him.

"Both of you have been looking at me since we woke up." His tone remained calm. "Yet I'm the only one who's not allowed to look?"

Success's face turned even redder.

"T-That's completely different!"

"Don't worry," Ayomide said, his voice completely deadpan. "After we get out of this place, I'll take responsibility for both of you."

"W-What kind of responsibility?!" Success squeaked.

Ayomide glanced at her. "We'll talk about it after we survive."

Adesewa blinked, staring at him in utter disbelief. He actually joked... she thought, her eyes lingering on his face. But somehow, it didn't feel like the old Ayomide's humor.

Later, Ayomide thought, his chest tightening as his eyes swept the horizon, locking his gaze strictly forward. If there is a later.

"...Enough."

Both girls quieted down, looking toward him.

"This isn't the time to be thinking about embarrassment," his voice was steady, carrying a firm authority that wasn't there before. "Because right now... our lives are still on the line."

He stood up, his long black hair falling over his bare shoulders as he looked out across the endless volcanic wasteland.

"We never know wetin go happen for a place like this," he added in a low, sharp tone. "We don't have clothes, we don't have weapons, and we don't have food. Make una shine una eye."

The embarrassment remained, but his words immediately brought them crashing back to reality. They had survived the fall. They had survived the river. But they were still in hell.

What kind of monster-infested pit is this?Ayomide thought, staring at the jagged horizons as dry wind brushed his skin. What world did we fall into? It doesn't matter. Only by getting stronger can I secure the life I want. I will push this new power to its absolute limit.

BOOM...

The ground beneath them trembled. Rhythmic. Heavy.

Ayomide's posture shifted instantly. "...Did you two feel that?"

BOOM...

It wasn't an earthquake. It was the deliberate, heavy movement of something massive beneath the crust.

A nearby pool of molten lava rippled. Then another.

Slowly... a pair of massive, glowing orange eyes emerged from beneath the liquid stone. They didn't blink. They simply locked onto the three naked figures on the bank.

Success's face went pale, her voice dropping to a trembling whisper. "...Ew... wetin be dat...?"

A massive black head rose slowly above the molten surface, covered in thick obsidian scales with glowing crimson cracks running between them like flowing magma. Its head resembled a giant salamander, but its jaws were elongated and jagged like an ancient apex crocodile.

When it opened its maw, a cloud of burning black ash hissed into the air, instantly spiking the temperature around them and causing their dry throats to burn.

The head alone was larger than the upper body of the Crimson Guardian they had fought on the bridge.

If that's only one monster... Ayomide's mind raced, his eyes locking onto the creature, ...how many more are hiding here?

He tightened his fists. He had no weapon, no armor, and their bodies were still adjusting to the massive influx of primordial energy. Fighting a beast this size in its natural element was suicide.

Run. Every survival instinct in his mind screamed the exact same word.

Running isn't shameful, Ayomide thought as he lowered his center of gravity. Dying for pride is simply paying a debt with your own life. I have no intention of making that payment. A dead man can't protect his future.

"Both of you, don't move a muscle," Ayomide whispered, his eyes never leaving the glowing orange gaze of the monster. "Wait for my signal."

Neither girl argued.

"Oya, follow me slowly," Ayomide instructed quietly. "Small small. Toward those broken stone pillars on the left. Don't make sudden movements."

Step by step, the three of them backed away, using the towering obsidian pillars for cover. The giant salamander-like beast watched them calmly, releasing a low growl that vibrated through their teeth before slowly sinking back beneath the surface of the lava.

The moment the thick stone pillars fully blocked the beast's line of sight, Success’s legs gave out. She collapsed onto her knees on the rough stone, gasping for breath as sweat ran into her eyes.

"...I... I thought we were dead..." she wept softly, wiping her face with the back of her hand.

"We're lucky we didn't push it," Ayomide said, standing at the edge of the pillar, watching the lava pools.

Silence returned, and with it, the brutal reality of their situation.

No food. No water. No clothes. No weapons. No map.

Success looked up from the dirt, her voice trembling. "...What do we do now...? We have nothing... How are we even going to find Tunde, Kemi, or the others?"

Ayomide turned his head, looking down at her with golden-crimson eyes that held no warmth. His response came without a single second of hesitation.

"...Let's think about how we are going to survive here first before thinking about anyone else."

He turned and began walking into the jagged volcanic pass, the hot stone burning the soles of his feet. He kept his eyes strictly ahead, refusing to look back. Adesewa deliberately stepped beside Success, positioning her body to shield the embarrassed girl from feeling completely exposed, while Success walked slightly behind Ayomide's shadow.

After only a short distance, Success stumbled, her body exhausted from the soul transformation. Ayomide instinctively caught her arm, steadying her.

"...Thank you," she whispered softly.

They kept moving. A few minutes later, Success tripped again, her foot catching on a sharp ridge of obsidian.

This time... Ayomide didn't reach out.

Success fell hard onto her knee, scraping her bare skin against the rough stone. She looked up at him in shock and confusion, expecting a hand.

Ayomide stopped, turning around to look down at her. His face was entirely devoid of sympathy. Composed. Unyielding.

"You almost got us killed back on the bridge," Ayomide said, his voice cutting through the dry air like a razor.

Success froze.

"If you keep slowing us down..." Ayomide continued, step by step walking closer to her, "...you are going to get all three of us killed here."

"...I'm... I'm sorry... I no mean am..." she choked out.

"I don't want your sorry," Ayomide snapped, his eyes flashing with a dangerous, detached light. "Saying sorry won't save us from whatever is living in that lava. So if you're only going to drag us down... tell me why we should keep risking our lives protecting you when you can't even keep yourself alive."

He leaned down slightly, staring directly into her tear-filled eyes.

"I'll give you one choice. Either stand up and fight like your life depends on it... or stay here and die."

The words hit her harder than any physical blow. Success couldn't answer. She bit her lip until blood trickled, clenching her fists in the black ash until her nails cut into her palms.

No more depending on other people, Success thought, her breathing hitching as tears squeezed past her eyelids. No more apologizing. If I want to survive beside them... I have to become someone they can rely on. Next time... I'll be the one protecting someone.

Standing nearby, Adesewa stared at Ayomide in silent shock.

Why is he like this? Adesewa thought, her chest tightening as she watched him. This isn't the Ayomide I've been watching... His eyes hadn't changed. His face hadn't changed. Yet somehow... everything about him felt detached. It's like his old soul died... and whatever came back had its own path now.

Without saying a word, Adesewa stepped forward, reached down, and gently helped Success back to her feet. Success wiped her eyes hurriedly, nodding toward Adesewa with quiet gratitude. She didn't complain. She didn't cry further. She straightened her posture, forced her trembling legs to move, and took a step forward on her own.

Ayomide didn't apologize. He simply turned back around and continued leading them deeper into the volcanic terrain, his eyes fixed on the path ahead.

This world has already taken too much from me, Ayomide thought, his golden-crimson eyes scanning the jagged pass as heat shimmered off the obsidian walls. One day... I'll collect every debt.

Far behind them...

The lava rippled once more. Then another pool. Then another.

Beneath the molten surface... dozens of pairs of glowing orange eyes slowly opened, silently tracking the three naked figures walking deeper into their domain.