[Paphos, Cyprus — June 2014]
Breath rushed into Richard Blackwood's lungs in a violent gasp, as though he'd been held underwater for far too long.
His eyes snapped open, and the sun's glare assaulted him immediately—bright, relentless.
He tried to sit up but reeled with sudden vertigo, his vision swimming in and out of focus.
Pain.
It lanced through his chest like a phantom memory.
Instinctively, his hand flew to the spot where the sword had pierced him. It's not there anymore.
Or rather, there was no open wound—yet the echo of it burned with every heartbeat.
Richard's surroundings slowly came into focus.
Instead of a devastated street and torrential rain, he found himself on warm cobblestones beneath a clear sky. People bustled past—tourists, by the looks of them, clad in bright shirts with cameras swinging from their necks.
Nearby, shops displayed trinkets in sun-bleached windows. The sign above one storefront read Souvenirs of Paphos in cheerful lettering.
Paphos…? His thoughts refused to align. But… it's a dead zone. This place was a ruin. How can it be—?
Staggering to his feet, he braced himself against a lamppost.
A few passers-by gave him concerned looks—some even paused to ask if he was all right in hushed Greek or heavily accented English.
He nodded absently, forcing a weak smile. That alone seemed to ease their worry, and they carried on.
He glanced down at himself.
The first thing he noticed was his mask—or rather, its absence. The one thing that marked him as Astralis, the hero of humanity… gone.
And that wasn't all.
His daggers, his hunter gear—everything was missing.
None of the people in the street knew they were walking past the once-legendary Astralis—now just a ghost of a man in dishevelled civilian clothes.
But that wasn't what mattered in this moment.
I should be dead.
He took a shaky breath, his mind racing.
How long was I out?
He remembered the swirling darkness, the monstrous blade tearing into his chest, the bitter taste of betrayal on his tongue.
Then… something. It had coiled deep within him, patching the mortal wound from the inside out.
Ophiuchus.
The name resonated in his head, foreign yet intimately familiar.
He lifted a trembling hand and, for a moment, thought he saw faint silver lines pulsing beneath his skin—as if energy crackled in his veins. Then it was gone, leaving only a lingering warmth.
What the hell? None of my abilities can do that…
With deliberate steps, he started walking—partly to quell the swirling panic, partly to find answers.
The old part of Paphos he remembered had been nearly flattened by the anomalies.
Now, it stood pristine, as if the cataclysmic battle had never occurred.
The roads were smooth, the buildings newly renovated, their walls painted in pastel hues.
The tang of sea salt drifted on the breeze, blending with the aroma of grilled fish from a nearby taverna.
Richard's mind reeled. Could he have imagined the entire war-torn scenario? A horrifying nightmare?
He flexed his shoulder, and pain flared. No—his half-healed injuries told him it had all been real. But if that was true, then how was he standing on a sunlit street, alive?
He slipped into the shadow of a narrow alleyway, leaning against the cool stone as waves of memories clashed inside him.
Astralis—the unstoppable hunter—had died here, in these very streets.
No, he corrected himself bitterly. I died here.
He closed his eyes, recalling how the sword had punctured his heart, how King's silhouette had hovered overhead—smiling in the final moment.
A cold fury coiled in his chest. I was set up.
At that moment, a group of tourists hurried past the alley's entrance, led by a tour guide with an exaggerated swagger and a bright orange cap.
"A few buildings from here, you can see where Astralis slayed an S-Class monster ten years ago and freed this island from anomalies," the guide announced with theatrical enthusiasm.
"It was one of the most significant victories in the early days of the War Against Anomalies. Some say you can still feel traces of his legendary power in the air if you listen closely enough."
Richard's pulse quickened.
A decade?
Ten years.
No.
It felt like a savage blow, realising that the world had spun on its axis for a full decade while he lay in limbo.
His heart pounded.
No wonder everything's changed.
The war-ravaged Paphos had been rebuilt, repopulated, even turned into a thriving tourist destination.
He thought about the Hunter Association. About how they would have handled his disappearance—no, his death.
The news of Astralis perishing might have toppled entire continents into chaos—unless…
A bitter laugh escaped his throat. Of course, they lied.
He could imagine it now: an elaborate cover-up, press releases carefully curated, a new face wearing the mask of Astralis.
That's why that bastard was smiling. He must have been in on it.
Richard shuddered to think of the adulation some imposter might have enjoyed in his name while he lay rotting—yet somehow healing—beneath the rubble of this city.
Hands trembling, he slid down the wall until he was crouched on the cobblestones, breath ragged.
The late afternoon sun crept along the alley, illuminating the grime on his boots. The swirling sense of betrayal threatened to crush him, but fury kept him anchored.
They buried me, he thought. Stole my legacy. Ten years…
The air around him shimmered, distorting like a heat mirage.
What's happening? His instincts flared to life.
He squinted at the warped space shifting around him.
It can't be…
The presence of Ophiuchus flashed in his mind—a reminder that something impossible had intervened on his behalf.
System, he thought.
As always, the familiar interface materialised in front of him.
Richard stared at the glowing lines hanging before his eyes, his heart hammering.
The system interface—his status screen—flickered in and out, as though threatening to vanish with the slightest distraction. Yet it remained, stubbornly real in the narrow alleyway's half-light.
He blinked hard, forcing his vision to refocus on the details.
…
Name: Richard Blackwood
Class: Mage
Sub-class: Apprentice (0/5)
Sub-class: Astralis (Unique), Stars: 5/7 (+1)
Level: 88 (S Class)
Stats:
STR: 150 | DEX: 130 | INT: 100 | WIS: 90