ATLAS PENDRAGON.


    I slowly got up from the ground, carefully placing Adelaide''s unconscious body aside. The pain from my wounds was unbearable, piercing through every fiber of my body like red-hot needles.


    ?I''ve tried everything?, I thought bitterly. ?But that bastard Enigma''s power... is simply overwhelming.?


    Deep down, I knew Enigma could have killed me if he had wanted to. However, he had deliberately left me alive. As if he wanted me to witness all the destruction he was about to unleash.


    An icy shiver ran down my spine when his voice resonated from about a hundred meters away.


    —I''m tired of playing, this ends now —declared Enigma as he rose into the air.


    My eyes opened in horror as I saw him raise his hand and a gigantic magic circle materialized in the sky, extending for dozens of kilometers. The runes that composed it were so complex that not even I, with all my years of experience, could begin to understand them.


    Above our heads, a sphere of intense red began to take shape. It grew until it covered the entire firmament, even eclipsing the sun. Its outline glowed with threateningly crackling lightning.


    ?This can''t be happening?, my mind refused to accept what my eyes were seeing.


    Kuuuuuuuuuuuu!


    The crimson rays began to fall erratically, destroying the forest in their path. A sphere the size of a mountain was rushing towards us. It was as if the sun itself was descending to end everything.


    Despite the distance, I could feel how the air boiled and my skin grew hotter and hotter. That mass of energy was so immense that it threatened to devour the entire forest.


    In an instant, I conjured layers upon layers of powerful barriers. For a brief moment, they seemed to be effective. The sphere expanded and contracted repeatedly before breaking through them with a deafening roar.


    ?This is the end. We have failed. I have failed.?


    Just when despair threatened to consume me, a buzzing shook the earth and a magical barrier enveloped much of the forest, emerging from nowhere as a last line of defense against what could only be the wrath of a God.


    The sphere descended, colliding with the barrier with a force that shook the very foundations of the world. I watched as the barrier burned and began to melt upon contact with that incandescent mass, but miraculously managed to stop the descent of that artificial sun.


    Chiiiik, chiiiik!


    I frantically searched for the origin of that barrier, and my heart stopped when I looked down and saw my daughter dozens of meters away.


    Her body shone with an intense golden light while she kept her arms extended toward the sky. She was doing the impossible to contain that destructive sphere.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    I watched in horror as her clothes tore, blood flowed from her arms, and her legs trembled from the superhuman effort. But my little one didn''t take a single step back. For the sake of everyone behind her, her will remained unbreakable.


    I infused energy into my legs and prepared for any desperate attempt at attack while quickly approaching her.


    —Dad, don''t try to stop me —my little girl murmured, covering her battered body with more golden energy.


    —Would you stop even if I tried? —I asked while gritting my teeth so hard it hurt.


    We both knew it: it was too late. The moment Anastasia lowered her hands, the sphere would fall upon us in less than a second.


    I examined her body while my fists closed with such force that my knuckles turned white.


    ?It can''t be...?


    ?After everything that''s happened. She shouldn''t be able to move... Much less stand.


    ?No... Anastasia.?


    Tears began to run down my face like a flood that finally broke through the containment wall. My face turned pale and my entire body trembled as I lost my voice in a heart-wrenching cry of pain.


    I fell to my knees before the forest, crying bitterly.


    —Dad...


    —Do you think I would thank you for dying to save me? —I asked with trembling lips.


    —Dad, please. I beg you, take mom and Arceus with you. I implore you. —Her urgent voice pierced my heart.


    —Anastasia! No! You can''t do this to me!


    —Dad, please... —my little one begged, with her small trembling body—. I don''t want you to die.


    Rage, anguish, helplessness, and pain invaded me upon hearing her words. My body shuddered when I heard her begin to sob.


    The sound of blood pounding in my head silenced everything else. I couldn''t even hear my own daughter''s desperate screams as she begged me not to stop her, to let her fight, to let her... die.


    I slowly stood up, having made a decision that tore my soul apart.


    ?Look at you, you''re not even conscious of what you''re doing and you''re still determined to show the world what you can do.?


    —Forgive me, it''s all my fault... I should have protected you better —my voice sounded unrecognizable, hoarse from an indescribable emptiness.


    —I''m sorry —she whispered as blood filled her mouth.


    I teleported to where Arceus lay. My son was unconscious in a huge crater, his body severely injured. I took him in my arms as carefully as I could.


    Without losing another second, I teleported next to Adelaide''s unconscious body. I placed my wife on my shoulder, holding her with one arm while carrying my younger son with the other.


    Memories assaulted me mercilessly. I saw newborn Anastasia, a tiny thing sleeping in my left arm while I gently caressed her with my right. I remembered her on my back, grabbing my ears with that radiant smile that compensated for any pain.


    I relived her first time in the bathtub, when she fled from the water among laughter. I saw her crying in my arms while apologizing for breaking that vase so special to Adelaide. I saw her pouting when Arceus ate one of her favorite snacks. I saw her laughing with joy as we flew together over a human city.


    The image of our family photo appeared vividly in my mind: Adelaide smiling softly with little Arceus in her arms, while I placed my hands on Anastasia''s shoulders, who made a funny face with slanted eyes and her tongue sticking out.


    I returned to reality when the sky lit up with a blinding glow. For a moment, I thought all was lost.


    With no time to lose, I recited a spell at full speed. Enigma''s barrier that isolated the area had disappeared, allowing me to use my abilities freely. This was an advanced teleportation spell, different from the normal one, that would allow us to instantly transport hundreds of kilometers away randomly.


    Flash!


    The sphere glowed and exploded with an incandescent light.


    The last thing I saw was my daughter''s back when she turned her head and smiled brightly at me while a blinding light enveloped Adelaide, Arceus, and me.


    I felt how reality distorted around us. Time and space bent in impossible ways while lights danced before my eyes.


    We fell to the ground with a thud on a beautiful clear meadow. When I opened my eyes, a warm breeze ruffled my hair. The leaves of plants and trees danced in the wind.


    I stood up in pieces, looking toward the horizon where a great crimson glow rose in the distance.


    This great red light of destruction then turned the entire world white.


    ***


    End of volume 1 - Baby steps.