<h4>Chapter 17: Mysterious Vision</h4>


    Vincent stood, bewildered, his eyes scanning the strange, destendscape that stretched endlessly before him.


    A towering figure cloaked in darkness loomed in the distance, its form pulsing with a sinister energy that seemed to consume the very air around it.


    Surrounding this dark entity were countless shadowy armies, locked in a brutal sh against forces from all walks of existence.


    Farther away, Vincent spotted anothermanding presence, leading the opposition.


    This colossal figure, formed entirely from swirling mist, exuded a holy, almost divine aura. The sight of these two beings alone made Vincent feel minuscule, as though he were nothing more than a grain of sand in an iprehensible universe.


    Although he had no idea who or what these entities were, one thing was clear—they radiated unimaginable power.


    "Where the hell has that marble dragged me now?" Vincent thought, his mind racing as he tried toprehend the scene unfolding before him.


    Just as his thoughts started to spin, the dark figure spoke, its voice deep, ancient, and strangely yful.


    "Still ying the hypocrite, huh? After all these reincarnations, you''d think you''d get tired of it."


    The misty figure, apparently unmoved by the taunt, responded with a scoff.


    "Don''t pretend you don''t know who you are. Your very existence is the reason cmity continues to fall upon the universe."


    "You old fools always find someone to me for your own mess. Can''t you think of a better excuse?" the dark figure replied, dripping with sarcasm.


    "Shut up, demon!" the mist figure roared, its voice filled with fury.


    "Hand over the Chaos System. You have no idea what you''re dealing with—wielding that kind of power will bring nothing but disaster for all of us!"


    The mist figure''s form shifted and reconfigured, summoning an enormous golden hand that hovered menacingly in the air, orbs of holy light swirling in its grasp.


    The dark figure chuckled at the disy.


    "See? There''s the truth. You''re still after my power, aren''t you? Even after all these eons, even after killing everyone I cared about—and even your own people—you''ll do anything to get it."


    The chuckle turned into a bitterugh filled with hatred.


    Raising its hand, the dark figure summoned a circr disc of dark energy, its surface resembling a clock. The hands of this clock moved backward, forcing the golden light back to its original form before it dissolved into nothingness.


    "You''ll never beat me, not in this lifetime!" the dark figure dered.


    "Hmph. You think I''m not ready for that?"


    The mist figure sneered, producing an artifact—a golden hourss brimming with chaotic energy.


    The dark figure''s voice faltered for the first time, a note of shock creeping in.


    "How did you get that?!"


    "I paid a heavy price for it," the mist figure said, throwing the artifact into the air where it hovered, ominous and foreboding.


    Strange, arcane chants filled the space, and a massive vortex of white, chaotic energy began to form, its gravitational pull swallowing everything in its path.


    Armies, monsters, even reality itself seemed to warp and bend as they were consumed by the chaotic portal.


    "You mad old dog!" the dark figure roared.


    "Are you really willing to destroy the entire universe just to defeat me?!"


    "I''ll do whatever it takes to end you!" the mist figure''s voice rang out, resolute.


    Desperately, the dark figure conjured countless clocks, their hands moving backward in a frantic attempt to reverse time.


    Some of the beings that had already been pulled into the vortex were yanked back, momentarily brought back to life.


    But the mist figure was unrelenting.


    "There''s no point in resisting. You know it''s futile."


    As the dark figure strained against the overwhelming force of the vortex, it suddenly shifted its gaze toward Vincent. Its abyssal eyes locked onto him, and in that instant, a searing pain tore through Vincent''s skull, so intense that he cked out.


    When he came to, Vincent was back in his cab, his head still throbbing from the encounter. His body trembled, drenched in cold sweat.


    "Who... who was that?" he whispered to himself, rubbing his temples.


    "Why do I feel like I know him?"


    As he tried to piece together what had just happened, panic surged through him—his ck marble was gone. Frantically, he searched the cab, hoping to find it, but it was nowhere to be seen.


    Just as despair started to creep in, a strange, dark aura pulsed from within him. Focusing inward, Vincent realized his Origin Core, once in and unremarkable, now glowed with a multitude of bright stars—eerily simr to the marble he''d been holding.


    The core throbbed with a dark, ominous energy, reminiscent of the power he had witnessed from the dark figure.


    Acting on instinct, Vincent tapped into the dark energy, channeling it to his eyes. His sclera turned pitch ck, while his pupils remained their striking purple.


    Suddenly, a vision took hold—a tower of obsidian light piercing the sky, surrounded by countless eyes watching over it.


    The vision shifted again. This time, he saw powerful figures converging on the tower of light, their eyes locked onto him.


    He could see his own cab, suspended mid-air, with himself being pursued by these beings.


    With a sharp gasp, Vincent cut off the dark energy, his eyes snapping back to normal. Without hesitation, hemanded his cab to descend.


    The moment it was low enough, he kicked open the door and leaped out, sprinting toward the crowded streets of the district.


    Disoriented, he knew one thing for sure—if he didn''t keep running, he might not survive whatever wasing for him.


    The moment Vincent disappeared into the ocean of faces, hundreds of feet above him, Leo ire-District Leader of District 12-appeared, his face as grave as stone.


    A minute or twoter, another figure appeared, hovering in the air beside Leo. The new one had long blonde hair, with a big horizontal scar across the bridge of his nose.


    d in skin-tight ck armor, his face was a mask of arrogance.


    "Yo, me Boy!" the blond-haired man called out. "I gotta admit, I''m quite surprised you kept such a huge secret buried in your district!"


    Leo-least in the mood for any banter-forwarded a sharp re in the man''s direction, Arman Matthews.


    "If you think I''m hiding something in my district, why don''t you go back to your own district like someone with some decency?"


    Arman was the leader of the neighboring District 11 and loved getting dirt under Leo''s nail.


    "Humph! Don''t y dumb about knowing what that ck pir means!"


    This time Leo said nothing; he knew exactly what Arman was referring to. Legend spoke of a ck pir that heralded cmity-a catastrophe that had onceid waste to an entire civilization.


    The thought of it nagged him and, simultaneously, incensed him that such an omen should appear in his territory.


    Having been a District Leader for a couple of years, even to think that something so viinous could be lurking within the ambit of his care was immensely disturbing.


    Not having received an answer from Leo, he pressed on.


    "Come clean, Leo. What are you concealing in your territory?"


    To the persistent inquiry from Arman, Leo just snapped, "Do you really think I''d be standing here with you if I knew what the answer to that was?"


    Almost immediately after this was said, two more figures materialized beside them. One was a tall, statuesque woman with flowing silver hair and piercing gold eyes, while the other was a stocky man with a shaved head, his exposed skin covered by intricate tattoos.


    "My, my," the woman spoke, her voice like silk.


    "What do we have here? A lover''s quarrel between our esteemed colleagues?"


    "Can it, Selena," growled the man with the tattoos.


    "This is no time for your games. We all felt that surge of power. Leo, exin yourself."


    Leo turned to them, his exasperation clear on his features.


    "Selena, Goran, I assure you, I''m as oblivious to this mess as you are. The thing with the pir of light simply showed up out of thin air, and I''mpletely at a loss about how and why it''s here."


    Goran, the tattooed man, narrowed his eyes.


    "You expect us to believe that? This is your territory, Leo. You should know every pebble and de of grass within it."


    "I understand your skepticism," Leo said evenly, though he was clearly struggling to keep his temper.


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "But I swear upon my position as District Leader, I had no knowledge of this. phenomenon until it manifested."


    Selena prowled around the group, her movements fluid yet menacing.


    "The fact that either Leo knew or didn''t know about it is beside the point. What is relevant is what are we going to do about this?"


    said Arman, who had been uncharacteristically quiet till then.


    "We need to find the source of that pir. If it indeed foretells some sort of disaster, just like those legends told, we can''t afford to just sit around."


    "For once, I agree with Arman," Leo said, his words drawing a surprised look from the rest.


    "We should get search parties andb District 12. Whatever did this needs to be found and contained."


    Goran just nodded grimly.


    "Agreed. But let''s not forget, if this does turn out to be something you''ve been concealing from us, Leo, there will be repercussions."


    Meanwhile, as Vincent was making his way through the crowded streets, his heart racing with anticipation, the District Leaders were talking about what was to be done to find out the truth.