Chapter 1 Our Greatest Advancement yet the Worlds Hardest Fall

300 years ago, humanity's technological advancement began. From electricity to artificial intelligence, nano-technology, and an era where humanity became the gods of the solar system. Their technology was capable of creating anything they desired, yet humans remained greedy for more. They started to break the laws of the universe, exploring the third and fourth dimensions, and now they stand on the brink of breaking free from the cage that both traps and protects them from the unknown.

In the third month of the old calendar, 2368:

"This will be the moment that we create history, overshadowing everything our predecessors have achieved. A world without limits!" shouted the leader of Mars' 4th Dimension Spearhead.

Looking at the humongous hundred-meter-large portal, everyone around was filled with excitement and glory.

"Our name will be written as the heroes who paved the path for true freedom!" he added.

"No! Thousands of sacrifices have been made, and now hundreds more? For this so-called freedom?!" a man knelt and restrained, wearing disheveled clothes, shouted as tears flowed from his eyes.

The leader said in a mocking tone, "Hahahahaha, my good friend Deniele. We both worked for this, and we both know the cost. Weren't you happy every time we sent dozens of children every day as we achieved results that way? Why the change of heart?"

"You!... My... SON!" Deniele shouted angrily.

The leader said with disdain, "Fool, if you hadn't hidden him for years, we would have succeeded long ago. You're a failure as a researcher."

"But I... will not fail as a father!!!" Deniele shouted.

"Hahahaha, you already did. Hiding him for five years because of his compatibility, yet all became in vain," the leader said. "Take him away," he added.

Deniele silently cried as the guards wearing black cloaks dragged him away.

"Commence the operation," the leader said.

"Yes, sir!" a Red Cloaked Android answered.

Down the portal, a group of guards escorted dozens of children onto the enormous portal. Some children were afraid, curious, or excited, yet they all looked proud. Except for one boy with white hair and majestic blue eyes; his eyes were filled with uncertainty and worry.

"Will I be able to meet my father if I enter the portal?" the white-haired boy asked the red cloaked guard.

The guard looked at the boy and answered, "Yes, he is waiting for you on the other side." The guard smiled.

"Hey, he's so young, isn't he? He's not even ten. Why can he enter the fantasy realm?" one of the children asked the others.

"Maybe he's a genius with a 20% compatibility? Or just the son of someone influential. Either way, it's none of our business," a girl who looked like she was 12 or 13 years old said.

"Yeah, let's go bring glory to our world!" the other children said enthusiastically as they clenched their hands.

At the front of the portal, the children arrived, filled with confidence and pride. Thousands of people cheered for them outside.

"Bring glory to our race! We will conquer everything!"

"That's my son right there, he's a genius with a 15% compatibility! He will surely achieve great things for humanity. Go, make Father proud, boy."

"Please come back safe, my children. Mommy's gonna miss you both!"

As a lot more cheers were heard outside, but inside the dome covering the portal, the crowd seemed like they didn't exist because of the silence.

"Are you all ready to be the spearhead that will pierce the laws and dimensions to grant us humans the freedom we ought to have?" the red cloaked guard asked the children.

"Yes, sir!" they all answered in unison.

The red cloaked guard replied, "Very well. Now go! Go and give us the freedom we deserve."

*Whoosh* as they all silently entered the portal one by one.

A few minutes later, it was the last child left to enter, which was also the youngest of them all. He was afraid yet gathered the courage to see his father again. So he finally entered and vanished along with all the children.

"He's in, Leader," the red cloaked android said to the leader.

"Well done. Now, monitor the dimensions and send me the results. It's only a matter of time before we could take a glimpse of the broken dimensions," the leader commanded.

The red cloaked android replied, "Yes, si-"

BOOM!

Before the android could finish, a huge explosion occurred from the portal and turned off all technologies within a radius of a hundred kilometers, painting the whole area with darkness and fear.

"What's happening?!! Someone turn on the backup power!" the leader commanded, yet after a long while, the power hadn't come back on. Until an eerily loud and scary noise was heard in the portal.

"What was that?" the leader asked himself with a hint of fear as he held his weapon on his desk.

He slowly walked to the window and looked outside, and what he saw shocked him. Rifts of different sizes tore through the sky, land, and space itself, with hundreds of unknown entities coming out of them as if they were endless. But what shocked him the most was how powerless the people were without technology, without the power to create anything; they were just insects waiting to be crushed. Their screams, pain, and agony could be heard and felt from miles away.

"Just what is happening?! Where did they come from??" the leader asked himself again with fear.

Roar!

The same roar was heard again, so the leader looked in the direction of the roar. He saw the portal glowing brightly red as something massive and nightmarish tried to push its body to go outside the portal.

"What are those creatures?" the leader said as he contacted the human guards under his command.

In the third month of the old calendar, 2368, the Mars 4th Dimension Spearhead succeeded in breaking the cage that imprisoned them, but that's what they thought. It was actually the cage that protected them from doom. But because of human greed, they bit off more than they could chew.

That day, the largest genocide in history was recorded. Mars, a world that accommodated tens of billions of humans, was gone in a single day. No survivors were spotted, and it was declared a total annihilation of every living being there.

It was the end, yet also the start because Mars was not the only planet existing.