"I'm going to die?"
I stood there in front of the girl, staring at her in disbelief. Even though this was just a dream, the feeling of a cold sweat overcame my body. The girl tilted her head.
'You are not afraid?'
"Me? Not afraid of death?"
I chuckled sarcastically to myself. She could sense I'm not afraid of death? I've always been afraid.
'You think you're afraid, yet you're not. Why?'
After all I've been through, after all that I've witnessed and experienced— Death has been the least of my concern. Or at least I haven't thought of me dying.
"I guess you're right. I'm not afraid of death."
'And now, you face it.'
Right...
The Leader! If I'm having this conversation with this girl, I must still be alive. Just what is the Leader doing?
"You say you're going to give me power. What do you mean by that?"
'You will have access to a small percentage of my power. However to access this power..."
She continues as she fades away.
"You must sacrifice a part of yourself. But..."
She glanced at me once more.
'You're strong enough.'
"Wait!"
My eyes snapped open.
Pain slammed into me all at once, my ribs screamed, my lungs crushed. I was sprawled on shattered ground. The overwhelming force pressing down on me hadn't vanished. If anything, it felt heavier.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
The Leader knelt beside me, his voice dripping with mockery.
"Finally awake? You've been out for a good while. I was starting to think I killed you."
He tilted his head beneath that hooded cloak.
"And trust me, the Kaijus wouldn't like that."
His words slithered in my ears like venom.
I grit my teeth, forcing words out between breaths.
"Why… do… all this?"
He leaned closer, voice low, almost amused.
"Why? I'm doing this for the betterment of humanity—of every sentient being."
"Then… why… the chaos…?"
He chuckled darkly, the sound twisting in my gut.
"Chaos? You think this is chaos?"
His arms shot out as he spun slowly, almost theatrically, like he wanted the broken world around us to applaud him.
"This is not chaos, Asol Ansaldo. CHAOS IS MERCY compared to what's coming!"
The crushing gravity suddenly released. I sucked in a desperate breath before his boot crashed into my ribs.
THUD!
Air tore from my lungs as I slammed into a wall, coughing blood.
"You have no idea what's coming!"
His voice echoed throughout the room.
"The end is near. And I'm the only one doing something about it! Why won't you just let me fix this!?"
Every nerve in my body screamed in agony. My muscles burned like molten iron. The gravity returned, heavier than ever, pinning me to the floor until my bones felt ready to snap.
Think, Asol… think! Or this is where it ends…
And then, her voice drifted through the storm of pain.
'You're strong enough.'
Strong enough? Me? She's joking. Ever since I arrived here, I've done nothing but lose. Every fight, every battle—failure after failure. Even now… Maybe it should've been me who died that day. Not Bell. If it were her, she would've crushed every obstacle I've faced. She was strong. She was fearless.
But if she hadn't sacrificed herself for me, I wouldn't be here.
I wouldn't have met them-
The CEO.
Toma.
Hikari.
Aoi.
Kazuma.
Fujiwara…
I wouldn't have this life without them.
Bell… I've told myself I've moved on from you. From Mom. From the ones I lost. But the truth is—I never did.
Not until now.
The concrete beneath me cracked as I planted my single arm against it. My body screamed in protest, but I pushed. Every ounce of strength, every fragment of Aura I had—I dragged it into my fist. Heat surged through me, pooling into one singular point until the air itself began to warp.
The Leader's head snapped toward me, disbelief twisting his voice.
"WHAT?! That's impossible—you shouldn't even be able to move!"
The gravity intensified, pressing like an ocean against my bones, but my fist burned brighter, Aura igniting like a star about to explode.
Everything I've lost… everything shattered… This is my legacy.
"I will NOT let anyone suffer like I did!"
My roar tore through the collapsing walls.
"NOT ANYMORE!"
[SHATTERED LEGACY]
I swung. The heat roared like a wildfire, the very air crackling as reality rippled around my fist. The Leader thrust his hands forward, gravity imploding in waves, bending the earth itself to crush me.
The world shattered.
The ground split apart like glass. Black lightning streaked through the void as space itself cracked under the collision.
"NOOOOOOOO!"
The Leader's scream was ragged, panicked, as he strained to hold me back.
"WHO ARE YOU?! YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE THIS POWER!"
Tears streamed down my face—not from pain, but from everything I'd carried until now.
"I AM ASOL ANSALDO! SURVIVOR OF DYSTOPIA! AND I SWEAR—"
My voice broke into a roar that shook the ruins-
"I WILL MAKE SURE NO ONE SUFFERS AS I DID!"
BOOOOM!
The world tore open in a deafening roar. The floor crumbled into dust beneath us, walls disintegrating into shards of steel and stone. Gravity twisted in every direction, pulling debris into spiraling voids as if reality itself wanted to collapse.
My fist connected.
For a brief second, there was nothing. No sound. No weight. Only white light swallowing everything.
Then came the shockwave.
It ripped through the ruins, hurling concrete slabs like feathers. The Leader's cloak shredded, strips of black fabric scattering like dying birds. His gravity shattered into fragments of warped space, and he was thrown back, slamming into a wall with a sickening crack.
I fell to my knees. The heat in my fist didn't fade. It burned hotter, searing through flesh and bone. My skin blistered, glowing faintly like molten metal. Pain, unlike anything I'd ever felt, exploded through me. It wasn't strength. It was self-destruction.
'You must sacrifice a part of yourself…'
Her words rang louder now, echoing like a verdict. And then I saw it: cracks spreading along my arm—not on the skin, but on the very flow of my Aura, splitting apart like shattered glass. Each crack pulsed with violent light, threatening to tear me apart.
The Leader stirred, coughing blood as he dragged himself upright. His hood was gone. For the first time, I saw his face—sharp, gaunt features twisted in rage and something else… desperation.
"You…"
He raised his hand. A flicker of gravity sparked around his fingers, but it sputtered, collapsing like dying embers. His voice cracked.
"You… shouldn't have been able to win..."
I forced myself up, enduring the pain from my burning arm. Every breath felt like glass cutting my lungs. I said hoarsely.
"I thought so too... But I'm still standing."
His eyes widened—not in fear, but in something close to… awe. Then his lips curled into a bitter smile.
"This changes nothing… A storm is coming, Asol Ansaldo... And when it does… even your shattered legacy… will break."
Before I could move, the ground beneath him warped into a sphere of crushing gravity. The debris folded in on itself, swallowing his broken body until nothing remained but a trembling crater. The weight disappeared, leaving only silence and the soft hiss of settling dust.
I collapsed.
The burning in my arm didn't stop. My Aura pulsed violently, like a storm trying to tear free from my flesh. My vision blurred—crimson threads veiling the world. I felt… empty. Like something inside me had been ripped away.
What did I sacrifice…?
I looked down. My arm was… wrong. Black cracks veined up from my fist to my shoulder, glowing faintly. My fingertips felt numb—alien. I clenched them anyway, forcing the pain into the pit of my stomach.
The dream girl's voice whispered faintly, almost tender.
'You're strong enough.'
Strong enough for what? To win? To survive? Or to destroy myself in the process?
The air shifted.
I wasn't alone.
Slow footsteps crunched against broken rubble. I turned my head—just enough to see the silhouettes emerging from the smoke. My breath caught.
The Saviours.
Dozens of them, their cloaks fluttering like shadows, forming a circle around me.
And at the center… a figure I'd never seen before. Tall, cloaked in white, their presence suffocating. Stronger than the Leader—much stronger. The weight of their Aura alone made my bones ache.
The figure spoke, voice calm, almost serene.
"So… the stray wolf bares its fangs."
They stopped a few steps away, looking down at me like I was an insect struggling in the dirt.
"You've awakened something you don't understand… and for that, I should kill you where you stand."
My fist tightened. Every instinct screamed to fight, but my body wouldn't move. My strength—gone. My arm was still burning, cracking like porcelain. If I tried using my Aura again, it might tear me apart completely.
The figure crouched, tilting their head as if studying me. Then they whispered something I'll never forget:
"You've been gazed upon by her? It's no wonder."
My breath hitched.
What…? Gazed?
Before I could respond, the figure stood, their cloak rippling like liquid light.
"Not yet. The stage isn't ready. Struggle a little longer, Asol Ansaldo. Break a little more. That's when you'll truly understand. The true nature of reality.
They turned, and in an instant, the Saviours vanished into the shadows like ghosts—leaving me broken, bleeding, and burning from the inside out.
I collapsed fully, my head against the cold rubble. The last thing I saw before darkness swallowed me was Fujiwara's face in my mind—smiling like nothing in the world could break her.
"Fujiwara…" I whispered, my voice trembling. "Wait for me…"
And then everything went black.
(Somewhere on Earth)
Sigh...
With my body destroyed now, it's going to be hard leading the Saviours now...
"Oh partner... How did I end up in this situation? Where did everything go wrong in our quest to save Humanity?"
I reach out towards the night sky as I rest my destroyed body against a boulder.
I managed to do as He instructed me to.
"To see you in this sorry state amuses me..."
That voice!
"You... Why are you here?"
In the dead of night under the moonlight, a figure slowly floats down to ground level. Their cape flowed heroically in the night winds as they spoke.
"I came to thank you for your services, Soryn."
"No... You didn't come here just to thank me..."
I smiled as they did.
"Yes... Yes, I did. Though, I truly thank you for your services."
A red light engulfed me as my body disintegrated from existence...
I guess belief is idiotic...