I woke up after my brother Daichi had carried me for a long while, all the way to the heart of the island. His steps were heavy, his breathing deep. Each beat of his heart vibrated through his back; each gasp of air seemed to drag the entire island with it. We collapsed at the base of a colossal tree whose thick, gnarled roots looked like the arms of old men trying to hold us up.
The bark was rough but warm, as if it held within it the memories of everyone who had ever rested there before. I closed my eyes for a second. The air smelled of iron and salt. Every muscle in my body ached as if blades lived inside me.
Then, I saw him.
A man in a black hood appeared before us, emerging from the air like smoke condensing into form. His eyes… were a deep, dark red, like embers buried in ash, like the gaze of a wolf just before it tears out its prey's throat.
There was something ancient about him—something that couldn't be named. He approached slowly, stopping right before us. His smile wasn't human; it was a crooked line drawn on a mask of flesh.
He extended his arm, offering a hand to help us stand. A kind gesture in a body that reeked of death.
My brother, still wary, took his hand. The moment lasted a blink. Instead of helping him up, the man hurled him into the air with monstrous force. I watched Daichi spin like a broken marionette before crashing to the ground. The impact was sharp, brutal; his body arched and fell still. Even the earth seemed to shudder.
A roar caught in my throat. I jumped to my feet and threw a punch straight at the man's face. It was all instinct—all rage. But he didn't even flinch.
With one hand, he caught my punch as if stopping a leaf mid-flight, and with the other, he slapped me so hard the world dissolved around me. I flew backward, the air turned to stone, and I was a bird shattering against it.
I rolled across the ground, each turn detonating pain through my ribs. Using my arms, I twisted mid-roll and launched a spinning kick in desperation.
I put everything I had left into that kick—my dead brothers, my fear, my hatred. But it was useless. Again, he stopped my leg with that inhuman strength that felt made of pure gravity and hurled me against a nearby tree. My back cracked with the impact.
It was a dry, internal snap—like ice breaking on a frozen lake. The pain was sharp, paralyzing; a spear of fire running through every nerve. My body wouldn't respond. Maybe… I had broken a bone. Maybe all of them.
Still, I dragged myself across the ground, trying to reach my brother. My fingers sank into wet dirt and blood. The distance between us was short, yet it felt like I was crawling across an ocean.
With a simple snap of his fingers, the man conjured a black, translucent barrier between us. It was like a wall of living glass—breathing, pulsing—a prison made of shadows. He looked at me, smiling, as if this were nothing but a game. His red eyes glowed, and for an instant, I thought I heard voices whispering within them.
When I looked back at Daichi, he was standing—right behind the man. I didn't know how. I didn't know how his broken body still obeyed him. But he stood. With the last of his strength, he punched the man straight in the abdomen, sending him flying several meters away. The impact shook the ground. My brother was panting, covered in wounds, blood, and sweat—but still standing. His eyes burned like twin fires.
"Hahaha! Magnificent!" the man shouted with euphoric laughter that sliced through the air like knives. "So you are strong… Let's see how long you last. Special Ability: Whisper of the End!"
The air changed. A dark aura exploded around him. It was like watching night being born in broad daylight. The true power of our enemy had awakened. The ground trembled. The air grew denser, heavier—breathing felt like swallowing molten iron.
"I won't back down," Daichi said, his eyes blazing with determination. His voice was thunder tearing through me. "I won't look back! I won't hesitate again. Because that's what we humans do: we adapt, we evolve. Even if my wounds take time to heal, even if my body breaks—today you'll know real fear!
Special Ability: Awakening of the Beast!"
When he spoke those words, something changed. His body tensed, his skin lit up with strange glowing marks. It was like watching a sleeping beast awaken, like a volcano cracking open. His aura turned golden and feral. The air smelled of rain and lightning.
"That's it… that's it… Fight me! Fight the God of Death!" the man said, his voice now layered with two tones.
And so, the final battle began.
Every strike was a verdict. Every second, a choice between death and victory. The world blurred around them. Trees were ripped from the ground by sheer pressure. Stones shattered in the echo of their blows. Light and shadow fought midair with every movement.
Daichi began to adapt to the God's brutal rhythm, reading his movements and countering with monstrous strength. It was a dance—a beast against a god. Every step my brother took spoke in an ancient tongue; every punch was a note of war.
"That ability… it's from the demi-humans, isn't it? How did you get it?" the God asked, curious, never stopping his assault. His eyes gleamed with hunger. "It's consuming you… If you don't end this soon, I'll win."
"I don't care… because this ability… is nothing but a curse!" Daichi roared, his voice a raging river.
The God conjured a black, gleaming scythe—an arc of solid night, a piece of the void itself. With one swing, he tore a deep wound across Daichi's chest. Blood gushed forth like a dark spring. But Daichi didn't stop. Pain didn't slow him. Justice drove him. Rage kept him upright.
His strikes grew sharper, more violent. His breathing was a roar. His skin glistened with blood and sweat. Until, at the edge of collapse, his ability began to fade. I saw it—his aura flickered like a dying flame, his body returning to normal…
But he didn't allow it.
He activated it again.
He knew the overheating could kill him, but he didn't care. He screamed—a scream like lightning splitting the island in two.
The God of Death smiled. He switched the scythe between his hands, confusing Daichi. His movements were illusions—impossible to read. But Daichi had already anticipated the strike. His instinct burned like pure fire.
When the God went for the final thrust, Daichi intercepted it and kicked the scythe's handle with a devastating blow, sending it flying. The weapon fell far away, and for a heartbeat, I saw something on the God's face—surprise.
The God had lost his weapon.
But he wasn't finished.
With his bare hands, he attacked—piercing Daichi's stomach with impossible strength. The sound was a wet explosion. Blood painted the air in a slow crimson arc.
"Seems like you failed," said the God.
I saw my brother stretch his arm, his fist almost brushing the God's cheek—but he couldn't reach. His hand trembled in the air and clenched at nothing. He fell to his knees, his breath a fading thread.
But before the God could finish him, Daichi roared with his final strength:
"Special Ability… Beast's Final Form!"
The island trembled again as my brother gripped the God's arm still impaled through his stomach. He rose from the ground with impossible force, blood pouring endlessly. His eyes had turned completely white. His ears, his nose, his mouth—all bleeding. His body was shutting down, breaking its final limit.
The God kicked at Daichi's head, but Daichi blocked it with one arm. A dry crack echoed. The God froze in disbelief at his sheer willpower—until Daichi, with monstrous force, snapped his arm in half.
They both staggered back.
They met again in the shattered field, the fight resetting to its rawest form: pure blows, fast, invisible to my eyes. I could only see flashes of fists, bursts of blood, air detonating between them.
Daichi swung at his face, but the God countered with a brutal uppercut to the chin. Daichi didn't fall, but he staggered. The God took advantage—extended two fingers, and in that brief exchange, gouged out his eyes. A scream of agony. Blood streamed down his face.
Blind, Daichi kept fighting—throwing punches into the void, guided only by instinct and fury. But his body was done; he had been destroying himself for a while now. His veins burst and bled across his entire body, bathing him in dark red. Every move was a sacrifice.
Still, he gathered everything he had left and struck the God's abdomen, then his face, forcing him to his knees. The God still smiled, though his mouth was covered in blood.
I wanted to run to him, but my legs were lead. The God of Death stood, touched Daichi's shoulder while my brother's arm was still stretched out before him. And then, my brother's body began to disintegrate—turning to ash carried by the wind.
The God wiped the blood from his mouth and walked toward me, snapping his fingers once more. The barrier vanished as his left arm hung limp, still broken. The air quivered, and the wall of shadows dissolved into smoke.
I tried to escape. I couldn't. My feet wouldn't move. It was like being trapped in a dream where everything slows down. He grabbed my head. His fingers were cold, long, inevitable. And with his weakened hand, he pierced my heart. I felt the cold first, then the burning. My body began to fade—just like my brother's. Everything turned silent.
And there, as the world crumbled around us, I knew—we had fallen together.