The battlefield was already breaking by the time I arrived.
Ash fell from the sky like snow that had given up on having feelings. Towers leaned sideways as if trying to abandon the war entirely. The earth cracked in patterns that looked suspiciously like veins—alive, pulsing, terrified.
And in the middle of it all, Metropia fought like a dying star refusing to flicker.
Riruru soared above them, light spilling from her palms as she fired beam after beam into the advancing nightmare creatures. Every time she stumbled, someone caught her. Every time she screamed a warning, someone listened.
She was hope wrapped in metal and fear.
And I was about to break her.
Pippo hovered behind me, silent. Even his wings tried shaking less, like they didn't want to give away the tremor in his soul.
My footsteps echoed across the shattered stone bridge as I stepped into the open.
One.
Two.
Three.
A Metropian soldier spotted me first.
"Nobita?!"
His voice carried. Heads turned. Helmets jerked. Even Riruru paused mid-flight, the light around her dimming as she scanned the smoke-clogged air.
"Nobita!" someone else shouted. "He's back!"
Weapons lowered. Relief washed through the army like a warm breeze.
God.
This hurt already.
I tightened my grip on my sword—the useless blade with a purpose—and let out a slow, deliberate breath.
This was the part that couldn't be faked.
The part that had to shatter.
I raised the memory blade. Sparks of blue danced along its length, refracting off the fractured sky.
A soldier stepped toward me, smiling with exhaustion and faith.
"You made it… We knew you—"
My blade pierced his chest before he finished.
Gasps. Screams.
His body hit the floor with a soft thud, too soft for what I'd done.
Riruru's shout cracked the battlefield open.
"NOBITA?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
I didn't answer.
If I answered, I'd break.
If I met her eyes, I'd fold like I always do.
So instead, I swung,precise, cold, merciless.
The army I had fought beside now backed away in terror.
The friends who'd trusted me now raised their shields against me.
Footsteps stumbled as soldiers tripped over their own disbelief.
I hit them.
I knocked them down.
Never killing. Always crippling. Enough to look monstrous. Enough to sell the lie.
Pippo flinched every time my sword met armor.
A blast of golden light nearly cleaved me in half.
Riruru landed before me, wings spread like a storm ready to strike.
Her eyes,usually so full of warmth,looked like frozen suns.
"Nobita," she whispered. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"
Her voice trembled.
I forced myself to laugh.
Not a real laugh.
A villain's laugh.
Sharp. Mocking. Wrong.
"Oh, Riruru… Sorry..but I considered and...maybe I should join them after all." I tilted my head, letting cruelty drip from every syllable.
Her breath hitched.
Good.
Horrible.
Necessary.
"I only came here for power," I continued. "For entertainment. For myself."
Her wings drooped, feathers falling like dying snowflakes.
"That's not true," she whispered. "I know you. You—"
"You don't know anything."
I stepped closer, letting my shadow fall over her.
"I was tired....and he could release me from that burden that tired me. That's all."
Her lips parted. But no sound came. Just a tiny, collapsing silence that felt like the universe committing a crime.
I felt Pippo shiver behind me.
The world fell completely still.
Then Riruru screamed.
The blast she fired was bigger than anything she'd ever thrown. Holy light tore across the bridge, swallowing me whole. Stone cracked. Air warped. The world blurred.
When the smoke cleared, I knelt on one knee, sword buried in the ground to keep myself upright.
Riruru shook from rage and heartbreak.
"Nobita… why are you doing this?"
Because I have to.
"Because I'm done pretending to be....Because....I'm....."
Shit. I couldn't continue.
Her tears finally fell.
Riruru raised her hand again, summoning power that hummed with betrayal and sorrow.
"If this is what you've become…"
Her voice wavered.
"Then I'll stop you myself."
Good.
That was the script.
But one more thing had to happen before the climax.
A shadow swallowed the sun.
A presence so suffocating it bent the light around us.
Odorome appeared, towering over the battlefield.
Vines curled behind him like an army of living scars.
"SO…" he thundered, "YOU FINALLY SHOW YOUR TRUE COLORS, LITTLE NOBITA."
Perfect.
I didn't look at Pippo or Riruru.
Didn't look at the soldiers backing away.
Didn't look at the world crumbling.
Instead, I pointed my sword at Riruru.
"This ends now."
Pippo let out the softest, broken whisper behind me.
"…Nobita."
I didn't turn.
This was his cue.
The "death."
"Do it," I mouthed silently, as Odorome forgot about everything and looked at me with a wide grin.
Pippo surged forward in a burst of trembling resolve.
Tiny wings beating like war drums.
Eyes burning with forced determination.
The whole battlefield gasped as he spun in midair—
aimed straight at my back—
and screamed,
"NOBITA—!!!"
The blade tore through my chest.
Pain exploded.
Light shattered.
My body convulsed.
I hit the ground hard.
But it didn't stop there.
Riruru screamed my name.
Odorome laughed. Then stopped.
"Wait.... No! That blade!"
________________________________________
"And how do you know this giant rusted sword will kill him?" Pippo looked up at me.
I stood, looking up at the giant sword I remembered from a not so pleasant memory.
"Because It did before"
_________________________________________
Pippo cried out in agony.
And Odorome Screamed, trying to stop the blade.