The battlefield was silent for only a breath. The hulking corpse of the "Duskfang Serpent" twitched, its severed heads lying motionless in the dirt. Then the silence shattered.
The "Ashen Reaper Mantis" shrieked, its scythe-like arms gleaming with deadly intent. The "Hollow Warg" bared its jagged fangs, its body rippling with muscles as black flame gathered around it.
And in the middle of it all, Mori collapsed.
"Kaien!" Haruka screamed, rushing forward, but Kaida caught her arm.
"Don't touch him!" he barked, his eyes wide and frantic. "That power… it still lingers. Look at the ground!"
The shadows beneath Mori writhed faintly, like they still had a will of their own. His body shook with exhaustion, his breaths shallow and weak.
"He's… unconscious," Renji muttered, voice dry. "He doesn't even know what he did."
Emi, still on her knees, clenched her teeth. Her eyes never left Mori's collapsed form. "…Brother… you gave your life to protect him. I won't let his fall be in vain."
---
> "The Chaos Returns"
The Hollow Warg roared and leapt, its body smashing through stone as it charged toward Mori's limp body.
"Not a step closer!" Saki Fujimoto's voice cracked like lightning. She launched herself forward, lightning exploding around her arm, striking the beast in its flank. The Warg yelped, but it only staggered.
"Damn it—" Kaida gritted his teeth. "We're not strong enough to take these two!"
"Then we buy time," Takumi growled, planting his halberd into the ground. His hands shook from fatigue. "If we can't kill them, we stall!"
But their bodies told the truth. Their wounds were deep, their stamina spent. Even moving felt like dragging chains.
The Ashen Reaper Mantis clicked its jaws, wings vibrating as it dove forward. Its scythe arm slashed across Renji's chest before he could fully dodge.
"AGH!" Renji coughed blood, falling to the ground.
"Renji!" Haruka screamed, firing arrows desperately, but they bounced off the mantis' hardened carapace.
"Too strong… they're too strong," Kenta muttered, fire flickering weakly around his fists. "I can't… I can barely stand."
The group was breaking.
---
> "The Shadow World Stranger"
Through the chaos, the "other man" — the shadow world wanderer who had silently fought alongside them — stood tall. His blade was cracked, his armor shattered, but his presence was immovable.
He looked at Mori's unconscious body, then at the two raging beasts. His lips curved into the faintest, almost broken smile.
"…Hope," he murmured, so softly no one else heard.
That overwhelming power Mori unleashed — the silence of the serpent's death — reminded him of someone. Someone from long ago. A memory he had buried deep. 'That boy… he carries the same spark. The same shadow.'
He gripped his weapon tighter.
'If he is to live, then I must protect him. No matter the cost.'
---
> "The Brutal Battle"
The Hollow Warg lunged again. Saki intercepted, lightning bursting around her, but the beast slammed her into the ground with its tail.
"Ghhk—!" she coughed blood, rolling onto her knees. Her lightning sputtered, her breathing ragged.
"Saki!" Kaida shouted, but he was too slow to reach her.
The Ashen Reaper Mantis swooped down, its scythes aimed to cleave her apart.
But the shadow world man appeared before her, his blade intercepting both scythes in a screech of steel and sparks.
"Get back," he growled.
Saki blinked up at him, stunned. "Why… are you—"
"Because he saved us," the man said simply, nodding toward Mori. "And if he is to keep walking this cursed world, then someone has to keep the way open."
With a roar, he shoved the mantis back, then twisted, slamming his cracked blade into the Hollow Warg's face as it lunged again. Blood sprayed.
"Damn you!" he snarled, pushing harder. "If you want him—you'll have to go through me!"
---
> "The Collapse of the Team"
The others tried to rise, but their bodies betrayed them.
Takumi's halberd slipped from his hands. "I… can't…"
Haruka crawled to Renji's side, pressing her hands against his wound. "Stay with me! Please—stay with me!"
Kenta dropped to his knees, his flames sputtering out completely.
Kaida clenched his fists, glaring at Mori's unconscious body. "Mori… what the hell are you?"
Emi's eyes never left the battlefield. She tried to rise, but her body failed her. She collapsed beside her brother's corpse, trembling. "…I can't… not yet… I can't move…"
---
> "The Fall of Saki"
Saki roared, lightning exploding violently as she forced herself to stand. "I'm not… going down yet!" She launched a spear of lightning into the mantis' chest, staggering it.
"Come on!" she screamed, charging forward. She spun, landing a direct blow with a lightning-charged kick into the Hollow Warg's jaw. The beast howled, staggering back.
But her legs buckled. Her vision blurred.
The mantis shrieked, recovering faster than expected, and slashed its scythe across her side. Blood sprayed violently.
"NGHhh—!!" Saki fell, her hand pressing against the deep wound.
The Hollow Warg lunged, biting into her arm and shaking her violently before throwing her into the dirt. Her body hit the ground hard, unmoving except for shallow, pained breaths.
"Saki!!" Haruka's scream pierced the battlefield.
Kaida's eyes went wide, fury and fear mixing in his chest. "No… no, no!"
---
> "The Last Stand Begins"
The shadow world man glanced at Saki's broken form, then back at the two raging beasts. His face hardened.
"So… it's just me."
He tightened his grip on his blade, blood dripping from his cracked armor. His body shook, but his spirit blazed with defiance.
"You monsters think you've won?" His voice was steel, echoing across the battlefield. "You haven't even begun to fight me yet."
The Hollow Warg snarled, ash and flame spilling from its maw. The mantis clicked its scythes together, wings buzzing.
He lowered his stance, his blade glowing faintly in the darkness.
"Come, then," he whispered. "I'll show you what a dying man can do."
The beasts roared, and the battlefield shook as the "brutal clash began".
---
The battlefield was broken stone and rivers of blood. The corpses of lesser beasts lay scattered, the ground shattered by Mori's earlier awakening. But now, it was not Mori who drew every gaze — it was the lone warrior who stood against the two surviving titans.
The "Ashen Reaper Mantis" screeched, wings slicing through the air. Its scythes gleamed with fresh blood. The "Hollow Warg" snarled beside it, ash-black flames licking its jaws. Together, they were an unstoppable nightmare.
And yet…
The stranger stepped forward, cracked blade in hand, his body trembling with exhaustion and fury.
His eyes blazed. His breath roared from his chest. He planted one foot into the dirt — and the ground cracked beneath it.
"You think… you can take him?!" he bellowed, his voice shaking the battlefield. "You think you can tear apart the hope we've just been given?! Not while I still draw breath!"
---
> "Hell's Symphony"
The beasts lunged together, one a flash of scythes, the other a blur of burning fangs. The warrior met them head-on.
"RAAAAAH!!"
His scream tore across the mountains, a sound so raw and brutal it made even Kaida and Haruka flinch where they knelt.
The mantis' scythe came first. He twisted, letting the blade scrape his shoulder, and grabbed its arm. Muscles surged, veins bulged, and with a roar he "ripped the limb clean from its socket".
The mantis shrieked in agony, black ichor spraying as its severed arm crashed across the battlefield.
"ONE!" the warrior roared, spitting blood from his mouth. "ONE DOWN!"
The Hollow Warg lunged, jaws snapping toward his throat. He slammed his cracked blade into its maw, forcing it open, the beast's flames searing across his chest. The smell of burning flesh filled the air, but he didn't falter.
He shoved the beast back, his scream echoing again. "I! AM! STILL! STANDING!"
---
> "The Storm Born From Fury"
Every swing of his sword shook the air. Every step cracked the ground. The wind roared as if the world itself feared his defiance.
Renji, barely conscious, forced his eyes open. "…He's… he's not just strong. He's… something else…"
The mantis charged again, only one arm left, its wings vibrating to cut him into ribbons. The warrior grabbed a shattered stone pillar from the ground and "swung it like a club", smashing the beast midair and sending it crashing into the dirt with a thunderous boom.
"Fall!" he roared. "Fall and never rise again!"
The Hollow Warg came from behind, biting into his shoulder. Blood sprayed as its fangs sank deep. He screamed — but instead of falling, he drove his elbow into its skull again and again until bone cracked and blood gushed.
"You think pain will stop me?!" His voice thundered, shaking through the night. "I am forged in pain!"
---
> "The Mountains Tremble"
The battle was no longer a clash — it was a cataclysm. Every strike sent shockwaves through the ground, every roar made the trees shiver.
Kaida clutched his arm, trying to rise. "Gods… is he even human?"
Takumi, blood running down his lips, whispered hoarsely, "He's… S-rank. He has to be. No… maybe even beyond."
The warrior's blade finally shattered in his hand. But he didn't stop. He grabbed the jagged fragment and plunged it into the mantis' head, twisting until ichor gushed. The beast convulsed, shrieking.
The Hollow Warg slashed its claws across his back, tearing into flesh. His body arched, blood raining into the dirt.
He staggered — then grabbed the beast by the throat with his bare hand.
"You want me dead?!" His roar echoed to the heavens. "THEN DIE WITH ME!"
He slammed the Warg into the ground so hard the earth cratered, dust and stone erupting outward.
---
> "The Turning Tide"
By now, his body was a ruin of cuts, burns, and broken bones. His breaths were ragged, blood pouring freely. But his eyes — his eyes still burned with unyielding fury.
The Ashen Reaper Mantis crawled to its feet, ichor dripping from its head, one arm missing. The Hollow Warg staggered, its ribs crushed, snarling with fury. Both beasts looked shaken, their movements slower, uncertain.
The man stood between them, hunched and bloodied, but still unbroken. He raised his broken blade fragment high, his scream echoing once more — a sound so violent and desperate that it tore into the souls of everyone who heard it.
"YOU WILL STRUGGLE BEFORE ME!"
The ground quaked. The wind howled like a storm. Even the beasts hesitated.
For the first time… they looked as though they feared him.
---
The battle raged on into chaos — and by the end of it, both the Ashen Reaper Mantis and the Hollow Warg were bleeding, staggering, their once-invincible movements dulled. The impossible had happened.
He had made them "struggle".
---
The battlefield was soaked in blood. The night was filled with nothing but screams, the tearing of flesh, and the thunder of impact after impact. The warrior stood in the center, body drenched crimson, chest rising and falling like a beast cornered but unbroken.
The "Ashen Reaper Mantis" shrieked, its wings buzzing furiously, jagged body twitching with fury. Beside it, the "Hollow Warg" snarled, flames dripping from its jaws.
The warrior planted his feet. His sword was gone. His armor shredded. His body was torn, burns and cuts spilling rivers of blood. And yet, his voice still roared like thunder:
"COME, MONSTERS! COME AND BREAK AGAINST ME!"
---
> "The Hollow Warg's End"
The Warg lunged, faster than lightning. Its claws slashed across his chest, tearing deep, ribs cracking beneath the impact. He staggered back, but his hands moved faster — he grabbed the beast's neck before it could bite down.
"NOT THIS TIME!"
His scream tore through the night. With veins bulging, his muscles burned as he twisted the beast's head to the side. The Warg snapped, trying to bite, but he didn't relent. His foot slammed into the ground, his back arched, and with a roar that shook the mountains:
"DIIIIE!"
He "ripped the Hollow Warg's head from its body", black blood spraying across the battlefield like a storm. The beast's massive body convulsed, then collapsed into the dirt with a deafening 'BOOM'.
The warrior, panting, hurled the severed head aside. His voice cracked as he screamed to the heavens:
"ONE FALLS!"
---
> "The Price of Defiance"
But the victory cost him.
The Mantis struck instantly, scythe arms slicing through the dust. He turned too late. One jagged blade carved straight through his stomach, tearing half of his torso away.
Blood exploded from his body. His legs buckled. He staggered, gripping the scythe with trembling hands.
Kaida screamed from the distance, voice raw with despair.
"NOOO! He—he can't take that! He can't—"
The warrior coughed blood, his vision blurring. His stomach was nearly gone, entrails spilling, pain white-hot. But his hands… his hands refused to let go of the Mantis' blade.
"You think… this… kills me…?" His words came out ragged, wet with blood. His eyes burned like wildfire. "I'm not done… not yet…"
---
> "The Final Inferno"
The Mantis shrieked, trying to tear him apart, but he tightened his grip. Blood poured, his body screaming at him to fall. Instead, something inside him ignited.
A burning light, crimson and black, swirled around his broken body. His aura exploded outward, shaking the ground, knocking even Renji and Haruka back as they struggled to crawl to their feet.
The warrior roared — a sound so brutal it seemed to rip through reality itself.
"I… WILL… FINISH THIS!!"
Energy tore from his body in waves, consuming him, burning his life away for one final strike. He ripped the Mantis' scythe from his body, spun with the force of a collapsing world, and unleashed his "last attack".
A devastating slash of energy, raw power, and blood — not from a weapon, but from his very soul.
The Ashen Reaper Mantis shrieked as its body split in two. Black ichor erupted as the attack carved it apart, shredding its wings, tearing through its carapace. It convulsed violently, screeching to the heavens — then collapsed in silence, its body twitching before going still.
---
> "The Final Smile"
The warrior staggered, still upright, blood dripping from every inch of him. His body swayed, broken, half his stomach gone, but he didn't fall.
He looked across the battlefield — past the corpses, past the shattered earth — to where "Mori" lay unconscious.
His lips curled. A faint, trembling smile spread across his bloodstained face. His eyes softened, just for a moment.
"…Hope… lives…" he whispered, though no sound reached.
And then, with his eyes still open, his smile still faintly there, his body gave in. He collapsed to the dirt with a heavy 'thud', unmoving.
The night fell into silence,.
---