Darkness is heavy here. It hangs in the air like a curse, thick, suffocating, unmoving. In the distance, voices tremble through the silence.
"...I did it."
The man's voice is barely human…more like a beast remembering the taste of its first kill.
"Maybe I crossed the line," he whispers to himself, chest heaving. "But they deserved it. I should've made it worse for them."
A laugh erupts from him -violent, unhinged, echoing across the cold stone walls. Tears streak down his blood-stained cheeks.
"I waited for years…" His breath catches, breaking. "I should've….I should've…"
"HELP ME!!!"
The screams tear through the air.
"HELP! HELP PLEASE!"
"You're a f*cking monster!"
"Shhh…" Man 1 leans closer, his voice low and venomous. "No one is going to hear you, Sir. Nobody will hear you."
The victim chokes on his words.
"L-Look… l-let's talk-- I don't know anything-- I didn't know-- please-- YOU'RE INSANE"
"I agree," the man answers softly. "I am a monster. And this monster is hungry…"
A thin smile stretches across his lips. "Do you know what happens when a monster is hungry?"
He rips off the man's leg in one brutal pull.
"URGHAAA--AHHHHHH!"
The screams claw at reality, raw and desperate.
Blood splashes against Man 1's face, warm and metallic.
He runs his tongue along his cheek.
"Your blood…" licks slowly
"It's as disgusting as you are."
He laughs madly, endless laughter. "You remind me of him… Speaking of him—"
He pauses. The wind shifts, whispering through the broken rafters. Thunder cracks somewhere beyond the ruins.
"Where is he…?"
A lone figure stands at the edge of the shadows.
Man 2's voice emerges, broken but steady.
"Even on the verge of death… I want to be with you."
He stumbles forward, collapsing beside a rusted, cracked lamp.
"Oh…"
A fragile chuckle escapes him. "There's a lamp…"
He rubs it, weak fingers trembling.
"Is there a genie here?"
A hollow laugh. "Oh God, I feel so stupid…"
His eyes drift to the empty skies.
"One year, three months, twenty-eight days… This sh*t is exhausting. I wish… I could relive the good old days."
He closes his eyes, trying to remember.
"I'm confused… Was it-? Never mind."
Snap.
His eyes open.
"You're still alive?"
Man 3 stands before him, battered, bleeding, but not yet defeated.
"Apparently, yes," he says.
"Well then," Man 2 mutters, exhausted, "let me end your suffering."
"I don't feel like dying today, you bastard," Man 3 snarls.
"Oh? Is that so…? I'm tired too. And honestly… bored."
"Bored?" Man 3 trembles with rage. "You killed my men: 9,423 soldiers, and you're now bored?! You're a demon. A monster."
Man 2 wipes blood from his lip.
"Oh, please. Even after everything you have done?..."
"It was a misunderstanding!" Man 3 screams. "A f*cking misunderstanding!"
"It wasn't." His voice is ice.
"You knew. All of you knew. Everything."
His voice cracks.
"Mito… You killed Mito. She did nothing. She was innocent."
"It was your fault!" Man 3 roars.
Silence.
Man 2's jaw tenses.
Metal clinks.
Swords tighten in grip.
"You're going to run from reality again?" Man 3 spits. "Let's fight. To the death."
A slow, sick smile curls onto Man 2's lips.
"This is going to be fun. I want to watch your children cry over your corpse."
"And what about you?" Man 3 hisses. "There's no one left to cry for a trash like you."
Man 2 laughs, hollow.
"You think I'll lose to a f*cking failure who couldn't even save his comrades? How filthy."
Man 3 roars, sword raised high.
"JUST DIE, YOU PRICK! DIEEEEE!"
The blade flashes.
Man 2 stands still, no guard raised, no defence.
"This is it," he whispers. "I can finally rest. Good job, Henry… Mito will be proud of you."
Henry howls, driving the strike downward.
"You'll PAY for EVERYTHING!"
The sword's edge touches Man 2's throat.
"This apocalypse," Man 2 murmurs, "ends with me."
He breathes one final hope, small, fragile, human.
"But I wish… I could relive the past… the days with you. Just you. Only if it never happened. Only if it never began…"
A voice—unknown, echoing—breaks through the dark.
"Why did it start?"
Man 2's eyes widen.
"Who… are you?"
Silence.
He exhales.
"It all started when…"
The world fades to black.