Silence.
Not the normal kind.
Not the peaceful kind.
This silence… was absolute.
Akimo stood alone in the middle of the street, his breath the only thing that still moved. The world around him remained frozen, like a painting trapped in time.
A man stood beside a car, his hand mid-air, keys inches from the door.
A child laughed silently, her ball hanging motionless above the ground.
Even the clouds above had stopped drifting.
Everything… had stopped.
Everything except him.
Akimo slowly raised his hand and moved it through the air. There was resistance—like pushing against something invisible, something thick.
"Same as before…" he murmured.
His eyes glowed faintly.
A soft blue light.
The same light that had appeared… every time this happened.
But this time was different.
He could feel it.
A deep, unsettling pressure pressing against his chest.
As if something was watching.
No—
Not watching.
Waiting.
A crack.
A sharp, unnatural sound echoed across the frozen world.
Akimo's head snapped upward.
The sky.
It wasn't stable anymore.
Thin fractures spread across the blue, like broken glass ready to collapse. Through those cracks… something darker pulsed.
Not clouds.
Not space.
Something else.
Something wrong.
Akimo narrowed his eyes.
"I saw this before…"
But never this clearly.
The cracks widened.
And then—
A drop.
A single black drop fell from the sky.
It didn't behave like liquid.
It moved… like it was alive.
It landed on the road in front of him.
And then—
It spread.
The ground beneath it began to decay instantly, turning dark, as if reality itself was being erased.
Akimo stepped back.
"This shouldn't be happening…"
The black substance twitched… and then rose.
It formed something.
A shape.
A figure.
Humanoid… but incomplete.
Its body flickered, like it wasn't fully real.
And then—
It turned toward him.
For the first time—
Something else moved.
Akimo's heartbeat quickened.
Not from fear.
From recognition.
"…So you finally showed up."
The creature tilted its head.
Its face was blank.
But Akimo could feel it.
It was aware.
It knew him.
Suddenly—
The creature lunged.
Fast.
Too fast.
Akimo barely reacted, stepping aside as the thing passed through where he had been standing.
It didn't stop.
It twisted unnaturally and attacked again.
This time—
Akimo caught it.
His hand grabbed its arm.
And instantly—
A surge of energy exploded between them.
The creature let out a distorted, silent scream as its arm began to disintegrate.
Akimo's eyes glowed brighter.
Blue light spreading through his veins.
"Disappear."
In a single moment—
The creature shattered into fragments of black light.
Gone.
Just like that.
Silence returned.
But not the same silence.
This one felt heavier.
Darker.
Akimo looked at his hand.
It was shaking.
"…This is new."
Before… nothing like that had appeared.
Before… he was alone in the frozen world.
But now—
Something had crossed over.
Something that shouldn't exist.
Another crack echoed.
Louder this time.
Akimo looked up again.
The sky was breaking faster.
The fractures spreading uncontrollably.
The world couldn't hold itself together anymore.
"…Time's running out."
He closed his eyes.
Taking a deep breath.
The blue light around him intensified.
Then—
Everything snapped.
Sound returned.
The wind rushed back.
The ball dropped.
The car door slammed.
The child laughed again.
The world… resumed.
As if nothing had happened.
Akimo stood still.
Watching.
Listening.
Feeling.
No one noticed.
No one remembered.
Except him.
"…It's starting earlier this time."
He whispered quietly.
Then slowly—
A faint smile appeared on his face.
Not of happiness.
Not of relief.
But of certainty.
"I was right."
His glowing eyes dimmed.
But the darkness behind them remained.
Somewhere—
Far beyond the sky—
Something awakened.
And it had already found him.