“HAH! I FINALLY BEAT YOU, WAIZU! I DID IT! I DID IT!” Waizu stood up in front of me. “Good job, Yuto. I always knew you had it in you eventually. And look at you—you’ve already been able to perform three moves with your element.” “Heh, I know. I’m awesome.” “Don’t get ahead of yourself, kiddo. You still have a long way to go.” I saw a flash of light, and in the blink of an eye, Waizu was on the floor bleeding out. “W-Waizu?” My face fell into pure terror. “Y-Yuto, listen… you need to run. There is only one person with that ability.” “B-but Waizu!” “RUN, YOU MORON! JUST ACTUALLY USE YOUR BRAIN AND THINK FOR ONCE!” “No! I’m not going to run anymore. If you think I’ll just run and lose my town again, you’re wrong. I made a vow. I’m never going to run again. That is my new oath to this rotten world.” “You idiot…” “Now come on, I’ve “W-Waizu? Come on, please… YOU CAN’T BE DEAD! NO! I CAN’T LOSE YOU TOO! PLEASE, WAIZU! PLEASE!” My sobs broke the silence. “Why? Why you too?” I guess that’s the cruel truth… the prey only gets weaker while the hunters feast… Suddenly, a weird sense of got to get you to the infirmary.” And in another flash of light, I was carrying a headless body. calm realization washed over me. That’s right. I can just die. I lifted my hand to my throat and created a sword of light. With one flick of my wrist, the scene shifted back to the void. The girl was standing in front of me. “Please, you have to let me go back! I’m begging you! Please, just send me back!” She lowered her head grimly and sent me back. "The light blade felt colder every time it touched my throat. 20 deaths. 30. My vision was staining red permanently, but every time I opened my eyes, Waizu was still there, cold and still"... “Waizu thank you for everything. Thank you for taking me in when mother and father died. You took care of me even when you were suffering holding back tears when I spoke like mother. In all reality you were more of a father to me then he could ever be. I saw that old bastard smiling when they were knocking on the door.” My face falls into a grim expression. “You were the one who helped me train, fed and took care of me. I know I never told you any of this and it’s already too late but I have a new promise now I will kill no matter who it is if necessary I will avenge you I promise.” Tears run down my face. Suddenly, I saw a man holding a weird-looking bow, aiming it at Waizu’s corpse. “It was you, wasn’t it? You killed him.” His face turned to a smug smirk. “Tell me… why? OUT OF ANYONE IN THIS VILLAGE, WHY DID YOU KILL HIM?” “It was simply orders from my boss. Nothing else. But hell, if he died that easily, maybe it’s good he’s gone.” He laughed. “YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU! I SWEAR!” Rage took control of my actions. I charged up a light beam, but I noticed black and purple particles forming as well. Huh? What is this? The pressure of the spell built up so much in my hand that I released it toward him. “T-There’s no way! The only way this can happen is if… if you have the ring!” “SHUT THE HELL UP! Your voice annoys me anyway.” The spell blew up when it touched him, causing his arm to be blown off. “GAH! MY ARM! YOU LITTLE SHIT!” In a flash of light, I appeared right in front of him and grabbed him by the collar. “Die already, you insolent fool.” I used the light sword, which was now a mix of shadows. “You know, I’m pretty weak. I thought this would be harder.” I immediately cut his other arm off. “Death is too good for scum like you. I’m going to make this as painful as possible.” I stabbed the sword into his stomach seven times and then finally cut his head off. Suddenly, the rage disappeared along with the shadows. It was replaced with a skull-splitting headache. “Whoa… I’m really dizzy.” I passed out.I don’t know for how long, but when I woke up, Rin and Takada—were sitting next to my bed in the infirmary. “WAIZU!” I shouted as I woke up. Rin and Takada said in unison, “YUTO! You’re up! We thought we lost you.” “Yeah, yeah. Where’s Waizu?” They both looked down at the floor grimly. “So… it wasn’t a dream, then.” “No, it was very real. We found you passed out next to the headless enemy.” “Damn it… that old bastard is really gone. I’ll be right back.” “O-okay. Be safe,” Rin said. I went outside and saw the whole village acting like nothing had happened to Waizu. “Please, bring me back. I don’t want to be here ever again,” I whispered. The scene shifted to the void. “Hey…” “Yuto, I’m so sorry for your—” “It’s fine. Can I just stay here with you for a bit?” “Of course. Come here.” I walked to her slowly, fell into her arms, and started crying. No words came out, yet I felt like I was saying so much at the same time. “Shhh, it’s okay. You don't have to worry anymore,” she said, holding me tight. “May I also ask for your name?” “Yurei Kurayami. But you can just call me Yurei.” She held on tighter and stroked my hair. “That’s… a nice name.” I found a calm sensation through the broken madness as I drifted off to sleep.

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