Upon hearing an explosion in the distance within the city, Shizu and his companions were startled. Anin immediately took a defensive stance and asked the group:
— That was an attack! I think we should go investigate right now, Shizu.
Shizu remained still, not moving at all. With a suspicious look, he narrowed his eyes and thought:
"That explosion... didn't happen in the previous loops..."
Shizu took a few steps forward while observing his surroundings. Then he spotted a large clock tower in the city and proposed:
— Sterfen, I have a favor to ask of you. Let's take down this assassin intelligently.
Sterfen looked at Shizu with a doubtful expression. He walked closer to him, also looking at the clock tower, and asked:
— What do you want me to do?
Meanwhile, Detrin was running between houses and alleys with visible injuries on his head and arms. His clothes were torn apart. As he ran while holding his blue straw hat, he kept asking himself:
— Why?! Why?? Whyyyyyy???
A yellow stone vibrated in Detrin's hand.
He understood immediately and ducked.
In the distance, a chain was launched with enough force to pierce him, but Detrin managed to avoid it by lowering himself.
He quickly got back up and ran toward the city while shouting:
— WHAT IS A WORLD ASSASSIN DOING HERE???!!!
Far away, amidst the dust that was slowly fading away, the silhouette of the man with chains around his neck and a deadly smile spoke:
— Brutal... hahaha...
Shizu ran through the city's alleys while Anin moved across the rooftops.
She observed the destruction spreading throughout the city and warned:
— This way!
She jumped onto another house to the right, and Shizu followed her from the ground.
Inside the castle, where preparations for the coronation were taking place, Napolix sat upon his massive throne when he was approached by several guards.
— Your Majesty! We are under attack! The citizens are being evacuated from the kingdom to a safer location. We ask that you—
— Are you asking me to flee to a safe place as well?
The king's aura increased exponentially, his enormous tail adorned with golden rings swaying throughout the throne room.
The guards immediately fell to their knees, unable to withstand such overwhelming pressure.
One of them decided to tell the truth.
— It's just that, sir...
— The enemy is...
The king's eyes opened completely.
He immediately understood the fear that had accumulated within the hearts of his people.
— The enemy is a World Assassin, one of the same men who tried to defeat Izius Babadar four hundred years ago. A user of Chain Martial Arts—
The king stood up from his throne and completed the sentence with a serious expression:
— Fontaine Dularcio. Is that correct?
— Y-YES, SIR!
Another guard with tiger-like features stood up and pleaded:
— Your Majesty, please do not fight him! Everyone knows what that man is capable of! Please, go somewhere safe!
Napolix walked toward the gates of the hall and asked:
— Are you telling the future king of Dealgran to run away from an enemy? Pathetic.
The guard desperately stepped forward and immediately replied:
— BUT SIR, EVERYONE IN THE WORLD KNOWS HIM! HE IS CALLED INVINCIBLE EVEN BY THE WESTERN POWERS! AFTER ALL, HE WAS THE ONE—
— HE WAS THE ONE WHO TOOK BABADAR'S ATTACK THAT SPLIT THE THREE CONTINENTS AND WALKED AWAY UNHARMED! PLEASE DON'T FIGHT—
A fast strike crossed the hall.
The entire wall of the throne room was destroyed by a devastating slash that clipped part of the feral guard's helmet.
The guard froze in terror.
Napolix had attacked with his tail.
He pulled it back and replied with an icy stare:
— In this kingdom...
— The only invincible one here...
— IS ME!
His aura exploded.
The castle's beams shattered, and every nearby guard collapsed under the overwhelming pressure.
The king then commanded:
— Take everyone to a safe location. I will personally deal with the evil that continues to destroy my kingdom.
— Y-Yes, sir...
The king opened the massive gates and headed toward the city.
Shizu continued running while following Anin through every corner of the city.
Eventually, Anin stopped and stared toward the roof of a large house.
Shizu noticed and looked in the same direction.
There he was.
The one they had been searching for all this time.
Shizu narrowed his eyes with anger and said:
— Looks like you finally realized you were being hunted, didn't you?
The Man of Chains stood atop that rooftop.
As dark clouds gathered overhead, signaling incoming rain, the wind revealed the face of the man.
He had a massive scar on the left side of his face, crimson eyes, pale skin, and spiked chains wrapped around his neck.
— And who said I was being hunted? After all, you've only done exactly what I wanted from the very beginning...
Shizu didn't understand what the man meant.
Anin then completed the thought:
— You used Detrin to lure us here. When the first explosion failed as bait, you caused three more so we wouldn't lose your trail. Right?
The Man of Chains smiled and answered without denying it:
— Exactly.
Taking an attack stance, Anin asked with a serious and furious look:
— So then...
— Who are you?
The man smiled and raised his right hand, pointing his index finger toward the sky.
His eyes gleamed with murderous intent as he answered:
— My name is Fontaine Dularcio. I am the nineteenth World Assassin in the World Assassin Rankings.
— Fontaine, the Invincible.
Anin took a deep breath and slid one foot backward, leaning forward.
She exhaled.
Then, at an abnormal speed, she charged toward Fontaine.
Fontaine smiled and pulled one of his chains into his hand.
He blocked Anin's blade the instant before it struck him.
The impact shattered every window around the surrounding houses.
Looking at Anin up close, Fontaine asked:
— You're brave, but that's unfortunate because...
Fontaine swung his arm downward, throwing Anin off balance.
With a swift movement, he delivered a powerful punch to her stomach.
Anin was launched into the air, coughing up blood as Fontaine smiled and said:
— I'm not stupid like Babadar...
— RESERVA!
Shizu summons his shadow, and it rushes toward Fontaine, who throws Anin away and charges at the shadow without showing the slightest bit of mercy.
— A necromantic shadow?? Ah, it's been so long since I've fought a contract user!
The shadow launches an attack toward the man's face, but he dodges with ease and drives a punch into the shadow's ribs. The two engage in close combat on the rooftop. Fontaine overwhelms the shadow, wearing a smile on his face. The shadow tries everything and attempts a sweep to make Fontaine fall from the roof, but the man disappears and reappears beside it, delivering a direct kick that sends it flying with tremendous force, destroying nearby houses before vanishing again.
Fontaine looks at Shizu with a serious expression and says:
— Your shadow is pretty weak, huh... though I kind of understand why...
He turns toward Shizu and speaks with a grin on his face and a murderous look in his eyes:
— Contracted necromantic shadows reflect their master—
— MALEVOLENT SLASH!
Fontaine immediately turns around, his eyes gleaming, and strikes with his chains. Anin reappears beside him on the rooftop and rushes forward. Catching him off guard, Fontaine smiles and stomps heavily on the roof, pulling his chain with force and making it return instantly. Anin jumps at the last moment; the attack completely destroys the house.
Anin lands on a nearby rooftop, but Fontaine is already there behind her with an attack prepared. He unleashes a strike that would cut her in half.
— A world-class assassin is never caught off guard!
Anin leaps at the instant of the attack and ends up behind the man, charging at him with everything she has. But he smiles and pulls the chain once more, this time toward her, before saying:
— Die...
Shizu sees that and immediately remembers the loop in which Anin was destroyed by that very same attack. Then he shouts:
— NOW, STERFEN!
Sterfen, who was standing at the top of the city's clock tower, jumps toward the clock itself and, at that same instant, leans forward and uses a powerful leap to propel himself from the tower, completely shattering the glass panes, but with enough speed to cross the entire city like a beam of light.
At the exact moment the attack is about to hit Anin, Fontaine senses imminent danger and, within a millisecond, yanks his chain backward with all his strength using his left arm.
Moving at an absurd speed, Sterfen collides with the chains, causing a massive impact that destroys several houses around them. Pieces of the chains begin to scatter across the ground. Sterfen had pierced through the chain attack and was now standing directly in front of Anin, his sword raised in a piercing strike.
A few seconds pass.
Sterfen coughs up blood and lets his sword fall.
Anin sees it and panics.
— Sterfen?? What happened?!
Shizu doesn't understand what just happened, because with his own eyes he saw Fontaine get pierced by Sterfen.
— Wait... but that's impossible...
Fontaine laughs and looks at the two standing on the rooftop, and everyone witnesses that horrifying sight.
Fontaine had lost his cloak, but his body was completely unharmed even after taking an attack at the speed of light.
Anin cannot understand it and immediately asks:
— But... how is this possible...
The man approaches the two and answers with a grin and a terrifying gaze:
— It's possible because...
— I am invincible.
Sterfen grabs Anin's arm, and she looks at him.
At that moment, his expression becomes one of complete despair.
Sterfen, who had always been so confident in his swordsmanship, says:
— Anin... We're not going to win...
She recognizes that look.
Her master suddenly floods her memories, along with the memory of his final words:
— "I'm not going... to win."
She immediately stands up and shouts at Shizu:
— SHIZU, RUN NOW!
— What?!
Fontaine laughs and rushes toward the boy at full speed. Anin follows him and attacks. Fontaine laughs and yells at her:
— WHAT'S WRONG? GOING TO SAVE THAT WEAK BOY?! THEN DIE WITH HIM!
Anin is struck by a powerful attack that sends her flying far away.
Shizu brings his hands to his mouth, forming a cross as he calls forth the shadow once again.
— Reserve!
The shadow reappears and charges forward.
Fontaine dodges its punch and grabs the shadow by the head. Then, with absurd speed, he throws a punch that instantly disintegrates the shadow's head.
Shizu stares in disbelief.
But there is no time for that.
Fontaine charges straight at Shizu, who cannot dodge the attack.
At the very last moment, Sterfen appears like a flash of light and shouts:
— ONE THOUSAND AND TWELVE SLASHES!
The man laughs and begins blocking every strike as if they were nothing.
Then he unleashes an attack that would kill Sterfen instantly.
As the blow approaches his face, Shizu shouts once again:
— RESERVE!
The shadow rises once more and lands a hit directly on Fontaine's face.
He doesn't move back even a single centimeter.
He simply looks at the shadow and says:
— You know... I'm already tired of you... you know that?...
He pulls his chain and stomps heavily, hurling it toward the shadow. The chains wrap around its entire body, binding it completely.
Then Fontaine speaks one final time:
— STOP GETTING IN MY WAY!
He pulls on the chains with force, causing the shadow to shatter into countless pieces. Shizu and Sterfen watch the scene unfold, and Sterfen is horrified. He charges at the man with overwhelming rage, delivering fast and fluid strikes.
The man of chains dodges every attack with ease and asks:
— Do you really think slow attacks like these could hit me?...
Sterfen becomes even angrier and continues attacking over and over again. Fontaine looks disappointed and, with extreme skill, drives his elbow into Sterfen's back.
Sterfen immediately crashes to the ground in excruciating pain.
Fontaine steps on Sterfen's head and looks at Shizu with a deadly gaze before asking:
— It's sad, isn't it?... Being so pathetic that you have to rely on others just to survive...
Shizu clenches his teeth and crosses his fingers once again.
Sterfen immediately shouts:
— NO, SHIZU!
— RESERVA!
The shadow emerges once again and rushes toward the man. He becomes irritated and disappointed before speaking:
— I already told you...
He disappears and reappears directly in front of the shadow, a manic look in his eyes and an unprecedented rage on his face.
With a single swift strike, he punches the shadow.
But with that same punch, he uses the momentum to pierce straight through both the shadow and Shizu at once.
Shizu is lifted off the ground instantly, impaled by the attack, coughing up blood in slow motion as the man says:
— I already told you to stop using that weak shadow, you pathetic little thing...
— SHIZUUU!!
Sterfen screams as he watches his friend die before his eyes.
Shizu's vision darkens.
Then he thinks:
— "Ah... I've gone back again. It's all going to start over from that same place... This time I'll do everything differently and—"
— NO, SHIZU!
Shizu wakes up instantly and sees the shadow rushing toward Fontaine.
He doesn't understand and immediately says:
— The return point changed—
— STOP GETTING IN MY WAY!
Once again, Fontaine pierces through both the shadow and Shizu with that attack.
Shizu wakes up once more within that same loop, taking a deep breath and looking around.
Then he hears it again:
— NO, SHIZU!
He looks forward once more.
And sees his end once again.
— STOP GETTING IN MY WAY!
As Shizu is pierced for the third time, he thinks:
— "What... is happening..."
Once again he wakes up and throws himself to the right with all his strength.
At that exact moment, Fontaine pierces through the shadow and drives his arm into a wall, passing through it like a needle.
Shizu falls to the ground in despair, staring at Fontaine.
Fontaine stares back and asks:
— How did you dodge that?...
Shizu doesn't answer.
He is terrified.
Then, suddenly, his head explodes.
With a swift attack, Fontaine completely destroys Shizu's face with his chains.
Sterfen screams:
— SHIZUU!!
Once again Shizu wakes up in panic.
But at that exact moment he remembers the attack.
And it is already too late.
— NO, SHIZU!
Once again, Fontaine pierces through his chest along with his shadow.
Then he asks himself once more:
— "Why..."
He wakes up once again and dodges the attack.
And immediately afterward, he dies.
Shizu wakes up again to Sterfen's familiar scream:
— NO, SHIZU!
And he dies once more.
— "Why..."
— NO, SHIZU!
A cycle of death is born there.
With every return through time, Shizu could only ask himself:
— "Why..."
— "Why..."
— "Why. Why. Why. Why..."
— WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME??!!
Once again, Fontaine pierces through Shizu.
Shizu wakes up once more in despair.
He falls to the ground.
He had returned to a point only moments before making the hand sign.
He grabs his head and begins asking himself as Fontaine watches him with disgust and contempt:
— Why, why, why, why, why...
The man of chains steps off Sterfen and begins walking toward the boy.
Then he says:
— I hate trash like you...
Shizu looks up, tears streaming down his face, and screams:
— Ha... HAAAAAA!
— FRONTAL SLASH!
A black slash flew toward Fontaine.
He blocked it instantly and hurled his chains toward Anin, who ran at him while dodging every attack.
She jumped onto a house, landed, and even kicked a stone to alter the trajectory of the chains.
She got close enough.
Fontaine decided to unleash a strike that would cut her in half.
She leaped high into the air and shouted:
— ULTRA BARRAGE!
Countless powerful black slashes rained down from the sky toward the Man of Chains.
He laughed and pulled his chains close to himself.
The chains rapidly expanded and he shouted with a manic grin:
— BRUTALLL!
He swung the chains with absurd speed and precision, destroying every slash in midair before they could even reach him.
Anin reappeared at his side.
With a serious expression and slowly releasing her breath, she charged at him with everything she had, using bursts of speed and cutting strikes.
Fontaine smiled and followed her movements.
Every strike perfectly timed for defense.
At one point, he simply leaned to the side and asked:
— DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN SAVE HIM WHILE FIGHTING ME?!
He launched a powerful attack toward Shizu, who was frozen on the ground in fear.
At the last moment—
— MALEVOLENT SLASH!
Anin's slash intercepted the attack, destroying the house beside Shizu.
He crouched down and curled up in fear, covering his head with his hands.
The Man of Chains burst into loud laughter.
— AHAHAHAHAH! THIS PATHETIC GUY IS THE ONE YOU WANT TO SAVE?! ANINNN!!
He rushed toward Anin.
She used her black slash to propel herself upward.
— I'll use the same tactic I used against Babadar to maintain equal speed between us and—
— You don't actually think that little trick is going to work on me, do you?...
Anin glanced to the side for a moment.
Fontaine was already above her.
With chains wrapped around his fist, he threw a punch that sent her crashing into the roof of a house, completely destroying it.
He looked toward Shizu and immediately charged at him.
With his left arm, he attempted to strike using the chains in his hand.
At the last moment, Sterfen intervened with his sword, redirecting the attack upward.
Fontaine did not like that at all.
He spoke angrily:
— STOP GETTING IN MY—
He grabbed Sterfen by the neck with his right hand and slammed him into the wall of a nearby house.
Sterfen coughed up blood.
The entire wall collapsed instantly.
Shizu screamed and began running for his life.
The man saw that and launched a chain attack.
At that exact moment—
— MALEVOLENT SLASH!
Anin's black slash interrupted the attack and she shouted:
— RUN, SHIZU!
Fontaine looked at her with fury and roared:
— YOU BITCH!
Fontaine chased after Shizu at full speed.
Shizu looked back and saw the man already behind him, ready to pierce him with his hand.
Then, at the last second, a carriage appeared and slammed into Fontaine, sending him flying toward a nearby house.
The horses neighed loudly, raising their front legs.
Detrin, who was controlling the carriage, immediately stretched out his hand toward Shizu and shouted:
— COME ON! QUICK, TAKE MY HAND!
Shizu quickly climbed onto the carriage.
Detrin cracked the whip with all his strength.
The four horses sprinted at full speed.
Fontaine stood up and shouted:
— Do you really think you're going to escape?!
He launched a chain attack toward the carriage.
Sterfen immediately intercepted it.
Standing in the middle of the road beside Anin, both bleeding and injured, he declared:
— From here...
— You shall not pass.
— You doubt me?...
Fontaine asked while walking toward them with a smile and murderous eyes shining brightly, his chains dragging across the ground.
Anin and Sterfen also advanced toward their enemy.
Anin spoke:
— This is going to be a difficult fight, but...
— This man is not getting past us!
The Man of Chains enlarged his chains and launched an attack toward them.
Both dodged and charged forward.
Then the man shouted:
— BRUTALLL!
The horses raced through the city, neighing wildly.
Detrin lashed the whip desperately while the carriage shook violently over holes and rocks.
— Go, go, gooo, damn it!!!
The carriage passed through crowds of people running for their lives.
Shizu sat beside Detrin.
Detrin was desperate.
Shizu kept thinking:
— It wasn't supposed to be like this... it wasn't... it can't be...
Detrin kept cracking the whip harder and harder.
— There's nothing we can do, Shizu! We can't defeat him! He's Fontaine the Invincible!
— SHUT UP, DAMN IT! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!
Shizu lunged at Detrin and tried to seize control of the carriage.
Detrin shouted back as the carriage scraped against houses and walls, tearing apart its sides.
— THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO, SHIZU! OF COURSE I UNDERSTAND! BUT IF WE STAY, WE'LL DIE! LET'S MAKE USE OF THEIR SACRIFICE AND—
— NO, DAMN IT! LET'S GO BACK! WE'LL THINK OF SOMETHING! I'LL DO SOMETHING! I KNOW I WILL! I! I! I...
Detrin punched Shizu.
He fell onto the carriage, nearly falling out.
Then Detrin shouted:
— I KNOW YOU FEEL USELESS, BUT THAT'S REALITY! YOU'RE USELESS AND SO AM I! THE WEAK USE EVERY MEANS AVAILABLE TO SURVIVE! SO SHUT UP AND LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!
Shizu lay there on the carriage, defeated, with emotions as shuffled as a deck of cards.
Then he spoke while grabbing a piece of wood from the carriage:
— I... I... WON'T LET IT HAPPEN!
Shizu smashed the piece of wood against Detrin's head, leaving him dazed.
Then Shizu kicked him out of the carriage.
Detrin fell, and the carriage ran over his head.
Shizu took control of the carriage with a desperate smile on his face while repeating:
— I... I... I'LL FIND A WAY... A WAY... I'LL FIND A WAY!
The carriage was approaching the gates, where countless people were trying to leave.
A feral guard saw the carriage coming completely out of control while Shizu shouted:
— GET OUT OF THE WAY NOWWWW!!!
Everyone immediately moved aside.
But some couldn't.
And the carriage ran over them.
As Shizu headed toward a different road than before, he kept repeating:
— I WILL... I WILL... I WILL SUCCEED... AHAHAHA... I WILL SUCCEED! I WILL SUCCEED! I WILL!
Already a considerable distance away from the kingdom, Shizu looked back and saw several white flashes in the sky.
Without any time to react, enormous chains struck the carriage, completely destroying it.
A few seconds later, as dust rose into the air, Shizu struggled to his feet, breathing heavily while looking around and seeing the dead horses.
Then he noticed one horse still alive, trapped in the wreckage.
He freed it, climbed onto its back, and rode toward what appeared to be snow.
— HAHAHA... HAHAHA... HAHAHAHAHA!
Standing atop the highest point of the kingdom wall, Fontaine watched and chuckled.
— With his luck...
— he'll probably come back from there.
— From the White Hell...
Suddenly, an orange aura exploded in the middle of the city.
An aura so powerful that every feral immediately dropped to their knees.
And along with it came a mighty roar:
— FONTAINEEEEE!
Fontaine laughed and began walking.
— Looks like the little mouse is calling me...
— Well...
— when Shizu comes back...
— everything will be prepared for him... hahaha...
As the horse ran through the endless snow, Shizu kicked it hard again and again to make it run faster.
— GO, GO, GO!!
— NIHIHIHIHI!!
The horse suddenly reared up and threw Shizu off.
Immediately afterward, it kicked him in the chest, knocking all the air out of him.
The horse quickly ran away.
Still unable to breathe properly, Shizu complained:
— You... are gonna... pay for that...
But once the horse was far enough away, half of its body was sliced apart.
It fell to the ground dead.
Shizu immediately panicked in the middle of the snow and began running desperately.
— AH... AH... NO... NO... WHAT WAS THAT?! HELP!!!
Suddenly, something came flying toward him with the intent of decapitating him.
He looked back and thought he was about to die right there.
But at the last instant, the Necromantic Shadow saved him.
A blue goblin clad in ice armor stood there.
Its ice axe was being held back by the shadow.
The goblin immediately said something:
— Uegbsua!
The goblin stepped on the shadow's face and threw itself backward, releasing the axe.
Once on the ground, it created another axe using ice magic and charged at the boy once again.
But the shadow protected him and thrust its arm straight through the goblin's body.
Shizu began laughing even while in despair.
— THAT... THAT... PROTECTS ME...
— HEY SHADOW, PROTECT ME...
Suddenly, amid that snowstorm, sounds echoed from every direction.
Shizu looked around.
He was surrounded.
From above, countless goblins and bears with bird legs and clawed wings could be seen.
All of them were blue.
Shizu panicked and screamed:
— AHHHH... AHHHHH!!! RESERVA!
The moment one of the bears charged at him, the shadow reappeared where Shizu had directed it and killed the creature with a single strike.
A smile spread across Shizu's face.
Soon he began grinning madly while pointing in various directions and repeating:
— RESERVA...
— RESERVE...
He kept looking around.
Smiling wider and wider.
And all he did was scream:
— YES... YES, YES!!
— DIE! DIE, ALL OF YOU! AHAHAHAHA!
— RESERVA! RESERVA! RESERVA! RESERVA!
The snow began to turn red.
Shizu himself became drenched in the blood of those creatures while continuing to scream endlessly with a smile on his face:
— RESERVA! RESERVA! RESERVA! RESERVAAAA!!
The shadow appeared and reappeared wherever he pointed.
Then suddenly, from beneath the snow under Shizu's feet, a rabbit wielding an axe leaped upward and severed the boy's arm.
In slow motion, he watched the rabbit rise into the air together with his arm.
Blood stained its white fur and blue eyes.
The shadow reappeared beside Shizu and killed the rabbit before it could even touch the ground.
Shizu curled up on the snow and screamed in unbearable pain:
— AHHHHHHHHH!! AGHHH!! AHHHHHH!
— MY ARM!!!
— AHHHHH!!
The monsters kept appearing endlessly.
One after another.
Looking at everything with their blue eyes and expressionless faces.
No hatred.
No bloodlust.
Only the instinct to kill.
Still on the ground, Shizu screamed in agony while the shadow slaughtered every creature that jumped toward him at absurd speed.
All that could be seen were monsters exploding.
Shizu soon began repeating out loud:
— I DON'T WANT TO DIE!
— DYING HURTS!
— I DON'T WANT TO DIE!
— DYING HURTS!
— I DON'T WANT TO DIE!
— DYING HURTS!
— I! I! I! I...
The shadow decided to place Shizu on its shoulders and ran in the opposite direction with all its strength.
The monsters pursued them no matter how far they went.
Rabbits burst out from the snow and tried at all costs to kill Shizu.
The shadow dodged and killed each one with a kick.
Shizu, watching the shadow's back without the strength to speak, could only stare at the monsters coming after them like an army.
Then something fell near them.
Both crashed to the ground.
A flying bear landed on top of Shizu and immediately tried to kill him.
Shizu could only scream:
— RESERVAAAAA!
The shadow reappeared and completely destroyed the bear.
Then Shizu stood up.
He remained standing there before the countless monsters approaching.
He simply stared at the ground and at the surroundings.
Watching his shadow kill them one by one.
Then he started laughing again and shouted:
— IF I CAN'T GET OUT OF HERE... THEN I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU WITH ME!!!!
— RESERVAAAA!
— RESERVA!
— RESERVA!
The monsters died one after another.
After some time, the monsters stopped appearing.
Then Shizu felt every hair on his body stand on end.
Right behind him stood a gigantic goblin.
It wore the skin of a massive bear, possessed an arm made of ice, and carried an enormous axe.
Its face roared ferociously while a gigantic blue aura surrounded its body.
Still laughing, Shizu looked back at it with a murderous gaze.
The shadow stood behind him.
He picked up a stone from the ground, tossed it into the air, and pointed at the giant goblin with empty, lifeless eyes.
Before the stone touched the ground, he said:
— Die...
The stone fell.
The goblin let out a ferocious roar and charged forward at a speed completely disproportionate to its size.
And Shizu, still pointing his finger, simply said:
— Reserva.
Moments later, the boy walked through the reddish snow, staring at the ground.
Exhausted.
Without any strength left.
His arm bled, the blood frozen by the cold.
His eyes were empty.
Without a soul.
Without hope.
The absolute emptiness of someone who had just come back from a war.
He took short steps.
He fell to the ground.
And soon stood back up.
After walking a little farther, he raised his head and saw the other side of that hell.
The grass was green again.
There was soil.
Shizu left that deadly place and began wandering aimlessly.
He continued walking for a long time, still looking at the ground.
After some time, he stopped.
When he raised his eyes, he saw the Kingdom of Dealgran before him.
He continued walking with difficulty and entered the city.
His face looked dead.
Rain clouds covered the sky, and the first drops began to fall.
Shizu walked through streets littered with corpses.
He didn't look to either side.
He didn't look at anything.
He entered a street that led directly to the city center.
Along the way, he found Detrin's body.
He looked at it for a few seconds.
And continued walking.
His expression never changed.
It remained neutral.
Tired.
Empty.
The rain grew heavier and heavier.
Red-tinted water flowed through the streets, spreading the paint of death into every corner of that place.
At last, Shizu turned the final street.
And stopped.
Before him stood the city center.
And then he saw it.
Numerous bodies hanging by their heads, forming a gigantic human clothesline made of chains.
Anin and Sterfen were side by side.
Dead.
Nearby stood Napolix, missing both arms, with his enormous tail wrapped around his own neck.
The sound of creaking chains echoed through the square.
Shizu slowly raised his gaze.
Hanging from that same human clothesline, suspended by the neck, was Fontaine.
Mimicking the position of the corpses.
Slowly, he turned his head toward Shizu.
Then he smiled.
— Welcome back, Shizu.
— We've all been waiting for you, you know?
Shizu simply watched.
He said nothing.
He showed nothing.
He only blinked slowly.
Fontaine wasn't smiling anymore.
Not this time.
He simply spoke:
— You know...
— I absolutely hate people like you.
— Know why?
— Because weak useless people like you think everything can be solved through intelligence.
— Using friends.
— Using tricks.
— Using any possible method to survive without possessing strength or abilities of your own.
Fontaine tilted his head to the side.
— Parasitic trash like you are the beings I hate most in this world.
— And that's exactly why I put so much effort into fulfilling my client's request.
A smile appeared on his face.
— Of course...
— I also killed my client.
— So, to me, it doesn't really matter.
Fontaine hurled chains toward Shizu.
Shizu didn't dodge.
He didn't try to run.
He didn't try to fight back.
He simply accepted it.
The chains wrapped around his body and lifted him into the air.
Fontaine pulled him closer.
— How does it feel to be so pathetic that you can't save anyone?
— Not even yourself?
Shizu simply spat in his face.
Fontaine fell silent.
He stared deeply into the boy's eyes.
Then he tightened the chains.
Shizu groaned in pain.
Fontaine asked:
— If you wanted to spit on me, then you should've already known the consequence.
— Do you have any last words?
After being silent for so long, Shizu finally spoke.
Looking up at the sky.
Without expression.
Without emotion.
He simply said:
— I'm going to...
— Kill you.
Fontaine smiled.
A deep smile.
A satisfied smile.
Then he replied:
— I'll be waiting for you eagerly in hell.
The chains contracted.
And Shizu was torn apart into countless pieces.
His blood scattered through the air.
Bathing every corpse hanging in that square.
A single drop landed on Anin's face.
And ran down like a tear.
Everything went dark.
And it seemed like the end.
Then...
A rooster crowed.
Shizu opened his eyes.
He was sitting on his bed.
He remained motionless.
Staring at his own hands.
His face was still empty.
Lifeless.
Expressionless.
Tears slowly fell onto the floor.
Then, after everything that had happened...
He spoke a single sentence:
— I'm going to kill you, Fontaine...