Heartbeat: "thump-thump"
"Clang!"
A sword-wielding knight parries the slashing spear of a demon king. He lunges forward, grabbing the demon king's face. "Blam!" A white beam of light erupts from his hand, slamming into the demon king's skull.
"Graaaaaa!"
The demon king stumbles back, clutching his face in agony from the laser-like holy strike.
"Damn you! Die!" the demon king screams, spinning his spear before thrusting it toward the knight.
The knight dodges the thrust with ease, but the demon king unleashes shadow-binding magic from his hands to snare the knight's feet. The knight falls, but immediately rolls away as the demon king tries to impale him. Springing back up, the knight charges again with ferocity. A brutal close-quarters struggle between sword and spear becomes inevitable.
Three figures stand behind them, watching the fierce battle. Their faces remain flat and expressionless. When the knight and the demon king finally break away to catch their breath, both are panting, their bodies covered in wounds. Yet, they glare at each other with piercing intensity. The demon king—a terrifying figure with a massive frame, black wings, curved horns, and glowing red eyes—reassumes his combat stance.
Meanwhile, the knight removes his helmet, revealing a handsome face. He also takes his stance, raising his sword to the side and gripping it with both hands, ready to strike.
"Let's settle this with our final move," the knight says.
"Yes, let's end everything today," the demon king replies.
Powerful energy auras and blinding light erupt from both of them. The three people behind them shield their eyes with their arms. The knight is shrouded in a multi-colored white aura, signifying the union of the elements with Holy and Void. The demon king is engulfed in a red and black aura representing the fires of hell. The blades of their weapons glow, radiating light that matches their respective energies.
"Yaaaaaaaah!"
They both scream and charge. The collision of sword and spear creates a massive explosion that levels the surroundings. The three onlookers unleash their own auras just to avoid being blown away by the massive shockwave, despite their own shouting. Finally, after the clash, "Thud." Both combatants collapse to their knees, powerless and mortally wounded. The knight props himself up with his sword, fresh blood spilling from his mouth onto his armor. The demon king supports himself with a broken spear, his face a mess and blood dripping from his maw.
Both are gasping for air, proving they were perfectly matched. Suddenly, the three onlookers—dressed as a greatsword warrior, a mage, and a nun—dash forward. They swarm the defenseless demon king and slaughter him. Seeing this, the knight feels a sense of relief that his companions finished the job. "Clang." He finally collapses face-down on the dirt, dropping his sword. He watches as the warrior pulls his blade from the demon king's lifeless body.
The three then approach the knight. Naturally, the knight lifts his head to welcome his friends, but the smile fades from his face. He sees them staring down at him with cold, dead eyes. Suddenly, the warrior flashes a sinister grin and raises his sword. "Squeltch." He plunges the massive blade straight through the helpless knight's body.
"Gah... wh... what are you doing, Jared?" the knight asks, coughing up fresh blood.
The warrior doesn't answer. Instead, he steps forward and stomps hard on the knight's body, right next to the sword.
"Ugh... aaaaaaa!" the knight screams in pain.
"Hahaha, thanks for taking down the demon king for the three of us," the warrior says, grinding his foot into the knight's back.
"Argh... why... what did I do wrong?" the knight cries out.
A stunningly beautiful princess dressed as a healing nun, blonde and alluring, approaches him. She kneels and looks at the knight's face as he grimaces in agony. Her expression seems sad, causing the knight to look at her with tenderness. But just as he tries to speak, the princess plunges a knife into his eye and rips the eyeball out.
"Aaaaaah!" the knight shrieks.
"Wow, who told you to look at me like that? I know you love me, and I love you too, but unfortunately, I love him more. Besides, I'm following orders from the King... my father. Once you won, I had to kill you, hehehe." The princess stands up and hooks her arm around the warrior, who is still stepping on the knight's back.
The two share a kiss while playing with the eyeball still stuck on the knife. The knight weeps at the sight. The pain in his heart from the betrayal is so sharp that he can no longer feel the agony in his body. The princess he considered his lover actually had her own mission to eliminate him once the demon king who terrorized the kingdom was dead. A female mage steps forward and immediately incinerates both of the knight's arms. He can't even scream anymore.
The knight remains silent, staring at everything with a sharp gaze through his one remaining eye. The mage laughs, spinning around with joy at the hero's expression.
"Take that! I've wanted to do this for a long time. If you're wondering why, it's because I want the vast riches to restore my noble status, hahahaha! Come on, he's basically dead. Let's take all the treasure in this demon palace," the mage shouts as she walks away.
"Hold on, let me make sure he's dead." The warrior pulls his sword from the knight's back, then drives it into the nape of his neck before pulling it back out.
The knight immediately vomits blood. He can no longer move or speak; he can only hear the voices of those he once called friends. In his soul, he curses them all, wanting to demand vengeance for their deeds, but he is powerless. The three of them simply walk away, leaving the knight alone. The knight can only seethe and weep as he waits for the end. The pain has faded into a deep, chilling cold. Then, everything goes dark.
Heartbeat: "thump-thump"
***
"Huh!"
Rex snaps his eyes open. He sees the ceiling of his host club, bright and beautiful, but he immediately shuts his eyes again because blood is trickling into them. He raises a hand to wipe it away and looks at his palm. It's true—he had just been shot. He is lying on his back beneath a sofa, with an overturned table beside him.
"Wait... I'm back? After living a whole life in that world... I'm back here? Right at the moment I died... before I was transported there? Aaaaaah... this sucks. Betrayed in every world... bastards... why did I come back instead of just staying dead... whyyyyy!" Rex screams inside his head, covering his eyes with his arms.
His mind is racing. Memories of two different lives are overlapping in his head so intensely that he can no longer tell the timeline apart. It feels like two separate consciousnesses are running at once. But after a few moments of grieving, he notices something strange. His surroundings are deathly silent. The club should be crowded; there should be music playing. He opens his eyes and realizes there is a massive hole in the ceiling, letting in bright sunlight. Around the edges of the hole, vines and thick roots are snaking into the room. He turns to look around. When he sits up and looks toward the sofa, he is horrified to see a female skeleton still clutching a pistol.
"Whoaaah!"
Startled, he scrambles back and stands up. He thumps his chest, his heart hammering against his ribs. Once he calms down, he realizes with a shock that the skeleton is wearing the same clothes Miranda wore in his memory. He looks around and sees that the entire room is filled with skeletons—the guests and the male hosts he remembered.
"Huh... what happened?" he wonders, confused.
Slowly, avoiding the obstacles in his path, he makes his way toward the exit. The door is covered in vines and looks like it hasn't been opened in ages. With all his strength, he struggles to push it open. Once he manages to shove his way out, his eyes widen and his jaw drops. Stretched out before him is a vast wilderness—a jungle that has swallowed the metropolitan city where he used to live. What was supposed to be the second floor is now level with the ground.
"What the hell is this?" Rex mutters inside his head.