Chapter 163 — The King Who Stayed
Shoyo stopped running.
Rick took three more steps before realizing he was alone.
"Shoyo!"
Shoyo stood in the middle of the ruined street.
Behind them, the underground city continued to collapse.
Ahead—
darkness.
The former king had stayed behind.
Rick turned back toward Shoyo.
"What are you doing?"
Shoyo looked over his shoulder.
"We're going back."
Rick stared at him.
"Of course we are."
Shoyo looked at him.
Rick sighed.
"I knew you were going to say that."
Another roar shook the city.
Dust fell from the buildings.
Rick tightened his grip on his weapon.
"Just so we're clear, I think this is a terrible idea."
Shoyo began running.
Rick followed.
"Still coming."
"I noticed!"
They ran back toward the ancient structure.
The farther they went—
the more destroyed the city became.
Stone buildings had collapsed.
Bridges had fallen.
Entire streets had split apart.
Then they heard it.
A roar.
Not from the darkness.
A man.
The former king.
Shoyo increased his speed.
Rick moved beside him.
"What exactly are we fighting?"
Shoyo didn't answer.
"Great."
They reached the entrance.
The massive doorway had been torn apart.
The ancient darkness poured from within.
Rick stopped.
Shoyo didn't.
"Shoyo!"
He entered.
Rick cursed and followed.
The chamber had become a battlefield.
The ancient machine in the center was broken open.
Cables hung from the walls.
Stone had collapsed across the floor.
The former king stood in the middle.
Barely.
Blood covered his body.
His weapon was broken.
Across from him—
the darkness moved.
Not a single creature.
Not a body.
A mass.
Shoyo's face hardened.
Rick whispered:
"What is that?"
The former king looked toward them.
His expression immediately changed.
"You came back."
Shoyo stepped forward.
"You told us to survive."
The former king laughed once.
"Apparently I gave you poor advice."
The darkness moved.
A shape formed.
Then disappeared.
Rick raised his weapon.
"What is it?"
The former king looked at him.
"I don't know."
Rick stared.
"You were literally king here."
"I never understood it."
Shoyo looked toward the machine.
"What did you mean?"
The former king frowned.
"When?"
"You said the machine remembered me."
The former king's face changed.
Before he could answer—
the darkness attacked.
Shoyo moved.
Rick fired.
The attack passed through empty darkness.
Then something struck Rick.
He was thrown into the wall.
"RICK!"
Shoyo charged.
The darkness formed a claw.
Shoyo blocked.
The impact sent him sliding backward.
The former king moved.
His broken weapon struck the dark mass.
The chamber shook.
The darkness pulled back.
Shoyo looked at him.
"You can hurt it?"
The former king looked down at his weapon.
"For a few seconds."
The darkness roared.
Rick pushed himself up.
"I'd appreciate more than a few seconds."
Shoyo moved beside him.
The former king stood in front of them.
For a moment—
the three stood together.
The former king spoke without looking back.
"You need to destroy the machine."
Shoyo looked at him.
"What?"
The former king pointed.
"That is where it is coming from."
Rick stared.
"Then why didn't you destroy it?"
The former king laughed bitterly.
"Because I thought it was protecting us."
The darkness attacked.
They moved.
Shoyo and Rick split apart.
The former king ran toward the darkness.
Shoyo headed for the machine.
Rick followed.
"What do we do?"
"Break it."
"That's your plan?"
Shoyo looked at him.
"Yes."
Rick nodded.
"Fair."
The machine pulsed.
Shoyo stopped.
His head snapped upward.
The voice returned.
SHOYO.
Rick grabbed his shoulder.
"Don't listen."
Shoyo looked at him.
The voice spoke again.
YOU CAME BACK.
Shoyo grabbed his head.
A memory entered him.
A battlefield.
The city alive.
People running.
A younger Shoyo—
No.
Not him.
Someone else.
The machine.
A person standing before it.
Shoyo couldn't see their face.
But they were speaking.
A name.
Shoyo's name.
Shoyo fell to one knee.
Rick immediately moved in front of him.
"HEY!"
The darkness turned toward them.
Rick raised his weapon.
"Whatever this is, leave him alone!"
The former king looked toward them.
His face changed.
"Rick!"
The darkness attacked.
Rick fired.
Nothing.
The claw came down.
Shoyo moved.
His body struck Rick aside.
The attack hit Shoyo.
He was thrown across the chamber.
"SHOYO!"
Rick ran toward him.
The former king intercepted the darkness.
His weapon shattered completely.
The dark mass wrapped around him.
Rick stopped.
Shoyo pushed himself up.
The former king was lifted into the air.
Shoyo looked at Rick.
Then at the machine.
"Go."
Rick stared.
"What?"
"Destroy it."
"No."
"RICK!"
The former king screamed.
Rick's face hardened.
Then he ran.
Shoyo turned toward the darkness.
He attacked.
The creature's claw came down.
Shoyo moved beneath it.
His weapon struck the mass.
The darkness recoiled.
Shoyo attacked again.
Again.
The former king fell.
Shoyo reached him.
"Can you stand?"
The former king looked at him.
"No."
Shoyo grabbed him.
The darkness moved.
Shoyo pulled him aside.
The claw struck the floor.
The former king looked toward the machine.
"Rick."
Shoyo turned.
Rick was climbing onto the broken structure.
He looked back.
"You better have a plan!"
Shoyo answered:
"Hit it."
Rick stared.
"That is not a plan!"
"RICK!"
"FINE!"
Rick raised his weapon.
The darkness screamed.
The entire chamber shook.
It understood.
The darkness abandoned Shoyo.
It moved toward Rick.
Shoyo's face changed.
"RICK!"
The former king grabbed Shoyo's arm.
"Let me."
Shoyo looked at him.
The former king smiled faintly.
"I'm already dead."
Shoyo's eyes narrowed.
"No."
The former king stood.
Barely.
He stepped between the darkness and Rick.
The mass attacked.
The former king raised his broken weapon.
The darkness pierced him.
Rick froze.
Shoyo screamed.
The former king remained standing.
The darkness had gone through his body.
But he held it.
He looked toward Rick.
"NOW!"
Rick raised his weapon.
Then brought it down.
The machine broke.
The sound was not an explosion.
It was silence.
The machine stopped.
Every light disappeared.
The darkness froze.
The former king looked down at the thing inside him.
Then smiled.
The darkness began pulling backward.
Toward the machine.
Shoyo realized.
"Move!"
The former king shook his head.
Shoyo ran toward him.
Rick jumped down.
"SHOYO!"
The former king grabbed Shoyo's shoulder.
Shoyo stopped.
For one second—
the former king looked at him.
Not as a prisoner.
Not as someone being followed.
As a man.
"I wanted to be remembered as a king."
Shoyo stared.
The former king smiled.
"I think I finally understand that wasn't the important part."
The darkness pulled harder.
Shoyo grabbed his arm.
"We can get you out."
The former king shook his head.
"No."
Rick reached them.
"We can try!"
The former king looked at both of them.
"You already did."
The darkness pulled him toward the machine.
Shoyo refused to let go.
The former king's expression hardened.
"SHOYO."
Shoyo stared at him.
The former king smiled.
"Go."
Shoyo's grip weakened.
The former king pulled away.
Then stepped backward.
The darkness consumed him.
The machine pulled everything inward.
Stone.
Dust.
Blackness.
The entire chamber began collapsing.
Rick grabbed Shoyo.
"WE HAVE TO MOVE!"
Shoyo stared at the place where the former king had stood.
Then turned.
They ran.
The chamber collapsed behind them.
Shoyo and Rick barely escaped through the broken doorway.
The city shook.
They ran through falling streets.
Behind them—
the ancient machine disappeared beneath stone.
Then—
everything stopped.
The underground world became silent.
Shoyo and Rick stopped.
Rick bent forward.
Trying to breathe.
Shoyo looked back.
Nothing remained.
Rick looked at him.
"Is he…"
Shoyo didn't answer immediately.
Then:
"Yes."
Rick looked toward the ruins.
Neither spoke.
The former king was gone.
Rick eventually sat down against a wall.
Shoyo remained standing.
The words still remained in his mind.
YOU CAME BACK.
Rick looked up.
"You okay?"
Shoyo looked toward the darkness.
"No."
Rick nodded.
"Same."
Shoyo turned.
"We need to find the others."
Rick stood.
They began walking.
Then Shoyo stopped.
Rick sighed.
"What now?"
Shoyo stared ahead.
The underground city was still.
But somewhere far away—
he could feel something.
Not the ancient darkness.
Something else.
A presence.
Watching.
Shoyo whispered:
"Someone else is here."
Rick raised his weapon.
"Silvet?"
Shoyo didn't answer.
The silence answered for him.
They started walking again.
And somewhere beyond the ruins—
something watched them leave.
The underground world had taken its king.
But it had not finished with Xcution.
End of Chapter 163