Heaven and earth hiccupped at the same time.
The sound wasn't thunder, nor an explosion, but like someone tossing a rusty iron bucket from the sky, letting it roll down three thousand steps, and finally smashing it into a hollow skull. Dull, grating, and so absurd it almost made one laugh.
—That was the "echo" of the fracture world's destruction.
All the sleeping reapers in the Death Realm were jolted awake. Some stretched lazily, only for their skulls to pop off; others were sipping soul-coffee, only to have the entire cup leak straight through their jaw cracks. Chaos erupted across the Death Realm—under a black sky, hundreds of reapers scattered like startled crows.
"Damn it, who's banging on my door?" one reaper cursed as he picked up his jaw."That's no door," another reaper muttered, ghostly flames flickering in his sockets. "That's the Door of Nothingness. It's finally opening."
Silence fell immediately. The only sound was the squeak of some poor reaper whose pelvis had gotten stuck in a chair.
Meanwhile, Ethan and Karl's fused soul still drifted among the embers of the fractures. The Core of Nothingness had devoured most worlds, leaving only a few rib-like remnants dangling in the void.
Ethan looked up and saw, far away, a colossal shadow of a door forming. It had no frame, no handle, just a crack splitting through the dark—like the mouth of some vast beast. Its lips smacked faintly, as if deciding whether to start with appetizers or head straight to the main course.
"See that? That's the entrance to the Death Realm," Karl said in his mind, voice trembling between excitement and despair. "Either we go in as VIPs, or we stay out here as snacks.""Doesn't sound much different to me," Ethan muttered."There is a difference. In the Death Realm, at least you draw a number and wait a few thousand years before processing. Out here, Nothingness swallows you whole, doesn't even give you time for last words."
As they argued, the fractures completely collapsed. Worlds tore like rags, funneled straight into the Door of Nothingness.
The Death Realm's echo boomed again, louder this time, as if the entire sky had been struck like a drum. Bones rained down from above, landing to form a massive question mark.
—As though even the reapers themselves were asking: "Why the hell are we working overtime?"
Ethan's soul was dragged toward the door, stretched thin like a noodle.Karl shouted inside him: "Hold it together! At least look calm!""Looking cool saves lives now?""Nope, but it makes dying classy!"
The two of them bickered as their fused soul was pulled into the gaping crack. Behind the door, a chorus of voices buzzed—reapers gossiping about the new arrivals.
"Here they come, another batch of souls.""Not ordinary ones—these are torn by Nothingness. They smell weird.""So what? Weird flavor just adds seasoning to the soul stew."
The Death Realm resembled a dingy cafeteria, its staff all skeletons in aprons polishing knives, waiting for the next delivery.
Ethan's gut clenched cold, but he still laughed. The black humor spread like poison through his mind.—So this was the human reward after struggling through life: becoming reaper chow. No wonder history books never wrote the ending.
The Door of Nothingness loomed closer. World fragments slammed against it, flattened into ash, and vanished. A murmur echoed from behind the door, like a thousand reapers rehearsing a hopeless choir.
"What do we do?" Ethan asked."What else? We jump," Karl replied firmly. "Better than getting chewed out here.""You sure this is a choice, and not suicide?""Hey, at least we walk in on our own. Freedom, right?"
Ethan was silent for a beat, then spat: "…Fuck."With absurd grins on their fused face, they hurled themselves into the Door of Nothingness.
The crack sealed shut with a final boom, shaking the ghostly flames above the Death Realm. Silence fell again, broken only by reapers muttering:
"This echo's bad news.""Yeah. Looks like Nothingness wants to steal our business.""Does that mean we're out of jobs?""Hell no. Once it finishes opening shop, we'll just hire Nothingness as a part-timer."
The Death Realm erupted in clattering bone-laughter—though beneath it lingered a tremor of unease.
—The Door of Nothingness was fully open.