Rien stared straight ahead at Ecustian. A faint smile slowly appeared on his face as he looked toward the dark figure before him.
"Let's start, then."
His voice was calm, yet filled with confidence.
Ecustian stared back for a moment.
Then—
BOOM!
He launched forward, his figure vanishing in an instant as he shot directly toward Rien.
But Rien didn't move.
The dark figure disappeared into his chest without leaving a trace.
Rien slowly lowered his gaze toward his chest.
He tilted his head slightly.
"That's strange."
His voice remained completely calm.
Then—
The entire world vanished.
The surroundings, the ground, even the sky itself disappeared into nothingness.
In the next instant, Rien found himself standing within an endless sea.
Still water stretched endlessly in every direction, perfectly calm beneath a vast, crimson moon hanging in the darkness above.
No wind.
No sound.
No movement.
Only silence.
Rien slowly stepped forward, his feet disturbing the surface of the water as he moved deeper into the endless sea.
His expression remained unchanged.
Calm.
Unbothered.
As though he had already seen this place before.
A small shadowy figure sat motionless in the middle of an endless sea.
There was no sound.
No wind.
Not even the faintest ripple disturbed the vast ocean surrounding it.
Rien walked calmly across the shallow water, each step sending delicate ripples across the endless surface. A faint smile slowly appeared on his face as he approached the solitary figure.
He stopped behind it.
Then, without hesitation, Rien leaned forward and placed a hand on its shoulder.
The shadow slowly looked upward.
Its smile stretched unnaturally wide.
Its eyes widened until they looked as though they might burst from their sockets, staring directly at Rien with a gaze that felt completely devoid of reason.
Rien's eyes widened slightly.
He took a slow step backward.
"What... are you?"
For the first time, genuine shock entered Rien's voice.
The dark figure suddenly dissolved into the shadows.
The world changed.
The endless ocean vanished, replaced by a vast, suffocating cave that stretched endlessly into the darkness.
Rien stood motionless, his gaze slowly sweeping across the surroundings.
Dead bodies.
Blood.
Countless corpses lay scattered across the ground, their remains disappearing into the darkness.
Then the blood beneath Rien's feet began to move.
It flowed forward like a river.
Rien lowered his gaze.
Something drifted toward him through the crimson current.
A severed woman's head.
One of her eyes hung grotesquely from its socket as the head floated past him.
Then...
The dark figure appeared.
It stepped onto the woman's head.
CRACK.
The skull exploded beneath its foot.
Blood erupted across the cave, splashing over Rien and staining the ground around them.
"You really thought you could defeat me just by taking my appearance... and entering my body?"
The dark figure spoke softly.
Almost casually.
It stepped forward.
Rien's eyes widened.
He slowly took another step backward.
"Your mind..." Rien murmured, his expression hardening.
"...is abnormal."
The darkness suddenly shattered.
The entire world reformed.
Rien stood suspended above a dark pond, the surface perfectly still beneath him.
Across from him, Ecustian emerged from his chest.
The moment Ecustian looked at Rien, his expression changed.
His eyes widened in pure horror.
"You... are a monster."
The words escaped him almost instinctively.
Ecustian immediately turned and launched himself through the sky.
Rien simply watched him leave.
A faint smile formed on his lips.
Then Rien stepped forward.
The world seemed to bend.
Space itself folded beneath his feet.
Ecustian suddenly stopped.
He looked around in confusion.
A dark portal surrounded them.
"How did you get here?" Ecustian asked, his voice filled with disbelief.
Rien looked at him calmly.
A faint smile remained on his face.
"I am the very space you are occupying."
He extended his hand.
In an instant, his fingers closed around Ecustian's head.
Dark energy erupted from Ecustian's body, twisting violently around Rien's hand before gradually fading into pale white.
Rien pulled him closer.
Then threw him.
Ecustian's body slammed into the wall of the dark portal with such overwhelming force that the surrounding space distorted.
BOOM!
The portal itself exploded.
Darkness and shattered energy erupted outward as Ecustian's body disappeared within the blast.
Silence returned.
A moment later, a boy came running through the grass.
He wasn't looking where he was going.
THUD!
He collided directly with Rien's stomach and fell backward onto the ground.
The boy stared upward.
Rien stood before him, tall and athletic, his expression completely calm.
The boy's face went pale.
"A slender man!"
He shouted in shock before scrambling to his feet and sprinting through the grass.
Yumiko watched the boy disappear into the distance.
He slowly tilted his head.
"Why was he running?"
His voice was filled with genuine confusion.
Rien remained standing behind him.
Still smiling.
Back in the village, Rien's grandmother stepped out of the bathroom, a soft smile resting on her face as she walked toward the living room.
"The water is hot enough for bathing. Who's going first?" Grandmother asked confidently.
Yumiko immediately stood up.
She stretched both arms above her head before casually walking toward the bathroom.
"Me."
Her voice carried a confident little certainty as she disappeared from the living room.
Rien's father watched her leave before turning his attention toward Rien.
He extended one arm across the table and planted his elbow firmly against its surface.
"Let's have an arm wrestle."
His tone was confident, almost challenging.
Rien looked at his father.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"Of course."
His voice remained completely calm.
His father smiled.
The two positioned themselves across the table, their hands slowly locking together.
For a brief moment, the room fell silent.
Neither of them moved.
It was almost as though the entire house was waiting to see who would make the first move.
Everyone is completely detached to the reality, Rien is hiding inside himself continuously.
Cold warm breeze weaves through the entire village with the silence of darkness.