Part 1: Fate
After Eiji's appearance, Haruto immediately understood one thing.
There was absolutely no way he could defeat Eiji right now.
The difference between them was far too massive.
Then suddenly—
Crack.
Lightning started falling from the sky toward Haruto.
The air trembled violently.
Before the attack could hit him, Haruto quickly clicked the Pocket Watch.
Click.
Everything turned black.
Then—
Haruto opened his eyes once again.
He found himself back at the moment right after he defeated Acthony.
Without wasting even a second, Haruto quickly grabbed Acthony's Crimson Revolver and Unbarrier.
Then he immediately hid himself nearby.
A few moments later, Eiji arrived there.
Eiji only found Acthony's corpse.
Haruto silently observed him from a distance while hiding.
Eiji walked toward Acthony's body.
Then he took out a key from the corpse.
Haruto remembered that Eiji had been searching for a key this entire time.
That meant this was the same key.
Haruto immediately realized he had very little time left.
Eiji already had what he wanted.
Without wasting time, Eiji started running.
Haruto silently followed him from behind.
After a few minutes—
Eiji arrived in front of a massive mountain gate.
Haruto stayed hidden far away while observing him carefully.
Then Eiji tried to use the key.
But—
Nothing happened.
The gate did not open.
"I guess today the gate won't gonna open."
"I guess the next night I might open this gate."
Eiji said calmly.
Hearing that, Haruto understood something important.
He still had a little time left.
But now Haruto wanted to know something else.
How powerful exactly was Eiji?
Haruto quickly placed a Lam Paper on the ground.
Then he started drawing a ritual circle.
Several minutes passed.
Finally, the drawing was complete.
It was a summoning circle.
Haruto poured Eco Energy into the paper.
Then suddenly—
A massive energy burst out from the ritual circle.
The energy rose high into the air.
Then it manifested into a giant creature.
A Dragon.
The dragon stared directly at Eiji.
Then it opened its mouth.
Flames exploded out violently.
Eiji noticed the attack and instantly dodged it.
But the dragon attacked again.
This time the flames completely swallowed Eiji.
Everything became covered in fire.
However—
Eiji slowly walked through the flames.
His body was burning.
But Eiji showed no expression of pain.
It was as if the flames were not worthy enough to hurt him.
He calmly walked through the storm of fire.
Then suddenly—
Lightning struck his hand.
A weapon appeared.
A Ritual Tool.
It looked like a ritualistic short-spear featuring a matte grey diamond-shaped blade, a tan-wrapped hilt, and two symmetrical cage-like guards accented with gold filigree and cross motifs.
Its name was Kama.
Haruto noticed something else.
Two to three ritual circles were rotating around Eiji's forearm.
At the same time, a lightning aura covered his body completely.
Even his eyes glowed like electricity itself.
Then Eiji slowly raised Kama upward.
Lightning descended from the sky and struck the spear directly.
Then Eiji swung it toward the dragon.
BOOM.
A massive lightning strike crashed onto the dragon.
The light was so intense that even its flash alone could blind someone instantly.
The giant dragon was crushed into pieces.
Destroyed in a single attack.
Haruto's eyes widened.
He finally understood.
Eiji was far more powerful than he originally imagined.
Haruto immediately turned around and started running away from the area.
But suddenly—
His vision distorted.
The world around him twisted.
Then—
Dark Forest.
Haruto suddenly found himself inside the Dark Forest once again.
Then he died.
And returned to reality.
Then again—
He teleported back into the forest.
And died again.
Then returned to reality again.
The cycle repeated endlessly.
In some deaths, Haruto became physiologically disturbed, his mind fracturing into a thousand jagged shards of psychosis.
And Haruto started eating his own skin to survive, peeling back raw, bloody strips of his own epidermis and chewing on the fibrous tissue.
There he saw a knife, its cold steel reflecting the madness in his remaining sight.
Haruto tried to eat that knife, shoving the blade deep into his throat.
And Haruto ended up slicing his mouth into a grotesque, widened ruin of shredded meat.
And his superior labial frenulum was severed, the delicate tissue torn apart by the serrated edge.
And his inferior labial frenulum was ripped away, leaving his lower lip hanging in a bloody curtain of gore.
And also his tongue, which was hacked into wet, useless chunks of muscle as he chewed on the metal.
He even ate his own eyeballs, reaching into the sockets with trembling fingers to pluck the gelatinous orbs out and swallow them whole.
And he ended up ripping his heart out of his chest cavity, his fingers dripping with gore as he attempted to eat his own pulsing heart.
And in some deaths, Haruto is covered by unnatural creatures that crawl over him like maggots on a carcass.
They looked like they were made from dead human skin, stitched together in a pale, necrotic tapestry of horror.
And they have unnatural and horrifying curves, their limbs bent at angles that defy the laws of anatomy.
And they have multiple sharp teeth in their mouths, rows of yellowed fangs designed for rending and tearing.
They eat Haruto's every single body part slowly, savoring the copper tang of his blood.
And into small pieces, they meticulously dismantle his limbs, strip by strip and bone by bone.
It feels like he is erasing from the inside, a systematic deconstruction of his very soul and marrow.
And in some deaths, Haruto died so quickly that Haruto didn't even feel his head or his body before the darkness claimed him.
Because of all this—
Haruto suddenly vomited blood.
Then he fainted in reality.
Meanwhile—
Eiji sensed someone's presence nearby.
He slowly started walking toward Haruto's location.
But at that exact moment—
Leo suddenly appeared.
Leo quickly lifted Haruto onto his shoulder and ran away at full speed.
So when Eiji finally arrived there—
Nobody was present anymore.
Scene shifted.
Daytime.
Haruto slowly woke up on his bed.
This time, Ryuk, Leo, and Marin looked genuinely worried about him.
Haruto had already fainted twice.
Naturally, they became suspicious.
"What is happening to you?"
Ryuk asked seriously.
But once again—
Haruto lied and avoided the question.
Eventually, Ryuk and Marin left the room.
Then Haruto ordered Leo to come with him to the bar.
The two of them left together.
After some time, they arrived at the bar.
There, Haruto saw the Spy waiting.
Haruto and the Spy sat together.
"So what did you find about Eiji?"
Haruto asked.
The Spy sighed.
"Sorry. I couldn't collect much information about Eiji."
"It's not because I was scared."
"As you were going to pay me the full money, I really did my best."
"But I was unlucky."
"While I followed Eiji, he didn't fight anyone."
"So I couldn't discover his powers."
The Spy explained.
"So I guess my money was wasted."
"Although I can't really do anything about it."
Haruto replied calmly.
Even so, Haruto still handed over the remaining money.
The Spy looked slightly guilty.
"Sorry about that."
"But I still want to help you."
"I can give you an address."
"There is someone who may know about Eiji's neck tattoo."
The Spy said.
The moment Haruto heard the word "tattoo," his attention sharpened instantly.
"Tell me quickly."
"Do you need money for this information?"
Haruto asked.
The Spy shook his head.
"I already wasted your money."
"So I don't want payment for this."
Then the Spy gave him the address.
"His name is Humility."
The Spy said.
After receiving the address, Haruto and Leo headed there immediately.
Several minutes later—
They arrived at another bar.
The moment they entered, Haruto noticed many people inside.
Haruto told Leo to wait outside.
Leo silently obeyed and stepped out.
Haruto then approached the bar owner.
"Is there someone called Humility here?"
Haruto asked.
"Yeah."
The owner pointed toward a man sleeping on a table.
Haruto walked there and sat down.
Then he pushed Humility slightly.
Humility slowly woke up.
"Oh... what?"
He looked around lazily.
Then his eyes landed on Haruto.
"Who are you?"
Humility asked sleepily.
"My name is Haruto Tabata."
"Nice to meet you."
Haruto replied calmly.
"Oh... then what do you want from me?"
Humility asked.
Haruto immediately asked:
"Do you know who Eiji is?"
"Nah. I don't know."
Humility replied casually.
"Then do you know this tattoo?"
Haruto asked while showing a drawing of the symbol.
Humility looked at the drawing carefully.
Then suddenly—
His expression completely changed.
Earlier, he had been speaking lazily.
But now his eyes became serious.
"Uhh... wait."
"You know this symbol?"
Humility asked.
"I only saw this tattoo somewhere."
"But I don't know what it means."
Haruto replied.
"What color was the tattoo?"
Humility asked immediately.
"Red."
Haruto answered.
The moment Humility heard that, his face darkened.
"Then this is a serious situation."
Humility said.
"Tell me about it."
Haruto replied.
Humility stared at Haruto silently for a few moments.
"What are you planning to do with this information?"
He asked.
Haruto explained everything.
About Eiji.
About the hunt.
About why he wanted to defeat him.
After hearing everything, Humility finally spoke.
"Alright."
"If your goal is truly that, then listen carefully."
"In this world, there exist seven Sins."
"We call them the Seven Deadly Sins."
"They are seven people."
"Each person represents a Sin."
"Pride."
"Greed."
"Lust."
"Envy."
"Gluttony."
"Wrath."
"And Sloth."
"They possess exceptional powers."
"And every Sin has their own followers and army."
"Usually the Seven Sins fight each other constantly."
"But this generation is different."
"The current Sins formed a team."
"All seven armies united together."
"And now they work with one another."
"That organization is called the Paranormal troupe."
"And every Sin possesses their own commanders."
"Each Sin also has their own tattoo symbol."
"There are three tattoo ranks."
"Blue tattoos are for normal soldiers."
"Red tattoos are for commanders."
"And purple tattoos belong to the Sin himself."
"And the symbol you showed me..."
"...belongs to Sloth."
Humility's eyes narrowed.
"I am pretty sure the man you call Eiji is one of Sloth's commanders."
"And if that is true..."
"Then he is definitely planning something big."
Humility said seriously.
After hearing all of this—
Haruto finally understood something.
The enemy he was trying to hunt was connected to something far larger than he ever imagined.
"Thank you for the information."
Haruto replied calmly.
Then he left the bar.
As Haruto walked back toward his room, he kept thinking about Eiji.
Eiji was not an ordinary person.
Not even close.
But strangely—
That only made Haruto even more excited to hunt him.
Eventually, Haruto entered the room.
The moment he entered—
He saw Ryuk and Marin staring at him suspiciously.