The void of space was silent.
No sounds of life remained.
No world for them to stand on.
Earth had been obliterated, shattered into millions of fragments drifting through the dark expanse—a remnant of Zata's strike, executed with only 0.02% of his power.
Nova's body floated motionless.
Lumina's form froze, fine cracks spiderwebbing across her skin, with no sign of life.
Arou could only stare at them from afar, gasping in the airless void.
Airi, hair disheveled and eyes brimming with tears, looked at the two bodies with a piercing fear.
"They… they're not breathing…" she whispered, trembling.
Arou gritted his teeth, trying to contain the fire of rage that burned in his chest.
"ZATA…!!!"
His shout rattled the drifting debris, yet it didn't faze the being standing in the distance.
Zata emerged slowly, floating casually, as if gravity itself obeyed him.
"Looking for me?"
Arou immediately stepped in front of Airi, shielding her.
"You monster!"
Zata simply shrugged.
"I didn't 'kill' them. They just… ceased to exist. So did this world."
Airi stared at Zata, tears floating in the emptiness around them.
"Why are you doing this…? Why destroy everything…?"
"Because I can."
The cold, flat tone made Airi's chest tighten as if someone were squeezing it.
---
Arou Strikes
Arou swung his sword, a human body moving against impossible odds in the void.
"I WILL NOT LET YOU—!!!"
He lunged. Without air, his movements should have been slow, yet his aura of determination made him appear like a small meteor.
His blade cut through space, leaving thin cracks in its wake.
He struck Zata with all his strength.
CLANG!
The sword stopped just one centimeter from Zata's face, as if held by some unseen force.
Zata glanced at it for a moment.
"Interesting… a mortal creature still daring to defy me."
Arou tried again and again—second, third, fourth, dozens of strikes—but every attack was stopped before reaching Zata.
---
Airi Joins the Fight
Airi closed her eyes for a moment.
A swordswoman. No magic. No protective spells. Only a blade. Only technique. Only a human body forced beyond its limits.
She opened her eyes.
"Arou… step aside… I'll help."
Arou turned, shocked, but Airi had already vanished from view.
FWOOM—!!
She reappeared behind Zata in an instant, her speed impossible in the vacuum of space.
Her blade spun, forming a circle of slashes that shattered nearby asteroid fragments.
SWISH!! SWISH!! SWISH!!
The strikes were so fast her shadow seemed to cover the entire area.
Yet… not one hit landed on Zata.
Her slashes passed through emptiness.
Zata exhaled lightly.
"Impressive speed… but you still… cannot touch me."
Airi stopped, gasping—not from exhaustion, but from a sudden, overwhelming fear.
"We… really can't touch him…"
---
Zata Strikes Back
Zata raised a single finger.
One.
Pointing at Airi.
She tried to dodge…
BRAK—!!
An invisible wave slammed into her.
She was thrown hundreds of meters, crashing into a chunk of space debris, cracking it.
Arou screamed, "AIRI!!"
Zata looked at him as one would a crawling insect.
"Now it's your turn."
Arou lifted his sword again.
Though nearly broken, nearly unable to breathe, he stood. Still defiant.
"…Not… over yet…"
Zata smiled faintly.
"Interesting. Very interesting."
Airi staggered, her breath short, her face marked with sweat, blood, and the cold residue left when Zata drained the air from the area. Yet her eyes still burned with determination, trying to stand for Arou.
Zata stood silently, a swirl of dark purple energy orbiting him.
"Still rising? With a body that fragile?"
His voice was calm, yet icy.
Airi bit her lip, gripping her sword tightly.
Summoning her last ounce of speed, she lunged like a flash.
Her blade slashed.
The air shivered.
But…
Crack.
Zata's single finger stopped her strike and pushed her back with ease. Airi flew like a ragdoll, slamming against the ground.
Arou shouted, "AIRI!!!"
She tried to rise… but her body could not respond.
Her eyes slowly dimmed. A faint smile appeared.
"Arou… don't lose…"
And in the next instant, Airi was gone.
Arou froze, hands trembling. Something inside him shattered.
"ZATAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
He unleashed all his remaining power. Energy exploded like a storm of black and blue, the ground lifted, the air twisted into brutal pressure. He struck—blow after blow, slash after slash—all aimed at Zata's heart.
But Zata didn't move. Didn't flinch. Didn't retreat.
He simply watched Arou struggle as his body slowly tore itself apart.
With Arou's final strike, he fell to his knees.
Breath cut off. Eyes empty.
Zata gazed at the fallen warrior.
"Pathetic…"
Then he raised his hand. Between his fingers appeared a golden-white light, ink of existence, a medium to rewrite reality.
"As always, the end of an unchanging story."
He etched the air. Words appeared in the sky:
T H E E N D
The light erupted…
The world slowly unraveled.
Zata closed the story with a faint smile.
It all began with Arou's death.
His body fell silently.
The air froze.
All life, all motion… instantly stilled.
And Zata, the master of stories, stood alone before the shattered souls.
No expression on his face—only eyes staring blankly.
Yet when he touched the cracks left in the world by Arou's death… something stirred within him.
"This story… hurts too much."
For the first time, Zata's voice sounded weary.
He raised his hand.
The world that knew Arou crumbled like dust.
After that—
Zata decided to return to the past of all those who had suffered…
Because he wanted to understand why their stories were so bitter.
He arrived in the dead of night on an empty road.
Car lights lay shattered, glass broken, screams echoing everywhere.
Young Arou knelt, clutching young Emi, both battered and bleeding.
Their parents lay motionless, trapped beneath wreckage.
Zata walked slowly through the debris.
Moonlight reflected in his cold eyes… but behind it, a trace of sorrow.
He approached the bodies of their parents.
He waved his hand through the air, and time around them shivered.
"You should not have died like this… because the world needed the first love you gave these children."
With a single sweep, blood flowed, wounds closed, breath returned to their chests.
Young Arou froze, watching his parents move.
Young Emi cried louder, this time from relief.
Zata stood at the edge of the road, alone.
"I'm sorry. I realized too late."
In a quiet school, Zata saw young Shion dragged into a back hallway.
His glasses stolen, thrown to the ground and crushed.
Shion crouched, trembling, trying to pick up the shards.
Bullies laughed.
Zata stood in the shadows.
A dark aura pressed down on the room.
The bullies fell to their knees, suffocated by a fear they couldn't comprehend.
Zata looked at Shion, sobbing.
"Weak eyes are no reason to torture someone so small."
"You deserve to see the world in a beautiful way."
He touched Shion's forehead, granting him a small courage: not to fear the world anymore.
Young Shion looked around, realizing he was not alone.
But when he turned to Zata, the figure had vanished like the wind.
Young Rei ate alone.
His body large, not from greed, but simply how he was born.
Yet his family mocked him.
"Strange."
"Embarrassing."
"Why are you different?"
Rei lowered his head, holding back tears.
Zata watched from the doorway, eyes closed, feeling an unfamiliar sting in his heart.
He approached slowly.
"Rei… you are not big to be hated. You are big because one day, you will protect many."
He touched the space around Rei's family, creating a new path of fate:
Rei would meet someone who would appreciate him.
For the first time, young Rei smiled, faintly.
Young Nova clung to her grandfather's legs, crying.
The villagers carried torches, weapons, and shouted:
"She spreads colonization!"
"Kill her!!"
Zata descended from the night sky like a shadow.
Time froze with a single gaze.
People froze, faces full of hatred.
He approached Nova's grandfather, almost beaten.
"The world always believes lies quickly… and hears the truth slowly."
He moved Nova and her grandfather to safety, far before the tragedy could happen, removing disaster from their fate.
Zata stood long, staring at the village.
He whispered softly:
"If only I had come sooner…"
Young Nora, with cat ears and a soft tail, ran crying.
Villagers chased her, throwing stones, shouting:
"Monster!"
"Abomination!"
A large stone hit her back.
Nora fell.
Zata appeared before the crowd.
His dark aura forced everyone to their knees, unable to move.
He gently lifted the terrified young Nora.
"I'm sorry… for a world so cruel to you."
He erased the hatred from everyone's hearts.
As if the world hated him for letting this happen too long.
Young Feeth sat in a corner, hugging his knees.
His parents kept scolding him for "doing nothing."
Their screams echoed across the room.
Feeth covered his ears, trembling.
Zata stood by the window, his face darker than usual.
He stepped inside.
"This is not Feeth's fault. You were blind to see this child's potential."
He touched the hearts of his parents, transforming them into people who could understand their child.
Feeth was finally embraced for the first time in his life.
Zata smiled faintly, but with sadness.
Young Airi stood on the shore, screaming as her family was swept away by the waves.
Her hands reached out, voice hoarse:
"Don't go… don't go…"
Zata stepped into the sea.
The water parted left and right.
He pulled Airi's family back to shore, restoring life to their bodies.
Young Airi fell to her knees, crying in relief.
Zata looked at the girl, eyes trembling slightly.
"Too much has been lost from you… At least one family can remain whole."
Young Lumina used her magic to help.
But villagers accused her of spreading magical lies, deeming her a threat.
She was expelled from her village in a storm of rain.
Zata appeared and stopped the rain.
He looked at Lumina, hugging herself and crying.
"Your magic is not the threat… it is the world's fear that is dangerous."
He shielded Lumina, ensuring her life would continue in peace.