When the eyes grey over, all signs of life were gone from that body. Or rather, the body was still alive, but without a soul. It had become an empty shell.
This was one of the phenomenons humans had barely come to terms with after the apocalypse.
They called it "will erasure."
The understanding of the human body built over millennia became the base for that simple term.
Flesh was nothing but clothing for the bones, housing the organs. Each organ was interconnected and woven into a complex pattern, each serving its purpose to form a functioning body.
Then there was the brain. The seat of the mind. Boneless, yet not without blood, yet unfeeling. Every network in the human body led back to it. The cockpit of the body.
Follows the mind and soul.
Concepts humans never truly grasped, yet through philosophy and observation, they reached one conclusion. Those things were what made a body alive. Their absence marked the absence of life.
Humans finally discovered the language the soul used in communicating with the body. To command it and move it.
Once that language was erased, the connection snapped.
The body lost its link to the soul while the soul lost its tether to the body.
The soul withers but body remains.
Albeit empty.
A puppet with no strings.
That was 'will erasure'
The humans of Steins City had long grown ignorant of such truths.
Their peace had not been broken in a long time. Their lives had settled into something dangerously close to normal. Only a few had ever glimpsed the chaos beyond, and even those memories had begun to fade.
So they forgot fear.
Forgot dread.
Up until this moment, it returned all at once.
Clamping around their throats. Locking their lungs. Freezing their blood.
The legends of 'will erasure' were finally no longer stories.
At least to the witnesses present.
To a normal human, the soul was an untouchable concept perhaps even foreign, some believed it as superstition.
Yet what stood before them now casually brushed against it, tore through it, erased it as though it were nothing.
To Ragnar, it indeed meant nothing.
But to them, it was everything.
Some fell into despair immediately.
The people of Steins City had grown used to the false belief that they were immortal. They could not die nor be killed. That they would remain as they were forever never ageing.
They did not know that there were already those who had learned to communicate with their souls and make use of it's wonders.
A thought crept into their minds.
A heavy one.
They did not want to accept it.
Yet their eyes shifted slowly, exposing what was on their minds.
Gazes moved from Ragnar…
To the fallen enforcer.
Grey.
Both grey.
The same empty, lifeless grey.
Not a trace of life.
Their hearts sank.
"He's a monster…"
The voice was soft was barely a whisper.
But in the suffocating silence, it rang louder than a scream.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
They were afraid that even the slightest motion would draw death toward themselves. The silence grew heavier.
Almost tangible.
Ragnar stood at the center with his gaze fixed on his palm.
The blood-black light flickered faintly in his hand, reflecting in his dull grey eyes giving his picture a menacing presence.
He looked… wrong.
Detached.
Like something that shouldn't exist.
"Huuu…"
He exhaled slowly.
"What a hassle…"
He paused and lifted his gaze from his palm.
Then, almost casually,
"Now I'll have to kill you all."
His body moved before the words fully settled.
Even he did not understand why.
There was no anger, urgency nor fear.
His mind was so calm like a lake without a single ripple, albeit corrupted lake.
Like a command had already been given.
Like something had already decided.
'If I let them live… I'll be burdened… or hunted…'
He thought coldly.
'Then I'll erase them.'
With a flicker he was gone from sight leaving just a thought behind.
'The whole city if I have to…'
The world slowed.
Or perhaps it didn't, but before it could all settle he had once again appeared in his previous location.
A man tried to run.
But his vision bent and what he could see next was his headless body moving in the opposite direction.
'Wha...' He couldn't finish the thought before his eyes turned grey.
The domino effect came right after. The whole scene crumbled into a painting of blood and gore, the atmosphere was one of confusion even in death.
Silence returned.
The pool of blood kept spreading.
Ragnar looked at the scene with not a single trace of emotion on his face .
He exhaled and turned to leave but suddenly froze.
"What the...."
His vision blurred then he collapsed.
His body hit the ground with a heavy sound.
He laid among them.
The severed and cleaved bodies, he looked no different from them.
His thoughts were scattered.
He didn't understand what had just happened.
Didn't understand what he had done.
'Why…'
His mind struggled but he only ended up with a tearing pain in his head, he wanted to scream but he seemed to have lose his voice.
'Why do I always end up in this situation…'
He tried to move but no part of him responded.
Not even a finger.
Not a breath he could control either.
Exhaustion dragged him down, his eyelids heavy, his consciousness slipping away.
But still he fought against it and listened.
It was a habit now.
Something carved into him after being trapped with that thing for so long.
Even though his mind was broken, some memories faded, his body still worked like it had always done. he strained to sense his surroundings
"Hey… hey…"
Suddenly a soft voice reached his ears.
He jolted awake.
'so close..' he gritted his teeth with frustration.
A hand waved in front of his dimming eyes.
The voice carried a strange warmth.
"I'm here to help."
Ragnar tried to focus.
'a girl....young...'
His vision struggled to hold her form.
Brown hair.
Hazel eyes.
Freckles.
A smile that didn't belong in a place like this.
He hadn't heard her approach.
Didn't know when she arrived.
Couldn't question it so he sighed and allowed his eyes go shut.
The next moment, his body was rolled onto something rough.
Maybe a curtain.
Maybe a torn cape.
He couldn't tell.
"Hold on a bit… we'll be out of here soon."
He felt himself being dragged slowly.
Away from the stench of blood then darkness took him.
On the rooftop of one of the tallest buildings in the vicinity of the scene, a man could be seen crouching at the edge. Right behind a wall while his head would come out to take peeks from time to time, then descend and note few things with his finger on the dusty floor of the roof.
"Sir Albert! Please can you explain to us why you refused to send us down?"
Another voice sounded from the side.
He was frustrated beyond belief.
"Todd, can you detain that thing?" Albert asked with a calm voice, his eyes still fixed on the hurried scribbles he had made while watching as the events unfolded.
Todd stood still for some moments .
He wanted to agree but he hesitated because he had seen everything as it happened, he had watched, he had been terrified, he wasn't sure he would fare any better, but he still wasn't pleased that he was forced to just watch as his entire team of advanced soldiers were wiped out without the culprit even moving an inch.
"No sir, but with the elite...." He felt a chilling gaze and immediately shut his mouth.
"I misspoke sir" he bowed immediately and apologised. Albert slowly took his eyes off him and went back to what he was staring at.
Seeing that ,Todd continued " it was willing to communicate, we could have avoided this and brought him to our side." Todd stared at the back of Albert's head while trying to guess what the man was thinking but failed to. He slumped his shoulders and looked away with a sigh.
Albert suddenly stood up, straightened his coat and turned to face Todd.
He looked at him with a single thought in mind. 'Naive'
He shook his head.
"Let's leave it to 'them', that's their own line of work anyways." With that he patted Todd on his shoulder and walked away.