The atmosphere in the 12th Alley didn't just change; it felt as if the very atoms of the air were being crushed under an invisible weight. Rio stood frozen, his breath hitching in his chest. He could feel the cold aura radiating from the man known as Death. It wasn't just killing intent—it was the overwhelming presence of a predator looking at an ant.
Down below, Nezk was no longer the calm, arrogant warrior he had been moments ago. However, he wasn't trembling with fear. Instead, a fierce, burning defiance flickered in his bloodshot eyes. The dark, jagged markings on his skin pulsed like a dying star, leaking out shadows that hissed as they touched the ground. With a primal roar that shattered the windows of the nearby shops, Nezk launched himself forward.
"I'll rip that arrogant look off your face! DIE!!!"
Nezk's fist tore through the air, creating a vacuum in its wake. The force behind the punch was enough to level a fortress. Yet, Death merely sighed, eyes closed. "Hmph... how weak," he whispered. When Nezk reached him, Death delivered a crushing counter-strike, returning the exact force of Nezk's previous punch but amplified two times over (2x).
"WHOOOOOSHHH!"
Nezk was sent screaming back toward the earth. While he was still falling, Death disappeared and reappeared on the ground in a flicker of blue static. Raising a single finger, Death fired a concentrated spatial laser that pierced through Nezk's shoulder just before he crashed. Nezk slammed into the concrete, creating a crater ten feet wide. Realizing he couldn't hit Death directly, Nezk turned his attention to the nearby residential buildings, gathering energy to massacre everyone nearby.
"Room," Death uttered calmly.
In an instant, two concentric circles of blue energy locked together, forming a localized dimension around Nezk. Every explosion Nezk unleashed was trapped inside—silent and harmless to the outside world. To Rio, it looked like a silent movie of chaotic destruction.
[The God of Space]
Inside the shimmering sphere of the 'Room,' the air went dead silent. Nezk, trapped like an insect in amber, did not beg for mercy. He looked up at Death with a grim, unwavering glare. In a flicker of light, Death appeared directly in front of him.
Death leaned in close, his voice a chilling whisper. "Hmph... Bumb."
As the word left Death's lips, the space surrounding Nezk's limbs simply folded in on itself. POP. POP. POP. In an instant, Nezk's arms and legs were severed from his torso, shattered into nothingness by spatial compression. Yet, strangely, not a single drop of blood fell. The 'Room' had cauterized the wounds instantly, erasing the concept of bleeding.
Despite being reduced to a mere torso, Nezk's spirit remained unbroken. He stared at Death with sharp, defiant eyes and croaked out a question.
"To think that I, the one once hailed as the greatest Lord Shizen of a bygone era, would fall like this... Hmph... You... you are from the Shino Kami Clan, aren't you?"
Death tilted his head slightly, his hooded eyes glowing with an ancient light. "Hmph... Yes, I am."
A bitter, knowing smile touched Nezk's lips. "I thought so. Only those of that bloodline could wield such terrifying authority over reality itself."
Death didn't offer any more words. He reached out and gripped Nezk's head, not to kill him, but to hold him in place as he prepared to jump through space. In a burst of energy, they vanished.
[The Return to the Rooftop]
Rio was still trying to steady his racing heart when Death suddenly manifested beside him, holding the limbless but still conscious Nezk.
"Hey," Death said, his voice bored. "I'm finished here. Your sensory perception is quite impressive, kid. You managed to track a battle that most humans wouldn't even be able to see."
Rio blinked, looking at his watch with trembling hands. "But... our class time hasn't even ended yet."
Death let out a booming laugh. "Haha! It's only been twelve minutes. Time is a fickle thing when you're erasing garbage from existence."
Rio reached out to touch the spatial field, and in a heartbeat, the entire world of the 12th Alley shattered like an illusionary mirror, dissolving into thousands of glowing pixels.
Suddenly, they were back on the roof of the school building. A few meters away, Gyau and his friends were sitting in a circle, their eyes glued to their phones as they played games. When Rio and the hooded figure of Death suddenly materialized out of thin air, Gyau almost dropped his phone.
"Whoa! What just happened?! Wow!" Gyau shouted, scrambling to his feet. "Rio! You're back! And... who the hell is that standing next to you?! This is insane! First that weird explosion, and now this? This school year is getting absolutely out of control!"
The other students gathered around, whispering frantically. They looked at Death and the severely injured Nezk with a mixture of awe and fright. Death didn't stay to enjoy the attention. His form began to flicker and blur, turning transparent. As his body dissolved into the wind, a final whisper echoed directly into Rio's mind.
"Next time... find me more targets like that. I'm starting to enjoy this."
With a faint shimmer, Death was gone. The rooftop fell silent, save for the sound of Gyau's frantic questioning. Rio stood there, knowing his life had changed forever. The Beyond Stupid Universe was calling, and he was at the heart of it.
They stood there for a few more moments, chatting on the rooftop as the adrenaline slowly began to fade. Rio tried to explain the bizarre spatial dimensions he had just witnessed, but Gyau was already distracted by the excitement of it all. Eventually, the three friends made their way back down the stairs and into their classroom.
The room was still buzzing with the usual student chatter. Death had vanished into the shadows of the hallway earlier, leaving Rio to deal with his loud-mouthed friends.
Gyau suddenly patted his stomach and turned to the group. "Man, all that excitement made me starving. I'm gonna cook some instant noodles right now."
Kawsoki looked at him with a face of pure disbelief. "Right here? In the classroom? Come on, man, have some shame."
Rio chimed in, trying to be the voice of reason. "Don't eat them here, Gyau. The smell will cover the whole room, and the teacher will catch you for sure."
But Gyau was already tearing open the plastic seasoning packets with his teeth, his eyes gleaming with mischief. "No way. It tastes way better when you eat it in class. It's the thrill of the forbidden snack!"
Muchin, who had been quiet until now, suddenly leaned in, his nose catching the scent of the artificial chicken flavor. "Hey... Gyau. Count me in. I want some too."
Gyau grinned widely, handing a spare pair of chopsticks to Muchin. "That's the spirit! I knew you were a man of culture, Muchin."
"Right?" Muchin replied, nodding seriously. "Noodles in the classroom just hit differently. The flavor is top-tier when you're supposed to be studying."
"Exactly!" Gyau laughed, pouring the hot water from his thermos into the cup.
Rio sat back in his chair, watching his friends argue over who got more soup. The terrifying image of Nezk's severed limbs and the cold power of the Shino Kami Clan felt a million miles away. In this small, messy classroom, the only thing that mattered was the steam rising from a cup of cheap noodles. He realized that this was his life now—balancing the cosmic horrors of the Beyond Stupid Universe with the chaotic idiocy of his best friends