Overhead the bright blue sky had been ruptured, leaving a massive gate of darkness, surrounded by red cubes, as the sky above was slowly ripped in half.
A dark shadow descended over the entire area, along with an odd pressure that felt like a hundred gazes all concentrated in one area. All around, the students were brought to their knees, unable to even breathe properly.
Instinctively, they all looked down, almost as if that odd pressure from above was a royalty, one of higher status that demanded those below bow to their will. In front of them, the cloaked figure stood in silence, their eyes roving over the entire area.
They kept a tight grip on their sword, like it was a lifeline. Finally, their black eyes, seeming to have lost all sense of life, began to look at the students. They travelled from Aven to Luka to Alice, and they lingered on Masayoshi.
Finally, there was a change in the figure's expression. A small shift. The black eyes seemed to dilate a bit, as if they were attempting to widen in shock. But any emotion expressed through those empty lenses was nearly impossible to see.
"Did I?" They spoke. Their voice came out faint and gravelly, as if they had rendered it raw from screaming. There was a long silence as the figure tried to formulate words, and their eyes continued to search around the area.
"Did I make it back?" They finally managed to get the words out. The figure's entire body was trembling; from what, it was impossible to tell.
Overhead, the pressure was increasing more and more. It felt like if anybody looked up, they would come face-to-face with the gaze of a god. A gaze that would smite them before they even got a single glimpse.
And that pressure was constantly rising, as it felt like more and more pairs of eyes were descending upon the whole group. The ground was shaking and cracking.
The figure took a shambling step forward, and that's when their eyes landed upon Nova. They stopped, and this time they gave a very clear, very visceral reaction. Everything about them froze, their eyes widened, and they reached out a hand.
"Nova. You're still... So I did make it back. He stepped forward again, and Nova took a petrified step backwards. The figure stopped approaching, their one black eye lingering on Nova for a while longer before it turned to Hikaru, who had arrived on the scene late.
The figure looked from Hikaru back to Nova and then back to Masayoshi before their gaze finally looked up. What he saw, no one else could tell, because they could not bring themselves to look up. The pressure from above was too great. It felt like it was going to crush them and this entire map.
"This is...before the Seven Star. This is before THEY cast THEIR gaze. Despite the cloak guarding their expression, it was clear from their tone of voice the figure in black had been searching for this for a while now.
Their hand snaked towards the hilt of their sword, and they unsheathed it, revealing a long black katana. It was chipped in many spots, but the weapon gave off a powerful aura of its own. The figure's own power level was off the charts. Just by existing in this realm, their aura grew to cover the entire island.
In that moment, Masayoshi managed to push himself to his feet. "Who are you? One of Credo's tricks?"
All around them, the group wanted to breathe a sigh of relief. That's right. This had to just be one of Credo's little tests. Of course he'd put this into the battle simulation. It was something they all should have expected.
The figure vanished and appeared in front of Masayoshi at off-the- charts speed. So fast that Masayoshi didn't register their presence for a long moment, even when they were standing right in front of him.
He took a step back, but the figure's hand moved like the head of a snake, grabbing his arm.
Just as quickly, a sword was being held towards his neck.
"Credo, you say?" The way they spoke the name, it was clear that the figure did not take pleasantly to the name Credo. "I did make it back, just in time. This is where it all went down, isn't it? This is where everything went to shit. ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■"
The figure spoke a few more words, but they seemed to literally be ripped out of reality, unable to be understood.
Even as he held a blade to Masayoshi's throat, the figure did not seem fazed. In fact, they seemed more rejuvenated than anything. Of all the gazes gathered in one place. Something that couldn't be recreated until..." His gaze drifted back to Nova.
"Let go of him!" Hikaru shouted, trying to cast a spell; however, in that moment the figure had appeared in front of her, grabbing her by the hair and lifting her off of her feet. A feeling of dread encompassed her whole entire body, and the gaze of those soulless black eyes made a shiver run down her spine. However, there was also a sense of familiarity. A sense of deja vu she just couldn't dispel.
"You too. Before everything happened." The figure was shaking even more. And at that moment Hikaru realized it. That voice. The sword. those eyes—
SHING!
In a single second a slash came down, cutting off the arm that was holding Hikaru. She felt herself be grabbed by Myra and whisked away. Looking back, she could see Raiden, pointing his blade at the figure.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
I was shaking. My entire body was shaking. The pressure felt like it was going to crush me. I could feel it. All of the gazes. They were bearing down on me, my entire body felt heavy, and my mind was slowly being consumed with thoughts that weren't my own. They were being forced in.
Images of fiery destruction,
Images of a cold embrace in ice.
Images of an infinite hall of knowledge.
And there was the void. the empty darkness that seemed to be tracing its way into my mind.
I didn't need Ariel's help to tell what was going on. I could see it for myself. These were higher beings. THEY were here. THEY were looking. And for what reason? What happened here? Who was the figure standing in front of me, staring at me as if they had just seen the devil himself?
The figure was trembling. Not from anxiety, and surely not from the pressure of the gazes. This figure was so powerful they were able to look right back up at the gazes of these higher beings. These gods.
It was from anger. In that moment the massive aura that was pressing down on the whole island felt like it was beginning to burn. It reflected the anger of its source, the figure in front of me.
"Who the hell are you, and what do you want?" I managed to get those words out, keeping my blade pointed at the figure.
The figure began to laugh.
"Ahahahaha." It was a dry and dead sound, devoid of what felt like any emotion. Now that I thought about it, this figure seemed incapable of expressing any other emotion.
Besides fury and rage.
"Again and again and again. I came back and did it all again, just to find you standing here, looking as if you couldn't have a care in the world."
I couldn't understand a single thing the figure was saying. But they were talking to me as if they already knew me. And their voice. Despite it being void of any sort of feeling and emotion, I could recognize it.
They drew their own blade and pointed it at me, in the exact same fashion as I did. It was only then that I realized it. This person was the same height as me. Same build. They had the same black eyes I did, but theirs were void of emotion.
And just from underneath their cloak, I saw a hole where their heart should have been. A hole where there was nothing but red flame.
"You realize it now, don't you? Me and you."
My eyes widened.
This wasn't possible. This had to have been one of Credo's little tricks. It had to be. There was no way I was looking at myself.
This me looked completely shattered. There was no humanity left within their body. There was only one thing left. A fire. A fire that took the place of their heart. A fire of rage that could never be put out.
"I've come back again. But you can't remember. You never remember. All the times I came back, all the times I tried to change everything. And yet every damn time my efforts get thrown in the trash, as the same fate occurs again and again, and I am born to solve it again, just to fail, and just to repeat! ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■."
They were now screaming, the anger causing the flame that took the place of their heart. Some of their words were even censored. That confirmed it for me. Right then and there. This person had information that the higher beings deemed I shouldn't know right now. Which meant the chance of them being from the future was high. This was me.
Come back from a future that left him devoid of any human emotion besides anger.
He said he'd met with me already. But I didn't know of that. He said I kept forgetting.
What the hell is happening?
I was shaking even more now.
The figure took a step forward. I couldn't move. I couldn't understand anything going on. I could only listen, listen, and take it all in.
"How many times? How many times will you fall for their manipulation? How many times will you let everyone else but you dictate your mind? How much longer will you be a pathetic piece of shit unable to gain any sort of agency?"
A punch came. Hard. I could feel myself blacking out.
Another one.
Harder.
And another one.
Even harder than the last.
I tried to struggle back, but I was no match for the flame of hatred in this future me.
"VGhlIERhd24=! Do you recognize that? Light of Heaven? How much longer will you let them play around with your mind, twisting you as they please and throwing you aside?"
I could feel my bones breaking, and I could feel every last bit of the pain and punishment being rained down upon me. Punishment for something I couldn't understand. Something I hadn't done.
Punishment from myself.
My vision filled with blood.
"Again and again. Do you know how many times you've killed everyone here? You'll do it again and again!" He had straddled me, and now he was raining down punch after punch after punch.
With every punch and every word I could feel the fire that made up this ME's soul burn even hotter.
"Every time, things just reset, and you do it again. You forget, and you leave me fixing the goddamn mess! How much longer will you stay oblivious, play the fool, and claim to protect everyone? How many more times will you prove that you were nothing more than a stupid fucking pawn, one that was used and then cast to the side, left with nothing but a flaming heart! How many times will you prove you were a hypocrite, one that couldn't save anyone! How many times will you bring about absolute DESTRUCTION with your own hands!"
I could feel something wet hit my face. Something besides the mind-numbing pain of all the punches. I was crying. The me of the future that was currently beating the me of now down was crying.
"How many more times will you make me kill them? Hurt them? How many more times will you leave me in distress after I remember it all, and how many more times will I have to destroy the world for it to be enough? How much more do I need to become VGhlIERhd24= that will light heaven?"
Just behind the figure beating me, I could see a butterfly, a beautiful prismatic butterfly that reflected and refracted an infinite amount of color. It was beautiful. It felt like I recognized it.
The other me noticed it too.
"Remembrance! Damn you!"
He then turned his gaze to the sky. I did too.
And that's when I saw it.
The form of a god.
Their face was unfeeling as they watched what happened below. They were dark-skinned, with white hair and golden eyes. Their face possessed no emotion or reaction to what was happening.
"■■■■■■■! HOW MUCH MORE! HOW MUCH MORE HATE AND DESTRUCTION WILL I NEED! HOW MUCH MORE FIRE WILL I NEED TO FINALLY CONSUME THE FLAME OF REBIRTH! HOW MUCH MORE WILL I HAVE TO DESTROY AND SUFFER UNTIL YOU HAVE ENOUGH? HOW MUCH MORE HATE DO I NEED TO FOREVER ENGRAVE THIS IN MY OWN SOUL! IN YOURS!"
They screamed themselves raw, their flame igniting.
Suddenly, I remembered.
Past meetings.
Past beatings.
Over and over again.
I had met this guy before.
I had met me before.
Every time he did the same. Warned me. Beat me. Screamed out above, consuming his own soul in a fiery death.
From above, the god spoke.
"■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■" I couldn't understand what they said.
But I picked up the last few words.
"Set your heart ablaze."
The god vanished.
Future me looked back down. His voice was raw from screaming, his eyes dry from crying. His fist was bruised from fighting.
Behind him, a void began to consume the sky.
"Remember this. For as long as you live. Engrave it into your soul, and set it ablaze."
He then recited a chant, which I recognized. The same one that he chanted in all of our other meetings.
"I am the Dawn. I am the flame that will consume the sparks of rebirth. I will set my heart ablaze and grant the world its final release in fiery destruction."
With one final look, everything went black.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
I opened my eyes, staring at the sun, while lying in a large field of tall grass.
The sun was warming my body, and a beautiful breeze was blowing through the area, warming everything.
I pushed myself to a sitting position, looking around the area. I was back here, the one place I couldn't enter by force.
My own dimension. There, in the distance, the castle stood. I pushed myself to my feet.
As I did, I nearly fell, my head pounding.
I traced my memories back, trying to figure out how I got here.
The last thing I remembered was...
"Fighting Misa..."
A beautiful prismatic butterfly flew by at that moment.