The man took a step forward. It was such a small thing. A single foot moving ahead on dirt. But it shifted something in the world around them.
The Dreamcrawlers, who moments ago grinned with inhuman confidence, suddenly... hesitated. Their heads twitched. Their grins faltered as if something had entered their territory that did not belong.
Ash stood there, holding Ken in his arms, frozen like stone. His chest rose and fell in quick, shallow breaths. His heartbeat was all he could hear, pounding in his ears louder than the wind or the strange hum that followed the Dreamcrawlers wherever they went.
He didn't understand what was happening. But the man was real. At least Ash thought so. He looked too human to be a god, and too tired to be a demon. His face had a strange softness to it, gentle, like someone who had spent centuries watching the world break apart slowly. His eyes were the color of deep earth after rain. His hair was short, a mess of grey strands that danced with the breeze.
And he spoke. Not loudly. Not like a hero or a savior. He simply said, "Run."
Ash blinked. He looked down again at Ken, whose body was limp in his arms. Blood had dried on the corner of his lips. His skin was cold, but not lifeless.
And the man spoke again, softer this time.
"Insanity was never an ally."
Ash didn't know what that meant. The words didn't make sense to him. He didn't have time to unravel them or think too deeply. He didn't know if they were a warning or a farewell. Maybe both. Maybe neither.
He turned and he ran. Because that was the only thing left to do. Run. He had nothing left to fight with. No plan. No strength. He didn't even have the energy to cry. He was pathetic and powerless. All he had was fear.
He clutched Ken tightly against him as he pushed forward. His body moved faster than it ever had. His bones felt hollow. His blood felt hot. The wind around him began to bend. The trees blurred past like streaks of color. Time itself seemed to stretch and snap.
The sound barrier shattered behind him like glass. And still, he kept going.
But he wasn't alone in that run. Doubt chased him just as much as the monsters did. And with it came questions. Cold, sharp, heavy questions.
Where was Reaper? Where the fuck was Reaper? He hadn't seen him fall. He hadn't heard him speak. He hadn't even caught a last glimpse of his coat. Had he died? Was he still standing there? Was he now just a frozen shell like Ken had almost become?
Why didn't he know? And the fact that he didn't know anything made him hate himself. Why was he always just reacting, never understanding, never in control?
The anger boiled inside him. Not at the monsters. Not at the gods. Not at the world. But at himself for being so weak and useless.
As the speed built up, he felt the heat around him rising. The wind had turned into fire. The grass he ran across burned from his very steps. He was faster than he had ever imagined being.
'The catalyst.'
The small device clipped under his shirt, hidden just near his neck. It was the only thing keeping him from being ripped apart by the speed. But Ken had no protection. Ash looked at Ken again. His friend's face was pale. His breath was slower than before.
He had no choice. He unclipped the catalyst with one trembling hand and slapped it onto Ken's forehead. It latched with a soft click. And in that moment, everything hit Ash. The real speed. The full force of what he had been doing. It crushed him.
His veins felt like they were about to burst. His eyes rolled back. Blood leaked from his nose. His skin felt like paper in a storm. He could barely see anymore. The world became light and sound and unbearable pain.
And still... he kept running. Until he saw the sky open up before him. He didn't hesitate. He jumped. The force of the leap shattered the ground behind him. His legs broke at the knee with an audible crack. He couldn't feel them anymore. His spine twisted. His arms locked tightly around Ken as his body flung itself into the sky like a dying comet.
He flew.
He felt the air tearing at him. He felt the sky get colder. He felt the space around him shift. And then... peace. He felt peace. Somewhere ahead, from a planet that looked destroyed. He reached for it, in his mind more than his body.
And then he crashed into the surface like a meteor, wrapped around Ken's body to shield him from the final impact.
Ash didn't even look like a human anymore. Whatever was left of his body felt foreign to him, as if it belonged to someone else. His skin was cracked in places, burnt in others. Blood had dried over parts of his face, and dirt clung to him like it had been stitched into his flesh. His arms wouldn't move. His legs, he couldn't even feel them. All he could do was blink, breathe, and hope it was enough.
But he lifted his head anyway. Somewhere inside the mess of shattered bones and blurred thoughts, the will to look up still lived. And when his vision cleared, if only for a moment, he saw the buildings.
They were broken and crumbling, their shapes barely recognizable, leaning on each other like tired giants. Fires burned in the distance, flickering orange over grey clouds. Rubble covered everything like a burial cloth. The city, whatever city this once was, had already fallen.
Heroes were out there. Civilians too. Working together. Some carried the injured. Some dug through debris with their bare hands. Some shouted names. Others just stood still, crying, unable to move.
There was no music here. No victory speech. Just people. Hurting. Helping. Surviving.
And for a second, Ash thought he was trapped in that nightmare again. The same one that had haunted him endlessly. The one where the world burned in slow motion and he could do nothing but watch.
His heart skipped a beat. His breath caught in his throat. Was this it? Had he failed to escape it? Had he just looped right back to the beginning again?
But then he turned, and he saw Ken. Laid out beside him, blood dripping from his arm, his face bruised and swollen.
Ken was injured badly, but still in far better shape than Ash. The catalyst had helped, but not enough. The force of their escape had torn through Ken's body, too. It just hadn't crushed him completely the way it had with Ash.
Seeing Ken grounded Ash in reality. Reminded him that he wasn't alone. That he'd done something. That the pain had meaning. And that gave him just enough strength to scream.
"HELP!"
His voice cracked. Weak. But loud enough.
"Somebody please help!"
Ash screamed again, tears slipping down the sides of his burnt cheeks, not because he was trying to cry, but because everything in his body was broken and crying was the only part that still worked.
And then… He saw him.
At first, Ash thought he was hallucinating. That his pain-addled mind was playing tricks on him. That this was some fever dream dressed in divine white. But no. He was real.
A figure stood nearby, untouched by the chaos. Unmoving. Pure.
His white robes shimmered, not from any light source, but as if they were the light themselves. No smoke touched him. No dirt dared settle on him. His skin was pale—not pale like sickness, but pale like sculpted marble. Like he had been carved from something higher than flesh. And his hair, long and brown, flowed gently, swaying even when the wind stood still.
He looked out of place here. Yet somehow, more present than anything else.
Ash's voice fell silent. Something inside him just... bowed. He didn't know how else to describe it. He wasn't even thinking about it. His heart simply knelt. As if every part of him understood that this being was not meant to be seen with mortal eyes. That his presence was not something earned, but granted.
'Lord Gabriel.'
He didn't have to introduce himself.
Ash knew. It was as if something in the air whispered it. As if the world itself was pointing at him. Even the flames around seemed to dim in respect.
Gabriel's eyes met his.
Ash, with tears in his eyes, raised what little strength he had left, and pressed his palms together. Not in prayer exactly. Not in worship. Just... in hope. A human reaching for something far beyond him. Not begging for a miracle, but simply asking to be seen.
And Gabriel saw him. Not just his body. Not just the bruises or the blood or the broken bones.
He saw all of it.
The trauma.
The guilt.
The loneliness.
He saw how Ash wanted to scream every time someone called him a hero. How he hated how powerless he always felt, even when people looked up to him.
Ash wasn't even sure if Gabriel felt emotions the way humans did. But something in his gaze was kind. Ancient. Gentle. And yet behind that gentleness… was an ocean of rage. Not directed at Ash. But at the world that had let things get this far.
Ash didn't know what to say. He didn't know what could be said. But Gabriel walked closer. Step by step. Each step left no mark. Not a single crack in the earth. Not a sound. And yet each step hit Ash like thunder in his chest.
When Gabriel stood over him, he didn't speak. Not at first. He knelt, slowly, beside Ken, who coughed weakly and winced. Gabriel's hand hovered over Ken's chest for just a second. And then light—gold, warm, soft gathered around his palm.
Ken's breathing eased. He wouldn't wake just yet, but he was healing. Safely. Peacefully. And then Gabriel turned to Ash.
He looked at him, not with pity. Not with superiority. But with something rarer.
With understanding. "Your soul," Gabriel said, finally, his voice low but echoing as if it carried the voice of storms and sunrises at once, "is louder than most."
Ash didn't speak.
Gabriel reached forward, not quickly, not dramatically, and touched Ash's forehead with two fingers.
And in that instant, Ash felt stillness. Deep, sacred peace.