Endless darkness, that's all Akira saw in front of him. There was no sense of touch, smell, or anything else. There was nothing but darkness.
It was a place where anyone would feel scared to be in, but to Akira, this familiar place felt like home. He had spent too much time here, after all. He could relax the most here.
"Here again, huh?" Akira thought bitterly. He never expected he'd be here so soon again.
The last thing he remembered was a hand plunging into his chest, and then everything turned black. He didn't know how much time had passed, seconds? Hours? Years? Time held no meaning here.
"I thought I'd at least stay conscious for a little while. I was hoping to at least take him down with me, though," he thought to himself. "Did my head get hit…? No, I'm pretty sure my heart got destroyed, but that shouldn't make me lose consciousness this soon. What happened?"
That should've bought him time. At least a moment before his brain shut down. Enough to… do something. But instead, he'd been dragged back here, to this cold, starless void.
"What should I do now? The girls are still in danger now. I had to do something." As Akira was thinking about how he could save them, he realised something he hadn't realised before.
He could see something new.
He looked down to where his hand should be. He was expecting to see just more darkness, but he saw something. A hand. But not a normal one. It was transparent, like glass.
Not just his hand, he felt his entire body. But it didn't feel like it had any substance. It was a body made of transparent glass.
It felt like this must be the essence of his existence, or maybe his soul. He never felt anything like this back then when he stayed here for who knows how long. Maybe now is different because he just died recently, or is it because he can now use magic?
He didn't know what it was, but he knew he had to try something, so he tried doing something like resurrection magic to try to go back, but he didn't feel any magic here, just as he was running out of ideas. Suddenly, he saw something.
A light.
A single point, distant and faint. Like a dying star in a black ocean. But it didn't fade. It grew slowly, gently.
More lights appeared, clustering around it, spiralling together like a newborn constellation.
The cluster swirled, brightened, and then… formed a shape.
A silhouette of a girl, a small girl around his age, her face was hidden in the glow, but her form shimmered like she was made entirely of starlight. Radiating a soft purplish aurora, she drifted closer to him, floating through the void.
The light that surrounded her wasn't blinding. It was warm and comforting, a familiar feeling.
"…That light…is that Stellar Radiance." Akira's eyes widened slightly. He knew that light, it was the aurora of Stellar Radiance, a power only his family possessed. A power he hadn't felt since his mother last used it in their training sessions.
A power he could not use, no matter how hard he tried, but this little girl here seems to be like she was completely made of it.
The girl didn't speak. She simply reached out her hand.
Akira didn't know why, but he reached back.
As their fingers touched, the girl's radiant hand shimmered brighter, and then the light began to flow.
Like water poured into an empty glass, the Stellar Radiance began seeping into him.
Akira looked down and saw his body, now translucent, like it was made of clear glass. The purplish aurora flowed into him slowly at first, then in great waves, swirling through his limbs, filling him from within.
His once-clear body began to glow a purple aurora.
First dimly, then brighter and brighter, until it radiated the same warm, otherworldly light as the girl standing before him. Their forms mirrored each other, twin silhouettes of celestial light floating in the void.
And then, he felt it.
Something he never felt before, it's like watching a new anime, beating a very tough boss battle in no-hit run for the first time, or getting multiple copies of a limited star character in a single ten pull, it's like that, but a hundred times more intense.
It was like a cluster of every positive emotion, love, hope, joy, kindness, all blooming in his chest at once. It made his heart ache, but not from pain. From fullness.
He remembered what his mother once told him.
"Stellar Radiance is not something you can use by logic. It is a power born of emotions, like love or friendship. It's actually pretty easy to use, so I have no idea why you couldn't use it."
Now, for the first time, he understood.
The reason why he couldn't use Stellar radiance is that he never felt emotions like others. After feeling this for himself, it's exactly as he read about in those stories, but never actually felt it before. But here, thanks to this mysterious girl of light, he could feel it.
Or at least… he knew what it should feel like.
And with that understanding, something deep inside him clicked.
He could wield this power now, at least temporarily.
He tried to speak to her, to thank her, to ask who she was, but the void allowed no sound.
So instead, he thought it.
"Thank you…"
He couldn't see her face, but he felt as if she was smiling at him.
She looked at the void and waved her hand, and with that void changed, stars spread across the void, lighting up the entire place, and with that, he knew.
It was time to go back.
He had a battle to finish.
Akira's eyes snapped open, glowing a brilliant purple, like twin stars burning in the void. He looked down at the werewolf leader's arm still plunged into his chest, and spoke with a cold grin.
"Hey… you should've gone for the head."
In that moment, something ignited.
His white hair began to shimmer with a silvery glow, strands flowing as if caught in a cosmic breeze. His entire body lit up as Stellar Radiance surged from within him, a purplish aurora bursting forth like a supernova.
The werewolf leader's expression twisted in horror. The arm embedded in Akira's chest disintegrated instantly, consumed by the radiance.
"Wha–WHAT?! What is this?! HOW ARE YOU STILL MOVING?!", the werewolf leader screamed in horror.
Akira took a step forward, the aurora swirling around him like a divine storm. He smirked, not even flinching.
"You think crushing my heart is enough to make me die?", Akira said with a grin. He always wanted to say that line.
The werewolf leader roared in fury, trying to mask his fear. "I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU ARE! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU RIGHT NOW!"
He charged, gathering all his remaining strength into a final assault.
Akira looked at him calmly. He knew he didn't have much time left. His heart was gone, his mana completely ran out, too, and this power, Stellar Radiance, he was using it for the first time, and it was burning fast, too fast.
One shot, one chance. He had to end it now with the strongest attack he could do right now, then Akira remembered the very first anime he ever watched, the one that started everything.
"Let's finish this the way it all began."
He raised his hand, the purple aurora converging, spiralling, condensing.
A colossal drill of radiant purple light formed above his arm, spinning with impossible force. The sight of it shook the air, warping the ground beneath them.
As the werewolf neared, Akira roared with every ounce of soul he had left.
"GIGA…...DRILL…. BREAK!!"
He lunged forward.
The impact shattered the battlefield in a torrent of light and force, the drill piercing through the werewolf leader like the judgment of the cosmos itself.
The bright light of the stellar radiance started to burn his body and soul, no matter how much he tried, he was being overwhelmed.
"NOOOOOO", the werewolf leader screamed in pain, and then he was gone, disintegrated, body and soul erased by the overwhelming light.
Silence returned.
Akira stood amidst the fading aurora, breathing shallow, his body trembling. The drill vanished. His glow dimmed.
He grinned one last time.
"Just… who the hell do you think I am?"
And with that, he collapsed with a smile on his face. At least this time, he went out the way he wanted.