The sky quakes with the screech of the horned beast.
The smaller ones break away from the carcass of the woman, their wings beating furiously as they descend. One by one, their eyeless sockets turn towards Takeda. Their movements are jagged, violent—each one aiming for his face. His eyes.
"…So this is it, huh?"
The sound of wings pounding against the air drowns everything.
Takeda feels his infant body freeze, powerless. As the first creature lunges, memories flash before him—his fists smashing skulls in the slums, his blind friend's smile, the warmth of the family he built, the betrayal, the massacre, the blood-soaked revenge.
Then silence—just for a moment.
"…Am I dead? I know I died already. Then… I was brought back… to what? To die again? A miserable death like this?"
The shadow of the horned beast looms closer. Takeda feels its hunger, its desire to rip him apart.
"What does it matter? I've lost everything. My family's gone. My friend's gone. I don't even know where I am… Maybe it's better if I just die again. Maybe this time… I'll see them again. Maybe I'll finally rest with them… in heaven."
He lets out a faint chuckle, weak but bitter.
"…No. Who am I kidding? With everything I've done… heaven isn't where I'm headed. It'll be hell that welcomes me."
A whip-like crack splits the air.
The nearest beast lashes its tail—a long, spined appendage with a dagger-sharp tip—straight at his infant eyes.
And then, suddenly, a voice echoes inside his head. Faint but undeniable.
Live.
That single word reverberates through his mind—the voice of Akihiro Gonzales, his blind friend from the slums. Even in darkness, Akihiro carried light. Even without sight, he gave Takeda a reason to move forward.
"…Live? …That word… Even now, you're still telling me…?"
The Holloweye's tail whips downward like a spear—
Takeda's small body jerks. He rolls to the side, clumsy, desperate, but just enough to dodge the strike. The creature's tail slams into the ground where he lay, splintering dirt and stone. It shrieks in frustration.
"…No. I can't die here. Not like this. Not again."
His infant hands clench, trembling but filled with defiance. His eyes blaze—not with fear, but with the same fire that once made the slums bow to him.
"…You want my life? Then come take it. But I refuse to die like trash. Not here. Not now!"
The horned creatures circle again, their shrieks louder, angrier.
Takeda, reborn yet bound in a baby's body, glares at the abyssal sky—his will unbroken.
The swarm screeches and dives again, their dagger-tipped tails stabbing for the same spot—his eyes.
"…Tch. So that's it. They're not trying to kill me… they're trying to take my eyes."
Another tail strike. Takeda rolls aside, barely dodging. His infant body aches, trembling, but his mind sharpens in the chaos.
"…Then I'll give you a name. 'Holloweyes.' Creatures that hunger only for vision."
They dive again, tails slicing the air like black spears. Takeda resists the urge to panic.
He waits. Watches. Calculates.
He times his roll at the last second—just before the strike—dodging with the smallest possible movement.
Memories flash through him: the slums, fists flying, men stronger and faster than him, and how he learned to read their timing, their patterns, their weaknesses.
"…I learned long ago that no attack is perfect. Every strike has a rhythm… a pattern. If I waste energy moving too early, I lose. But if I move at the last instant—"
Another Holloweye's tail smashes into the dirt where his face was. He twists, narrowly escaping.
"…That's how I win."
The Holloweyes screech in frustration. For a moment, they stop their assault and rise back into the air, circling above him. Takeda, panting and drenched in sweat, manages a shaky breath.
Then, despite his weak infant lungs, he shouts at the sky:
"…Is that all you've got!?"
The creatures shriek louder, enraged by his defiance.
Their screeches twist into something almost unnatural as they regroup in the sky, their formation shifting.
"…What are you planning now? A different strategy?"
The swarm expands, their wings blotting out what little light remains. Their hollow sockets all fix on him at once, their cries rising like a war-drum.
Takeda glares upward, gums clenched, voice shaking but will unbroken.
"…Come at me, then. Kakatte koi yo—come at me, if you dare!"
The Holloweyes dive together, a single, massive assault—hundreds swooping simultaneously, their dagger-like tails flashing like black lightning. The air itself shatters with their shrieks as they rush him all at once.
But then—another sound.
A loud, strange noise, distant at first but growing closer.
A rumble, deep and heavy, shaking the ground beneath him.
Takeda freezes, still dodging, still gasping for breath.
"…What is that? Another enemy?"
The swarm hesitates for a split second, as if sensing the same presence. Their screeches falter, replaced by uneasy cries. Something massive approaches, closing in fast.
"…The Holloweyes above me… and something else closing in. Is this… the end already?"
---End of Chapter Two---