Chapter 68: Mist Blocking the Way
But then, the mist gradually dissipated.
A horrific image appeared before his eyes.
Airi's whole body was trembling, her hands tied behind her back with a red rope, kneeling on the ground. Her clothes were disheveled. Her body was scratched everywhere, her gaze filled with sadness.
Kazuka opened his eyes wide in confusion, but then narrowed them in suspicion and exhaled a sharp breath as if he were fed up with these tricks.
His voice rose firmly, asserting with confidence:
"A hallucination. I am too used to this. Don't think I'll be fooled again."
Opposite Airi, a man in a black cloak was standing, his back to Kazuka. In his hand, he held a long sword; the cold gray glint of steel flashed in the dim light.
Seeing that it did not stop when he spoke, Kazuka stepped forward with confident strides, raising his voice:
"This trick is old. Every time I hesitate, a torture scene is set up, right? Now get me out of here, I don't want to play these nonsense games."
The silence remained terrifying.
The arm of the one in black lifted upward.
The sword brought down.
No sound was emitted, nor was there blood. Only in a split second. Airi's body was split in half vertically from top to bottom. Her eyes opened wide; that gaze directed toward Kazuka in the moment the two halves of her torso fell backward.
Everything seemed to freeze; he stood there stunned. Confusion was clear.
His voice trembled, coming out small from his mouth; he wanted to scream, but could not:
"It can't be real."
But that image was too real; his gaze was glued to Airi's split body lying on the ground; those eyes had not yet closed as if regretting something; the one in black just stood there, the sword without a drop of blood.
There were no cheap lighting effects, no ghostly sounds, no heartbeat. Only he was standing stunned here.
Only the terrifying silence of a life departing before his eyes.
His voice trembled; he didn't want to believe. But his expression did not grant him that luxury.
"Absolutely not..."
Airi's gaze at that moment looked at him too realistically.
The previous illusions that required solutions were like a joke, while this felt like mental torture.
He instinctively backed away in ultimate fear. A sensation of fear rushed into him abruptly. Airi's gaze with its regret kept appearing.
He bumped into someone behind him; the sensation of contact was very real. It forced him to step his right foot far forward to brace himself.
He spun around to the back very quickly with vigilance.
Mouth trembling, limbs weak, pupils shaking uncontrollably.
It was Takeshi; he stood there. With a massive wound on his chest. It exposed a heart torn apart by something.
Takeshi's body slumped, kneeling onto the ground and tilting to one side.
Takeshi's gaze still carried shock; the expression was very real.
He clutched his head, footsteps staggering backward as if having no support. His face was in panic.
He screamed loudly, the sound reaching his vocal cords hoarsely:
"No... no way... stop these tricks."
"STOP IT NOW!"
Each of his breaths heaved in his panicked chest. He lunged toward Takeshi, tears flowing and rolling on his cheeks.
His mind told him it wasn't real, but another thought would not allow him to ignore it; he doubted and feared this was real.
He lunged and collapsed to his knees, reaching out both hands. But Takeshi gradually dissolved like smoke, leaving Kazuka frozen.
Further in the distance.
Ayaka, her body pierced by thousands of arrows, was hung on a wooden pole without needing ropes. The arrows had done the work of the cords.
Flies and worms, maggots crawled on her body and emerged from her eye sockets.
Below, a body lay there with the head separated from the torso. Aoto's familiar face appeared, eyes closed.
Elyssia lay right there motionless, seemingly dead.
Then everything vanished, like a wind blowing into the ashes of a fireplace that had gone out and held no warmth.
Only he remained, and a wind blew softly, chilly and gloomy. And then, a giggling voice from far ahead rang out.
The voice rose, carrying mockery and contempt:
"It seems you didn't believe this was real, so what's with that expression?"
But then, the voice became serious. The surrounding air seemed to thicken:
"YOU THINK... THIS IS ANOTHER TRICK? KAZUKA...?"
He emphasized the name, as if pressing down on Kazuka's psyche, an invisible and colossal pressure like a towering mountain range.
The words now echoed in his head:
"You always think you are strong enough not to be fooled. But if your emotions are real... then how do you know what is real and what is a hallucination?"
He knelt on the ground, his gaze dazed. The air now compressed, turning thick; even breathing was difficult for him.
Now, the voice did not echo in his head, nor did it come from one side.
It came from everywhere:
"Your illusions are so stupid."
"Adventure? Getting stronger? Protecting?"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA."
"Do you still think this world is fair, or at least has limits to cruelty?"
"The truth is… this world doesn't care about right or wrong, doesn't care about anyone's tears."
"Those idealistic thoughts, they are only truly wonderful when you realize everything is not easy at all."
"Doesn't matter which realm, or which nation. Everywhere has its own law."
"And this world. IT SIMPLY OPERATES... BY CRUELTY AND BLOOD."
Kazuka lifted his head, eyes wide. His breath seemed strangled.
The voice continued:
"The strong will live… not because they are right, but because they are cruel enough to move forward."
"The weak scream, then die, leaving behind unfinished dreams and those who forget them in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."
"What do you think inside you can resist that?"
The voice laughed loudly again:
"HAHAHAHAHAHA."
"You have nothing; you only have childish thoughts that can never grow up."
"And a fear of losing your friends."
The voice emphasized, as if stabbing deep inside Kazuka.
"YOU ARE TOO GREENNN!"
He grit his teeth, standing up abruptly in anger, his right hand swinging as if to sweep away those words. His voice screamed in anger, wanting to counter and reject those words:
"Shut your mouth... I am not green."
The voice rang out, negating his words:
"You have no friends, you don't know what to do either. You only have your friends... then you can act. Right?"
Kazuka gripped a handful of dirt, teeth clenched in anger and screamed:
"Those are my friends... and we rely on each other, what the hell do you know?"
Contempt was clear through the words:
"Then if you don't have them, aren't you... just an empty shell?"
His eyes widened; he understood the voice's meaning. But he remained stubborn and refused to accept.
"What the hell do you know? They will go everywhere with me, they won't leave me."
As if realizing something, he froze.
The voice also noticed.
"There, isn't it very hard for you to admit? ...you REFUSE TO THINK, always thinking you'll be together blindly."
"You are just a brat."
As if being exposed and dissected, he stood there silent, hands clenched making his body shake.
He didn't want to accept, but he completely could not talk back. Simply put, it was too right about him.
"I-I..."
The voice did not let him speak.
"Do you have anything else to say? What else of yourself do you want to defend?"
His face bowed low in helplessness when unable to argue back against that voice. Also realizing what he was like.
A trembling voice, hard to admit, escaped his mouth:
"Fine... I am like that."
He felt a bit of helplessness and self-mockery, accepting himself.
"I'm still too weak, aren't I?"
"I... I... MY PATH IS BLOCKED BY MIST."
"Thoughts that seemed wonderful... are the things that hide everything."
He grit his teeth, his voice trembling more.
"I... will not wait for the world to change anymore…"
His voice became steely, as if affirming a new step for his own person.
"I will change myself. To force this world to look at me differently. So that I am the one pulling others out of it."
From the middle of the void, a door appeared before his eyes; it was already open and white light flashed out.
He was surprised... but he also understood. He approached the door with the silence of one who had ceased being naive.
His eyes flared with a red flame, determined, fearless. He stepped into the door with extremely firm footsteps.