Zekai's vision violently tore away from the white void—and reality crashed back.
The world didn't return sequentially; it snapped into place around him like a trap. A violent, kinetic force pulled his consciousness back, as if reality itself was aggressively reclaiming its anchor.
"...What the hell happened here...?"
His voice sounded entirely unfamiliar, dropping into a deep, hollow register.
The translucent red system screen flickered rapidly in his field of vision.
Zzzzsup!
[ ARCANA INTERFACE ACTIVE ]
Subject: Zekai Krystan
State: Displaced → Reanchored
Zekai ignored the text. His eyes locked onto the nightmare unfolding directly in front of him.
Aron was suspended high in the air, his limp body hanging unnaturally still, as if the local space had been forcefully paused mid-existence. His throat was being crushed in the iron grip of a black entity.
"…What the hell is that…?"
Zzzzsup!
[ TARGET LOCKED ]
Entity: SOULREAVER
Classification: Extraction-Type
[ Threat Level: Lethal ]
Zekai didn't have time to figure out what this interface was trying to communicate.
Aron's face came into focus. The kid's eyes were filled with a chaotic mixture of primal fear and sudden, relief the exact moment their gazes locked. That was all Zekai required.
"Don't… lose yourself… Mr. Zekai…" Aron choked out.
Something inside him cracked. If he don't move now, Aron would die.
Zekai moved before the thought could even finish processing in his brain.
CRACK!
The air detonated behind his boots the millisecond he accelerated. Instantly, a sharper, predatory instinct took total control. A violent, volatile surge of energy erupted from his core.
Crimson energy wrapped around his right arm like a furnace, pitch-black threads of localized authority weaving tightly through the aura. And within that compressed chaos, a different layer of power formed—sharper, more focused, and absolute.
Flash!
He completely disappeared from his place. It wasn't teleportation; it was a velocity his human biology hadn't learned how to perform yet. It was pure speed, shattering the threshold of what his muscles should allow.
In mid-air, he instantly reappeared right in front of the Soulreaver.
Zekai's hand closed around the Soulreaver's throat, his fingers forcefully locking onto an anomaly that only existed because his awakened authority forced it to become physical.
For a second, the entity's core violently resisted. It wasn't a physical struggle; it was an abstract refusal to exist within a human's grip. It was the exact same dominance it had used to paralyze Aron.
But Zekai crushed that resistance. For the first time since its manifestation, the Soulreaver hesitated.
Zekai caught it mid-motion—not grasping the physical torso, but intercepting the movement itself.
CRACK!
The atmosphere fractured behind him as he applied the pressure. For a split second, something impossible happened.
The Soulreaver suddenly felt certain it had already stopped moving.
Reality struggled to decide whether that possibility was true.
He didn't wait for the timeline to catch up. The Soulreaver failed to comprehend what had just happened.
Then, Zekai adjusted his stance. His body already knew the movement.
"You chose the wrong target, bastard."
Aron's limp body fell from the severed grip.
Zekai loosened his grip and tossed the Soulreaver aside.
Before Aron could hit the ground, he stepped forward and caught him effortlessly in mid-air.
Without breaking momentum, Zekai spun once, carrying Aron away from the fight before gently lowering him onto the stone floor beyond the combat zone.
"Aron… are you okay?"
"Ah…" Aron barely managed a weak nod, his throat rattling.
That more than enough.
"…Sorry… I made you wait too long."
Before Zekai could even reset his guard, the Soulreaver broke through the space, materializing directly behind his shoulder blades.
Swish!
The Soulreaver unleashed a lethal strike—and missed completely. It didn't miss because Zekai executed an evasion step. The possibility appeared first; the physical motion of the arm only followed the instinct.
Aron's field of vision shaking erratically. He was physically incapacitated. Every single respiration burned like liquid fire, his punctured chest barely rising to capture oxygen. But his eyes never wavered from Zekai's silhouette.
"...You're still you... right?" Aron's voice came out in a weak, fragile whisper.
For a moment, even the boy couldn't process the nature of the anomaly he was witnessing. It wasn't standard speed. It wasn't high-tier physical strength. It was a error in reality. Something beautifully wrong.
Then, a faint, broken laugh bubbled past Aron's bloody lips. "…Of course you are…"
The lingering terror vanished from the boy's chest, completely replaced by unwavering relief. He didn't need to understand the cosmic horror. He only needed to look at the man fighting for him.
"I knew it…" Aron whispered, his fingers tightening weakly against the gravel as if anchoring himself to that single belief.
"…you wouldn't lose."
For a brief moment, the final trajectory of the engagement had already been decided by the system. Zekai didn't even bother to turn his torso fully.
The distance between them was a mere three paces—close enough that the radiating, cold of Soulreaver's aura licked against his bare neck.
The shadow arm reached out to impale him, but Zekai's hand shot back like a viper, catching the monster by its throat. His fingers compressed around a matter that felt half-solid, and he hoisted the colossal entity into the air effortlessly with one arm.
He tightened his grip, the black and red aura erupting from his knuckles. Clack. The black stone cube slipped from the Soulreaver palm, hitting the floor. Zekai turned his head slightly, his eyes glimmered cold.
"I'm talking to him."
"You're not part of this."
BOOM!
Zekai hurled the entity—but the trajectory distorted mid-flight. The local space twisted and groaned as the Soulreaver passive authority fought against the kinetic outcome.
But the Fool's force was absolute. The Soulreaver slammed violently into the reinforced wall.
The solid wall dented inward on impact, massive fractures spreading outward across the concrete like a chaotic spiderweb before the concussive sound could even catch up to the room. The impact shattered like brittle bone, but the Soulreaver refused to dissolve. It wouldn't die that easily.
Zekai glanced over his shoulder at the bleeding Aron.
"Stay there."
"I'll finish this quickly."
Zzzzsup!
The crimson interface flickered violently.
[ ARCANA RESPONSE ]
Authority: THE FOOL
Status: Partial Manifestation
Effect: Reality Deviation Initiated
Warning: Control Undefined
'...So this is the Zero shoved into my soul?'
It didn't matter. He only understood one baseline rule: the enemy needed to be eliminated.
He didn't care what graveyard dimension this place belonged to.
He didn't care about the prophecy.
He didn't care why reality itself was breaking apart.
His mind was perfectly clear.
Only one thought remained.
'From this point on—anyone who tried to slaughter us will die by my hands.'
The Soulreaver stared at him.
And for the first time—
it stopped moving.
✦ End of Chapter 18 — The One Who Woke II ✦