I heard it before I saw it.
Marcus' laugh.
That stupid, broken laugh.
I broke through the trees and—Blood.
Everywhere.
Clara down. Sophie bleeding. Ethan wasn't moving. Veyna gasping.
And Marcus.
Slumped against a tree, chest caved in, smiling at the monster above him.
"Boss is still alive, right?" His voice was wet, bubbling. "He will beat the shit out of you, Dumbass."
The Demon raised its arm.
I moved.
Not even a single thought.
Not fear.
Pure instinct.
My blade cut through its arm before it could fall.
The limb hit the ground.
The Demon screamed—a sound like reality tearing.
I didn't look at it.
I looked at Marcus.
At his fading smile.
"Boss..." he whispered. "You're late..."
His eyes closed.
Something inside me snapped.
The Demon retreated from Marcus. It put distance between us, cradling the stump where its arm used to be. Black blood dripped between its fingers, hissing where it touched the dead leaves.
I didn't follow.
I stood over Marcus. Over my friend. Over the idiot who made us laugh when we wanted to cry.
"Marcus."
Nothing.
"Marcus, wake up."
Nothing.
"Marcus, I'll cut your salary 100%. I'll tell everyone you're scared of butterflies. I'll—"
"Didn't you say that we'd find your sister together, so what about that promise?"
His chest wasn't moving.
Something inside me cracked louder.
I turned toward the Demon and looked around at the carnage. At my team. My family.
Both blades in my hands.
It looked at me with those void-dark eyes. No fear. No pain. Just... curiosity. Like it was studying a bug that had bitten it.
"Skra... Nams... strong..."
I didn't answer.
I sprinted toward it .
Faster than before. Faster than I'd ever moved.
The wind screamed past my ears. The world became a tunnel with only one thing at the end.
It!!!!
The Demon met my charge.
Its remaining arm swung—a wild arc meant to decapitate. I ducked under it, came up inside its guard, and drove my right blade into its stomach.
Black blood sprayed.
It roared.
I didn't stop.
Left blade across its thigh.
Right blade into its side.
Left blade across its chest.
Right blade into its shoulder.
Each strike faster than the last. Each cut deeper than the one before.
It stumbled back, trying to create space.
I didn't let it.
I was everywhere.
Inside its reach.
Outside its reach.
Above it.
Below it.
Blades singing through the air, carving lines of black into its hide.
For a moment—just a moment—I thought I could win.
Then its tail moved.
I didn't see it coming.
The spike caught me in the side and threw me twenty meters. I hit a tree, then the ground, then rolled to a stop in a pile of dead leaves.
Everything hurt.
Arghh!!!
I pushed up anyway.
The Demon was already there, standing over me. Its wounds were closing—slowly, but closing. The arm I'd cut off was already growing back, a nub of black flesh twitching and expanding.
It can regenerate. No wonder It's a high-rank Duman .
"Skra... Nams... weak... like others..."
It kicked me.
I flew again.
Hit another tree.
Coughing blood.
Get up, Nams!!!!
I got up.
It was there again. Punching this time. Its fist connected with my chest and I heard something crack. Ribs. Definitely ribs.
I swung blindly. Missed. It grabbed my arm and squeezed.
Crunch.
My blade fell.
I screamed.
It threw me again.
This time I didn't hit a tree. I hit open ground and kept rolling until momentum finally stopped me.
I tried to stand.
Couldn't.
My legs wouldn't work. My arms wouldn't work. One hand was broken. The other held a blade I couldn't lift anymore.
The Demon walked toward me. Slow. Deliberate. Savoring.
I looked around.
Clara still down. Sophie still bleeding. Ethan still not moving. Veyna still gasping.
Marcus still silent.
My blades... they weren't in my hands anymore.
Haa...Haa
My breath got heavier with every passing second. White fog puffed out from my lips into the cold night air.
My team already had fallen half an hour ago. The silence was louder than their screams had been.
Idiot! You fell off this time too!!
What should I do? What?
I tried to close my grip. I forced my broken fingers into a fist.
Argh!!!!!!
Pain shot up my arm like lightning.
Arghhhh!!!!
I couldn't feel my surroundings anymore. My senses were dulling. The world was blurring.
It was coming... towards me... Fast. Way too fast.
Is it over?
Is it my fate to die here?
Yes or no?
I gritted my teeth, tasting blood and dirt.
Fuck you, fate!!!
Something caught my wrist.
Not the Duman.
The Duman was still ten feet away, running toward me.
But something had caught my wrist. Pulled me up. Dragged me out of the path of its charge.
I looked.
My hand.
My hand had moved on its own. Grabbed something invisible. And pulled.
The Demon's charge missed by inches. It stumbled past me, confused, off-balance.
I didn't understand what happened.
I didn't care.
I was on my feet again.
No blades.
Just hands.
The Duman turned, recovering quickly. It looked at me—really looked—and for the first time, I saw something new in its eyes.
Uncertainty.
I didn't give it time to process.
I ran at it.
Bare-handed.
Is this a dumb way to die ? Not like I care .
The first punch connected with its face.
It didn't expect that. Didn't expect me to come at it without weapons. Its guard was down, and my fist—broken fingers and all—smashed into its jaw.
It staggered.
I followed.
Second punch to its throat. Third to its chest. Fourth to the same spot. Fifth. Sixth. Seventh.
I wasn't counting anymore.
I was just hitting.
It tried to swing back. I caught its arm—the one that should have been too strong for me—and twisted.
Crack.
It screamed.
I didn't stop.
Knee to its stomach. Elbow to its face. Headbutt to its nose—my forehead split open, blood running into my eyes, but I didn't care.
It tried to retreat.
I grabbed its horns—the ones on its head, the ones on its arms, didn't matter which—and pulled it back.
"You," punch, "don't," punch, "get," punch, "to," punch, "RUN!"
It fell.
I fell on top of it.
Hands around its throat.
Squeezing.
Ahhh!!!!!!!
It clawed at me. Its regenerating arm stabbed into my side. I didn't let go.
Its tail wrapped around my leg and squeezed until bone ground against bone. I didn't let go.
Its void-dark eyes stared into mine, and I stared back, and I didn't let go.
"You," I growled, voice barely human anymore, "took," squeeze, "my," squeeze, "TEAM!"
I saw Ethan's gun beside us . Maybe it's out of bullets. But I picked it up anyway and kept assaulting its head with it.
"Marcus—he died believing in me "
I didn't stop my assaults .
*I promised Marcus we'd find his sister.*
*I promised Clara I'd introduce her to my mom.*
*I promised Sophie we'd get coffee after the mission.*
*I promised Veyna I'd make him captain in city so he.... he could prevent what happened to his sister from happening again"
*I promised.*
Its black blood flowed everywhere.
*I PROMISED.*
Its struggles weakened.
Its eyes were covered in black .
Everything broke in its head.
It went still.
I stayed there for a moment. Maybe a minute. Maybe an hour.
Finally, I stopped my assaults .
Haa...Haa.
Breathing hard.
Bleeding everywhere.
Then I pushed myself off and stumbled back toward my team.
Toward Clara. Sophie. Ethan. Veyna.
Toward Marcus.
I made it three steps before I heard it.
A sound behind me.
I turned.
The Duman was moving again.
Not getting up—its body was still broken, skull still crushed. But something was happening to it.
Its flesh rippled. Its bones cracked and reformed. Its horns—gods, its horns—they were growing. Multiplying. Spreading across its body like a disease.
It was evolving.
Becoming something worse.
And it was looking at me.
"Skra... Nams... interesting... will remember..."
Its body began to move—not toward me, but away. Dragging itself toward the deeper jungle. Toward their base.
Toward whatever had sent it.
I tried to follow.
Fell after three steps.
Tried again.
Fell again.
My body had nothing left.
The Demon disappeared into the darkness. Or, so I thought.
But something caught its neck like nothing.
I barely stood up .
I tried to follow it and finally saw a figure in white.
A lady.
Her eyes were glowing red. Blonde hair caught what little moonlight filtered through the canopy. She wore a white turtleneck and a black skirt—clean, untouched, like she'd just stepped out of a painting.
She didn't have a suit like us.
No armor. No weapons. Nothing.
So who was she? What was she doing in this jungle alone? She looked completely human, yet somehow... somehow I didn't feel any human aura from her.
She tilted her head towards me .
I felt a pressure. A beyond otherworldly pressure.
Not physical but something deeper. Something that pressed against my soul rather than my skin.
My eyes snapped open.
I couldn't stand against this pressure. None of my training mattered. None of my rage mattered. I was a candle in a hurricane, and she was the storm.
The Duman in her hand slowly started vanish.
Not burning. Not dissolving. Vanishing. Turning into grains of sand that scattered on the wind and then it disappeared into nothing.
But I was still standing.
Barely.
Shaking.
Bleeding.
But standing.
"Who are you?" I shouted. My voice cracked. I didn't care.
She looked at me. Those red eyes—beautiful and terrifying in equal measure—studied me like I was a puzzle she hadn't solved yet.
"Who am I? I could ask you the same question."
Her voice was neutral. Calm. Not threatening, not kind. Just... existing.
But it chilled me to my core.
"I... I am Nams. Who are you?"
I shouted again. Couldn't help it. Standing in front of her felt like standing at the edge of an abyss, and shouting was the only way to remind myself I was still real.
She looked around.
"I am Ar... Arcueid." A pause. "I suppose I'm in the wrong timeline... or the wrong dimension. I don't feel those powers I used to feel in my world."
Those red eyes returned to me. "So tell me, Nams. What is this world?"
My brain short-circuited.
"What... what are you saying? Different dimension? Does that even exist?" I laughed—a broken, hysterical sound.
"Well, never mind. Some years ago, aliens weren't a thing either, so—"
"Aliens?" She interrupted. "You're talking about these creatures? The ones that look like an octopus, ox, and demon mixture?"
"Yes, those. But what exactly are you?"
"Same question for you, Nams."
"What do you mean? I'm just a normal human."
She stared at me for a long moment. Then, "A normal human... huh. Could you look around you for a bit?"
"What do you m—"
I stopped.
I'd been so focused on her that I forgot to look at my surroundings.
At my sides.
At the place where Clara had fallen.
She was gone.
Sophie—gone.
Ethan—gone.
Veyna—gone.
Marcus—
Gone.
The ground beneath me was turning into nothing. The trees. The leaves. The blood. Everything was vanishing into that same grain-of-sand nothingness.
Everything except me.
And her.
And a growing void where my team used to be.
I couldn't breathe.
My whole body started shaking. My hands wouldn't move. My head wouldn't think. My heart didn't want to pump anymore.
"You... you... you..." I couldn't form words. Couldn't think. Couldn't do anything but stare at the empty spaces where my friends had been.
"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE?!"
My voice felt heavy. Wrong. Was that her doing?
I was panting. More than usual. More than after the fight. More than after anything.
"I simply existed," she murmured.
"Huh? What do you mean, 'simply existed'? No one's existence can do this! It's like they got erased from here!"
"'Cause they are."
The words hit me like a physical blow.
I was shocked. How could a person's presence erase other things? Was this some kind of joke?
"That's not possible," I whispered. "That's not—that's not POSSIBLE."
"You can blame me for what I've done. But I don't know how this world's energy works. I need time to control my powers. They're leaking here."
She looked at me again—that same piercing, analytical gaze.
"After looking at you, I can tell you don't know that your world has infinitely more energy than my previous world. And look at you."
She gestured at me. At my broken body. At my shaking form. "You didn't get erased. So I'm asking you again, Nams. Are you really a human?"
My hands weren't moving. My body was stuck in one place.
I opened my mouth to answer—
And heard it.
Helicopters.
In the distance.
Getting closer.
Probably my father's team.
I looked toward the sound. My vision was blurring. My chest hurt so much. My body was getting pale. Cold. Dying.
"Sounds like more people like you are coming," she observed.
I looked back at her.
She was gone.
Then she was there—right in front of me, close enough to touch. Those red eyes stared into mine from inches away.
"Goodbye, Nams."
She vanished.
Like she'd never existed at all.
I fell onto the empty ground.
I don't know why, but I still want to ask her more questions. So many questions.
But my whole body was hurting.
I can't breathe.
Haa!...haa!...
Panting. Too much. Too fast.
The darkness is consuming me.
I fainted and fell to the ground—the ground that was still there, still solid, still real. Only the ground near me was still intact.
I saw darkness. No. Not darkness.
A growing void.
I couldn't think straight after what I'd just seen and heard.
I didn't know what was going to happen after this.
The last thing I heard was helicopters.
Getting closer.
Getting louder.
Getting—
--------
--------