The wind didn't blow anymore.
It clawed.
Like something alive… tearing through the ruins of the dead city.
Akimo stood alone.
The ground beneath his feet was no longer solid—it cracked with every step, thin layers of frost forming and shattering like glass. The buildings around him leaned unnaturally, as if the world itself had forgotten how to stand.
And above—
The sky was breaking.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
Cracks spread across the heavens like fractures on a mirror. Through them, a deep red and electric blue light pulsed… slow, rhythmic… like the heartbeat of something watching.
Akimo couldn't look away.
"…This isn't just destruction…"
His voice came out dry.
"…This is something else."
Something worse.
💥 BOOOOOM!!
The earth exploded beneath him.
A shockwave threw him backward, his body crashing against frozen debris. Pain shot through his spine, sharp and real.
"Ghh—!"
For a moment, he couldn't breathe.
Cold air forced its way into his lungs like knives.
Then—
Silence.
Complete.
Unnatural.
"You have survived the First Collapse."
Akimo's eyes snapped open.
The voice…
It wasn't around him.
It was inside him.
"…Who are you?"
No answer.
Only that suffocating silence pressing against his skull.
"You are now… eligible."
Suddenly—
Pain.
Not normal pain.
It felt like something had reached inside his chest… and grabbed his heart.
"AAAAAHHH—!!"
Akimo dropped to his knees, fingers digging into his chest as if he could tear it open and escape.
His veins burned.
No—burned wasn't enough.
It felt like molten metal was being poured through them.
🔥 SYSTEM INITIALIZING…
🔥 HOST DETECTED: AKIMO
🔥 STATUS: ALIVE (CRITICAL)
🔥 CORE AWAKENING… 5%... 13%... 26%...
"A… system…?"
His vision blurred.
His thoughts shattered.
But deep inside—
Something clicked.
This wasn't random.
This was selection.
The world around him dissolved.
The ruined city… vanished.
And suddenly—
Akimo was falling.
Through endless darkness.
No ground.
No sky.
No sound.
Just an infinite void swallowing everything.
Then—
He stopped.
Floating.
Alone.
And in front of him—
A massive ECLIPSE.
Half glowing blue.
Half burning red.
Rotating slowly… like a god's eye watching him.
Akimo's breath hitched.
"This… isn't real…"
But even as he said it—
He knew.
This was more real than anything he had ever experienced.
"Akimo."
The voice returned.
Calm.
Cold.
Ancient.
A figure emerged from the eclipse.
Not fully formed.
Not fully human.
Just a silhouette… made of shifting light and darkness.
Akimo's instincts screamed.
Run.
But his body refused to move.
"…What are you?"
"You stand at the edge of extinction."
The figure stepped closer.
The pressure in the air increased.
Akimo felt it on his skin… like gravity itself was crushing him.
"Your world has already ended."
Those words hit harder than the pain.
"…No."
Akimo shook his head.
"…I'm still here."
"A fragment."
Silence.
"A mistake."
Akimo's fists clenched.
A mistake…?
Was that all he was?
A memory flashed.
A faint one.
Laughter.
Warm sunlight.
Voices he couldn't fully remember—
But he knew they mattered.
"…If everything ended…"
His voice cracked slightly.
"…then why do I remember them?"
For the first time—
The figure paused.
"Because you were chosen."
The eclipse pulsed violently.
And suddenly—
Akimo's mind shattered.
🔥 Cities collapsing into nothing
🔥 Oceans evaporating into void
🔥 Entire skies being devoured
🔥 Countless people… erased without a trace
"STOP—!!"
Everything vanished.
Akimo collapsed, gasping for air.
His hands trembled.
His heart raced uncontrollably.
"That… that was real…"
"The truth."
The figure stood before him now.
Closer.
Too close.
"The Void has begun consuming all existence."
Darkness gathered in its hand.
It twisted… warped…
And formed something.
A creature.
No.
Not a creature.
Something that shouldn't exist.
Its shape constantly changed—too many limbs, too many eyes, too many impossible angles.
Looking at it felt wrong.
Like reality itself was rejecting it.
Akimo's entire body froze.
"…That thing…"
"The Void."
The word echoed endlessly.
"It devours time."
"It devours space."
"It devours reality itself."
Akimo felt small.
Insignificant.
Like nothing he did would ever matter.
But then—
That same memory flickered again.
Warmth.
Voices.
A world that once existed.
"…Then I'll fight it."
The words came out quietly.
But they didn't break.
"…Even if I'm just a fragment."
The figure stared at him.
"Power comes at a cost."
It extended its hand.
"Accept it… and you will cease to be human."
Silence.
Akimo looked at that hand.
Then at the endless void around him.
Then at the fading memory of a world already gone.
If he refused—
Everything would disappear.
Like it never existed.
He closed his eyes.
"…I don't care what I become."
He reached out.
"…As long as I can stop it."
💥 CORE AWAKENING: 100% COMPLETE
The moment their hands touched—
Everything broke.
Energy exploded through Akimo's body.
Blue and red lightning tore through his veins.
His scream echoed across the void—
But he didn't let go.
His eyes snapped open—
Glowing.
Alive.
Different.
The eclipse shattered into fragments of light.
The void itself trembled.
"Then rise…"
The voice echoed one final time.
"ECLIPSE HOST."
Akimo returned.
The ruined world.
The broken sky.
The frozen silence.
But now—
He wasn't the same.
Energy flowed through him.
Dark.
Bright.
Unstable.
He slowly raised his hand.
Reality itself seemed to distort around it.
"…This power…"
For the first time—
He didn't feel fear.
He felt control.
Above him—
The cracks in the sky widened.
And something…
Began to descend.
Something far worse than before.
Akimo looked up.
His glowing eyes reflected the falling darkness.
"…Come."