Blood dripped from Ryuji's arm.
Not quickly or violently, but with a slow, steady rhythm that felt almost deliberate.
A drop slid along the faint lines of his trembling muscles before falling to the stone floor. Another followed, then another, each impact producing a hollow sound that echoed through the suffocating silence of the chamber.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
It felt as though time itself was counting down.
Ryuji's fingers twitched and his grip weakened further. He could feel the subtle loss of control, the growing disconnect between his mind and body, as if his hands no longer fully belonged to him.
His breathing was uneven and strained. Every inhale scraped against his throat, dry and burning, while the air itself felt unnaturally heavy.
The poison had spread.
There was no denying it anymore.
Yet it wasn't pain.
Not the sharp agony of a wound.
This was something worse.
A creeping exhaustion.
A slow decay that seemed to eat away at him from the inside, piece by piece, moment by moment.
His strength wasn't being stolen.
It was fading.
Quietly.
Like a flame running out of fuel.
And yet, that wasn't what terrified him.
His body failing was something he could understand.
Something he could accept.
But this pressure...
His eyes slowly lifted, the simple movement feeling far heavier than it should have.
Then he saw him.
Marcellus.
Walking forward one step at a time.
Calm.
Unhurried.
Each footstep echoed through the chamber with terrifying clarity. Not loud or forceful, but absolute.
Like nothing in the world could interrupt his advance.
No hesitation.
No wasted motion.
Only certainty.
Cold and unshakable certainty.
Ryuji had fought monsters before.
Creatures that screamed.
Creatures that tore through everything in their path.
He had even fought a golem, an unstoppable mass of destruction capable of crushing anything before it.
Yet none of them had ever made him feel like this.
This suffocating pressure.
This invisible weight pressing down on his very existence.
It wasn't fear.
Not exactly.
It was something deeper.
Something primal.
Like standing before a force that simply could not be defeated.
"...he's the real problem..."
The realization came instantly.
Clear.
Sharp.
Unavoidable.
Not the poison.
Not the wounds.
Not the exhaustion.
Him.
Marcellus.
Before Ryuji could react, Marcellus vanished.
Not in a blur.
Not with impossible speed.
He was simply gone.
And in the next instant, he stood directly before him.
Too close.
Far too close.
His blade was already descending in a perfect vertical strike.
No wasted energy.
No hesitation.
Only the pure intent to kill.
Time seemed to slow.
Or perhaps Ryuji's perception sharpened.
He didn't think.
There was no room for thought.
His body simply moved.
Barely.
He twisted at the last possible moment and escaped the blade by the narrowest margin.
The sword tore through the air beside him.
Then—
BOOM.
The impact shattered the ground.
Stone cracked violently beneath the strike as fragments exploded outward and dust surged into the air. The sheer force rattled Ryuji's bones.
Yet Marcellus didn't follow.
Didn't chase.
Didn't press the attack.
He simply stood there.
Watching.
Waiting.
Because he didn't need to do anything else.
The poison was already doing its work.
Every movement drained Ryuji further.
Every second pushed him closer to collapse.
Victory had never been an option.
Ryuji was already losing.
So he smiled.
It wasn't confident.
It wasn't heroic.
Just tired.
Crooked.
Almost broken.
But real.
He forced himself upright despite the protests of his body. His balance wavered and his legs threatened to give out beneath him, yet he still raised his fists.
Unsteady.
Imperfect.
But raised.
His eyes continued to burn.
Still.
"...come."
A whisper.
A challenge.
Or perhaps simple stubbornness refusing to die.
Then he charged.
No strategy.
No plan.
No calculation.
Only instinct.
Only willpower.
Only the desperate need to keep moving.
Marcellus watched.
For a brief moment, surprise flickered across his expression.
Just a flicker.
Because he could already see every opening.
Every flaw.
Every mistake.
Ryuji's attack wasn't merely reckless.
It was doomed.
Marcellus moved once.
That was enough.
His blade flashed through the air with precise efficiency, aiming to end everything cleanly.
But Ryuji slipped past it.
Barely.
One step.
One breath.
And suddenly he was inside his guard.
Too close.
Too fast.
His hand shot forward and grabbed Marcellus by the collar.
Then—
BAM.
His forehead crashed into Marcellus's face.
A brutal headbutt.
Raw.
Desperate.
The impact rang through the chamber.
Marcellus stepped back.
One step.
Ryuji staggered as well, blood running down his face.
But he smiled.
"Take that..."
The words were childish.
Petty.
Meaningless.
And yet they mattered.
At least to him.
Marcellus slowly raised his head.
Calm.
Unbothered.
As though nothing had happened.
Their eyes met.
And Ryuji felt it instantly.
A chill.
Cold.
Deep.
Absolute.
Then—
BOOM.
An invisible force erupted outward.
Ryuji's body was thrown away like a ragdoll. He slammed into the ground and slid across the stone before finally coming to a stop.
Silence followed.
Heavy.
Crushing.
He tried to move, but his trembling arms refused to obey.
"...damn..."
His vision blurred further.
His body no longer responded.
Only then did he notice the others.
Soldiers.
They had been watching all along.
Frozen between fear and duty.
Unable to interfere.
Because this battle existed on a level far beyond them.
Then Marcellus stopped completely.
And something changed.
The air itself shifted.
An overwhelming pressure descended upon the chamber.
Heavy.
Brutal.
Invisible.
But undeniable.
His magic had been released.
The soldiers staggered immediately. Some collapsed to their knees while others struggled desperately to breathe. Weapons slipped from trembling hands as the crushing force intensified.
It felt as though gravity itself had multiplied.
As though their bodies were being crushed from every direction at once.
Ryuji suffered the worst of it.
Already weakened, he found himself completely pinned down beneath the pressure.
Like a mountain resting on his shoulders.
"...give up."
Marcellus spoke softly.
Yet his voice carried throughout the chamber.
Heavy.
Absolute.
His eyes glowed faintly yellow, cold and inhuman as he slowly raised his sword.
No hesitation.
No doubt.
"Light Slash."
For a moment, everything went silent.
Completely silent.
Then light was born.
Blinding.
Violent.
Overwhelming.
A blade of pure energy formed along the edge of his sword, pulsing with unstable power despite remaining perfectly controlled.
Then it was released.
The attack tore through the air toward Ryuji.
Too fast.
Too wide.
Too powerful.
Impossible to dodge.
The soldiers saw it and panic erupted instantly.
"MOVE—!"
"GET DOWN—!"
Too late.
IMPACT.
DOOOOOOM.
The explosion consumed everything.
Light swallowed the chamber whole as the shockwave erupted outward. The nearest soldiers were hurled through the air and slammed into walls with devastating force.
Some collapsed.
Others never moved again.
The blast scorched the ground, shattered stone and tore through everything in its path. Torches flickered wildly before dimming, while a deep rumble echoed throughout the prison as though the entire structure had been wounded by the attack.
Even the world itself seemed to tremble.
Then, slowly, the light began to fade.
Dust filled the chamber.
Silence returned.
Heavy.
Oppressive.
The aftermath revealed itself.
The floor had been completely destroyed, leaving behind a massive crater carved into the stone. Debris littered every corner of the room while wounded soldiers lay scattered across the battlefield.
Some groaned weakly.
Others remained still.
And at the center—
Nothing.
No movement.
No sound.
Only ruin.
Only silence.
A silence so deep it felt unnatural, as though the world itself refused to speak.
As though something had truly come to an end.