The sky above Valthorin no longer resembled a sky.
It had become a wound.
A colossal fracture stretching endlessly across the heavens where reality itself had been peeled apart, exposing the abyss lurking beyond existence like a dark ocean pressing against fragile glass, while enormous entities drifted slowly within that impossible depth, their vast silhouettes illuminated intermittently by flickering currents of pale light that looked disturbingly similar to dying stars sinking beneath black water.
And from within that endless darkness—
Something was waking up.
Kyūsei could feel it.
Not through sight alone.
Not through mana.
But through the horrifying instinct buried deep inside every living creature that recognized when a predator infinitely beyond them had finally opened its eyes.
The pressure descending from the fractured heavens intensified again.
This time, even the ruined city below reacted violently.
Buildings collapsed without physical contact.
Mana lamps throughout Valthorin burst simultaneously.
The surviving adventurers still scattered throughout the streets suddenly dropped to their knees, blood pouring from noses and ears as the overwhelming presence pressing down upon reality itself continued growing heavier with each passing second.
Even breathing hurt now.
The enormous hand descending from beyond the breach moved lower still, its pale fingers slowly curling as though testing the laws of the world it was attempting to enter, while the black markings carved across its skin pulsed rhythmically like ancient living seals suppressing something far worse hidden beyond the fracture.
Kyūsei stared upward in frozen horror.
That was only a hand.
Only one part of something larger.
And already the world was beginning to fail under its existence alone.
The abyss inside him trembled violently again.
Not eager.
Terrified.
That realization refused to leave his mind.
Whatever existed beyond the breach stood above even the abyss itself.
And Kazuto intended to fight it.
Because of course he did.
The idiot.
At the edge of the collapsing summit, Kazuto continued gathering mana into his blade despite the obvious destruction it was causing to his body, while violent currents of compressed wind spiraled around him in increasingly unstable layers that distorted the surrounding atmosphere into fractured rings of pale blue light.
Thin cuts covered nearly every visible part of his skin now.
Blood dripped steadily from his fingertips.
Even his breathing had become uneven.
Yet the sword in his hand continued trembling with growing pressure as he forced more and more mana into the technique.
Kyūsei felt panic tightening painfully in his chest.
He understood now.
Kazuto wasn't preparing a normal attack.
He was compressing everything.
Every remaining drop of mana.
Every ounce of strength.
Every fragment of himself.
One strike.
A single overwhelming slash meant to forcibly sever the abyssal breach before the thing beyond it fully descended into their world.
And afterward—
Kyūsei didn't know if Kazuto would survive.
Judging from the look in Lena's eyes nearby—
Neither did she.
"You can't do this alone," Kyūsei said immediately while forcing himself toward him despite his injuries. "There has to be another way."
Kazuto smiled faintly without looking back.
"There probably is."
"Then why aren't we using it?!"
"Because we don't have time to find it."
The answer hit with brutal simplicity.
Above them, the enormous eye hidden deep within the abyss slowly widened further, and instantly the pressure across the battlefield intensified enough to crack the remaining stone beneath everyone's feet.
Kyūsei nearly collapsed again.
The thing beyond the fracture was becoming more aware.
More present.
The giant hand descending through the breach suddenly twitched slightly—
And an entire district of Valthorin collapsed.
No attack.
No spell.
Just the consequence of its existence interacting with reality.
Kyūsei's face paled instantly.
If that thing fully entered this world—
There would be nothing left.
Not Valthorin.
Not kingdoms.
Not humanity.
Nothing.
Kazuto finally turned slightly toward him, his expression quieter now beneath the roaring winds surrounding his body.
"You remember what you said back on Earth?" he asked softly.
Kyūsei froze.
"What?"
"That night before we died."
The memories resurfaced immediately.
Rain falling endlessly beneath city lights.
Their clothes soaked.
Both of them sitting outside a convenience store after another exhausting day pretending life felt normal.
Kyūsei had laughed bitterly back then and asked something stupid.
"Do you think people like us actually get happy endings?"
At the time it had sounded like a joke.
But Hansuke had answered seriously.
"Maybe not."
Then after a pause—
"But I think we should stay alive long enough to find out."
Kyūsei's chest tightened painfully.
Kazuto looked upward again toward the collapsing heavens.
"…I still want to know the answer."
For several seconds Kyūsei could not speak.
Because suddenly he understood something that hurt far more than fear.
Kazuto was not preparing to sacrifice himself because he wanted to die.
He wanted to live.
He wanted to continue traveling together.
Continue fighting.
Continue laughing.
Continue existing in this strange second life they had somehow been given.
But he was willing to throw all of that away anyway if it meant protecting everyone else.
That was what made it unbearable.
"You promised," Kyūsei whispered shakily.
Kazuto blinked.
"You promised we'd figure this world out together."
A faint smile crossed Kazuto's face.
"…yeah."
"So stop acting like you're allowed to die here!"
The words echoed across the summit with far more emotion than Kyūsei intended, but he no longer cared.
Fear.
Anger.
Grief.
Everything twisted violently inside his chest.
He had already lost Hansuke once.
He refused to lose Kazuto too.
For the first time since revealing the truth, Kazuto's confident expression cracked slightly.
Not from weakness.
From guilt.
"…sorry," he said quietly.
Kyūsei hated how sincere that sounded.
Above them, the heavens groaned violently again.
The fractures widened further.
And then—
The eye beyond the breach moved.
Not physically.
Its attention shifted.
Directly toward Kyūsei.
Pain exploded through his skull instantly.
Visions flooded his mind again.
Endless black oceans beneath dead skies.
Ancient cities drowned beneath darkness.
Towering gates larger than mountains covered in chains and burning symbols.
And countless voices whispering together in a language older than humanity itself.
The vessel awakens.
Kyūsei screamed.
Darkness burst from his body instinctively.
The summit shook violently as black energy erupted around him in spiraling waves, forcing everyone nearby backward beneath the sudden pressure.
Kazuto's eyes widened instantly.
"Kyūsei!"
But the abyss inside him was no longer quiet.
It was responding.
Answering the thing beyond the fracture.
The dark energy surrounding Kyūsei twisted wildly around his body while fragments of shadow spread across his skin like living cracks, and for one horrifying moment his own mana began changing into something colder—
Something ancient.
The eye beyond the heavens widened further.
Interested.
The creature kneeling beneath the breach slowly lowered its head deeper in reverence.
And somewhere beyond reality itself—
Something smiled.