"Hahahahahahahahaha…"
"These sudden bursts of laughter… as if someone was enjoying something… And I had heard that laugh once before…"
"Looking at your current state… there's not much time left…"
Zack opened his eyes… That same blinding white space again… and once more, standing in front of him, that girl in black… her face obscured by her hair, only her sarcastic smile visible.
⸻
"Argh…"
Zack opened his eyes again.
All he could see was the sky… wide open… not a single cloud in sight.
Suddenly, he remembered the events at the cemetery and stood up.
"So you've awakened… You're even weaker than I expected. How are you enduring Helios?"
Zack looked around. The place was like a canyon… rocks, heat, stone cliffs…
Ayato stood up.
"Shall we begin?"
Zack:
"What do you want from me? Where is this place?"
Ayato:
"This is a wasteland about seven hours away from Dragonomica."
Suddenly, the energy began to surge again.
Blue lines of power circled Ayato's body once more.
His eyes glowed again.
He slowly opened his hand, and the energy gathered in his palm and extended outward—
A transparent sword of blue energy formed.
Zack involuntarily stepped back.
What was this kid trying to do?
He didn't even have time to think—
Ayato lunged forward with his sword.
Zack dodged. It was fast, but it missed completely.
This wasn't Ayato's true strength.
The incident at the graveyard…
Ayato vanished again.
Zack felt something behind him.
He quickly turned and managed to kick backward blindly, but Ayato blocked it with ease. Then, with his other hand raised—
A second transparent sword appeared.
Before Zack could react, Ayato stabbed him.
The pain… was unlike anything Zack had ever felt before.
He collapsed to the ground.
"Weak."
That feeling… that helplessness reminded him of something…
A memory from five years ago…
Maybe even earlier…
For just a second, something flashed in Zack's mind:
("BIG BROTHER!! NOOO!!")
And in that moment—he felt something stirring inside him.
Ayato kicked the fallen Zack hard.
Zack barely managed to stop himself from rolling.
He stood up, struggling.
Breathing was getting harder.
What was happening to him?
Ayato suddenly moved with the same speed as he had in the graveyard.
"You're really starting to piss me off!!"
From the right… from the left…
Zack's body was being pierced over and over.
Suddenly, Ayato rose into the air.
"It's time to end this!"
Zack looked up at him one last time.
Ayato dove down like a hawk with both swords pointed forward.
And at that moment… a laugh echoed.
But only Zack could hear it—
That sarcastic laugh… and from those lips, the words:
"…so it begins…"
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File #015 – Excerpt from "Earth's History"
Aid is a nation that emerged underground after the "Apocalypse."
Unlike surface nations that hide behind the mask of democracy, Aid openly embraces monarchy.
It remains isolated from the surface world and rarely communicates with them.
Very little is known about the underground, but the most widely believed and accepted fact is that the entire underground is ruled by the Aid Dynasty.