Silver hair tied back, eyes like frozen mercury. An SS+ glowed crimson above his brow. Hezuke.
"So," his voice scraped like gravel on stone. "You're the one with the most lives, eh?"
Fironi swallowed. "I… guess I am."
Hezuke moved.
Not a blur—just there.
His boot slammed into Fironi's ribs.
Fironi crashed to the luminous floor, gasping. Above him, Hezuke spoke to Chicka, cold as deep space: "He won't do good. He'll just end up like the others we had—the ones who had the most lives. The ones who were weak." His glare pinned Fironi to the ground. "The ones collected by demons. They were just… farming."
A sound like shattering planets echoed from the horizon. Hezuke's head snapped toward it. Without a word, he vanished—leaving only ozone and dread.
The Domain of Doors
Hezuke moved with godly speed, tearing through valleys where mountains grew taller with each league—jagged obsidian peaks scraping the blood-red sky like broken teeth. At the final summit, he found Zujike (A-Rank).
The boy knelt, gasping, ice shards melting off his trembling arms as he blocked slashes from a demon whose forehead bore a crimson " / " sigil.
Slash Mark.
Hezuke froze. Only Upper-Tier demons manifested that brand. This one had evolved.
Sneak Attack.
Hezuke blurred behind the demom
Spatial gashes ripped open before Hezuke moved. Razor-wind slashed his shoulders, spraying black blood across the rocks.
The demon turned, grinning with needle-teeth. "Ooh! So it's you, Hezuke! The one who slayed all my comrades—the strongest ones! And now I stand against you!" It threw back its head and roared, "OOOH HELLLL YEAH! I WAS WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT!" Its tongue licked cracked lips.
"What an incredible talent to collect... A demon like me deserves you."
Hezuke raised a bleeding palm.
"Zamburu Mee Itame."
Reality shattered. A domain unfolded—a fractured wasteland under a green-black sky. Three figures stood trapped inside: Hezuke, Zujike, and the Slash Demon.
Zujike choked, "No, Hezuke! Don't do it!"
Hezuke didn't flinch. "This is the only way." Blood soaked his sleeves; his sword clattered to the ground. "No need for that now."
The demon hissed, "What is going on—?"
Hezuke's mercury eyes glowed. "Hey, Demon... Ever played a luck game with your life on the line?"
Two colossal doors materialized—one bone-white, one pitch-black—towering over them like tombstones.
"We fight whatever comes out," Hezuke said, baring bloodstained teeth. "Or die trying."
Chicka's starlit fingers flickered. A screenshare projection bloomed in the air, replaying Hezuke's battle in the fractured domain.
Fironi: "What is this?"
Chicka: "Hezuke's ability—'Life's Gamble.' He only uses it as a last resort. That Slash Demon... it wounded him harshly before the domain activated."
On screen:
The bone-white and pitch-black doors swung open. Pure darkness yawned beyond—a void even Chicka's power couldn't penetrate. Hezuke and the demon vanished inside.
Minutes passed. Silent. Agonizing.
Then—
The domain cracked like shattered glass.
Hezuke walked out, bloodied but alive. No triumph in his eyes. Only exhaustion. Behind him, the doors vanished. The Slash Demon was gone.
Hezuke knelt beside Zujike, placing a hand on the boy's shattered ribs. Golden light flared—rapid healing. Zujike gasped, color returning to his face.
Zujike: "What... what happened in there?"
Hezuke didn't answer. Instead, he raised his palm—and slashed the air.
A crescent of pure spatial energy sliced the distant mountain in half. Stone groaned as the peak slid sideways, crashing into the valley below.
Zujike stared, breathless. "I've never seen anything like that..."
Fironi's watched, fists clenched. The projection faded.
Hezuke risked everything. Stole a demon's power. Protected Zujike.
And me? Seventeen lives. A brand on his wrist. Useless.
"I need air," Fironi muttered, turning away.
Chicka reached out—"Fironi, wait!"—but he was already sprinting into the neon-bioluminescent forests surrounding the Soul Nexus.
Vines thick as serpents. Trees like skyscrapers with bark like obsidian scales. Fironi climbed, fingers bleeding, until he breached the canopy.
The vista stole his breath:
Floating islands veined with liquid light
Distant wars flashing like dying stars
A colossal, pulsing Tree of Souls at the world's heart
"JUST WAIT FOR ME!" Fironi screamed into the wind, tears hot on his cheeks. "I'LL BE THE BEST! THE ONE WHO DEFEATS THE DEMONS! I'LL—"
A noise.
Close.
Something moving through the ferns below—too fast for eyes to follow.
Fironi froze.
Seventeen lives.
And something hungry had found him.