The deep darkness gnawed at Rero, tugging at his limbs.
He had been holding his ability active all this time, manipulating the energy field to prevent the darkness from tearing him apart. But his strength was already failing. He couldn't feel his arms anymore. He couldn't feel anything. There was nothing but pitch-black void.
But what he felt—that was far worse than being ripped apart.
Powerlessness.
Just like back then.
He had been nothing. A homeless child. Trash.
But then… they gave him power. He was their hope. Their star.
And yet, here he was.
Why?
He didn't understand.
He didn't want to.
He had lacked power. That was the truth. That was why he was here.
That meant… they had been right.
He wasn't worthy.
His manipulation weakened—
With a loud crack, the darkness crushed his right arm.
He screamed, his face contorting in agony.
Yes… he was powerless.
His situation proved it.
His failure proved they had been right.
The darkness tore apart his left arm.
He howled, twisting in pain, drowning in his own worthlessness.
But they had called him their hope… their greatest one.
His right leg was next—consumed by the darkness.
The pain made him wail like a wounded animal.
He roared into the abyss, unable to think of anything but the powerlessness holding him down—
The worthlessness that branded him like a curse.
His left leg shattered next, crushed by the darkness.
No sound escaped his lips now.
He refused.
But his body trembled…
Tears streamed down his cheeks.
Why was he even here?
To drown in his own failure forever?
Was he born to be nothing?
Were they… truly right?
Had he been nothing but a failed experiment?
The darkness crushed his torso—
His ribs shattered one by one.
Each snap tore another scream of despair from his lungs.
He saw that silhouette again—
The one who once praised him as the most powerful…
Only to cast him aside in the very next moment.
Now, only one eye remained free of the darkness.
The rest of his head was swallowed.
This was it.
His powerlessness.
His inability to resist life itself—
The very thing he despised most about himself.
The darkness slid over his final eye.
His fear—that they had been right.
His greed—for power he never had.
His will—to erase anyone who dared question his strength.
His hatred—for those who had ever surpassed him.
A hollow, broken scream echoed through the void.
And then—
That fear, that self-hatred, that greed, that will, and that hatred—
They fueled him.
He reached into the energy system—
And twisted it.
The darkness around him ripped apart.
His shattered body tensed.
And then, with a thunderous surge, the darkness burst open—
And he fell—
Crashing onto hard stone.
He lay there, gasping, eyes fixed on the sky.
Pain washed over him.
But one image burned into his mind—
The face.
The one who had done this to him.
The one who had dared come so close…
So close to proving they had been right.
The one who had beaten him.
The one who made him look powerless.
That boy.
He would kill them both.
He would rise above them.
He would prove them all wrong.
His power… would show the world.