"Huh?"
He felt himself drifting in an endless void, much like he had in purgatory, but this time, it wasn't his astral form. It was his real body, weightless and lost in the darkness.
"Where am I... Am I back in purgatory?"
"How did you find this place?" From behind him, a deep, distorted voice echoed through the void, filled with an ominous weight that sent chills down his spine.
Kazuki's eyes widened in terror as the voice echoed in his ears, he turned around slowly and there it was.
Two enormous white eyes, glowing in the pitch-black void, staring straight at him from the darkness.
"W-who are you?" Kazuki's voice trembled with fear, what he stared at wasn't human to say in the least, it was an entity he could not describe.
"A human? Impossible! How did a mere human manage to penetrate into this space?"
As the distorted voice echoed through the darkness, Kazuki couldn't move, he couldn't even speak. It was as if every nerve in his body had betrayed him, refusing his desperate instincts to run or cry out.
"Hm?" The large, glowing eyes narrowed, observing Kazuki closely. "What's this? You're an aberration? How intriguing, no wonder you were able to invade into this space."
"An aberration?" In his confused state, he managed to speak.
"You're an aberration human, you're a being that's not supposed to exist, I can tell by the imprint on your Essen-Core."
Kazuki's eyes widened in disbelief. An aberration? He wasn't supposed to exist? The shadow's words echoed in his mind, heavier than any wound he'd ever taken.
Almost right away, he started laughing loudly, completely out of control, like the voice's words were just a twisted joke, and all he could do was laugh at how insane it all felt.
"You dare laugh at me, hu-" The The large eyes widened in shock as Kazuki's expression shifted. The laughter had stopped—now, his gaze was cold and unshaken.
"So that was it all along, so that's what the goddess of fate, a being who is supposed to balance the fate of every mortal in existence, meant by who am I, it was all a ploy, it was all a ploy to get rid of me?" Even his voice went cold as he gritted his teeth.
Even his voice turned cold as he spoke through gritted teeth, each word laced with quiet fury.
"I take it you're an aberration too? Since you're in this space as well?"
"Not exactly, but yes."
"Alright, maybe we can help each other out, if you help me leave this place, I can help you with whatever you need."
The shadow let out a deep, distorted laugh that echoed through the void, rumbling like thunder across the darkness. "Don't mess around with me! You seriously think that you, a mere human, can help me ou-"
Kazuki's eyes said it all, the determination that flared behind his eyes, it was all to consuming.
"This kid..." It could tell that he wasn't joking in the slightest.
"I see... Very well human, I'll help you out, after all, our fates were decided the moment you stepped foot into this space."
"Seal."
In the next moment, the darkness vanished, and everything around Kazuki returned to how it was.
The huge ball of fire rushed at Kazuki and swallowed him completely.
It burned bright and loud, then exploded with a thunderous bang.
The blast was so strong that it tore through the trees, blowing them away and clearing the area, filling the air with smoke and dust as everything went quiet.
Undoubtedly, the job was done.
He had completely eradicated the kid who posed a threat to him and his plans, or so he thought.
"The association should have already caught a whiff of what's happening, now that I've killed that kid, I should quickly return back to the associat-"
He felt a cold chill run down his spine, a heavy presence that felt far beyond any Essen-User he had ever known. The feeling was so intense, so unreal, that he quickly turned around without thinking, and what he saw left him completely shocked.
"W-what!?"
A dark shadow swept across the scorched ground, swallowing the raging flames in an instant and the fire vanished into the darkness like it had never existed.
In the middle of it all, Kazuki stood unharmed. The dark energy now swirled around him like a rush of wind, wild and alive. His eyes glowed an eerie white, filled with a power that felt both terrifying and unstoppable.
"W-what is this!?"
The man could feel it, the sheer pressure of the shadows that gnawed at him from a distance, what he felt wasn't essence in any way, it was something much sinister, something much more dangerous and powerful.
"W-whoa." Kazuki mumbled to himself as he felt a surge of power flowing through him, powering every cell in his body.
"I said what is this!?" The man charged towards Kazuki, engulfing his right hand with his flame essence, he didn't know what was going on, but he did know that if he didn't kill Kazuki now, everything he had achieved up to this point would have been for nothing.
But just before he could reach him, Kazuki disappeared from his sights.
"What!?"
"Awesome..." The man heard a low voice muttering behind him. He quickly turned around and saw Kazuki standing several meters away.
"What did you do?" He asked in disbelief.
'I see.' Kazuki gave a small grin. He didn't fully understand what was happening to him, but he could guess, he had a feeling it was connected to the shadow he had met in the abyss.
"I said what did you do!?" Out of patience, the man rushed forward, thrusting out his hands and unleashing a fierce blast of flames toward Kazuki.
With precision, With sharp precision, Kazuki dodged every blast and lunged forward at the same time.
"How? How!? It's not possible! How can a brat who couldn't even awaken an Essen-Type move like this!" The man let out a furious scream.
"I won't be bound by the threads of fate any longer. Believe it or not proctor, this is my hour of awakening!"
Before the man could even react, Kazuki appeared right in front of him with a slight grin. His body was leaned forward, and his left leg stretched back, ready to strike.
He reached out his hand, and in the next instant, the shadows swirling around his body rushed into his palm, gathering there like a storm ready to burst.
"Shit!" He could feel it through all the nerves in his body, the concentrated power behind the dark energy swelling in Kazuki's hands. He tried to step back, but his own momentum kept him from moving fast enough.
Kazuki's eyes shone with a bright white light, as if a higher force had taken over his body. Without thinking, he spoke in a voice that wasn't fully his own. "Raisen."
The man's eyes and mouth widened in shock, his pupils shrinking as a sharp pain tore through his stomach. In the next moment, he was sent flying backward like a speeding bullet, crashing several meters away.
After crashing into the ground several times, the man finally went still, slipping into the darkness as death quietly claimed him.
Moments later, several translucent blue screens appeared in Kazuki's vision, glowing faintly with inscriptions that appeared one after another, following the chaos that had just unfolded.
[Ding! You have unlocked a new skill!]
[Ding! You have awakened a Essen-Type!]
[Ding! You have defeated all enemies!]
[Level Up!]
[You have gained a new summoning!]