NO! I won't run, Itsuki said to himself.
He started running towards the beast with all the strength he had.
The beast looked slow in movement, and Itsuki used that as an advantage.
He moved at a certain speed that the creature could not keep up with.
Circling it while he built up momentum to attack.
The beast threw its arms at him trying to disrupt his motion, but Itsuki dodged.
He stopped in front of the beast and jumped high, then he used his ability to cancel the concept of distance and drew closer.
He materialized a sword in his left hand and stabbed the beast continuously.
The creature didn't fight back, looking at Itsuki with disgust.
"My master had use for you," it said as it disappeared with insane speed.
Itsuki thought, It could move this fast the whole time?
It reappeared behind Itsuki, using its large talons to stab him.
Cough! Cough!
Itsuki coughed out blood as he stayed suspended in midair with the beast's talons still in him.
"Saying you were a very important piece in his plan," it said, dragging Itsuki closer to its face.
Then it smiled. "But I don't care. All I want is destruction."
Itsuki felt pure malice coming from its voice, barely seeing its face.
He was slowly losing consciousness.
Just then the beast slammed him to the ground, placed its talon on his chest and slowly began piercing toward his heart.
"AAAAHHH!"
The scream ripped out of him. Pain exploded through his chest as the talon pushed deeper.
"STOP! PLEASE STOP!"
He could feel it—the talon splitting through skin, through muscle, grinding against bone.
"AAAGHHH—!" His voice broke. His hands grabbed at the beast's talon but it was useless.
The pain was everywhere.
"Someone... please..."
His vision started fading. He couldn't breathe without feeling like his chest was on fire.
The talon inched closer to his heart.
Suddenly, the white void started to tremble. It was responding to itsuki cry.
His scream resonating in all directions, going far and wide beyond the plane and onto the real world.
In the halls of his fortress, Tsuyari walking to his room paused mid step.
His eyes narrowed, What was that? He felt something touched his awareness.
A familiar presence, it was faint but it felt like...
The boy.
A thin smile curved across his lips, That beast has found you at last.
He extended his senses, probing the edges of reality for the source of that desperate cry.
There you are, Sealed away in a space between spaces.
His smile widened. You predictable creature. Did you think I wouldn't sense what you were doing?
Tsuyari began to weave essence around himself, preparing to tear through dimensional barriers.
But as he approached the space he felt...resistance.
The space where the boy was trapped had been sealed behind layers of dimensional barriers. Even Tsuyari's reality-erasure couldn't break through.
Clever.
Someone doesn't want the boy to be rescued.
Or perhaps...
His eyes gleamed with sudden understanding.
Tsuyari leaned harder against the barriers, his whole body radiating with destructive energy.
But whoever had sealed that space had done their work well. Each barrier he destroyed was immediately replaced by two more.
A trap within a trap.
How deliciously complicated. Tsuyari thought.
He stopped his assault and stepped back, his grin turning vicious
Vorthak twisted the talon deeper.
Itsuki's scream cut short—replaced by a gasping choke.
"There. Much quieter now"
The creature pulled its talon out slowly, watching the way Itsuki's body jerked and trembled.
Blood welled up dark and bright against his pale skin.
Still alive.
Good.
Dying instantly would be too easy.
Itsuki tried to speak, tried to do anything but lie there bleeding.
His lungs wouldn't work right anymore.
Each breath sent fire through his chest.
He was going to die.
His ribs were shattered, grinding against each other with every breath. Whatever power he had left flickered weakly.
Is this what dying feels like?
The beast stepped back, looking him over.
"I could finish you now. One quick strike, end your misery."
The creature tilted its head, considering.
"But where's the fun in that? You'll die slowly. Alone. Nothing but your failures to keep you company."
"And when the last of your blood soaks into this white ground... I'm going back to your world. Finding that little kingdom of yours. And I'll show them what real despair looks like.
Itsuki could not even hear what the beast was saying anymore. His life was lingering between life and death.
The Verythra turned away, dismissing him like a broken toy, Its form blurred into the white void.
"Goodbye, little godling."
Leaving Itsuki alone with his wounds and his fading consciousness.
Maybe... maybe he should just die.
The thought drifted through his mind. He has been fighting to stay alive all this time. But what's the point?
He couldn't protect his friends.
Couldn't even defend himself.
The white around him started blurring—tears or blood loss, he couldn't tell.
Mom and dad would be so disappointed.
They raised him to be strong. To never give up.
But he was so tired.
Blood kept seeping from his wounds, pooling beneath him
His breathing got shallower.
Just let go.
It would be so easy.
Just... let go.
His eyes began to close.
I'm sorry, everyone.
I'm sorry I wasn't—
Enough...
His consciousness faded, and he closed his eyes
He opened them to see a girl coming towards him
He looked around and there was flowers everywhere.
It was beautiful.
The girl reached him and smiled.
Something in Itsuki made him shed tears. "Am I in the afterlife?"
The girl didn't respond. Instead, her expression changed to fear and she started moving back.
Itsuki tried to draw closer to find out what was wrong, but the girl ran.
Back in the real world, Tsuyari had already broken through the barriers and
stepped into the white space.
He looked straight ahead and saw a body lying there.
He walked towards it and saw Itsuki hanging onto life by the tiniest of threads.