Chapter 143: Later
Fwoooo...
Above the city, however, one fighter was still giving the clone trouble.
Monday Valhalla moved through the sky like a living bolt of lightning.
KRAKOOOM!
Electricity exploded around his body as he struck the Shogun clone across the face.
The clone was thrown backward as Monday immediately followed.
BOOM!
Another punch.
KRAK!
A kick.
BOOOOOOM!
A massive electrical discharge erupted from his body and swallowed the clone. The explosion illuminated the entire sky.
THUD!
Monday landed on a damaged rooftop and stared through the smoke.
He smiled.
"Got you."
The smoke cleared and the clone was still standing.
Half of its face had been destroyed, one arm was missing, and a large portion of its chest had been blown away.
Yet it was smiling.
Monday's expression slowly changed.
The missing arm began to regenerate.
SHHHHKKK…
Dark-red energy flowed through the wound.
Bone formed, muscle followed, then skin covered it. The damaged side of the clone's face reconstructed itself. Within seconds, it looked almost completely unharmed.
Monday stared as genuine irritation crossed his face.
"What kind of monster are you?"
The clone didn't answer, it simply raised its hand.
Monday's eyes narrowed as electricity erupted around his body.
BZZZTLE!
"Fine."
He clenched his fist.
"Let's do this again."
The two disappeared.
BOOOOOOM!
The sky erupted once more.
* * *
Whooosh.....
Inside the aircraft, Nyx watched the destruction unfolding below.
The sight was becoming unbearable. People she knew were falling. People she trusted were being overwhelmed. Entire districts were being destroyed. And no matter where she looked, the same thing was happening.
The clones were winning all over the place.
Nyx clenched her fists her body beginning to tremble.
Fah-jin noticed immediately.
"Nyx."
Nyx didn't respond.
"Hufff..."
Her breathing became uneven as the symptoms were beginning again. ASV Syndrome reacted violently beneath her skin. Black blood slowly appeared at the corner of her mouth.
Fah-jin immediately grabbed her arm.
"Don't."
Nyx looked away with tears filling her eyes.
"I hate this."
Fah-jin tightened her grip.
"You can't lose control now."
Outside the aircraft, another explosion illuminated the clouds.
BOOOOOOM!
Nyx watched the battlefield below.
Thousands of monsters continued fighting Freakers and Stars, but even they were beginning to lose ground.
The Shogun clones moved through them effortlessly.
Each attack created another wave of destruction, and each battle ended the same way.
The city was running out of fighters and there was nowhere left to run.
* * *
Fwoooo.....
The city itself was dying.
Buildings collapsed one after another, roads split apart beneath the pressure of the fighting, bridges fell into the streets below, and towers burned beneath the darkened sky. Smoke covered the horizon so completely that it was becoming difficult to distinguish one district from another.
The enormous walls surrounding Playmore began cracking from the repeated impacts.
KRAK!
Another section collapsed.
The King's Guards were nearly wiped out, the Stars were dying, the Freakers were being slaughtered, and the monsters that had once seemed capable of overwhelming entire districts were now retreating from the Shogun clones.
But none of those battles mattered anymore, every faction had the same enemy.
The clones.
Above them, Gluttonous Depth continued to expand. The vortex became larger and darker.
WHAAAARRRR!!
The mouths within the clouds opened wider, their enormous jaws stretching across the sky as dark-red energy poured through them.
And at the center of it all, the real Shogun continued feeding power into the technique.
His condition had become horrific.
Blood streamed from his eyes, ran from his nose, and leaked from his ears.
His body shook violently beneath the strain, and every breath sounded like it was being dragged from somewhere deep inside his chest.
His clones were still standing, his Savage Power was still spreading.
And so he continued as he refused to stop.
Because every second he maintained Gluttonous Depth, he could convince himself that Baekho's death had not been meaningless.
Mirage stood beside him, still holding Baekho's body. He watched Playmore collapse, armies fail, heroes fall, monsters die, and kings bleed.
He watched the city he had once fought to control slowly disappear beneath darkness. Yet his expression remained completely empty. There was no satisfaction in his eyes.
He knew that none of the destruction could bring Baekho back. Mirage slowly lowered his gaze toward his brother.
For a moment, he remembered Baekho's final words.
'See you guys… later.'
Mirage closed his eyes.
Fwoo....
Then he opened them again.
The crimson glow of the Shogun clones reflected inside them.
WHAAARRR!!
Above him, the enormous mouths of Gluttonous Depth opened wider.
The entire sky seemed to lean toward Playmore. And somewhere beneath that impossible darkness, Mirage finally understood the truth.
He wasn't fighting for victory anymore. He was fighting because there was nothing else left to lose.
And as Playmore continued to collapse beneath the power of Gluttonous Depth, the world began to realize that the greatest danger was no longer the war that had brought everyone together.
It was the grief that had been born from it.
TO BE CONTINUED…