The city had long since died.
Monster corpses covered the streets, their blood flowing through cracked roads like dark rivers. Smoke filled the air, and broken skyscrapers leaned against one another beneath a ruined sky.
A man ran across the rooftops.
His breathing was uneven. Blood dripped from his fingertips, and deep wounds covered his body, yet his crimson eyes still burned with hatred.
Behind him, hunters dressed in black coats chased through the destroyed city. Silver masks hid their faces, each engraved with the symbol of an eye.
The Eye of Eden.
The organization that destroyed the world.
The organization that killed everyone he loved.
"Seal the eastern sector!"
"Do not let him escape!"
The man stumbled near the edge of a rooftop before forcing himself upright again. His body was already breaking apart. Even his mana core had begun collapsing.
Still, he laughed.
How pathetic.
After surviving until the end of the world, this was how he died?
The cold wind brushed past his face as memories flashed through his mind.
A warm hand touching his forehead.
A brother calling his name.
A family dinner beneath golden lights.
For a moment, the ruined world disappeared.
"…Yun."
His voice cracked softly.
Then another explosion shook the city.
The hunters finally arrived behind him.
One man stepped forward calmly.
Silver mask. Black gloves. Sharp blue eyes.
Adrian Voss.
Even in the apocalypse, the man looked elegant enough to belong inside a palace rather than a battlefield.
"You've lost, Yu."
Yu stared at him silently.
Adrian sighed. "You could have become salvation."
His gaze darkened.
"But you chose humanity instead."
The city groaned beneath distant monster cries.
Yu slowly stepped backward until his heels reached the edge of the rooftop.
He was tired.
So unbearably tired.
Then he smiled.
A sharp, broken smile.
"When I come back…"
Black mana exploded violently around him.
The surrounding hunters froze instantly.
For the first time, Adrian's calm expression cracked.
Yu's crimson eyes glowed like something no longer human.
"I'll annihilate your damn organization."
Then he jumped.
For a brief moment, the world became quiet.
The ruined city disappeared beneath him while the moon shone overhead like the last light left in existence.
Then darkness swallowed everything.
>_< (this emote is scene change)
Warmth.
Soft blankets.
The scent of flowers.
Yu's eyelashes trembled.
"…Mm."
His body felt strangely light.
Not broken.
Not bleeding.
Slowly, he opened his eyes.
Moonlight spilled across a luxurious bedroom illuminated by crystal chandeliers.
A child's room.
Confused, Yu lifted his hand.
Small.
Too small.
His breath caught.
"…What?"
Before he could think further, the bedroom door burst open.
A white-haired child rushed inside with panic written all over his face.
"YU!"
The boy practically threw himself onto the bed.
"You finally woke up!"
Yu froze.
That voice.
That face.
"…Yun?"
The boy blinked. "Why are you saying my name like that?"
Yu stared at him silently.
Alive.
Warm.
Breathing.
Not covered in blood.
Not dead.
His chest tightened painfully.
Yun puffed his cheeks. "Mother said you only had a fever, but you kept sleeping forever!"
Forever.
Yu slowly looked down at his tiny hands again.
No scars.
No blood.
No ruined world.
Then realization struck him.
He had returned.
Back to the past.
Back to before everything was destroyed.
Yu lowered his head quietly.
His shoulders trembled once.
Yun immediately panicked. "Y-Yu?! Are you crying?!"
Tiny hands grabbed his sleeve tightly.
"Don't cry! I'll protect you! I promise!"
Yu covered his eyes.
For the first time in years, someone felt warm again.
And somehow…
That hurt more than dying.