The post-battle wind still blew, carrying dust and ashes of defeated souls.
Bakuzan walked in front, his step heavy but confident, followed by Satan, Raiku, and Nihlorgue — the latter now bearing a human silhouette, draped in shifting shadow armor. Its outlines vibrated faintly, as if the matter itself hesitated to give him shape.
Satan, his gaze tired but still mocking, placed a casual hand on Bakuzan's shoulder.
Satan: Honestly, your story with that girl… Yuhida, it was endless. Couldn't you have silenced her? I hate sentimental dramas, especially when they drag on.
Bakuzan did not answer. His gaze remained fixed, lost on the gray horizon. Each step raised ash like a mist that refused to fall back.
Satan sighed, then with a carnivorous smile:
Satan: Who would have thought that Black Grief himself would get involved in a romance? You, the embodiment of ice, the guy who never bends, hahaha…
Still nothing.
Not a word.
Not even a twitch of muscle.
Satan finally stopped, annoyed but intrigued.
Satan: So, Black Grief… what are you planning now? Are you heading straight to Lilith? I'd like to know what you're plotting.
Bakuzan froze.
The wind intensified, whistling around him as if to underline the gravity of his thought.
Bakuzan: Before going to her… I have one last score to settle.
His tone was calm, almost peaceful, but a strange vibration passed through the air — a held whisper, a promise of a storm.
As they walked, the wind continued to blow through the ruins, carrying a scent of metal and dust.
Silent, Bakuzan felt an echo awaken deep within him.
An ancient memory, buried beneath layers of hatred and resignation.
That of a story his father once told him one evening by the fire, before the world became what it is today.
> "There was a time," his father said in a grave voice, "when the Killer Man waged war against the rest of humanity… and against themselves."
That war…
The Second Great War of the Dark Era, the longest ever recorded.
More devastating even than the one waged against the Mutants, it devoured continents and civilizations.
A fratricidal conflict born from a single man: a doppelgänger of Niyus.
His creation dated back generations.
Conceived as a replica, he betrayed his model, then all humanity.
His ambition: to become the man above all men, the pinnacle of murderous evolution.
To achieve this goal, he rallied several Satsujin Otoko to his cause — ruthless warriors fascinated by his vision of a world dominated by their species.
And strangely… he succeeded.
His name alone was enough to stifle all resistance.
The Satsujin Otoko became lords of fear, ruling nations despite their small numbers.
They were only a handful, but each one was worth an army.
Yet not all shared this madness.
Some, like Niyus and his faithful, stayed away from the carnage.
But this changed nothing: the whole world confused them.
> "The only one able to stop this shadow"… "was Niyus himself."
And he did.
Against all odds, despite the power gap said to be insurmountable, Niyus confronted his double.
The battle lasted days, setting the sky ablaze and tearing the earth apart.
In the end, the doppelgänger was sealed — imprisoned in a relic so powerful that even the Ancients no longer knew its location.
No one knew where the seal was placed… only that, that day, the world was saved.
But the price was terrible.
Without their leader, the Killer Man were hunted.
Humanity, armed with technology and nuclear bombs, launched a merciless purge.
Nations united, pouring fire and radiation on every territory suspected of harboring even one of them.
They dwindled from two million to three hundred survivors.
An entire species reduced to a whisper in history.
After the war, Niyus traveled the world with his face covered by a mask — so no one would mistake him for the monster he had sealed.
He was the one who signed the World Peace Treaty, restoring order, constitutions, and reconstruction.
But for the Satsujin Otoko, this peace was only an illusion.
They lived excluded, watched, suspected.
And in the middle of all this… there was mother.
Beautiful, radiant, respected before the war.
One day, in front of a hateful crowd, she dared to publicly kiss her husband.
Her words still echoed in Bakuzan's memory:
> "Not all Satsujin Otoko carry hatred for humanity.
It is one of them who sealed the one who wanted to destroy you all."
But the world wanted to hear nothing.
For most, it was the army that saved humanity, not them.
So the crowd cried betrayal.
And Bakuzan's mother was cursed, humiliated, broken by those she wanted to protect.
Bakuzan snapped out of his thoughts, clenching his fists with a force that made the air around him vibrate.
His yellow eyes, lit by Isissis's power, pierced the shadows, revealing even what the most powerful creatures of the second zone tried to hide.
He now knew everything: the exact location of that seal, prison of that insane Killer Man tyrant.
In a cold voice, he declared:
— I will speak to someone first.
Without another word, he stretched out his hand and, in a sparkle of light, disappeared with Satan, Raiku, and Nihlorgue.
Their destination materialized moments later in front of the entrance of an abandoned cave, lost deep in an ancient forest.
The wind whistled between dead trees, carrying echoes of old conflicts.
Bakuzan gave a cold smile, as if he was finally going to put an end to this mystery that haunted him for years.
— Stay here!
he ordered, and with a determined step, he entered the cave.
At the entrance, Raiku, Satan, and Nihlorgue froze, senses on alert, while Bakuzan advanced alone into the darkness.
The light of his yellow eyes danced on the damp walls and stalactites, revealing a stone altar in the center of the cave.
On it, an ancient seal, engraved with forbidden writings and magical motifs in a perfect circle, emitted a supernatural glow.
Bakuzan stopped before the seal, watching it closely.
It was no ordinary seal: it was unique, designed to be broken only by its creator.
He stretched out his hand, and his luminous mana, infused with Isissis's power, flowed gently.
The light ran through the stone like a torrent of pure essence, erasing the seal's identity, dissolving its barriers, and breaking its millenary chains.
The stone shattered with a blinding flash, illuminating the entire cave.
Bakuzan let out a controlled breath, his shining eyes fixed on the void where the seal had vanished.
Then his voice, charged with contained rage and determination, echoed in the cave:
— I will finally be able to see you, bastard!!!
The air vibrated around him, as if the cave itself held its breath.
The past and hatred accumulated over generations now converged in a single point.
Bakuzan moved towards the final confrontation, ready to face the shadow that plunged his world into war and destruction.
A male silhouette emerged from the broken seal, floating lightly before touching the ground with an almost unreal grace. His hair, black as night, cascaded over his shoulders, long and silky, and his red eyes shone with a chilling glow. The nakedness of his imposing, imperious form only accentuated his aura of power and menace.
Bakuzan froze instantly. His eyes widened in shock. The resemblance to his father was striking, breathtaking. Every feature, every look seemed to belong to Niyus himself.
The tyrant smiled, cruel and confident:
— Who are you? You?!
Bakuzan remained frozen for a moment, unable to utter a single word. The voice, the body, the eyes… everything recalled Niyus, as if time had reversed and his father stood before him.
He closed his eyes for a few seconds to regain composure. When he opened them, his gaze was hard, charged with anger and determination.
— Who am I? I am Bakuzan Satsujin Otoko, son of Niyus Satsujin Otoko himself.
The tyrant's eyes widened, a mix of surprise and confusion on his face.
— My son? I don't remember having children when I was still free…
Bakuzan frowned, his breath heavy and controlled:
— Are you trying to mock me?
Biim. With a quick and brutal movement, Bakuzan grabbed the tyrant by the throat and slammed him violently against the cave floor. The impact cracked the stone beneath them. The tyrant grimaced, trying to remove the fingers that choked him, but they were firmly anchored, immovable.
— You're just a doppelgänger of my father, a piece of crap that should never have existed! shouted Bakuzan, his voice sharp. You're the cause of all our misfortunes, do you have any idea of the mess you've sown?
The tyrant struggled, but every movement seemed in vain. Bakuzan was a force nothing could divert.
— I… I didn't know Niyus would have a child so powerful!
He murmured, surprised despite himself.
Bakuzan remained silent, anger boiling in his shining yellow eyes.
— Where is Niyus himself? asked the tyrant with chilling calm, a provocative smirk. I'd like to say a few words to him.
Bakuzan grew even darker, his features hardening, the invisible fury in his eyes.
— He… he's dead… and it's your fault!
With a powerful gesture, Bakuzan lifted the tyrant and threw him against the cave wall. The stone cracked under the impact, dust and shards falling around them. Then, stretching out his hand, Bakuzan unleashed a torrent of shadow mana that pierced the tyrant's belly.
The tyrant spat blood, but his eyes remained an unrelenting red, fixed and terrifying. Even his perfect resemblance to Niyus did not seem to bend his determination or rage.
He coughed, blood flowing from his mouth, and sneered. A cruel laugh, devoid of fear, that sent chills down Bakuzan. This laugh, insolent and provocative, defied pain and death, confirming that this doppelgänger was much more than he appeared.