A dreadful silence swallowed the world, not the kind that brings relief, not the fragile quiet after victory, but something heavy and suffocating, as if reality itself had recoiled in horror and now stood frozen, unable to process what it had just witnessed. No one moved. No one dared to breathe too loudly. Every gaze was fixed on the giant standing over the crater, its massive arm slowly rising from the shattered stone, fragments sliding off its flesh as dust fell in thin, quiet streams. Toki's head was buried so deep into the ground that it was impossible to tell if anything remained of him at all, if there was even a face left beneath the ruin.
For a fleeting second, hope tried to exist.
Then something broke it.
A hand emerged from the crater, slow and trembling, pushing through broken rock like something crawling out of a grave. The fingers were twisted, shattered, bent in unnatural directions, barely resembling a human limb anymore, and yet they moved with purpose. They reached upward, hesitated for the briefest moment, then closed around the giant's wrist.
There was no warning.
No buildup.
Just contact.
Toki's fingers sank into the flesh as if it were soft clay, piercing deep, burying themselves into muscle and sinew with a wet, tearing sound that seemed to echo louder than any scream. The giant did scream, a high, distorted cry filled with raw pain that didn't belong to something of its size, its entire body jerking violently as it tried to pull away, but it was too late. It yanked its arm back with brute force, and Toki was dragged out of the crater along with it. Blood trailed behind him in thin arcs as his body followed the motion, limp for a fraction of a second—
He lunged forward with a sudden, violent burst of motion, his jaws opening far wider than they should have, stretching unnaturally as he bit into the giant's face with savage force. Bone cracked instantly beneath the pressure. The eye tore free from its socket as his teeth sank in, ripped out in a single brutal motion as blood erupted outward, spraying across his face, his neck, soaking what remained of his clothes. He swallowed it whole, without chewing as if his body didn't even recognize the act as something unnatural.
Then he bit again.
And again.
Flesh tore away in chunks as he devoured the giant's face with relentless hunger, tearing, chewing, swallowing with a speed that defied comprehension. Blood poured down his chin in thick streams, dripping steadily onto the cracked stone beneath him, each drop sounding louder than it should in the suffocating silence.
"T-What… what is he doing…?"
Harold's voice collapsed under its own weight as he staggered backward, his face draining of color. The smell hit him fully now, thick and suffocating, the metallic stench of blood mixed with the sickening rot of exposed flesh. His stomach twisted violently, and he barely managed to turn his head before he dropped to his knees, vomiting uncontrollably onto the broken ground.
Bernard didn't move.
He couldn't.
His sword hung uselessly at his side, his grip slack, his eyes locked onto the figure ahead of him as if refusing to blink would somehow change what he was seeing. His lips parted slightly, but the words came out as nothing more than a broken whisper. "…That's not him… that's not Toki…"
But it was.
Toki's broken arms began to move. At first slowly, almost uncertainly, then with increasing force as he forced them outward. Bones ground against each other with sharp, sickening cracks, snapping back into place as if dragged by invisible hands. The limbs straightened unnaturally, joints forcing themselves into alignment through sheer, violent will. Bone fused. Flesh followed. Muscle began to grow over exposed structure in real time, knitting itself together rapidly, feeding on what he consumed as though his body had become a furnace that burned flesh into life.
He didn't slow down.
If anything, he was getting faster.
His hand drove forward into the giant's face again, fingers plunging deep into the empty socket, pushing further, breaking through what little resistance remained as bone gave way under pressure. The giant convulsed violently, its entire body trembling as something inside it was being violated .
Toki pulled his arm back, and with it came the brain, still twitching, still connected by strands that stretched and snapped as it was torn free. For a brief second, he stared at it, head slightly tilted, as if trying to understand what it was holding.
Then he bit into it.
The sound that followed was wrong on a level that words couldn't fully describe. It wasn't just heard—it was felt, deep in the spine, something primal recoiling in response. Even the remaining giants stepped back instinctively, their massive forms hesitating, something within them recognizing that whatever stood before them now was not prey.
Toki slowly lifted his head.
Blood covered his face entirely, dripping from his chin in slow, steady streams. His pupils were fully dilated, swallowing any trace of color, leaving behind nothing but empty darkness. There was no recognition in his gaze. No thought. No restraint.
Only hunger.
Endless hunger.
Ozvold moved immediately, pulling Kandaki and Tora close, pressing them against his chest as he covered their eyes with one hand. "Don't look," he muttered quietly, his voice tight. "You don't need to see this…"
Lilith's body trembled uncontrollably, her hands shaking as she tried to steady her breathing. "…That's not human…" she whispered, her voice barely holding together.Her nails dug into her own arms so hard they drew blood, but she didn't feel it.
Utsuki stepped forward despite everything, her feet moving before her mind could stop them. "…Toki…?" Her voice wavered, "What… what is happening to him…?"
Smith didn't answer immediately. His gaze remained locked onto Toki. "…This is what I wanted to see," he said quietly, almost to himself. "…but not like this… God… not like this…"
Lorelay stepped forward beside him, her entire body shaking. "No… it's worse… I should have realized…" Her voice trembled as she spoke, eyes fixed on Toki's movements. "He warned me… he kept saying he was hungry…"
Smith's head turned slightly. "…What are you saying?"
"…Look at him," she whispered.
Toki threw himself onto another giant, tearing into its abdomen with brutal force, ripping it open as if it were nothing more than fabric. Intestines spilled out in thick, steaming coils, sliding over his arms as he grabbed them and began eating them while they were still attached, pulling them free in long, wet strands.
"…He's targeting high-calorie organs," Lorelay said, her voice trembling despite her effort to stay composed. "Eyes. Brain. Viscera. Just like animals do when they need rapid recovery… the more he eats, the faster he regenerates…"
Smith's expression darkened, something in his eyes tightening. "…No…"
Lorelay looked at him, and whatever hope had remained shattered completely. "…Toki has reached the third level of the Dark Division… Gravedigger."
Toki moved like something beyond reason, beyond restraint. Another giant struck him with full force, its massive arm crashing into his body with enough power to shatter bone instantly. His frame bent unnaturally under the impact, ribs collapsing inward—but he didn't stop. He kept eating. He kept tearing. And as he did, his body repaired itself faster than the damage could remain, flesh knitting together in seconds, bones realigning as if the injuries had never existed.
"…How do we wake him up…?" Utsuki asked, her voice barely audible now.
Smith exhaled slowly. "…I don't know… I'm the only one besides him who has accessed Apex Instinct… and even I don't understand how I came back…"
Toki leapt again, landing behind another giant. His hands drove into its back, fingers digging deep until they found purchase, then he pulled. The spine came free in a single, violent motion, ripped from the body as the creature collapsed forward. Toki held it for a moment, blood dripping from the length of bone, then swung it like a weapon, crushing another giant's skull instantly.
Bernard stepped forward. "We need to act," he said, his voice low but firm. "Because when he finishes with them… we're next."
Lilith shook her head violently, panic breaking through completely. "…No… this isn't something we can fight… even animals don't behave like this… we don't stand a chance…" Her voice rose, cracking under pressure. "WE HAVE TO KILL HIM!"
Smith let out a quiet, humorless laugh. "As if we could."
He reached into his coat, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it with steady hands despite the chaos around them. He inhaled deeply, holding the smoke for a moment before exhaling slowly. "We're exhausted. He's not. Not anymore." His eyes never left Toki. "There's only one thing we can do."
He stepped forward slightly, his voice cutting through the battlefield.
"Soldiers! Retreat!"
No one questioned it. No one hesitated. The command was absolute, and survival instinct took over instantly as the remaining soldiers scattered through the ruins without looking back.
Elizabeth's voice rose sharply behind him. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?! OUR CHANCES WERE ALREADY LOW!"
Smith didn't turn. "You won't be staying either."
He took another drag before continuing. "Toki is a formidable fighter when he's bound by morality. Like this… we're not even in the same category anymore. Maybe the entire army could kill him… but the losses would be catastrophic." His gaze lowered slightly. "Mana is gone. This is close combat. And in close combat… he's beyond us."
A faint, bitter smile touched his lips. "After all this time… I finally got to see my student's true strength…" His voice dropped. "…and now I regret my greed."
He watched as Toki tore through another giant, movements brutal and efficient. "He already knows how we fight. He's absorbed my experience… improved it… All we can do now is buy time."
"NO!" Utsuki shouted, her voice breaking. "We can't leave him! I won't abandon Toki!"
Smith looked at her, and for a moment his expression softened. "When he wakes up… he'll be broken. He'll need someone to hold him." A brief pause. "You can't do that if you're dead."
Lorelay grabbed Utsuki's hand firmly. "You heard him… let's go…"
Utsuki stood frozen, torn between instinct and emotion, unable to move.
Smith turned slightly, his gaze shifting toward Lorelay. "…Lay Lay…" His voice softened. "…I think this is the end."
She froze, tears already forming. "…Don't say that…"
"I never had the courage to tell you how I feel," he continued quietly. "I don't want to leave things unfinished."
Her voice broke. "Then say it…"
He turned away from her. "That would only make things harder."
A weak, trembling laugh escaped her. "You told me so many times you'd quit smoking… and even now…"
Smith smiled faintly. He dropped the cigarette and crushed it under his foot. "Seems I'm a liar too."
The silence returned once more, heavy and inescapable.
Smith, Bernard, Harold, and Ozvold remained where they stood.
And watched as Toki tore the head from the final giant.
Blood rained down around him, thick and dark, staining everything it touched.
The air itself seemed to tighten around him, as if it could barely endure his existence in that state. Blood dripped steadily from his body, each drop striking the ground with a soft, deliberate rhythm that echoed louder than any battle cry.
Bernard was the first to break the stillness.
He stepped forward, his sword rising—not in fear, but in acceptance. His expression had hardened, but there was something else beneath it. Something… proud.
"It seems you kept your promise, Toki," he said, his voice steady despite the weight pressing down on all of them. "You saved the capital."
His grip tightened slightly around the hilt.
"But now…" he continued, his eyes locking onto Toki's empty gaze, "…will your friends be enough to save you?"
No answer came.
Toki didn't react.
Didn't even seem to recognize him.
Harold let out a slow breath, wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, though his fingers were still trembling slightly.
"…Heh… guess this isn't the worst way to go," he muttered, forcing a weak smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "If I'm being honest… this is a pretty acceptable ending."
His gaze shifted briefly toward Toki.
"…Better than getting torn apart by cultists, at least."
Ozvold stepped forward next.
He adjusted his grip on his weapon, rolling his shoulders once as if preparing for a performance rather than a fight.
"…I would have liked one more duet," he said quietly, almost to himself. His voice carried a strange calm, the kind that only came when everything had already been decided. "…Just one more."
His lips curved faintly—not quite a smile, not quite regret.
"But I'll savor every note," he added, his eyes sharpening as they fixed onto Toki, "…until the very last drop of blood."
The wind shifted.
Cold.
Sharp.
It carried the smell of iron and ruin through the broken plaza, swirling between them like something alive.
Smith didn't move at first.
He simply stood there, staring directly at Toki.
Smith let out a slow breath through his nose.
"I dragged you through hell during training for this moment," he continued, his tone steady—but there was something beneath it now. Something raw. "Every broken bone. Every drop of sweat. Every time you thought you'd collapse—I made sure you didn't."
A faint smile touched his lips.
Not proud.
Not anymore.
"…And in the end…" he murmured, his gaze unwavering, "…you're the blade that's going to take my life."
"…If this is the end…"
He exhaled slowly.
"…Then come and take it from me."