The journey is what matters more than the destination itself.
Apparently to Lucid, for many the journey is worth more than the destination itself. He had read the quote a thousand times, printed across classroom posters, survival handbooks, even the academy's walls. But every time, he felt the same bitter amusement rise in his chest.
"How do they even come up with this crap…"
'How are they getting more creative with these quotes..'
After all, his so-called destination amounted to nothing more than lying on a cold stone floor, as if he were destined to die, though for what reason, no one could say. Even after defying fate itself, even after fighting for survival and carrying the burden of "saving mankind," his path had only led him here. It had been a long arduous journey, yet one without a destination worthy of everything he had endured.
So when asked whether the journey mattered more than the destination, Lucid didn't spare the question a single thought. To him, the answer was obvious. Why struggle so desperately for something that was never guaranteed? Lying there, half-dead on the cold stone floor, only confirmed what he had always suspected.
It was all too much trouble.
"The destination was worth a thousand…"
"I could go through this journey a million times and still feel any less about it."
However, he didn't have the luxury to dwell on those thoughts or memories now. He had to prepare for his so-called "afterlife" or prepare to fight till the end. Out of everyone in his cohort, he was the one who had to put in the most effort just to be ready for whatever hardship awaited them that week.
But alas, thinking about it, he couldn't help feeling a faint tinge of regret. After every assessment and training session, one stubborn thought always lingered at the back of his mind:
"Right… because that 'amazing' journey clearly made it all worth it, didn't it?"
No time to think. He struggled to lift his bloodied arm to barricade the door, his last stand, as hordes of monsters lunged at it, the resounding bangs a heartbeat away from tearing him apart.
Lucid turned sharply, slammed open a nearby door, and threw his body into it, shutting it hard behind him. He immediately began barricading it, pushing a table, a chest of drawers, even an overturned vending machine to fortify his last stand.
His breath was ragged, the adrenaline high starting to fade—but the battle wasn't over.
Not yet.
Lucid sprinted down the corridor, his lungs burning, legs screaming with every step. The air reeked of smoke and blood. Gunfire cracked in the distance. The walls blurred past him—he couldn't tell if it was from the speed or the tears stinging his eyes.
They were just ahead. He could hear them. The team. His so-called friends.
Just a little further.
"There!"
A door at the end, slightly ajar, glowing with the faint promise of escape. Safety. A second chance.
Lucid reached out, every fiber of his being stretching toward that light.
And then—
He got shoved.
A sharp force hit his chest. His balance shattered.
He stumbled and fell as his back slammed into the cold floor. Pain exploded through his limbs, dull and spreading.
"Wh-What…?!" he gasped, blinking up at the figure standing over him.
Aika. Her face stared down at him, with emptiness. Her expression was unreadable. Her Arms were crossed ever so slitghly.
She seemed cold and distant.
"This is where it ends, Lucid."
Her voice was calm—too calm, almost practiced.
"We can't afford to carry you anymore."
Lucid's breath caught. His hands pushed weakly against the floor.
"What… what are you doing? We're almost there, I—"
"You've always hesitated," she cut in.
"You freeze when things get hard. You look for exits instead of standing your ground."
Lucid's heart was pounding.
"That's not true," he whispered. "I—I fight—I'm here, aren't I?"
"You fight when it's convenient, and you run when it matters."
Something in her tone broke. Just slightly. But she didn't let it show.
"This… this is mercy."
Lucid opened his mouth to argue—but pain bloomed in his arms, his legs. A deep, cold ache.
He couldn't move.
He was paralyzed.
"What… what did you do…?"
"I used Chronos Stasis on you," she replied, almost too fast and practiced. "You should've known we were prepared for this."
Lucid's thoughts spiraled. Chronos Stasis was one of her abilities as an Enlightened, while Aika was usually the one proficient in spellcasting and conjuring. As an Enlightened, she wasn't physically adept, and if he had time to react or knock her off balance, he might have managed to escape. But as things stood, as an ordinary human, Lucid couldn't keep track of all the abilities within his cohort, he had never considered that any of them might be used against him. Everything had happened too fast, as if every piece of the puzzle had fallen perfectly into place.
'She planned this.'
'No… they planned for this.'
"Aika… why?" he said, voice cracking. "I've known you since we were kids—Kaori, the others—they'll come back. They won't let this—"
"Kaori doesn't know," she said, looking away. "She wouldn't have approved. But the others… agreed it was time."
Lucid stared at her, a hollow wind ripping through his chest.
"Is this what I was to you? Dead weight?"
"You were, for lack of a better word, a liability."
Her voice shook now.
"I hated watching you stall. You always waited for someone else to make the first move. As useful as you were, I grew sick of you. And now, since the apocalypse is here, I might as well speed things up."
She paused, a tear falling down her chin.
"You… y… you don't even—"
Her eyes flicked down for just a moment. She took a deep breath and recomposed herself.
"This is kinder than letting you die screaming later," she said coldly.
She turned toward the door.
"No… wait—please—" Lucid's voice cracked into a sob. "Don't leave me—"
"I'm sorry… okay… I'm sorry!!!!!" he pleaded in desperation, tears falling down his cheeks.
The door clicked shut behind her.
There was only silence.
Lucid lay there, frozen, the last warmth of her presence fading like embers snuffed out.
'They left me.'
'She left me.'
Even after everything…
Then a form of darkness moved with a suffocating presence.
At first, it was a shadow. Then a writhing mass.
It was a black, shapeless, hungry mass.
Despair itself.
It surged forward, and Lucid's breath caught in his throat. His limbs screamed to move, but they were still stone.
It wrapped around his chest.
Pierced his skin.
Ripped through his defenses like paper.
'This is it.'
'This is what I was worth to them.'
As the black mass swallowed him whole, dragging him into nothing, Lucid's mind splintered.
The last thing he felt before his consciousness got swept away.
Was Regret.
[ You are dead. ]
'Huh...'
He heard a faint, soft voice call out to him.
[ Do you wish to try again? ]
'What is this?'
It echoed in his mind once again as he was floating in the dark void.
[ Do you wish to try again? ]
"No, fuck off. Let me just die."
[ Are you sure? ]
He thought once again about the betrayal, about how he never even had a chance to become an Enlightened.
'It's so unfair.'
But that's the world. Survival of the fucking fittest, or whatever you may call it.
"Yes."
[ Beginning termination of one's soul. ]
As he heard that, he let loose, giving in to the endless black abyss surrounding him. Was he dead or alive? He couldn't tell. But one thing was for sure—it absolutely hurt. Pain flared up within him as piece by piece his legs broke off into bright glowing cubes.
'Great, I can't even die in peace…'
Pieces of his thoughts started to collapse into one another. He was starting to forget and lose sensations.
'Am I dying?'
But a bitter thoughts lingered regardless. Tearing inside away inside his head.
'Why me? What have I done to deserve death?'
'Why do they get to walk away?'
'I haven't hurt a single soul.'
'Yet I am the one who dies?'
'Because I'm a coward?'
'A weakling?'
'Just because I didn't awaken as an Enlightened?'
'What the fuck even are they?!'
'No… I can't let it end like this.'
'Please, God, anyone… give me one last chance…'
With every ounce of his last remaining strength, he screamed into the void:
"I want to live!!!"
[ Termination procedure on halt. ]
"Yes… I want to… try again!!!"
[ Error… ]
[ Request granted by higher authority… ]
[ Required Trial time: Infinity ]
[ Trial Rank: Divine ]
'Wha… what is this…'
His body started to rebuild itself, block by block, as if he was a puzzle piece.
[ Beginning transportation ]
His mind fell unconscious, and darkness remained.
[ M̸a̷y̶ y̴o̷u̵r̸ j̴o̷u̶r̶n̸e̶y̷ l̴e̷a̶d̵ y̸o̴u̶ t̶o̸w̶a̴r̶d̶s̴ E̷n̵l̵i̵g̸h̴t̵e̶n̵m̷e̷n̶t̷ ███████▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ]