The scream tore through the silence.
It wasn't human. It wasn't something that belonged to any world Akira knew.
It came from deep — far beyond the horizon of the void, from a place where even shadows feared to linger.
Akira's breath slowed. The void beneath his feet trembled, thin cracks glowing faintly beneath him like veins of dying starlight. His grip tightened around Yamitsurugi, the blade humming with a power that pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat.
The glow around him flickered, and the silence broke —
a low rumble that deepened until the air itself felt heavy.
> "That sound again…" Akira murmured. "It's calling for me."
He took a step forward.
The ground rippled like water beneath his boots. The horizon shifted, bending and twisting into endless spirals of darkness. Then, something began to rise — colossal, shapeless figures crawling from the depths.
They were monstrous — ancient — beings of shadow and chaos.
Their bodies were built from the void itself, covered in molten cracks that pulsed with red energy. Countless eyes blinked open across their forms, all of them staring at Akira.
He raised his blade, the faint shimmer of black and silver radiating through the gloom.
No hesitation. No retreat.
The first creature moved — a serpent-like horror, its scales glimmering with dark fire. The void around it rippled violently as it roared, lunging forward with a speed that broke the air.
Akira vanished in an instant — Viel Step.
Reappearing above the creature's head, he spun mid-air and struck with precision.
Yamitsurugi sliced through the creature's hide, light erupting from the cut like a shattering star. The serpent screamed, twisting violently as its form cracked and leaked a river of black fluid.
Then the ground beneath him convulsed.
The second monster — the larger of the two — let out a guttural snarl. It slammed both arms into the ground, and the void itself seemed to react. A pulse of distortion expanded outward — this was its attack: "Oblivion Maw."
From the cracks in the void, countless shadow tendrils emerged, dragging everything toward a massive vortex forming between the two beasts. It wasn't just pulling matter — it was swallowing existence itself. The horizon folded inward; the light of Akira's aura flickered as the pull nearly consumed him.
> "You're not swallowing me that easily!"
He dug his heel into the trembling surface, the energy around him expanding as he forced his body forward through the collapsing gravity. The creatures roared together, amplifying the destructive pull until the entire void screamed in distortion.
Akira vanished once more — Viel Step — reappearing directly between them, crossing Yamitsurugi with both hands. Shadows erupted around him, forming a spiral of light and darkness intertwined.
"Astral Obliteration!"
His voice echoed like thunder. The force that erupted was beyond comprehension — a burst of energy so intense it sliced through both monsters simultaneously, cleaving their colossal bodies in half. The shockwave tore through the void, scattering fragments of black energy like shattered glass.
For a moment, everything fell silent. The monsters' screams faded into the distance as their forms disintegrated into dust.
Akira's chest rose and fell heavily. He exhaled, lowering his blade. "Even here… they're endless."
But before he could recover, the void shifted again. A faint sound echoed — distant chains rattling, deep within the darkness. He turned sharply, Yamitsurugi glowing brighter.
Something enormous moved in the distance.
He squinted, eyes narrowing, but couldn't make out its form — only a colossal silhouette and a pair of glowing, hollow eyes staring back at him.
Then came the sound.
A single, low-pitched roar that shook the entire space.
Akira held his blade firmly, the glow of Yamitsurugi casting long shadows around him.
The darkness trembled.
The void screamed.
And far away — in another part of the realm — Ryozen felt the ground beneath him crack. His expression hardened as the fragments of reality flickered around him.
"Something's stirring beneath… deeper than the shadows themselves," he muttered.
"That… can't be possible."
Back in the void, Akira's eyes locked onto the unseen presence. His blade hummed again — not from rage, but from warning. The very essence of the void seemed to whisper a single word into his mind.
"Run."
He didn't move.
Instead, he smirked faintly. "No… not this time."
The last thing he heard was a monstrous, world-breaking scream, echoing across the void as if reality itself were being torn apart.
Then everything went silent.