4 seconds passed.
Katsu stood back."I knew it… I knew it. I knew it."
Time now continued.
But… what…?
…
…
…
…
…
A cold, slow laugh curled through the air.
"What a nice dream you had… Shichiro."
Shichiro froze. His eyes darted around. His chest tightened.The God of Entertainment bent down, tilting Shichiro's chin up like a toy."That was… quite funny."A grin stretched unnaturally across its face.
Shichiro swallowed hard. "What…? WHAT?! No… don't tell me.."
"Welcome back!!" The God of Entertainment clapped. Joyful. Maniacal. Delightful."This isn't real. This isn't real… WAKE UP!!" Shichiro screamed, panic clawing at his throat.
He looked.
And the sight tore through him.
Each… one… of his friends. Beheaded.
No. No. No.
"Katsu… Rokuro… Aegis… Ryosen…"
The God of Entertainment tilted its head, laughing softly."You like what I did to them?.. Very. Funny."Arms spread wide."It's all so… ENTERTAINING!!"
Shichiro exhaled sharply.A rush of searing air burst from his mouth, laced with a fire-like aura, shimmering, glowing, scorching."No…"
"You really kept that from your dreams! Stubborn… stubborn… stubborn…!"The God of Entertainment's grin widened."You're supposed to leave it behind! Dummy!"
Shichiro stumbled back, vision blurry, heart hammering.He tried to grab a weapon, anything, but his hands passed through nothing, empty air, as if reality itself had melted.
"Tell me… tell me this isn't real…" He whispered, voice trembling.
The God laughed again, almost kindly, tilting its head like a teacher amused by a failed student."Real… fake… who cares? You feel it, don't you? That fear, that panic, that despair… Beautiful, isn't it?"
Shichiro's body shook.His knees hit the ground.A fire-like aura erupted from him uncontrollably, coiling around his limbs, burning… but not harming. Just… screaming.
"You think you're awake? HAHA! You're still dreaming, Shichiro!" The God's voice sliced into him like a scalpel.
Shichiro tried to run, but the air warped. The floor stretched and twisted beneath him. His screams echoed backward. His shadow twisted into shapes of his worst fears: shattered friends, collapsing walls, endless blood.
"No! WAKE UP!! I… I won't let you-"
The God of Entertainment's voice softened, almost intimate."Shhh… Relax. Enjoy it. All your panic, your anger… your fear… It's mine now."
Shichiro's vision flared white.Flames licked his skin, hair lifted with fire, heart hammering so hard he thought it would break free.But the world didn't burn.It warped. Folded. Twisted.
He looked at the God.It wasn't monstrous. Not grotesque. Not even threatening.It was… perfect.Mocking perfection.Everything Shichiro ever feared… condensed into one impossibly calm, impossibly joyous smile.
"I… I won't… you…" Shichiro choked on the words.
"Sleep tight, Shichiro," it whispered.A single, impossibly long finger brushed his shoulder."Because when you wake… I'll still be here. Waiting."
And then it laughed.And the world didn't breathe.
Shichiro didn't either.