An ocean of blood stretched endlessly beneath a dead sky, still and suffocating, swallowing what remained of a once-glorious city.
Ruined towers jutted out like broken ribs from beneath the crimson tide, their reflections trembling faintly across its surface. Weapons lay scattered throughout the sea, half-submerged, their dulled edges whispering of a battle so violent that even the earth itself seemed to recoil. There were no corpses left behind, no survivors crawling through the wreckage.
Nothing lived.
Nothing... except two.
At the heart of the devastation, a young man stood in silence before a crumbling wall, his figure unmoving, as though the world had long since lost its meaning. In front of him, pinned against shattered stone, was a girl.
A massive spear had driven straight through her chest, anchoring her to the wall like a cruel monument. Blood spilled endlessly from the wound, tracing dark paths down her trembling body before vanishing into the ocean below. Her breathing was shallow, uneven, yet her expression remained strangely calm.
The black-haired girl coughed, crimson staining her lips, but even then... she smiled.
Her gaze lifted, meeting his.
"Look at you..." she muttered weakly, her voice laced with faint amusement. "All worried and stuff."
He said nothing.
His face was partially hidden behind a fractured mask, revealing only a single eye glowing a deep, unnatural red. It was cold... yet somewhere within it, something fragile twisted and cracked, as if he had long forgotten how to express what he felt.
She raised her hand slowly, the motion weak but deliberate.
An invitation.
He hesitated for only a moment before stepping forward, lowering himself to his knees beside her. The instant he drew close, she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a gentle embrace despite the spear lodged through her chest.
"Thank you..." she whispered softly, her voice trembling now. "Thank you... for everything..."
His body stiffened.
Words gathered in his throat, clawing desperately for release, yet none came. In the end, he simply held her back, his grip tightening as though he could anchor her to this world through sheer will alone.
Tears welled in her eyes, though she fought to keep her voice steady.
"If this is the last time we see each other..." she murmured, her breath growing weaker, "just know... you're the best brother I could've ever asked for."
"I..." he began, his voice cracking under the weight of something he could no longer contain. "S-same..."
She let out a faint, breathy laugh.
"You're so hopeless..."
Slowly, she pulled away from the embrace, her hands rising to cup his face. Despite the blood, despite the trembling, her touch was warm. Gentle. Unshaken.
Her eyes locked onto his.
"Make me a promise."
He froze. "A... promise?"
"Yes." Her smile softened, but there was something resolute behind it now, something unyielding. "At your current strength... you'll clear the trial. You'll reach it... the Absolute Wish."
Her fingers brushed lightly through his hair.
"I already know what you're going to ask for," she continued, her tone turning firm, protective. "So listen carefully. If you go back... if you're given another chance... you find me first."
His eyes widened.
"I'll gather everyone again," she said. "I'll rebuild what we had. But you..." her grip tightened slightly, "you stay out of it."
"W-wait—"
She pressed a finger gently against his lips, silencing him before he could protest.
"I know what your life was like before all this," she whispered. "You lost everything. You were miserable. Tell me... do you not have regrets?"
He couldn't answer.
"If you're given a second chance," she continued, her voice softening once more, "then live for yourself this time. I don't care if it's selfish. I don't care if it's right or wrong. Just... be you."
A faint, teasing smile touched her lips.
"Is it so bad... that my dying wish is to see my little brother become a better man?"
"N-no... I just..."
His words crumbled again.
Before he could try to gather them, she leaned forward, pressing her forehead gently against his.
A silent vow.
One that neither time nor death could erase.
"Do you understand?" she asked quietly.
Cornered by her gaze, by her warmth, by the inevitability closing in around them, he gave the smallest nod.
"Good..." she breathed, though a cough interrupted her, more blood spilling past her lips.
Her skin had grown pale. Fragile. Fading.
She knew.
They both did.
"One last thing..." she murmured.
His eyes snapped back to hers, panic barely contained beneath the surface.
She smiled.
"Can you... consume me?"
For a moment, the world seemed to stop.
"W-what...?" he whispered, horror seeping into his voice.
"I won't make it out of this," she said gently. "And I refuse to die at their hands... or let this end be meaningless."
Her hand rose weakly, brushing his cheek.
"So take it. My power. My soul. It's not much... but it'll help you, won't it?"
His entire body trembled.
This wasn't a choice. It was a blade pressed against his throat.
Seeing his hesitation, she took his hand and guided it to her chest, just above the wound. Beneath his palm, he felt it.
Her heartbeat.
Faint.
Slowing.
Each beat weaker than the last.
"Please..." she whispered, her voice breaking now. "It hurts... more than you think..."
Something inside him cracked.
The rhythm beneath his hand faltered again.
...and again.
Her eyes, dimming, searched his one last time.
"Please..."
Silence.
Then—
"Beelzebub."
The word tore from his throat like a curse.
A violent surge of energy erupted from his palm, swallowing her whole in a storm of devouring force. Light twisted into darkness, wrapping around her fragile body as it began to break apart.
And yet...
She smiled.
"See you around... kiddo."
Then she was gone.
Not fallen.
Not lifeless.
Gone.
Consumed.
His hand remained outstretched, trembling violently as the last traces of her existence vanished into him. His eyes widened, something primal breaking loose within their crimson depths.
And then—
He screamed.
A roar of anguish and fury tore through the dead world, shaking the blood-soaked sea, rattling the ruins, splitting the suffocating silence that had lingered for far too long.
Power erupted from him in waves, dark and violent, devouring everything in its path. The ocean churned. The sky trembled. The world itself seemed to recoil under the weight of his wrath.
Yet within that storm...
His eyes remained.
Burning.
Unyielding.
A vow carved into the abyss itself.
Revenge.
...