Snow Lionheart felt his life being drained away…
It was all reflected in Ghost's eyes.
The silent killer assessed the situation quickly, grasping the severity of our predicament.
He closed his eyes for a brief moment, knowing that none of his usual techniques would be enough to separate that thing from Snow.
His thoughts accelerated ...
"Sometimes… even the smallest things can cast the largest shadows."
Words he had heard long ago.
Ghost acted instantly, throwing his daggers away and clasping his fingers into the shape of a weapon.
His eyes locked onto the beast that threatened to consume Snow.
What he was about to do went against every teaching of the Shadow Court. But that didn't matter anymore.
He drew his hand through the air in a sequence of slashes ..four in total. Two vertical. Two horizontal. Forming a square.
The space around him trembled. The ground itself shivered as his dark eyes began to glow.
"space cleave."
With just a few words...and a series of erratic gestures ..
Space froze. Time, reality, and matter twisted as filthy blood rained through the air.
Everything within the zone Ghost had targeted distorted violently. The beast's body was torn apart within the crude square Ghost had drawn.
As a result, the mouths clinging to Snow were sliced away cleanly ...along with two of the monster's limbs.
What Snow and I failed to accomplish together… Ghost did with a single strike.
With a weary smile, Ghost collapsed to the ground, blood trailing from his nose.
I had no idea what Ghost just did, or what that power even was ... but he had done something incredible.
Snow, now freed and seething with fury, gripped his sword tightly—Vermithor, already healing his wounds at a terrifying pace.
His eyes glowed as he raised his blade, all twelve aura types swirling around him ... merging into one devastating force.
Then he roared ... releasing his strongest technique:
"Grand Cosmic Formation!!"
Snow's personal version of Ignition. A devastating wave of light engulfed the monster, which had barely recovered from Ghost's attack before Snow followed up with a cataclysmic blow.
The explosion of light was so intense, it illuminated the crimson sky for an instant... leaving behind a massive crater in the red sands.
Snow was the first to appear, breathing heavily and using his sword for support.
At his feet lay the creature's mangled corpse ... disfigured beyond recognition. Its head had rolled to the side, cleanly severed from its body.
Snow stared at the fallen monster, his expression mixed with triumph… and unease.
We had won.
But he had hit it with everything he had. Grand Cosmic Formation erased everything in its path.
And yet even after all that .. the creature's body was still mostly intact.
Fortunately, Snow had targeted its neck. That was the only reason its head came off ... otherwise, the battle might have continued.
Supporting Ghost, I joined Snow within the crater, standing over the monstrous thing that now lay at our feet.
It was finally over.
"…Ahh."
Or so we thought.
The three of us leapt backward in unison as the creature's eye suddenly opened ... and a moan escaped its mouth.
"Seriously?!"
"Your head is cut off, damn it!"
How is it still alive…?
Terror gripped us at the thought of that thing rising again. But thankfully… it didn't show any signs of movement, even after some time had passed.
Slowly, we approached it .. and the moment we did, it glanced at us with its single eye.
"Humans…?"
For the first time, the creature spoke a word we recognized.
We looked at one another, stunned. None of us knew how to respond ..
Or whether we should even respond to a creature that had just tried to kill us moments ago.
But I decided to step forward.
"You know about humans?"
I asked, not expecting much. But it answered.
"Of course I do… Humans… humans are good."
Its voice was deep ... and weary.
Its confusing words left us wondering… how did it know about humans?
The monster tried to look around but couldn't move, slowly realizing its condition.
"What… happened? Why am I like this?"
It asked in confusion .. fear lacing its tone.
"Where am I? Do you know, Good humans? Where did everyone go… and who did this to me?"
His questions only deepened our confusion.
Was he pretending? Had he forgotten what happened just moments ago?
What was I even supposed to say to that?
"…I don't know."
That was all I could manage.
"I see…"
After all that madness, the creature suddenly seemed oddly… understanding.
I exchanged glances with the others.
Now that it had come to this, I decided to go beyond small talk.
Sitting down next to the severed head, I asked:
"What happened to this place? And where exactly are we?"
The monster stared at me silently for a moment before answering in a calm voice.
"This place is called… Londor."
"Londor?"
"Yes ... We lived peaceful lives… but everything changed when he came… that monster."
"Who are you talking about?"
"…The Lord of Graves."
He mentioned a name that left both Ghost and Snow puzzled.
But unlike them ... I recognized it.
"One of the upper Seats…"
The creature began weeping as soon as it spoke of that person.
"We held out well… We fought hard. We fought with honor until the very end… but everything collapsed when he joined the battle."
The sorrowful monster broke down, sobbing uncontrollably as it recalled those memories.
"He didn't just kill us… he turned us into these forms. How can a being like that be allowed to live? It's not fair… it's not fair at all. What did we do to deserve this fate…?"
"Everyone's dead. All of them… hehe… they're all gone."
"Hehe… hehehehe… hehehehehehehehehehe…"
"Hey!"
I shouted at him, but he had gone completely mad, laughing hysterically with that grating, metallic screech.
"He's completely lost it…"
I backed away from the severed head, realizing that all I'd gained from this exchange was a splitting headache.
"What was all that talk about… this Lord of Graves?" Snow asked as I let out a tired sigh.
"If that thing is here, don't even think about facing him. Don't approach him… at all."
Ghost and Snow caught the serious tone in my voice. And I meant every word.
Leaving that lifeless monster behind, I climbed out of the crater of destruction.
Thankfully, the war on this planet had ended long ago. Which meant the chances of us encountering that monster were extremely low…
But not zero.
And that meant I had to act ... to avoid him at all costs.
With that in mind, I opened the system, hoping to find a path forward.
But as the name of a single enemy appeared ... one name, already weighing me down after just one battle ..
I realized that this was only the beginning.