(Time-Stilled world, surface level, on one of the floating islands)
"I'm sure I heard him calling your name at the end…" Bob muttered, his brow furrowed as he stared at the empty edge where Raiden had vanished. "What did you do?"
Karl didn't answer at first.
He stood still.
Too still.
Then, he smiled.
Not the broken, grieving smile of a man who had just lost his friend.
But the kind of smile that belonged to someone who had never once considered Raiden a friend to begin with.
It spread slowly across his face as his posture straightened, shoulders rolling back, spine aligning as though he was finally shedding a mask that no longer served him.
Then the act dropped.
His expression changed from looking like a sorry little slob, to a confident predator, as he looked straight into Bob's eyes with a daunting gaze.
"They say you killed at least thirty-seven Cult members with nothing but a fork, Bob," Karl said casually, his voice no longer timid or unsure, as he sounded rather smooth and confident.
"Is that really true? Or is that an exaggeration? I mean, if it is an exaggeration I might just give you an easier death, so go on, tell me the truth," He said in a mocking tone, as Bob grit his teeth in anger.
"Karl… who the hell are you?" Bob asked, as he took a cautious step back.
"Who am I?" Karl repeated, eyes glinting as a pulse of dense mana exploded off him, his aura surging with enough pressure to make the air buzz, as he finally revealed his true strength as a Transcendent level warrior.
"I'm the weak cook who killed Leo Skyshard. I'm the coward who pushed Raiden when you were asleep.
And I'm the man who's about to kill you next." Karl claimed as he stepped forward at an unhurried and leisurely pace.
Unlike his usual timidness, his every movement radiated dominance now— like a lion casually strolling towards a caged deer, as Bob could do nothing but keep backing up.
"I didn't want to kill you just yet, Bob. I wanted to travel with you a little longer. Wanted to let the fear ferment inside you before I tore you apart piece by piece— slow, painful, poetic."
His grin widened as he watched Bob retreat step by step, until there was no more space left behind him.
Only the endless void below.
"This is for my brothers and sisters in the Cult. The ones you butchered. The ones you have made your strong man legacy from."
Karl's hand extended, as he moved in a blur to push Bob off, however, Bob didn't let him.
When death stared him in the face, Bob wasted no time in trying to save his own life, as in his final moments, the only decision that Bob made was to take Karl down with him.
As the second his leg reached the edge, Bob already made his mind to jump, as he leapt back and poured all his energy into one final attack.
"[Gravity Crumble]," he growled through clenched teeth, his voice low and vengeful, as for his last act, he pulled both his long knives from his hip holsters and charged them up with mana before throwing them towards the base of the platform, where they got embedded up-till the hilt.
*THRUMMMM*
The entire platform shuddered violently as cracks spiderwebbed outward from the impact site and mana-infused vibrations distorted the very structure of the floating rock.
Karl's smug expression faltered.
His balance shifted.
"What—"
"Tell me, bitch…" Bob cut him off, voice low, furious, as he stared straight into Karl's eyes— "Can you fly?"
And with that—
Bob disappeared into the abyss below, however, instead of giving Karl the satisfaction of seeing him panic before he died, he instead died with the image of a panicked Karl in his head, as Karl couldn't help but freak out about the surface below him crumbling.
"BOB!" Karl shouted in anger, but it was already too late.
As not only was Bob gone, but also the damage to the base was already done, as the rock underneath his feet began crumbling one piece at a time.
*Slip*
*Snap*
One by one, chunks of the floating island dislodged, tipping away into the abyss as gravity pulled the remnants down.
Karl staggered.
Tried to jump.
Tried to grab hold of a stable piece.
But within seconds, there were no stable pieces left to cling to, as eventually he too fell into the abyss.
"BOB YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"
Karl cursed as he fell, as despite all his strength, despite all his schemes and his twisted confidence—
In the end, he couldn't fly either, which meant that he fell into the abyss with his arms failing, the same way Raiden and Leo had before him.
In the end…..
He went down the same way he tried to kill the others.
—---------
As Bob plummeted through the open air, all he wore was a massive, unshaken smile—wide and unrepentant—because it wasn't every day that a man got to drag a Transcendent grade Cult bastard down with him.
The wind howled past his ears, tugging at his clothes, slicing across his skin like needles.
While the abyss stretched out endlessly below, like a yawning, merciless void.
But Bob did not fear it.
There was no panic on his face.
No terror in his eyes.
And no scream on his tongue.
Only peace.
Because the moment Karl's eyes widened and his smug face twisted in panic, Bob knew he had won.
'That one's for you… Leo and Raiden, I got rid of the manipulative little fuck for both of you.
You can rest easy now…. Wherever you are,' He thought, as he tilted his head back and let the wind hit him with full force.
'I guess this is the end of me…. I did pretty okay in life all things considered—' Bob thought, as he relaxed his muscles and let the darkness wrap around him like a closing curtain, as memories flickered unbidden behind his eyes.
A campfire.
A forest clearing.
Laughter that shook the ribs.
And a voice, deep, steady, grounding….. one that he hadn't heard in over a decade.
"Kobe…" he whispered, his smile softening, breath steady despite the freefall. "I'll see you soon, my brother."
Because in all his life, Bob had only ever truly loved one man.
Only ever truly missed one soul.
Kobe had been his light.
His anchor.
His reason to become an Assassin and make money.
And now, after so many years of wandering, of killing, of surviving when he no longer wanted to, he was finally going to see him again.
In his final moments, Bob had no regrets.
No fear of death.
No desire to live longer.
Only peace.
And vengeance.
Because even if his name would never be sung, even if no one ever told the tale of how he took down a cult bastard, Bob loved the fact that he died the exact way that he had lived his entire life, which was on his own terms.
As even in his final moments, he managed to drag down one last monster to the grave with him.