Neato, now missing his lower left arm, wasted no time. He rushed forward, his remaining blades ready to deliver the final blow to Roman. The air was thick with tension, the weight of their battle hanging heavily over the desolate landscape. But as Neato closed in on his target, something made him stop.
He stood in front of Roman, his deadly speed coming to an abrupt halt. There, before him, Roman stood upright, his sword still clutched between his teeth, his face calm and determined. But it became clear—Roman was no longer alive. He had died standing, holding his final stance, his spirit unbroken even in death.
Neato stared at Roman's lifeless form, a mixture of emotions swirling within him. The silence was deafening. For a moment, the two warriors, one living and one dead, seemed to be frozen in time, their battle now a distant memory.
Without a word, Neato sat down beside Roman's lifeless body, his gaze turning upward to the blood-red sky. The battle had taken its toll, and the world around him was now a graveyard. He felt the weight of his own existence pressing down on him. In his mind, a single thought echoed.
"I am hope," Neato thought, his expression unreadable, as if he was trying to convince himself of the words.
As the sky above darkened, Astron, still bleeding from her eyes, looked over at Nina. She seemed to sense something was amiss.
"Looks like the battle is over," Astron said softly, her voice barely audible.
Nina, however, remained silent, her eyes fixed on Roman's body. "No," she whispered, "it's not over yet."
Astron turned to her, a faint smile curling at the edges of her lips. "What do you mean?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.
Suddenly, Nina's body began to glow a deep, ominous red. The light emanated from within her, growing brighter and more intense with each passing second.
"Since Roman has died, it's my turn," Nina declared, her voice growing stronger as the red light consumed her.
Realization dawned on Astron, and panic surged through her. "Neato, run!" she screamed, but it was too late.
Nina's body erupted in a massive explosion, the force of which shook the very ground beneath them. The explosion was so immense, so catastrophic, that it felt as though a meteor had struck the earth. The landscape was obliterated, leaving behind a massive crater where the final battle had taken place.
When the dust settled, the battlefield was eerily silent. Roman, Nina, and Astron were gone, their bodies obliterated by the blast. Only Neato remained, sitting where he had been, unmoved by the devastation around him. Half of his face was gone, torn away by the explosion, yet he still sat there, staring into the nothingness.
For a long time, Neato did not move. He simply sat in silence, the weight of his solitude crushing down on him. The words he had once thought echoed hollowly in his mind.
"I am alone," Neato whispered, the words barely escaping his lips as he stared into the void where the red sky once stood.
THE END