Renta lifted his head and looked at Haruto, without any fear on his face, because he remembered.
Why he had died…
Why he suddenly appeared here.
Renta looked at Ruka, whose eyes were dull and whose face was filled with tears. A smile appeared on his face, and he softly said, "Ruka, I'm sorry you had to see me like this when you came back."
"Don't cry. Because it's only through this that we can be freed."
"Ruka, do you know? I'm so happy to see you again, so happy."
Under Renta's voice, Ruka couldn't hold it anymore, covering her face and sobbing uncontrollably.
"Renta... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
"I'm the one who should apologize."
Renta struggled to stand up, and black energy began to gather around his body.
"I shouldn't have let you see this. So..."
Renta took one last look at her face, then turned decisively and staggered away.
Haruto stepped forward and followed.
Ruka suddenly felt an intense fear in her heart and chased after them frantically: "Renta, where are you going?"
But she was too slow.
She could only watch them leave.
Renta gritted his teeth and walked far enough that he could no longer see Ruka or hear her voice.
He stopped and turned to look at Haruto, whose expression was cold. A smile appeared on Renta's face as he raised his hand to wipe away his tears, "Sorry for making you laugh."
Haruto was silent for a moment before asking, "Are you from this world?"
"Ah... yes, that's right."
An expression of recollection appeared on Renta's face, "In this world, one day, a sudden change occurred, and monsters appeared. Eventually, the balance was broken, and then, the end came."
"Countless nuclear bombs started to attack indiscriminately."
"The whole world was ravaged by artillery fire. Countless monsters died, countless humans died..."
"But, we still lost."
Renta shook his head and smiled bitterly, "In the end, I don't remember anything; I just remember that we all died. This time, I might have sensed Ruka's presence and woke up out of some kind of obsession."
"But..."
Renta looked at himself slowly transforming into a monster, his eyes vacant: "But... we all became monsters."
"Everyone..."
"They all turned into monsters."
Renta held his head, pain written all over his face, while the dark aura on his body continued to gather.
BANG
Renta used the last of his sanity to stand and plead, "Please... please, save me. We hurt her, but she can't become a monster like us."
"She can't... She can't..."
When Renta lifted his head again, his eyes had been replaced by a black-red glow.
As he stood, a spiked bone tail crashed to the ground. Then, the earth shook violently, and fierce winds howled.
"I... I'm human... not a monster... I don't want..."
"I don't want to be a monster..."
"Kill me!"
"Kill me!"
"Kill me!"
"...."
Renta roared in agony, and terrifying waves of energy continuously erupted from his body.
The ground cracked.
Buildings kept collapsing.
Suddenly, a terrifying figure appeared in front of Haruto in an instant. A massive fist with bone spikes collided with Haruto's raised hand.
BOOM
The wind tore apart the dark clouds, and under the blood moon, the figure of the monster grew even larger.
"Kill me!!!"
The roar turned into a cry that pierced the heavens.
BAM
The massive fist fell again.
Haruto raised his hand and took the demon's blow with his ant-like body.
His black hair blew wildly, and the ground beneath his feet formed a massive crater. He lifted his head and looked into the red eyes of the demon.
Rage, pleading, pain, bloodlust...
This was a Void Demon.
So, is this how Void Demons are born?
Haruto closed his eyes, and a bright white light suddenly appeared from his sword.
"Onii-chan, no!!!"
The sudden shriek made Haruto pause for a moment, but in the next second, he swung his sword without mercy.
WHOOSH
All monsters must die.
No exceptions.
As the day passed and darkness fell, the figure of the monster had vanished.
Ruka's eyes were vacant as she weakly knelt on the ground.
Haruto looked at her, his expression calm, but he had nothing to say.
Explanation?
Comfort?
Apologies—none of these would be of any use.
Grief is like that, something only one person can taste and bear in silence.
No one else can share it.
So... why wasn't she born in a world that was truly peaceful and stable?
Superpowers or whatever…
If this is the price for gaining superpowers, then what's the point of having them?
What can they do?
Haruto lifted his head, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said nothing.
In this world, there are some people who clearly suffer, but they can't see the suffering in the world.
Some say that such people are hypocrites.
But they don't realize that judging others by their own standards is utterly foolish.
People are not the same.
Grief, even more so, is different.
In this world, although there are many evil and selfish people, there are also many good people. It's just that being good is difficult.
Deep love won't last long, and wisdom will be ruined.
Therefore, one shouldn't try to be a good person, because a good person's life will be too tiring to find happiness.
But Haruto was wrong.
No matter how indifferent he tried to be, the gentleness in his heart had never changed.
Changing a country is easy, but changing a person's nature is hard, isn't it?
Though he hadn't known this idiotic ghost for long and hadn't had many interactions with her...
But as expected, there was no way to remain indifferent.
The heavy rain fell once again.
The ice-cold rain bit at their bones. Haruto stood silent for a long time, then turned and walked toward Ruka.
"Get up and come home with me."
"...."
Ruka lifted her head, her tear-filled eyes gazing blankly at him. After a moment, she softly shook her head, lowered it, and let her tears fall one by one.
Haruto was silent. He crouched down, grabbed Ruka's hand, and was about to pull her up when his eyes fell on the red string in her hand.
At that moment, the red string emitted a faint glow.
The light seemed to be connected to something, and a beautiful warmth radiated from it.
Haruto was slightly surprised.
Ruka lifted her face and smiled, "Onii-chan, thank you, but Ruka can't go back."
"Because this is Ruka's home..."