Is this it?
The thought cut through the chaos in my mind like a jagged blade, raw and bitter.
Is this how it all ends? After everything I've fought for?
A crushing weight pressed down on my chest, making it harder to breathe. My limbs felt heavy, unresponsive, as though the battle had already drained the last remnants of strength from my body. Memories flashed before my eyes—fleeting, painful glimpses of the past. The laughter of my friends around a campfire. The warmth of their voices. The bond I thought I had with Izumi.
Now, all of it was slipping away, slipping through my fingers like grains of sand in the wind.
No... not yet.
Then, amid the suffocating darkness, something flickered.
A spark of light—small, fragile, barely more than an ember. It was faint, but it was there. A warmth that pulsed within me, subtle at first, but growing with each beat of my heart.
And then... I heard it.
Laughter.
Soft. Gentle. Echoing through the void like a distant melody carried on the wind. The sound wrapped around me, filling the hollowness in my chest with an unbearable ache. It was so familiar, yet impossibly far away, like a memory I couldn't quite reach.
A hand extended toward me from the light—a small, delicate hand, warm and inviting. It tugged at me, urging me forward.
"Daichi, come on!"
The voice was distant, yet clear as day. My breath hitched. That voice...
I tried to move, to reach out, but my body felt sluggish, as though I were sinking into an invisible abyss. Still, I forced my arm forward, my fingers stretching toward the figure before me. Her presence was radiant, like sunlight breaking through a storm.
But her face—
Her face was blurred, shrouded in mist, slipping through my grasp even as I tried to focus on it.
"Wait! Who… who are you? Please, don't leave me!"
She hesitated, as if considering my words. For a moment, I thought she would stay, thought I'd finally get my answer. But then, like a wisp of smoke caught in the wind, she vanished.
My heart lurched. "No!"
My fingers closed around empty air, and the warmth that had filled me just moments ago faded into nothing. The laughter that had once felt so real was gone, leaving only silence.
The light disappeared, and the world collapsed into darkness once more.
When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer on the battlefield.
Beneath me was an endless expanse of shallow water, so still and glassy that it reflected my broken form like a fractured mirror. I pushed myself up weakly, my hands sinking slightly into the liquid surface, though it held me afloat. It was cold. Numbingly cold.
Above me, there was nothing but black. No stars, no sky—just an infinite void stretching beyond my vision. The silence was suffocating, pressing against my chest like an unbearable weight.
I swallowed hard, my throat dry. "Is this the end?" I murmured. My own voice felt foreign to me, weak and trembling. "Did I… fail everything?"
The words barely left my lips before they were swallowed by the emptiness around me.
My hands curled into fists. Memories of Alter Izumi's voice haunted me, lingering in my ears like a ghost.
"This is for us. For you."
A tremor ran through me.
"Izumi…" I whispered, my voice breaking. "Why? Why did it come to this? Was there something I missed? Something I could have done to save you?"
No answer. Only silence.
I stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, motionless, drowning in my own despair. A part of me screamed to get up, to fight, but my body wouldn't listen.
Then—
A single ripple spread across the water.
I tensed, my breath catching. I hadn't moved. Something else had caused it.
Slowly, I lifted my head.
In the distance, a flicker of light. Barely visible, but unmistakably there.
Then, a voice.
"Don't give up, Daichi. It's not over yet."
My heart clenched. The voice cut through the oppressive quiet, steady and firm. It was… familiar.
I pushed myself to my feet, my legs shaking beneath me. "Who's there?" I called out, my voice raw with desperation.
Footsteps echoed against the water, growing closer. A figure stepped forward from the shadows, their form illuminated by flickering light.
I froze.
My breath hitched in my throat as I took a step back. No… this wasn't possible.
The man standing before me—
He had my face.
His expression was weary, his stance firm but burdened by something heavy. His eyes—my eyes—held an exhaustion that ran deep, laced with sorrow and understanding.
"You…" My voice wavered as I forced the words out. "You're me, aren't you? The one who sent me back to the present. Why are you here?"
The older me—worn, battle-hardened—nodded solemnly. "Yes," he said quietly. "I am you. And yet, I'm not."
A cold weight settled in my chest. "What does that mean?" I demanded, my voice unsteady. "How can you be me and not me?"
He exhaled slowly, his gaze drifting upward to the empty void above us. "It's… complicated," he admitted. "When the universe was born, many different realms were created. In my world… everything fell apart."
My stomach twisted. "What do you mean?"
His expression darkened. "War. Chaos. The sky burned red, and the earth turned to ash. Everyone I loved, everyone I fought for… they were taken from me." His voice wavered slightly. "Including her. Izumi."
My breath caught. "Izumi?"
The older me looked at me, his eyes filled with a pain I couldn't even begin to fathom.
"The Izumi you're fighting now…" he said, his voice heavy, "she's not from your world, Daichi. She's from mine."
The words slammed into me like a physical blow. My legs nearly gave out beneath me. "No…" I whispered. "That can't be."
He closed his eyes, his jaw clenching. "My Izumi… she lost everything. She fought so hard to protect our world, but in the end, the darkness consumed her. It broke her. Shattered her. And now, she believes the only way to find peace is to destroy everything."
I shook my head, refusing to accept it. "No… she's still in there. She has to be."
"That's why I brought you here." His voice softened. "Because you still have a chance. A chance to save her."
He extended his hand.
"I've gathered what remains of my world's energy. Everything I have left, I'm giving to you." A faint glow surrounded us both, warmth flooding through me. "Take it, Daichi. You have to stop her. And if there's even a chance of bringing her back… don't let it slip away."
I stared at him, my heart pounding.
Then, I clenched my fists.
"I won't lose her," I whispered. "Not again."