Toji stepped over the barren land where the mountain had once stood. His body felt light, yet his mind was weighed down by the events that had transpired. The eerie silence of the vast emptiness was only interrupted by a deep growl from his stomach.
"Oh… I'm hungry." He sighed, placing a hand on his abdomen. "Let's get something to eat."
Before heading to find food, he had already made arrangements for a place to stay. A modest inn at the town's edge, one that asked no questions and expected nothing but payment. He secured his lodging for the night, dropped his few belongings in his room, and made his way downstairs, his mind only focused on one thing—food.
The scent of roasted meat and freshly baked bread filled the small dining area of the inn. Toji approached the counter, where an attendant, a plump woman with a motherly demeanor, handed him a plate without a word. He nodded in gratitude before taking his meal upstairs to eat in the privacy of his room.
Finishing his meal, exhaustion took over. He barely had time to lie on the straw mattress before his eyelids grew heavy. Darkness swallowed the room as the candlelight flickered out, and Toji drifted into slumber.
Footsteps.
Soft, deliberate, echoing faintly in the stillness of the night. Five steps… then silence.
A silhouette emerged from the shadows. A man, appearing no older than his early twenties, stood just outside the reach of the moonlight filtering through an open window. His presence was unnatural—his features obscured, but two horns protruding from his forehead glinted ominously in the dim glow.
He turned to the side, addressing another figure, one vastly different in scale. Sitting before him was a massive being, his shadow engulfing the room like a living abyss. The hulking man, easily towering over twenty-five feet, sat with an eerie stillness, his crimson eyes barely visible in the darkness.
"We placed our subordinates in that town recently," the horned figure reported, his voice smooth yet edged with urgency. "They haven't contacted us in a while."
The colossal man exhaled deeply, the sound more akin to a low rumble of an earthquake. "Have you tried sending someone?" His voice carried an overwhelming presence, heavy as the mountains that once stood.
"Yes… but he never returned either," the horned figure admitted, his brow furrowing slightly.
The seated man's eyes narrowed. "He must be found. We cannot allow anything to disrupt our plans."
He then leaned forward, his towering frame exuding dominance over the room. "The Lord will come to this world. It is inevitable. Prepare your forces and go to the town. Finish the ceremony."
A cruel glint flashed in the horned man's eyes as he nodded. "Understood. And the subordinates we assigned there?"
"Kill them all," the giant declared. "They have outlived their usefulness."
The horned man smirked before vanishing into the darkness. The air grew thick with an ominous energy, and the colossal figure sat back, lost in thought.
A cityscape stretched under a neon-lit sky. Towering skyscrapers gleamed, their metallic surfaces reflecting the pulse of technology. Hovering vehicles zipped through the air, weaving between the massive digital billboards that displayed endless advertisements and broadcasts.
Amidst the futuristic grandeur, chaos unfolded.
A boy sprinted through the streets, his breaths heavy but controlled. His hoodie concealed most of his face, and a mask covered the lower half. In his grasp, a tattered poster flapped against the wind—
"CHRIST IS COMING."
Behind him, the sound of pounding footsteps echoed. A group of men, dressed in dark uniforms, chased him with relentless determination.
"Don't let him get away!" one shouted.
"He's leading us in circles!" another growled, frustration evident in his voice.
The boy darted into an alleyway, twisting and turning through the labyrinth of backstreets. Seven times he slipped through their grasp, but they refused to relent. His stamina was wearing thin, but he pushed forward, seeking an escape.
Until—
A dead end.
The moment he stopped, the men cornered him. Their breaths were heavy, their anger palpable.
One of them stepped forward and, with a sneer, struck the boy across the face. The impact sent him stumbling, and his mask slipped from his face, falling to the ground. It cracked—splitting cleanly in two, from the bottom up through the middle.
As the pieces clattered against the pavement, a stunned silence fell over the men. Then, one of them screamed loud
"WE'VE CAUGHT YOU… TAKAKURA TOJI!!."