Tomoya walked forward to the doorway where he saw the woman transform into a beast. His heart pounding against his chest, sweat droplets along his forehead as he hesitated. On closer look, the woman was nowhere to be found. Just. disappeared. The blank hallway stretched in front of him, poorly lit by the dwindling remains of dying electricity.
He moved cautiously a step forward, looking out through his room.
His world was crumbling. Skyscrapers tilted and crashed in slow, agonizing motion. Fire raged on the horizon, casting a sickly orange light over the darkened sky. The air with the scent of burned meat, and monsters roamed free, some feasting on the twisted wreckage of what humanity was, others dragging their horrific forms across broken streets.
He leaned on the doorframe, shaking with his body. He was by himself. He was alone.
Tomoya, you walked into my trap.
His body became still. A voice—his voice—rang in his mind.
Tomoya spoke softly, his voice cracking, "What do you mean?"
It's incredible how foolish you are, Tomoya.
The voice crept in his head like poison, twisting around his sanity.
The world is ending because of you.
A higher power watches.
Tomoya gasped for air, his eyes snapping in the direction of heaven as though he could envision the god-like ability hanging in wait above him. His hands clenched themselves into fists. His head swirled into madness.
Did it have something to do with this? No way. It was just a dream, was it not?
His hands were trembling uncontrollably. His body was frail. Should he simply let go? Become a monster and perish? Would that hurt less? Would it end the agony?
I miss my mother so much. But I don't deserve to see her at all.
Tomoya clutched his head, his fingernails digging in his hair.
I need to kill myself.
His feet had already been in motion before his mind had a chance to. He ran for the bathroom, ripping open the door. Rot stank filled his nostrils. His stomach churned. Blood. Deep, dark red speckled everywhere on the toilet. And then—
Twisted, horrific arms crawled out of the bowl, twisting and writhing like some sort of creature from another planet.
Tomoya's breath hitched. He slapped his hand over his mouth to quiet his scream. His heart was racing as the arms stretched closer to him, twitching with spasmodic unnatural jerks.
Fuck!
He backed up, barely avoiding the monster's grasp. He grabbed the nearest thing—a broom—his mind consumed with nothing but pure survival instincts. He used the handle of the broom stabbing it into the monster's eyes, forcing the monster's arms into the drain. His breathing was rough, his voice hoarse as he shrieked, "Die! Die! DIE!"
Tomoya, this is it.
The monster struck him again, its long fingers slicing through his leg as he fell onto the cold tile. Blood began to seep beneath him. He gasped in agony, looking up at the creature. It was smiling. Its grin was a travesty, longer than human would. He could feel the cold course through his veins. She was a human before. With a shot of desperation, he grabbed the broom for the umpteenth time. He hastily added a knife on the handle and his trembling fingers jammed it into the creature's head. Again. And again.
It let out an ear-shrieking cry before its body became into dust. Tomoya hunched against the bathroom wall, his breathing a harsh rasp. His hands quivered, their surfaces smeared with blood. He gazed at them in horror.
Blood.
He touches his eyes as a crimson stream of blood flows.
Why am I crying blood?
There was no hurt. No grief. Only a mind-stunning sensation of something shifting inside of him. Something. changing.
Tomoya, you're a monster now.
The voice returned. Mocking. Amused.
I'll reveal your prophecy then, Tomoya.
Tomoya froze up.
If you hold out 40 days, you will see the Grandmaster.
Tomoya's grip on the windowsill tightened. "What are you saying? This doesn't make sense!"
The Grandmaster will decide your fate after you reach the 40-day period. You'll be so desperate to cling to your humanity. And I'll get to witness it all.
A chill ran down his spine.
Was he human anymore?
"Huh? Am I going to be a monster?"
Something worse.
But suddenly
Another voice comes in. Lower and darker.
Tomoya, I am the purpose you've been searching out in life.
Tomoya gulped. His hands trembled. "Who… who are you?"
Isn't it pain to endure 40 days of suffering? If you became a monster instead of waiting until the period, you could destroy mankind. Destroy the world you dislike. Everything may disappear.
Tomoya was unable to say out a response. "Why would I do something like that?"He struggled up from the floor, stumbling to the window. His world—his city—was gone. Vacant of any life.
His eyes were full of tears. But when they fell.
They weren't tears.
Warm and Red.
You will do that Tomoya.
I'm also you, Tomoya.
The voices blended into one.
We're all you.
"No… no, no, no…" His nails sunk into his palms. "I hate both of you!"
He attacked the shadowy figures taking shape before him, a knife clutched in his hand. But the blade passed through them.
Try again later, Tomoya.
Darkness engulfed him.
Then—
He was standing in the ruined Tokyo. The skyscrapers burned. Darkness slunk down the side alleys, crooked and watching. Not a soul to be found. The roads were smeared with red. Death was present in the air. People were walking in the streets but then disappear.
All the people you see are now gone.
His headache. His vision unclear. His eyes dilated, darkening to crimson, his sclera going black. Veins poked out from his skin. His fingers shook, longing… for something.
Tomoya, you're annoying me.
Tomoya gritted his teeth. "Shut up! I hate both of you! I'll kill you both myself!"
His knees buckled. Blood loss. He collapsed onto the pavement, the world spinning.
He awoke in his mind.
His dark half stood beside him.
I'll blend into you, Tomoya. And become truly you.
Tomoya stepped back. "Get the fuck away! I'll never let you blend with me!"
The shadow smiled.
Just face the reality, Tomoya. You are a monster now forever and ever.
Tomoya gasped in cruel bursts. "I'll fucking murder you! I'LL TEAR YOU APART! I HATE YOU!"
Then come and try.
Tentacles lashed out, wrapping around him. He screamed, struggling to be free.
The shadow approached.
You belong to me. And you always will.
Tomoya clenched his teeth, anger seething inside him. He bit down on the tentacles, tearing them with greater ferocity. He tore free, striking at the shadow.
This time He manages to land hit by hit.
The figure snarled, blades bursting from its arms.
Your own appearance and thoughts will be the same as me, soon.
Tomoya shut his eyes. He needed to think quicker than it. If this was his mind—
Spikes erupted from the ground, impaling the shadow. It let out a guttural roar.
Tomoya whispered, "I can control you."
The shadow only laughed, voice warped.
I'LL REMOVE EVERY BIT OF HUMANITY INSIDE OF YOU!
Darkness consumed him once more.
He opened his eyes. But the life around him never changed. Even in the slightest, the world was still broken and devoid of life.
The air around Tomoya thickened like a curse—dense, venomous snare. A gripping mist began to rise, coiling around his lungs, seeping into his blood. Each breath was a struggle, each second a silent scream. His body trembled as tears spilled without pride, without restraint.
He fell to his knees.
A blade glinted in his shaking hand, its cold edge slowly turning toward his own neck—toward the fragile line where life meets the void.
"I need to die," he muttered under his breath, voice ragged and raw.There's no way out of this. No chance. No hope.
But then—A voice struck his mind.
Faint, nearly forgotten, like a whisper etched into the bones of a dying memory.Run.
His grip faltered. The knife clattered to the ground, a sharp echo piercing the silence.
Panic seized him. Not courage. Not clarity. Just the primal instinct to live, even if he didn't know why.
He burst from the room, stumbling through the haze like a fever dream, lungs begging for air that didn't exist. His feet pounded against the floor, dragging him through the suffocating corridor where the walls seemed to close in and breathe with the stench of death.
The hallway stretched like a nightmare—warped, endless, and shrouded in rot. The air was no longer just poisonous. It was personal. It wanted him. It knew him.
Monsters shifted in the distance—shapes twisted by cruelty and silence—but Tomoya didn't see them. Not truly. All he could see was the faint light ahead. All he could feel was the pressure in his chest and the wild drum of his heart.
With desperate fury, he shattered nearby debris, clawing together a barricade behind him. Wood. Metal. Anything to slow them down. Anything to buy another breath.
His hands bled. His muscles screamed. But the monsters would not pass easily.
The air began to lighten—but so did he. A strange weightlessness crept into his limbs, not freedom, but fatigue. His vision blurred, rimmed with darkness. His body sagged as exhaustion pulled him closer to the ground.
Tomoya collapsed against the wall, his breath shallow, soul flickering.
He didn't know if he was dying or surviving anymore.
Only that he was still moving.
Still running.
From something inside him he couldn't bear to face.