Eventually, a distant rumble echoed overhead, breaking the tense silence. The sound of engines hissed through the smoky air, growing louder by the second. Its angular design resembled an otherworldly predator, its lights cutting through the haze to illuminate the devastation below.
The ship hovered mid-air, and with a mechanical whir, a hatch opened in its underside. From the illuminated doorway, a towering figure stepped forward. His silhouette was imposing, framed by the ethereal glow of the jet's interior.
A pair of reflective sunglasses obscured his eyes, and his crisp, dark military shirt—decorated with subtle insignias and neatly pressed—hugged his broad shoulders and chest. The high collar and reinforced seams lent it an air of both practicality and authority.
One hand gripped the edge of the hatch as he scanned the scene below. His posture radiated command, his weathered face betraying years of discipline and experience.
The smoke and debris began to thin.
The forest was battered, broken—branches snapped like bones, the earth torn and scorched.
The air hung heavy with the bitter stench of blood and burnt wood.
And there, standing amidst the wreckage was Ren.
His hands trembled at his sides, blood and dirt clinging to his torn fingers.
His chest rose and fell in shallow, shaky gasps.
In front of him slumped against the jagged remnants of a shattered tree was Kaito. Impaled through the torso by two massive, splintered tree stumps, black ichor gushing from the wounds.
His monstrous body, once relentless and twisted with rage, now sagged with the weight of death pressing down on him.
His face—
no longer fully monstrous, but not fully human either—twisted into a grotesque snarl.
"You... all of you..."
Kaito's voice was a choking, bubbling rasp, thick with blood and hatred.
"You're all... garbage... worthless... monsters..."
He coughed violently, black blood spilling from his mouth, painting his chin, his chest.
The monstrous gleam in his eyes faded.
His hands—those warped, clawed hands—twitched once...
then fell still.
Kaito's head slumped forward.
The world fell into a thick, almost sacred silence.
Ren stood there.
His shoulders heaved as the adrenaline bled out of him.
His mind, his body, every inch of him cried for rest.
But he stayed standing, his head slowly bowing under the invisible weight settling onto his shoulders.
The gravity of it hit him like a cold wave.
This wasn't victory.
It wasn't even survival.
It was a sentence.
A life sentence.
Ren tightened his fists until his nails dug into his palms.
He had looked away once.
He had convinced himself it wasn't his problem.
And because of that choice—
Kaito had fallen.
Twisted into something unrecognizable.
Alone. Forgotten. Broken.
And no matter how much he wanted to tear the memory away from himself, he couldn't.
He wouldn't.
This was his burden to bear.
Ren opened his mouth—his throat raw, his voice barely above a whisper—and forced the words out:
"I'm sorry, Kaito."
The words trembled in the air, fragile, almost lost in the broken world around him.
He let them hang there.
He let the guilt settle deep into his bones.
He let it carve itself into him.
Because he had to remember.
Because he would never look away again.
Ren stumbled forward slightly, knees threatening to buckle, but he caught himself.
He stood there for a long time, eyes closed, breathing shallow and broken, feeling every second of the silence.
A new vow—unspoken but burning bright—took root in the hollow ache inside him.
He would do better.
He would be better.
No matter how long it took.
No matter how many steps he had to crawl through blood and guilt to take.
He would carry Kaito with him—
forever.
But before he could say another word, his body betrayed him. His knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud, blood pooling beneath him from his injuries. Pain surged through him, sharp and overwhelming, as his body screamed in protest. Darkness crept at the edges of his vision, and his breath grew shallow.
The girl saw him fall and screamed in desperation, her voice piercing the silence of the night. "Ren!"
She sprinted toward him, her heart pounding in her chest. As she reached his fallen body, she caught him just before he hit the ground. Her arms wrapped tightly around him, holding him steady.
Her eyes were wide with panic and tears streamed down her face as she pressed her hand against the impaling wound in his chest, her breath ragged. "No!" she gasped, her voice trembling with fear.
"Stay with me!" she whispered, her voice cracking as she clung to him, but Ren's body had already surrendered to the darkness, his consciousness slipping away into oblivion.
The girl held him close, her eyes brimmed with tears as she pressed her hand against the impaling wound in his chest, desperately trying to stem the bleeding.
A faint glow emanated from her palm, her power flickering as she attempted to heal him. Her hands glowed brighter as she pressed against his wounds, "Please, wake up!" she whispered, her voice cracking. But Ren had already slipped into unconsciousness.