Hundreds of years ago, when Chaos devoured thousands of ascended dimensions, it shattered their creator Keys, leaving behind Voids of death in the worlds of these dimensions.
Some worlds, still existing on the brink of destruction, retained remnants of the darkness left behind by Chaos's devouring process.
This darkness crept into the remaining struggling life force, and even before the world turned into nothing more than dismay, it corrupted anything Living…
Animals, insects, men, hybrids.
Changing them into Corrupted Mutants.
These mutants were known as Shadow Monsters.
---
Finch lost balance and fell to the ground, his body hitting the earth at the same time as Liza's limp form.
A pool of blood formed, staining the ground, seeping toward Finch's legs.
His eyes stayed fixed on the body, "L-L-Li... Liza... Where is your head?"
A pause.
Diamond's eyes widened, his pupils dilated, his breath trembling.
Ryker's grip loosened on the flame sword—it dematerialized in an instant, his lips parted then a call, "L... I... Z... A?"
---(FLASHBACK)---
Knock. Knock. Knock.~
Liza opened the door, staring at Ryker, "What?"
"A mission, babe! We're heading into a Moderate-Risk Gate—"
Before he could finish, she slammed the door in his face.
From inside, she shouted, "I don't want to go. I have a terrible feeling something bad will happen if I go…"
"PLEASE?"
"No!"
"Your skills and abilities will come in handy—"
"NO!"
"I'll make you a gooseberry pie?"
A minute passed.
Hearing the offer, she cracked the door slightly, peering through the tiny space, "...Also a milky sugary custard pie?"
"YES!" Ryker's lips formed into a smirk, thumbing his chest, "Don't worry! I'll make sure everything is done smoothly. I'll stay at the Frontline and make sure nothing goes wrong!"
---(PRESENT TIME)---
He slowly moved toward her body, his hands stretching out, before a deafening scream tore from his throat. "LIZAAAAAA!"
The cave trembled from the noise, and echoes lost their reverberation.
Diamond immediately flipped open the old book, which floated on its own from the use of his Ni-ability. "SHE JUST GOT KILLED A FEW SECONDS AGO! I AM A HEALER, I CAN ALSO RESTORE HER—"
He rushed toward Liza's body, but his ears failed to catch Ryker's warning, and he fell victim to the same fate as hers.
But he wasn't beheaded—just eaten by a monstrous-sized black mamba from behind.
Finch jumped up. He didn't waste time thinking or reacting—he fled.
He ran away, screaming with his hands up. Fear had leveled up within him.
What he never knew was that the same snake had targeted him.
Its fangs stuck out, ready to inject venom—
When a burst of flames sent its entire body crashing into the opposite wall.
Ryker who had threw the attack, quickly ran to where Finch froze, grabbed him, and leaped backward to a more comfortable distance.
"I...I...I...I... I...a...m... Sorry!" Finch yelled.
"Shut up for a moment—"
"No! Ryker! I am SORRY! I am the one who caused Diamond's and Liza's death!"
Ryker looked at him, "Huh? What are you saying?"
Finch lowered his head, anguish filling his eyes, "When we entered the cave, before we got to the core, I spotted an item but ignored it. That item was a snakeskin... I COULD HAVE TOLD YOU! BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO DO ANYTHING! I—"
"Listen here, Even," Ryker said, scanning the cave, searching for where the snake had disappeared to, "Even if you had told us, we would still have fallen victim."
"W-what?" Finch whispered, tears rolling down his cheeks.
"We are dealing with a Shadow Beast. A Shadow Snake! That was what I was trying to tell Diamond before he got killed. The beast moves in the shadows, I'm sure that's why Liza's reading couldn't immediately catch up the reading, because it hid its 'Gi' in the darkness," Ryker allowed Finch to stand upright, while he lit up the surroundings with floating flames, "A Shadow Mutant... A Shadow Monster! We're dealing with a Giant Black Mamba."
Just as Ryker finished speaking, his eyes caught Finch's trembling form, locking onto what was behind.
He turned.
Face-to-face with glowing green eyes and slit pupils staring at him.
The giant snake's presence carried a stink of decay and cold stone, like a faint bitterness tearing through a corrupted heart.
"Finch," Ryker called slowly.
"Yes?"
"RUN! LEAVE THIS WORLD!"
Finch turned look at him, "But... I... I... don't... Want to... What about you?"*
"JUST SHUT UP AND LEAVE! FOR LIZA AND DIAMOND'S SAKE! LEAVE!" Ryker spiked the temperature inside the cave, and when this happened...
Finch took one step back.
Then another.
Then—he rushed away.
'I AM SO WEAK! SO USELESS! I CAN'T FIGHT! I'M JUST RUNNING!,' His thoughts swirled in panic. 'WELL, THAT'S ALL I CAN DO! WHAT CAN A RANK-D AS MYSELF DO AGAINST A DEMON MONSTER?.."
Sensing Finch had escaped, Ryker placed his entire focus on the snake, "You killed my girlfriend. You killed my cousin!..."
His jaw clenched, rage boiling within him, the temperature in the cave rising rapidly.
The heat made the snake uncomfortable—it slithered through the shadows, desperately seeking a place to cool down.
"I don't care if you can withstand heat or whatever with those black scales," Ryker growled, "I'll SHATTER YOUR FLESH THE SAME WAY YOU DID TO MY TEAMMATES!"
The snake, realizing there was no escape, turned its full fury on Ryker, whose body was already lit in flames, the ground underneath his feets, soaked in lava.
"Using this art will deal more damage to me more than the Serpent... But it's for Diamond," Ryker spread his arms wide, "AND LIZA!"
Just as the snake lunged forward, Ryker clasped his hands together, forming a locked fist....
"FOURTH FURY OF THE FIRE GOD…
IGNIS EXIMIUS!"
---
A PAUSE.
A SILENCE.
A SPARK.
AN EXPLOSION.
The cave shattered into ashes, flames roasting the snake's within the blaze.
A violent force sent Ryker's smoked body flying out from the cave and through the Forest of Dry Bones.
Before he crashed into shattered remains.
This force was so powerful, the impact sent Ryker spitting out a large volume of blood.
'Ignis Eximius... The fourth fury... Although Rank A, we can only learn one art of the fire god. I haven't mastered the form fully—I've covered the blasting and explosions, but directing the attack straight to the heart of the enemy? I still have a long way to go…'
Sitting upright, he wiped the blood from his mouth, continuing his thoughts, 'That attack was all for show, with no flow… No wonder...'
The snake coiled up, shaking off its burnt skin off its body, shedding it within seconds.
'… No wonder the attack only grazed the surface of its skin… How sad…,' Ryker watched as the reptile slowly moved toward him.
It was careful.
But its rage had multiplied tenfold.
"Ha!," Ryker laughed bitterly, "There's just a minute left before this world would crumble, that I'm sure about because that's the least time for a world to destroy after getting its core destroyed. At least, I'll shatter alongside this world… alongside Diamond… and my Liza…"
---
At that same moment, Finch reached the valley of the crystalized red splash structures.
His breathing was irregular, "Please! Anyone! Please, the gods! Please hear me! HELP ME! HELP MY FRIEND!," his mind disarranged.
As he stumbled through the wasteland, his eyes locked onto a figure.
It wasn't just the presence of another human in the zone that led his feets moving towards that direction—it was the sheer aura this person emitted.
A high level of Ni.
Similar to the rare Rank SSS… No.
More than that.
A god.
Without hesitation, Finch launched forward, grabbing the stranger's wrist.
His eyes trembled with fear as the one he grabbed jerked backward—
But quickly regained composure, looking into Finch's desperate expression. "HELP!"