"I may fight mutants, dimensional anomalies…
Strangely, I haven't always had the pleasure of killing."
Sakolomé staggers.
After blasting the F-Kgod out of the galaxy with a titanic blow, he collapses to his knees on the dying ground of a planet in agony.
His breath is heavy, wheezing, broken. His hands tremble. He looks at them, covered in blood, and murmurs in a hoarse voice:
— Damn…
He lifts his eyes to the sky.
The silence is heavy. But he knows.
He knows that F-Kgod will return.
"I never would have believed…
…that a simple familiar could reach such power."
Billions of kilometers away, outside any orbit, F-Kgod reforms.
It roars wordlessly into the void, its rage tearing the fabric of reality.
Its energy does not spread like a wave, but like a causal curse. And immediately, the universe reacts:
Gamma rays slash through like invisible blades.
Planets implode for no apparent reason.
Even black holes… collapse, swallowed by a force more primitive than gravity itself.
All this is but the residual trace of F-Kgod's anger.
Sakolomé watches the sky.
It is no longer a sky: it is a cosmic death knell.
"This is the end. Maybe even the end of all for me.
I may be very strong.
Too much, in the eyes of some.
But… I remain human.
Even superhuman, I have my limits."
He closes his eyes. His breath shortens.
"F-Kgod… he does not know fatigue.
He does not know pain. He does not need rest.
I… am at my limit.
My body screams at me to stop.
I feel broken bones. Internal hemorrhages.
Even if I survive, will I even be able to walk?"
He coughs. Blood.
But he smiles.
F-Kgod returns.
It pierces the galaxy at impossible speed.
Every planet it crosses turns to dust. Every star becomes dead light.
And on its forehead, the infinity symbol is imprinted in cosmic letters.
It no longer restrains itself.
It now unleashes the famous hidden 10% of Bakuzan.
True terror.
Sakolomé smiles. Sadly.
He rises. Slowly. Gently. With nobility.
— Let's finish this.
He joins his two hands. Concentrates all he has left.
His soul.
Around him, space itself cracks.
Pure energy rifts pierce the void.
His arm cracks, his skin tears, but he grits his teeth.
"I'm going to give everything in this strike.
I have nothing left."
He jumps.
And his leap is so powerful that it destroys the entire planet beneath his feet.
A silent, total explosion.
Then he flies, alone in the void, his fist charged with the absolute.
F-Kgod approaches as well.
Its body swells, grows, expands beyond entire constellations.
Two titans. Two trajectories.
One collision.
And then…
— KILLER PUNCH SUPRAS GOD!!!
The cry tears the cosmic silence.
Sakolomé's fist strikes F-Kgod's.
And everything stops.
The entire galaxy explodes.
Billions of stars, moons, entire civilizations go out in a breath.
The central black hole of the Way cancels, consumed.
A white light floods everything. The universe turns white.
Sakolomé floats. Naked. Broken.
He no longer feels his bones. Nor his skin.
Nothing. Just… nothingness.
His eyes struggle to stay open.
But he whispers:
"I… I won. Finally.
But at what cost?"
His body falls into the unknown.
A tear slowly rolls down his cheek.
And in a breath, before his eyes close:
"I lost.
I couldn't beat Bakuzan.
I didn't even get the chance to reason with him…"
Then…
Silence.
Clouds of dust swirled in the air, lifted by a dry and capricious wind that whistled between the gutted carcasses of ruined buildings. The ground was littered with rubble, shards of glass, and forgotten objects, like relics of a bygone era. No sign of life, not even the song of a bird or the buzz of an insect. Everything seemed frozen, suspended in endless torpor, as if time itself had deserted these places.
This was city C.
Once lively, it was now nothing more than a name on erased maps, a shadow within a concrete desert. A thick silence reigned there, oppressive, almost sacred. It was as if the city refused to breathe, to remember.
Here, everything had disappeared. Or rather: everything had been erased.
Three figures moved slowly through the silent rubble of city C. The wind raised clouds of dust with every step, brushing the folds of their coats. Salomé, sharp-eyed, watched every corner with suspicion. Sally, more nervous, turned her head in all directions, her gaze alert. Leading the way, Bakuran marched with quiet confidence, although his eyes betrayed some tension.
Sally stopped for a moment and looked around, worried.
— Uh… Bakuran, are you really sure there's any sign of life here? It looks like even the rats have fled this place…
Bakuran turned with a reassuring smile, brushing some dust away with a casual gesture.
— Of course there is. And calm down, we'll be there soon.
Salomé frowned.
— Wait… Wasn't the goal just to come to city C? We're already here, right?
But before Bakuran could answer, a voice thundered in the silence:
— Hey! Who goes there?
The three froze and turned as one. In the shadow of a ruined building, a slender figure stood, motionless but tense as a bow. Then the stranger leapt down from a collapsed ledge and approached with long strides. Squinting as he neared:
— Huh? Bakuran? Is that you?
Bakuran smiled faintly.
— ErMut… it's been a while, huh.
The man stopped a few steps away. He was a young adult with a gothic look: tattoos running along his bare arms, an eyebrow piercing, piercing green eyes, and a black coat adorned with chains.
— No wonder it's been a while! said ErMut. Where are Sakolomé and Bakuzan?
Bakuran shrugged, gesturing to his two companions.
— Busy, as always. I introduce you to Salomé, my little sister… and Sally, a dear friend.
ErMut gave a wide smile.
— Nice to meet you, ladies. I'm ErMut.
— Nice to meet you, said Salomé and Sally in unison, one polite, the other more reserved.
ErMut crossed his arms.
— So? What brings you to these ruins?
Bakuran sighed.
— We have a big problem. Mutants are gathering to attack Monor City. They outnumber us. We need reinforcements, all the help we can get.
ErMut stroked his chin thoughtfully.
— And you think I can make a difference? Even with my guys, we're not many…
Bakuran lowered his eyes.
— Maybe. But each of us can take down at least fifty mutants alone. Even if we're just a handful, eight or ten, we can turn the odds.
ErMut closed his eyes, arms still crossed.
— I don't get it… Why Monor City? They already razed city C, what more do they want?
Bakuran replied with a small enigmatic smile.
— Let's say we have an idea… not a certainty, but about 80%.
ErMut opened his eyes.
— 80% is not nothing. Tell me everything.
— There's a plan. We call it the Killer Man Eradication Plan…
— The Killer Man? Go on, I'm listening.
— Since they are citizens like any other, killing them head-on would trigger a crisis. So they decided to sow chaos, to make people believe the Killer Man disappeared in the melee. Discreet but effective.
ErMut nodded slowly.
— And where did you get this info? Doesn't it put you all in danger? And Sakolomé, Bakuzan, what are they doing?
Sally stepped forward sharply, tone cutting:
— ErMut, that's your name, right? Listen, we don't have time for questions. We have to move. If you want to interrogate us, you can do it on the road. For now, what we want to know is: are you coming with us, yes or no?
— Sally, said Bakuran, a little embarrassed, calm down, please…
Sally turned to him, burning gaze.
— Hundreds of people are dying! Grafay, Yuki, Nairo, even they can't cover everything. Monor City is huge, we need help.
— I understand, but…
— Sally, is that your name? ErMut suddenly cut in.
She looked at him, wary.
— Yes. That's right.
ErMut gave a charming smile.
— I like your frankness. Are you in a relationship?
Salomé, who had remained silent until then, spoke softly but firmly:
— This… might not be the time for that kind of question, right? We're wasting time.
Sally crossed her arms, a bit offended.
— Thanks, Salomé…
ErMut burst out laughing.
— Okay, okay. Well, to answer your question… no, I'm not going to help you.
A heavy silence fell. Salomé, Sally, and Bakuran widened their eyes.
ErMut turned his back.
— If I did, my friends and I would risk getting slaughtered. We'd need a lot more people…
He stopped, and a strange smile stretched his lips.
Then he snapped his fingers.
Immediately, with a low rumble, countless silhouettes emerged from the ruins, rooftops, and collapsed streets. Hundreds of men and women, dressed in black, tattooed, armed… An entire army, risen from the shadows, their presence even obscuring the light of the sky.
Salomé stepped back, mouth agape.
— They were here from the start…?
ErMut shook his head.
— No. They came with me. When I spotted you, I asked them to surround you. If you had turned out to be enemies, they would have attacked on my signal. Otherwise… well, nothing.
A young woman stepped forward, also tattooed, with long silver hair and a gothic coat adorned with chains.
— Zeltania! exclaimed Bakuran, smiling.
— You've grown, Bakuran, she said tenderly.
Five other figures appeared in turn: Mutjack, Tanreo, Mertana, Saramut, and Mutana, all marked with their clan's distinctive signs.
— These are my commanders, ErMut said proudly.
Sally cleared her throat.
— Uh… ErMut?
He turned to her, one eyebrow raised.
— Yes, Sally? You want to jump my throat again?
She smiled shyly, blushing.
— Haha… no, sorry. I'm just a bit on edge.
— I understand. Don't worry.
She nodded, then continued:
— Thanks for your help, really. But I have a question… You're a mutant, right?
ErMut nodded.
— Yes. A humanoid mutant. And so are all those you see here. You guessed from our names, huh? The "Mut", the "Tan"…
Sally burst out laughing.
— That's right. But why live here? It's chaos. Why not join the other cities where humans and humanoid mutants already coexist?
ErMut gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
— Because for us… city C is paradise. Nothing else, Sally.