Silence dominated everything. The wind blew gently across the rooftop, lifting small clouds of dust. Sora's eyes slowly opened. His breathing returned to normal. All the wounds that had covered his body had vanished, healed by the power of light.
His short white hair rested on Nina's lap as he stared at the sky with a still-hazy gaze.
She watched him with a serene smile. Her fingers gently stroked the white strands of his hair.
"Thank you..." Sora murmured, his voice low and calm, as he slowly sat up and looked at his arms. But his eyes were full of gratitude.
Nina's black hair swayed in the wind. She rose gracefully.
"I only did what anyone would've done," she said with a gentle smile, filled with empathy.
Sora stared at her in silence. Words weren't enough to express what he felt. His eyes then turned to the edge of the building. The ground seemed far too distant. A chill ran down his spine.
Grotesque images of Ris smiling returned to his mind like a nightmare. He clenched his fists. Clenched his teeth. His team... decapitated in the blink of an eye. The rage was about to overflow.
"You know... none of this makes sense," Nina said, breaking the silence, staring at the emptiness beside him. Her voice held doubt but also firmness.
Sora looked at her, surprised.
"What do you mean?"
She took a deep breath. The wind blew again.
"The game... all of this. It doesn't make sense." Her eyes scanned the city ahead, full of towering buildings — as real as any metropolis.
Sora held his breath. His eyebrows twitched.
"Can you explain better?"
"Why would they put things so powerful..." she muttered, touching her rosy lips with her fingers. "...in a simple game?"
Her words hit him hard. Images of Ris's overwhelming power filled his mind. Especially the aura he unleashed when he said "resurrection."
"And this city... it's too real to be virtual," Nina concluded, cold and direct.
Sora's eyes widened. He looked around: clouds, shadows, sounds... Nothing seemed fake. Nothing glitched.
"You're saying... all of this is real?" he asked, his voice trembling. He took a step toward her.
"I'm not sure..." Nina replied, looking him in the eyes. "But... destroyed walls don't rebuild themselves."
Her calm voice was like a blade slicing through Sora's thoughts. He remembered the brutal impact against the building wall, thrown by the demon Eis. That didn't feel like a simulation.
"They let us use our powers..." Nina continued, growing more certain. "The pain... the blood..." She hesitated, her eyes welling up. "It all feels way too real."
She stared at him. Her gaze trembled.
Sora swallowed hard.
"If it's true... whoever dies here... really dies..."
His body trembled. Sweat dripped. The air felt thin.
"I need to find my group," Nina said, trying to hide the tension with a soft smile. "You're alone... you can come with me."
She tried to avoid thinking about the terrifying truth forming in their minds. Sora, still shaken, nodded quickly.
Nina raised her arms. Took a deep breath. Golden light began to emerge from her hands.
"Then let's go."
Shlach!
Light burst around them. The brightness enveloped them completely, lifting dust. The energy consumed them.
In an instant, they vanished from the rooftop, leaving behind only the sound of the wind and the shimmer of dust in the air.
---
They reappeared on a silent street. The place seemed dead.
PUM!
The wind blew strong. The cold hit instantly. Nina covered her nose, wincing. Her widened eyes revealed contained rage.
Sora coughed. The smell... was unbearable. Blood. Fresh blood.
Nina tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come. Her lips moved, but all she could do was swallow hard. Her hands trembled, clenched tightly. Tears slowly streamed down.
Ping... ping...
Tears falling, mixing with the blood.
Four bodies. Dismembered. On the ground.
The heads of Elias and Goto lay apart, eyes white, blood still dripping. Nina froze. Sora clenched his teeth hard, images of his own team's massacre flashing back.
And then they saw it. At the center of the scene — a lone figure.
With a torn cloak, standing among the bodies. Absolute silence. Not even Sora or Nina's breathing could be heard.
Pim!
A sword flicked, splashing blood on the ground. Then it was sheathed precisely.
Nina's hands lit up with violent light. She bit her lips, consumed by fury.
The figure was a man with blue hair, stained with blood. His piercing, cold eyes stared at them. A samurai's posture.
"Had to be now, huh..." he murmured, voice icy. No remorse. No fear. Only disdain.
Nina didn't respond. Her light grew stronger. Sora stayed still, focused.
Puh... puh...
Nina's heart pounded. Her breathing grew heavy. She planted her foot on the ground — the concrete cracked.
The samurai smirked sarcastically.
"If I take too long... Koloris won't like it one bit."
He drew his sword. Just revealing half the blade made the ground start to freeze. Blood hardened. The temperature dropped fast.
Nina summoned two golden blades with a VROOOM!
In the blink of an eye, she teleported behind the enemy.
But he had already drawn the sword fully — thick ice coated the blade. A frozen vapor spread out.
He whispered:
"Frozen Tide."
BOOM!
An explosion of mist covered everything. Buildings disappeared. The world turned white and cold.
Sora tried to see something, but it was useless. Nina had her blade to the enemy's neck — but his body turned to mist.
She backed off. Couldn't see a thing. Couldn't hear. Only the fog... suffocating, icy.
"If I take too long... the King..." his voice echoed from all directions, "...won't let me keep Koloris..."
PAM!
Blades of ice appeared from nowhere. One sliced a strand of Nina's hair. Another grazed Sora's cheek.
They were separated. Blind. Vulnerable.
Sora trembled. Barely able to breathe. Something moved behind him.
"Absolute Space: Swap."
PUM.
Now the samurai was trapped inside Sora's dimension. White energy pulsed around.
"Saumon._" Sora whispered again.
BOOM!
An explosion launched the enemy far away — but he turned to mist again.
"Pathetic... why do you resist so much?" he mocked, voice coming from everywhere.
Nina clenched her teeth. Frustrated. Determined. But not fast enough.
Shuch.
The frozen blade pierced her abdomen.
Instinctively, she spun and decapitated the samurai.
His body dissolved into mist.
She pulled the blade out of herself. No blood came out — the wound was frozen.
Her breathing weakened. Lips, skin, everything began to freeze.
"Soon, each of your organs will freeze from the inside..." the enemy taunted. "So... why resist?"
Sora fell to his knees. Frozen. Almost out of strength.
Nina staggered. Her blades vanished from her hands. She could no longer tell mist from reality.
She saw... darkness.
And then, a little girl appeared. Eight years old. Black hair. Pink eyes.
"Mommy... forgive me..." Nina whispered, crying.
"Don't cry, mommy," the girl replied with a sweet smile. She gently touched her mother's face. "I miss you... I want you to come back to me..."
The daughter's words echoed deep in Nina's frozen heart.
But then, the girl vanished.
In reality, her body kept freezing. The tears rolled down... and turned to ice.
The mist spread.
Next: I Am a Demon.