Darkness.
Not the peaceful kind, nor the comforting kind either.
Just simply... darkness.
For a brief moment, he couldn't tell whether his eyes were open or closed.
His thoughts felt distant and muffled, like trying to hear someone's voice after an explosion had gone off right beside him. Honestly, that was probably the closest comparison he could think of.
The feeling wasn't particularly pleasant.
Though, if he was being honest, it wasn't unpleasant either.
It was simply there.
Then a voice echoed somewhere in the distance.
Faint.
Distorted.
"...single evil..."
Static accompanied it.
"...cannot defeat..."
The voice faded before returning once more.
"...human race..."
"...perished..."
He frowned.
The voice sounded familiar.
Very familiar.
"...long ago..."
Eventually, the sentence became clear.
"There isn't a single evil he cannot defeat."
A brief pause followed.
"If such a thing existed, then the human race would've perished long ago."
The voice echoed again afterward.
Then again.
And again.
Like a broken recording stuck repeating the same line.
"..."
A bitter smile slowly appeared on his face.
Of course.
Genos.
The darkness shattered and reality came rushing back all at once.
The sound of distant explosions, collapsing concrete, and screaming suddenly filled his ears while the familiar smell of smoke and blood invaded his senses.
His eyes slowly opened.
The first thing that greeted him was a ruined sky.
The city was burning.
Well, calling it a city at this point was probably being generous.
Most of it no longer existed.
Entire districts had collapsed, massive craters scarred the landscape, and fires stretched endlessly across the horizon.
The final city.
Humanity's last refuge.
Humanity's final stand.
And it had finally fallen.
"..."
Yuki remained seated amongst the rubble for several moments, silently observing his surroundings as his mind slowly caught up with reality.
Eventually, his attention shifted and landed on a familiar figure resting nearby.
Genos.
His body was badly damaged. Cracks covered his face, mechanical parts were scattered throughout the surrounding rubble, and whatever signs of life remained had long since disappeared.
For a moment, Yuki simply stared.
Then a quiet laugh escaped his mouth.
A small, humorless one. The kind people made when reality had stopped being funny a long time ago.
"...Yeah."
His voice sounded rough as he remembered the words that had been echoing inside his head moments ago.
"I guess you were right."
Silence answered him.
Genos remained exactly where he was, unmoving and forever beyond the point of responding.
Yuki stared a little longer before eventually looking away.
The dead deserved respect.
Unfortunately, mourning would have to wait.
It always had.
His attention soon shifted toward the enormous corpse lying nearby.
Grief Eater.
One of the remaining Monster Cadres.
Or rather, former Monster Cadre.
The title itself had long since lost most of its meaning. At some point, classifications like Tiger, Demon, and Dragon stopped mattering all that much. What mattered nowadays was whether something was alive or dead.
Fortunately, Grief Eater belonged to the latter.
The monster's appearance was just as grotesque as ever. A mountain of flesh covered in countless eyes, twisted limbs protruding from every direction, and a mouth large enough to occupy most of its torso.
The sword embedded through its skull certainly helped with that assessment.
Yuki grabbed the hilt and pulled.
The blade slid free with little resistance, followed shortly afterward by a torrent of black blood. The corpse twitched once before finally becoming still.
For good this time.
A distant roar echoed somewhere across the city not long after.
Another explosion followed.
Then another.
The battle continued.
Because of course it did.
The world wasn't considerate enough to stop ending just because he finished his own fight.
"...Yuki-san!"
A familiar voice suddenly called out from the distance.
Yuki turned toward the source and immediately spotted a figure sprinting across the rubble.
Mumen Rider.
Or rather, Satoru.
His friend and one of the few people he still trusted enough to watch his back.
The hero looked considerably worse for wear by the time he arrived. His armor was damaged, dust covered most of his body, and judging from the number of injuries visible on him, he had probably fought through half the city just to get here.
Yet somehow, he was still standing.
"Sorry."
The apology came immediately.
"The moment I heard you were fighting Grief Eater, I came as fast as I could."
A bitter smile appeared on his face.
"There were some... problems along the way."
Unfortunately, the explanation never continued.
His gaze had shifted toward Genos midway through the sentence, and whatever words he intended to say afterward died instantly.
"..."
"..."
For several moments, neither of them spoke.
Not because there was nothing to say.
Rather, neither knew what to say anymore.
Eventually, Mumen lowered his head.
"...I see."
That was all.
No denial.
No anger.
No desperate hope.
At some point, all of those things had become luxuries.
After everything they had seen and everything they had lost, there wasn't much room left for false expectations anymore.
Mumen looked back toward Yuki.
"Earlier, with Master Bomb and Sonic's help, we managed to defeat Ruin in the south."
That finally earned a reaction.
"You guys did?"
Mumen nodded.
"About thirty minutes ago. They headed toward the Northern Wall afterward, and I came here."
His gaze briefly shifted toward Grief Eater's corpse.
"...Looks like I was late."
Yuki followed his gaze before looking back toward the horizon.
"Regardless, that's good."
His voice remained calm.
"Ruin was becoming a problem."
Under normal circumstances, news like that would've been worth celebrating.
Unfortunately, normal circumstances stopped existing a long time ago.
Another section of the city collapsed in the distance while they were talking. A cloud of dust rose into the air shortly afterward, followed by more destruction somewhere beyond their sight.
"...Not that it matters much anymore."
Mumen frowned.
He already knew where this conversation was heading. Unfortunately, that didn't stop him from trying.
"You shouldn't blame yourself."
Yuki didn't respond.
He simply continued staring toward the horizon.
"You've done everything you could."
Still nothing.
Eventually, Mumen let out a sigh and sat beside him.
For a while, neither spoke.
Then he tried again.
"Even for someone like you, there's only so much you can do."
His gaze moved toward the ruined city.
"Being the strongest doesn't change that."
Yuki remained silent.
Mumen didn't seem particularly surprised by that.
"That's what being human means."
For the first time since the conversation started, Yuki looked away from the horizon.
Toward Mumen.
Toward Genos.
Toward the countless ruins surrounding them.
Human.
For some reason, that word felt strangely ironic nowadays.
Before Yuki could answer, both of them suddenly froze.
The atmosphere had changed.
An overwhelming presence erupted somewhere in the distance, causing several ruined buildings to twist unnaturally before bending inward as though reality itself had become unstable.
A green haze slowly spread across the sky.
Not quickly.
Not violently.
Yet somehow, that only made it worse.
It looked almost peaceful.
Like poison quietly leaking into the world.
"..."
"..."
Mumen's expression immediately darkened.
"That..."
His voice trailed off as he stared toward the source of the disturbance.
Even from this distance, the pressure felt wrong.
There was no better way to describe it.
Mumen glanced toward Yuki.
"Yuki-san, that's..."
He didn't need to finish.
Yuki already knew.
Of everyone still alive, nobody recognized that presence more than he did.
The moment he felt it, an old memory surfaced.
Dark green hair.
Green eyes.
A trembling hand slowly slipping from his grasp.
"...Yuki..."
A weak voice barely above a whisper.
Then silence.
The memory disappeared as quickly as it had come, leaving only reality behind.
And unfortunately, reality wasn't much better.
The pressure remained.
Mumen let out a quiet sigh before walking toward Genos.
Without saying anything, he removed the damaged cape hanging from his shoulders and carefully draped it over his fallen friend.
There wasn't much he could do anymore.
But at the very least, he could do that.
For several moments, neither hero spoke.
Eventually, Mumen returned.
Only to stop midway.
Because the air around Yuki had changed.
Not dramatically.
Not explosively.
But enough.
Enough for someone who knew him well.
"...Yuki-san."
Yuki slowly stood up.
His gaze remained fixed on the distant haze as he let out a slow breath. The atmosphere around him settled slightly afterward. Not because the anger disappeared, but because it was brought back under control.
"I'm fine. Don't worry."
Mumen looked unconvinced.
Honestly, Yuki couldn't blame him.
The two of them had known each other for too long. Empty reassurance wasn't exactly going to work between them.
Still, Yuki wasn't lying.
He continued staring toward the source of that presence.
Toward the place where old debts still waited.
"I won't let my anger control me."
His voice remained calm.
"...Not again."
For several moments, neither spoke.
The haze continued spreading throughout the distant horizon while its source remained hidden behind countless ruined structures. Even so, both of them already knew exactly what waited there.
Eventually, Mumen let out a sigh before nodding.
"...Then I'll help."
The answer wasn't surprising.
If anything, it was probably the most predictable thing Mumen had said all day.
Unfortunately, Yuki still shook his head.
"No need."
A frown immediately appeared on Mumen's face.
Yuki could already tell what he was thinking.
Once again, he assumed Yuki was trying to shoulder everything himself.
"Satoru."
That gained his attention.
"I mean it."
"..."
"..."
"I'll handle her."
The statement came naturally.
After all, there wasn't really anyone else who could.
"And once I'm done with her."
Yuki's gaze remained fixed on the horizon.
"I'll extract the cube."
The moment those words left his mouth, Mumen's expression immediately became serious.
"...Don't tell me."
"Yeah."
Yuki nodded.
"I'll use it."
A brief silence followed before he continued.
"I'll use it to pull that thing here."
The statement should've sounded insane.
Unfortunately, they were long past the point where insane plans were unusual.
Mumen stared at him for several moments before rubbing his face.
"So we're really doing it."
"Yeah."
Yuki gestured toward the ruined city surrounding them.
"It's not like we can still recover from this."
The collapsed buildings.
The countless battles.
The dead.
The dying.
Everything.
"Everyone's safety stopped being part of the discussion a long time ago."
Mumen remained silent.
Because there wasn't really anything to argue against.
"Besides, there's no better opportunity."
Yuki continued.
"If that thing ever figures out what we're trying to do, we'll probably die before getting another chance."
That sounded about right.
"And then?"
Yuki finally looked toward him.
"Then I'll use that technique."
No further explanation was necessary.
Mumen already knew exactly which technique Yuki was referring to.
The one they had spent years developing.
The one nobody had successfully tested.
The one absurd enough that it might actually work.
A brief silence followed.
"...But extracting the cube from her isn't going to be easy. Even for you."
"Yeah."
"And this is usually the part where people tell me they have some kind of backup plan."
"I do."
That immediately earned a raised eyebrow.
Yuki pointed toward him.
"His name is Satoru."
"..."
"..."
A defeated sigh escaped Mumen's mouth.
"I walked into that one."
"You did."
A small laugh escaped both of them afterward.
It wasn't particularly loud, nor did it last very long, but it was genuine.
A rare thing nowadays.
Eventually, the laughter faded.
As they looked at each other one last time, Yuki gave a small nod before taking the first step forward.
"It's time."
His gaze remained fixed on the distant horizon.
Toward the source of everything.
Toward the place where this entire nightmare would finally end.
"It's time to end this once and for all."
As both of them moved forward, the ruined city slowly blurred before Yuki's eyes.
The fires, the destruction, and the countless battles still raging throughout the horizon gradually became distant. It felt as though someone was slowly pulling him away from it all.
Then everything faded.
The battlefield.
The city.
The voices.
Until only darkness remained.
A soft rustling sound eventually broke the silence.
Not explosions.
Not screaming.
Just the quiet sound of fabric being woven.
Yuki frowned before slowly opening his eyes.
A familiar ceiling greeted him.
The smell of smoke was gone.
The battlefield was gone.
Only the peaceful atmosphere of the Gojo Estate remained.
For several moments, Hiroyuki simply stared upward, allowing himself a moment to separate memory from reality.
The rustling sound continued nearby.
Turning his head slightly, he found Senjumaru seated beside the bed, quietly working on a piece of cloth. Needle and thread moved through her hands with practiced ease, making for a strangely peaceful sight.
Without looking up, she spoke.
"Did you have a nightmare?"
Hiroyuki blinked.
Then looked back toward the ceiling.
"...Did I?"
"Well. You look troubled."
A brief silence followed.
"No."
Calling it a nightmare didn't feel quite right.
Nightmares were supposed to be things that never happened.
What he saw earlier were memories.
Unpleasant ones, certainly.
But memories nonetheless.
"Just dreamt of the past."
The needle paused briefly.
Only briefly.
Then resumed.
"I see."
No further questions followed.
She already understood.
Some memories didn't require explanations.
Especially those ones.
Silence settled between them afterward.
Comfortable.
Familiar.
It had been nearly two weeks since their return to the Gojo Estate.
Surprisingly peaceful weeks, all things considered.
During that time, meetings had been held, messages exchanged, and preparations made. A considerable amount of work had happened behind the scenes, most of which would probably never be seen by the people it was intended to affect.
Exactly as intended.
The Gojo Clan had officially committed.
The groundwork had been established.
Now, only the remaining pieces needed to move.
Eventually, Senjumaru set the cloth aside.
"It's finalized."
That immediately gained Hiroyuki's attention.
"The final approval arrived this morning."
He sat upright as the remnants of sleep disappeared almost instantly.
"So it's official."
"Yes."
A simple answer.
Yet one that represented weeks of preparation.
A faint breath escaped him.
"Good."
One thing off the list.
Unfortunately, the next item wasn't going to be nearly as cooperative.
"The Zenin Clan?"
Senjumaru voiced the thought first.
"The Zenin."
"..."
"..."
For some reason, neither looked particularly optimistic.
Eventually, Hiroyuki stood up and stretched slightly.
"Well."
A small smile appeared on his face.
"Let's go convince some people."
Senjumaru quietly rose from her seat.
"Yes."
And with that, the two began preparing for their next trip.