The Cyber Ascension Arc 4 | Volume 4 | Chapter 33 — "The Crimes"
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Darkness pressed against the cracked concrete walls of the abandoned room like a suffocating veil. Only a handful of red lights glowed faintly above—pulsing in slow, rhythmic intervals, bathing everything in a blood-colored haze. It felt less like a room and more like a dissected heart still beating… waiting.
A single figure stood in the center.
Future Jin Yuan.
Silent. Still. His presence warped the atmosphere like a gravitational field, bending even the shadows around him. The only sound was the distant hum of electricity, but even that seemed dull in his proximity.
Before him stretched a massive investigation board covered in crisscrossing strings, maps of different Realms, surveillance photos, coordinates, and a list of names—each one marked for death.
He lifted a black marker and circled one name slowly, with surgical precision.
Lehchon.
A small tap echoed when the marker clicked shut. Nothing more. No dramatic sigh. No flare of rage. Just cold calculation.
"Next target," Future Jin Yuan murmured, barely above a whisper. His tone was flat, analytical—like reading a textbook, not planning a murder.
The red light flickered once, reflecting in his eyes like twin embers in a void.
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Meanwhile — Earth, Far from the Blue Realm
The others had escaped. But escape brought no comfort.
Emily sat on a cold stone bench, hugging herself tightly as if her own arms were the only thing preventing her from collapsing completely. Her face was buried against her knees; her shoulders trembled. She wasn't crying loudly—just small, brittle breaths and silent tears slipping down her cheeks. The kind of crying that hurts deeper because it tries not to make a sound.
Youchina rested a hand gently on her shoulder, while Shinoki sat beside them, trying to mask his own shaking hands.
Nashino, usually the loudest and most chaotic among them, stood unusually still. His playful grin was gone, replaced by an empty seriousness that none of them had seen before.
Yuzurei stared at the ground, jaw clenched hard enough to crack teeth. His fists were trembling. Rage and sorrow fought inside him, but he swallowed both, trying not to explode.
Musukoni stood slightly apart, scribbling calculations, diagrams, and possible scenarios in a notebook—pages flipping rapidly. He kept muttering things under his breath, trying to cling to logic because emotions were starting to devour him.
Shioinkin stood like a broken statue, his head lowered. The weight of seeing his own student—someone he had trained, protected, and believed in—die before him carved invisible wounds across his face.
Finally Nashino spoke.
A quiet voice, stripped of all energy.
"Do you all believe… he's truly dead?" Nashino asked without looking up.
There was a suffocating pause.
Musukoni slowly closed his notebook. "His death feels… wrong." His voice trembled. "The injuries were fatal, yes. But Jin Yuan had thunder-type regenerative capabilities. He should recover from wounds like those faster than any of us."
Emily's quiet sobs echoed in the background.
Youchina nodded. "Exactly. If Jin Yuan really died… then the one who killed him must be someone on his level. Someone who can match him completely."
The moment she said it, everyone's eyes subtly drifted toward Nashino.
Nashino noticed. His breath hitched. "Don't even look at me like that."
"We're not accusing," Shinoki said softly. "But you know he's right."
Musukoni added, "Only someone who stands at the same peak… or above it… could land a deathblow on Jin Yuan."
Shioinkin exhaled deeply. "We should pray his soul finds rest. The more we cling to him, the less peace he will have." His voice cracked at the last word, but he forced himself to continue. "We need to move on."
Everyone nodded slowly.
Everyone except Emily.
She wiped her tears with shaking hands, whispering, "Jin Yuan… you promised me you wouldn't leave…"
But she didn't know.
None of them knew.
Jin Yuan had never left.
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Elsewhere — Within the Shadows
Future Jin Yuan moved like a phantom through a dark, rotting corridor. Every step produced a faint creak, but he didn't seem to disturb the air or leave footprints. His presence erased noise.
He approached a dimly lit chamber where Lehchon—the man marked earlier—stood surrounded by captured individuals. Lehchon was laughing, stabbing victims one by one like he was performing some twisted ritual.
"Peaceful lives… all for Blue Realm's protection…" Lehchon muttered, expression manic.
Future Jin Yuan stepped out of the darkness.
Lehchon froze.
"Who are—"
The question was never finished.
Future Jin Yuan blurred, his movement cutting through space like a razor slicing cloth. A metallic sound rang out—wet, sharp, final.
In the next second, Lehchon staggered, gasping, staring down at the hole that had replaced his chest.
His heart was gone.
Future Jin Yuan held it casually, like an object of no significance.
"You deserve this," he said coldly. "You kill peaceful lives. You justify your crimes as protection. You became the second Shinjukuna."
Lehchon tried to speak, but blood filled his mouth. His legs buckled as his body collapsed to the ground.
Future Jin Yuan tossed the heart aside with a flick of his wrist. It thumped against the stone, leaving a dark smear.
"No mercy for false protectors."
The room fell silent.
Lehchon's last breath faded.
Future Jin Yuan didn't look back.
His expression didn't shift even once.
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Back on Earth
Emily wiped her tears again—failing. Everyone tried comforting her, but grief clung to her like a shadow.
Yuzurei punched a wall hard enough to fracture stone. "Damn it… damn it… he wasn't supposed to die like this."
Shinoki pulled him back. "Calm down. Please."
"How can I calm down!? Jin Yuan is—"
"No." Musukoni interrupted. His voice was strangely steady. "We don't know that yet."
Nashino turned, eyes serious. "Explain."
Musukoni took a breath. "Everything about his death feels unnatural. Too sudden. Too… incomplete. A being with thunder and dimensional properties does not simply die without a trace."
Youchina's eyes widened. "Are you suggesting—"
Shioinkin cut her off. "Do not give them false hope."
Musukoni shook his head. "I am not. I'm telling you the truth. Something else happened there."
Emily looked up with trembling eyes. "Do you… do you mean he could be alive?"
Musukoni didn't answer.
Because he didn't know.
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But above them… watching from a rooftop far away…
Future Jin Yuan stood alone on a high building in the Earth realm, staring silently at the small group below.
He watched Emily crying.
He watched Yuzurei raging.
He watched Nashino analyzing.
He watched his teacher Shioinkin mourning.
His expression remained completely still.
His voice was a whisper carried only by the wind.
"Hm. Emotions… always inefficient."
He turned away, cloak fluttering.
"I will erase Earth soon."
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Return to the kill room
Future Jin Yuan stepped out of the bloody chamber, wiping a droplet of blood from his jaw with mechanical precision.
No disgust.
No adrenaline.
No exhilaration.
Just calculation.
"Eliminating threats: step one complete," he murmured. "Proceeding to next phase."
He glanced at the wall of names again.
So many to erase.
So many pieces to move.
So many fates to rewrite.
He tapped the board once.
"Everything must follow the path I create."
A faint smile—barely there—touched his lips.
Cold.
Distant.
Empty.
"After all… I am the only one allowed to decide the end."
The red lights flickered.
The shadows bent around him.
And Future Jin Yuan vanished—leaving only blood, a corpse, and the quiet hum of a world slowly collapsing under his unseen manipulations.