There was no turning back now.
Zeroth knew it the moment he took another step forward — slow, unsteady, heavy. His legs felt like they were made of stone, yet they moved anyway. Not because he wanted to, but because stopping felt impossible.
It was too late.
He had already crossed a line that could never be erased.
Seven kills remained.
His eyes burned, swollen and dark, not from blood, but from tears that had already run dry. His face held no expression anymore — no anger, no sadness, no fear. Just emptiness. A hollow shell walking through a world that reflected exactly what he felt inside.
A man lunged at him from behind, screaming wildly, blade raised high.
Zeroth didn't even turn.
He didn't care.
He had killed his own mother.
What could possibly hurt more than that?
But his magic reacted before his thoughts ever could.
The ground beneath the man exploded upward.
A jagged stone spike tore straight through his chest, piercing his heart mid-swing. Blood sprayed across the air as the body froze for a split second before collapsing lifelessly behind Zeroth.
The sound of flesh hitting the ground echoed.
Zeroth didn't look back.
"Six."
The voice was calm.
Too calm.
Zeroth finally stopped walking. His fingers twitched. Slowly, he lifted his hands in front of his face, staring at them as if they didn't belong to him.
I didn't even think.
That scared him.
But the battlefield didn't allow reflection.
Around him, chaos continued endlessly. Screams overlapped. Steel clashed. Bodies fell every second. The ground was layered with corpses so thick it felt wrong to walk on it. There was no sky — only smoke, ash, and the color of dried blood.
Then he saw her.
A woman.
Running.
Stumbling.
Injured badly.
She had no weapon. No hatred in her eyes. Only fear — raw, desperate fear. She wasn't attacking anyone. She wasn't fighting.
She was trying to escape.
She ran straight toward Zeroth.
Past him.
As she passed, Zeroth felt it again.
The blade in his hand pulsed.
Black energy crawled over the steel like a living thing, swallowing the metal until it felt heavier than it should have been. The air around it distorted, trembling.
Zeroth didn't even raise the blade fully.
One smooth motion.
One clean cut.
Her head separated instantly, rolling across the ground before stopping at his feet. Her body collapsed moments later, twitching once before going still.
Zeroth stared down at her head.
Nothing.
No guilt.
No regret.
"Five."
The figure appeared beside him, hands clasped behind its back, amused.
"Look at you," it said lightly.
"Still walking like you're already dead. Fight properly. Either you kill or you die. There's no space for sadness here."
Zeroth clenched his jaw.
"Shut up," he said quietly.
"For once."
The world shattered.
Everything vanished.
Silence swallowed him whole.
When the battlefield returned, only one person stood before him.
Zack Zukiro.
His older brother.
The one who laughed when Zeroth failed.
The one who followed Zayn's orders without question.
Zack's eyes were burning.
"Well, well, well," he sneered.
"Look what crawled out of the dirt. A weakling like you doesn't belong here."
Zeroth stared at him, expressionless.
"I don't want to remember your face," Zeroth said.
"Disappear."
Zack laughed loudly.
"Or else what? I'll kill you."
"Please," Zeroth replied flatly.
"Try."
Zack rushed forward.
Fast.
Aggressive.
His blade cut through the air with experience.
Zeroth reacted too late.
Steel grazed his side, ripping flesh. Pain surged sharply through his body.
"So you bleed," Zack smirked.
"You did get stronger though."
Zeroth didn't respond.
The black energy wrapped around his blade thickened.
He stepped forward.
And struck.
The moment their weapons collided, Zack's sword shattered violently — not cracked, not bent — obliterated, fragments flying outward as the black energy erupted.
Zack froze.
Fear finally appeared.
"Wh—what did you do?"
"Black Breaker," Zeroth muttered.
Zack stumbled backward.
Zeroth threw his blade aside.
He wanted this to be personal.
He rushed forward.
Zack tried to guard.
Too slow.
Zeroth's fist, coated in dense black energy, slammed into Zack's face.
Bone collapsed.
Blood exploded.
Zack's body flew backward, but Zeroth didn't stop.
Wind surged beneath his feet.
His body lifted.
Instinctively.
Naturally.
He hovered above the battlefield, palm extended downward.
Water gathered.
Froze.
Compressed.
Black veins wrapped around it.
Dozens of bullets formed, vibrating violently.
They rained down.
Piercing.
Shredding.
Destroying.
"Black Bullet: Water Variation."
Zack's body was torn apart.
"Four."
Zeroth landed slowly.
He stared down at the remains.
For a brief second — pride.
Then guilt.
Zack hadn't mocked him by choice.
He had been forced.
The realization crushed Zeroth's chest.
The battlefield snapped back.
"What do you feel?" the figure asked.
"You're breaking laws. Using multiple magics without thought."
"I don't feel anything," Zeroth snapped.
"I can't think during a fight."
"You smiled," the figure whispered.
"You enjoyed it."
"I DIDN'T!" Zeroth shouted.
"Oh?" the figure laughed softly.
"Then why were you smiling while killing your brother?"
Silence.
Zeroth remembered.
He had smiled.
"It wasn't me," Zeroth whispered.
"You made me."
"I can't control you here," the figure replied calmly.
Zeroth stood still.
He wanted this nightmare to end.
And yet—
Another shift.
The battlefield vanished again.
Zayn Zukiro stood before him.
Calm.
Unshaken.
Superior.
Zeroth's chest tightened.
This was the one he hated most.
"This one," the figure whispered,
"will break you."
Zayn moved.
Fast.
Precise.
Deadly.
But Zeroth saw it.
Every movement.
Every shift.
He dodged.
Once.
Twice.
Countered.
Black Punch.
Zayn parried effortlessly.
Steel cut deep into Zeroth's body.
Pain exploded.
Zeroth collapsed onto the ground, gasping.
Fear flooded him.
"I don't want to die," Zeroth whispered.
"Please… brother…"
Zayn looked down at him coldly.
"For all to be equal," Zayn said slowly, his voice calm and absolute,
"one shall be superior."
The words crushed Zeroth harder than any blade ever could.
"And you," Zayn continued,
"were never even equal."
The blade descended.
A shadowy barrier erupted between them.
Dense.
Alive.
Unbreakable.
"Shadow Block."
Zayn froze.
"You use magic now?" he spat.
"How disgraceful."
Zeroth's leg began glowing black.
His magic whispered.
Move.
Strike.
Survive.
And Zeroth listened.