The figure spoke once more before disappearing.
"Well," it said, its voice neither loud nor soft, neither cruel nor kind, "we'll see if your answer stays the same very soon."
Zeroth stood frozen.
Not because he was afraid — but because something inside him knew those words weren't a threat.
They were a promise.
"Worse things will come, Zukiro Zeroth," the figure continued, its form already beginning to dissolve. "Prepare yourself."
And then it vanished completely.
Zeroth didn't chase it.
Didn't scream.
Didn't move.
He only nodded.
His world collapsed again.
Not violently this time — slowly. As if reality itself was ashamed to exist around him. Colors drained. Sound warped. The ground beneath his feet dissolved into nothing.
Until only one figure remained.
Mirai Vitral.
Zeroth's chest tightened instantly.
His breathing hitched, not from fear — but from recognition.
"No…" he whispered under his breath.
He looked upward, rage finally breaking through his composure.
"HEY!" he shouted into the empty void. "FIGURE! DO YOU REALLY THINK THIS IS WORSE FOR ME?!"
Silence.
Mirai stood there, unmoving. No weapon. No hostility. Her hands trembled slightly, fingers clenched together like she didn't know where to put them.
"Z-Zeroth…?" she asked, her voice quiet, unsure. "What… what are you doing here?"
Zeroth swallowed hard.
"I'm here to kill," he said. The words felt heavier than any blade he had ever lifted. "And since you're the only one left… there's no other option."
Mirai's eyes widened.
Her lips parted, but no sound came out at first.
"No… no, please," she said finally, shaking her head again and again. "You can't do this to me. I don't want to die."
For a fraction of a second, Zeroth believed her.
For a fraction of a second, this felt easy.
Then his thoughts turned against him.
She was kind to you.
She never mocked you.
She stayed close even when you pushed her away.
Another voice answered immediately — colder, sharper, unmistakably his own.
Kindness doesn't matter.
People are obstacles or tools.
Right now, she is an obstacle.
Zeroth's mind spiraled.
What if he killed her?
What if he didn't?
What if she attacked him first?
What if the nightmare never ended?
Mirai took a careful step closer.
"Zeroth… please," she said softly. "I… I l-love you."
The word hit him harder than any strike.
"I don't even understand why," she added quickly, cheeks burning red. "But… thank you. For saving me earlier."
Zeroth didn't answer.
Didn't blink.
Ten seconds passed.
His thoughts collapsed in on themselves, short-circuiting.
This couldn't be real.
It had to be a lie.
Then the voice returned — not whispering now, but commanding.
Your dream… or her, Zukiro?
Something snapped.
"Z-Zeroth?" Mirai reached out. "Please, I want to—"
Her voice ended abruptly.
The world shattered.
Zeroth walked past her.
A sound followed him.
A heavy, hollow thud.
Mirai's body hit the ground behind him, her head twisted at an impossible angle.
"Shadow Slash," Zeroth muttered, sliding Zayn's sword back into its sheath.
"One."
The voice returned, trembling.
"You killed someone who loved you," it said. "Without hesitation. Why are your dreams worth this much?"
Zeroth didn't even slow his breathing.
"For my mother," he said. "If that's the cost, I'll pay it."
The figure reappeared, amused.
"Would you kill your mother too?" it asked. "If it meant achieving your dreams?"
Zeroth froze.
"That's not fair," he said after a moment. "I'm doing this for her. She can't be my obstacle."
The figure tilted its head.
"You're still not obsessed enough."
"SHUT UP," Zeroth snarled. "Before I kill you."
The figure laughed.
"You're a monster," it said calmly. "But still a weak one. Let's see if you can truly do everything."
The nightmare shifted again.
Only one figure remained.
Kaelor.
Zeroth's breath caught in his throat.
For a moment, his mind refused to process what his eyes were seeing. Out of all the faces the nightmare could have chosen—out of all the wounds it could have reopened—this was the one it showed him.
Kaelor sat on the edge of a broken stone platform, exactly the way he always did. Relaxed. One leg dangling freely. Arms resting loosely at his sides. His posture radiated calm, the kind that made everything else feel insignificant in comparison.
"…Hey," Zeroth muttered under his breath, his voice hollow. Then louder, sharper, directed at the unseen watcher. "Hey. Are you kidding me?"
The world answered him instead.
"If you die in this inner world," the voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere, "you die in the outside world as well."
Zeroth didn't reply.
His gaze stayed locked on Kaelor.
Kaelor finally looked up and smiled.
"Hey, kiddo," he said casually, as if they were back at camp, as if this wasn't hell wrapped in memory. "How you holding up?"
"G-good," Zeroth answered automatically, his voice cracking halfway through the word.
Kaelor studied him for a second longer than usual. His eyes were sharp. Calculating.
"You know," Kaelor said, tapping the stone beneath him, "I remember telling you once that I saw a figure too."
Zeroth stiffened.
"Yeah," Kaelor continued calmly. "Back when you thought I was lying." He chuckled softly. "Funny thing is—yours looks different than mine."
Zeroth's heart started pounding.
"What… what are you talking about?" he asked, swallowing.
Kaelor stood up.
"Hah," he said. "I'm not blind, you weakling. You think I couldn't tell something was watching you?"
Before Zeroth could respond—
The ground beneath his feet trembled.
Cracks spiderwebbed outward violently, splitting the terrain apart as if the earth itself was panicking.
"Master—!" Zeroth shouted. "What are you doing?!"
Kaelor tilted his head slightly.
"Hm?" he replied. "Nothing special."
Then the ground exploded.
Massive chunks of rock tore free from the earth and shot toward Zeroth at lethal speed.
"Just trying to kill my own student."
Zeroth barely reacted in time.
"Shadow Block!"
The barrier snapped into existence just as the first wave of stone slammed into it. The impact rattled his entire body, pain surging through his bones even though his skin remained unbroken.
Kaelor raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?" he muttered. "You learned something new."
But he didn't stop.
If anything, the attacks intensified.
Trees burst from the ground without warning, their roots twisting violently as they lunged at Zeroth like living beasts. Vines wrapped around his legs, yanking him off balance and smashing him into jagged stone. More rocks followed—endless, relentless, crushing.
Zeroth tried to move.
He couldn't.
Kaelor's Nature Magic wasn't refined. It wasn't precise.
It was overwhelming.
The pressure never eased. Not for a single second.
Zeroth's barrier trembled, cracks spreading across its surface like shattered glass.
He's not even aiming, Zeroth realized through the chaos.
He's flooding the battlefield.
Kaelor wasn't controlling his magic.
He was drowning everything in it.
Zeroth gritted his teeth, forcing himself to breathe despite the pain screaming through his body.
Calm down, he told himself.
Think.
Another wave slammed into him, flinging him through the air. He crashed into the ground hard, vines immediately coiling around his torso and hurling him again like a ragdoll.
Pain stacked on pain.
Still, Zeroth watched.
And then he saw it.
Kaelor was summoning too much at once.
Rocks. Trees. Roots. Wind. Pressure from all sides. His magic overlapped, collided with itself, turned chaotic—not because Kaelor was weak, but because he was forcing dominance through quantity, not control.
That's it… Zeroth realized.
He overwhelms instead of refining.
Zeroth's breathing slowed.
Even as his barrier weakened.
Even as his body screamed.
Kaelor noticed.
"Hah," he laughed. "You're still conscious?"
A massive root slammed into Zeroth's side, sending him skidding across the ground. The barrier shattered completely.
Zeroth cried out, pain tearing through him like fire.
In the outside world, he would already be dead.
But he stayed conscious.
Sand began forming beneath his feet.
His magic responded—not explosively, but subtly.
Guide me, Zeroth thought.
The sand erupted upward in a sudden cloud, blinding Kaelor's line of sight for a split second.
Zeroth moved.
He forced his legs to obey, sprinting through the chaos, blade drawn, aiming for Kaelor's flank.
But the moment he got close—
The ground beneath him twisted.
Roots erupted, slamming him into the air.
Kaelor stood unfazed.
"Too slow," he said calmly.
Zeroth hit the ground hard.
Again.
His energy was almost gone.
Pain blurred his vision.
He couldn't stand anymore.
He collapsed.
"Master…" Zeroth whispered, his voice trembling. "Please. Don't kill me."
Kaelor walked toward him slowly, boots crunching against broken stone.
Then he laughed.
Not kindly.
Not cruelly.
Brutally.
"Weak," Kaelor said, shaking his head. "Still weak." Then, after a pause, "But… you can slightly control your magic now."
Zeroth's vision blurred with tears.
He was still a child.
Kaelor stopped in front of him.
"Stand tall, Zukiro Zeroth."
The use of his full name sent a chill through him.
Kaelor pulled him to his feet and spread his arms wide, exposing himself completely.
"Kill your enemy," Kaelor said loudly, clearly. "With the same weapon they tried to kill you. Remember?"
Zeroth froze.
"No… no, please," he cried. "Why are you letting me do this?"
"I'm not honorless enough to kill my own student," Kaelor replied proudly. "But if you don't kill me—"
He leaned closer.
"I will kill you."
Silence.
"Your dreams," Kaelor finished, "or me. Choose."
Zeroth shook violently.
Behind him, trees began to form—slowly, deliberately—rotating, aligning, their tips pointing toward Kaelor.
Kaelor smiled.
Not smug.
Not cruel.
Proud.
"Good," he said softly.
Zeroth released the attack.
He didn't look back.
He couldn't.
The voice echoed one final time.
"Zero."