The explosion didn't end.
It… spread.
The moment Akimo released the Void—
Reality itself rejected it.
The air twisted violently, as if something unseen was screaming. The ground beneath his feet didn't just crack… it collapsed inward, like it was trying to escape existence.
And the creature—
It didn't die.
Not yet.
From the dust… something moved.
Slowly.
Painfully.
Its body, once monstrous, now looked… broken. Pieces of it flickered in and out of reality, like a corrupted signal struggling to exist.
But its eyes—
They burned brighter.
Locked onto Akimo.
Hungry.
Akimo's chest rose and fell heavily.
His hand trembled.
Not from fear.
But from the power.
"This… is too unstable…"
The black energy around his fingers pulsed violently, like a heartbeat that didn't belong to him.
No—
It wasn't following him.
It was breathing on its own.
Then—
A whisper.
Closer than before.
"You feel it… don't you?"
Akimo's eyes widened.
That voice again.
But this time…
It wasn't distant.
It was right beside him.
"Who are you…?" he whispered.
No answer.
Only a presence.
Something standing just behind him.
Something he couldn't see.
The creature roared.
A distorted, broken sound that shook the ruins.
And then—
It moved.
Faster.
Desperate.
It lunged at Akimo, its body tearing apart as it forced itself forward.
It didn't care if it died.
It just wanted to kill him first.
Akimo didn't run.
He couldn't.
His legs refused to move.
Not from fear—
But from pressure.
The Void inside him… was rising.
Uncontrollable.
Violent.
Hungry.
"Don't… lose control."
His own voice felt distant.
Weak.
Like it didn't belong to him anymore.
The creature closed the distance.
Five meters.
Three.
One—
Akimo raised his hand.
But this time—
He didn't attack.
Everything went silent.
For a single moment…
The world stopped.
No sound.
No movement.
No time.
And then—
The Void breathed.
A pulse.
Invisible.
But absolute.
The creature froze mid-air.
Its body shattered—not outward, but inward—as if something had erased its existence from the inside.
No explosion.
No sound.
Just… disappearance.
Gone.
Akimo stood there.
Frozen.
His hand still raised.
His eyes wide.
"What… did I just do…?"
The silence returned.
But this time—
It wasn't empty.
It was watching.
The shadows around him deepened.
Not moving.
Not attacking.
Just… observing.
Akimo slowly lowered his hand.
His heartbeat was no longer steady.
It was syncing with something else.
Something deeper.
Something ancient.
"You didn't use it."
The voice returned.
Calm.
Cold.
Right behind him.
Akimo turned—
But there was no one there.
"You allowed it."
A chill ran down his spine.
"What… are you?"
Silence.
Then—
A single word.
"Origin."
The ground beneath him trembled.
Not from destruction.
But recognition.
Akimo's mind struggled to process it.
Origin?
What did that even mean?
Suddenly—
A sharp pain struck his chest.
He gasped.
Falling to his knees.
Visions.
Again.
But this time—
Clearer.
He saw a world.
Not Earth.
Something older.
Darker.
A civilization far beyond humanity.
And above them—
A sky that wasn't a sky.
A living abyss.
Watching.
Waiting.
And then—
Everything ended.
Not destroyed.
Not burned.
Just… erased.
Akimo screamed.
Not from pain.
But from understanding.
"This… has happened before…"
The vision shattered.
He returned to the ruins.
But his breathing—
It wasn't normal.
"I'm not… the first…"
The voice didn't respond.
But he felt it.
Agreement.
"You are not special."
Those words hit harder than anything.
"You are… repeating."
Akimo clenched his fists.
"No."
His voice shook.
But not from fear.
From defiance.
"I won't end like them."
The shadows around him reacted.
Not violently.
But… curiously.
"Then prove it."
The air grew heavier.
The sky above cracked further, darkness leaking like blood through reality.
And then—
Something changed.
Akimo felt it instantly.
A presence.
Different from before.
Not inside him.
Not behind him.
Above.
He looked up.
Slowly.
Carefully.
And his eyes widened.
The Eclipse—
It wasn't just an event.
It was an eye.
Watching.
And now—
It was focused on him.
For the first time—
Akimo felt true fear.
Not of death.
Not of pain.
But of being seen.
"You've been noticed."
The voice whispered.
Akimo's body froze.
"What… does that mean?"
Silence.
Then—
The sky moved.
Not clouds.
Not light.
The darkness itself shifted.
And something began to descend.
Not a creature.
Not a being.
A presence.
So vast—
It made everything else feel meaningless.
Akimo couldn't breathe.
His body refused to move.
His mind—
Was breaking.
"This… is not something I can fight…"
The realization hit him like a blade.
But then—
Something inside him responded.
The Void.
It stirred.
Not violently.
Not wildly.
But… knowingly.
As if it recognized what was coming.
Akimo's eyes slowly changed.
The blue glow faded.
Replaced by something darker.
Deeper.
Not human.
"Then I won't fight it…"
he whispered.
His voice no longer sounded like his own.
"I'll become something… it can't ignore."
The darkness around him exploded outward.
But this time—
It didn't destroy.
It consumed.
The ruins.
The air.
The light.
Everything bent toward him.
The Void…
Was no longer inside him.
It was becoming him.
Far above—
The descending presence stopped.
For the first time—
It hesitated.
Akimo smiled.
A slow…
Dangerous smile.
"Now…"
The world trembled.
"Let's see who watches who."