"Then... let the party begin," Korgami said, still floating in the dark, rainy sky. He looked down... toward that solitary light, which seemed to forcefully repel the darkness around it.
Jeff was also floating in the air, but slightly higher. Behind him, the Barrier pulsed with fierce, sparking light... as if the light within it was dying.
But Jeff paid no attention. He only looked upward with his blue eyes... from which light had begun to leak.
He was focused... solely on Korgami. He didn't want to repeat the mistake. That fatal mistake when he'd lost focus for just one second.
Korgami's black cloak, edged with violet streaks along its hem, whipped violently in the stormy winds that raged in every direction. It was completely soaked... but he didn't care.
Korgami adjusted his stance slightly, then began gathering the darkness around him forcefully... toward his body. Like a black hole... swallowing everything that orbited him.
What is he planning now?!.. I have to stop him… no matter the cost! Jeff gritted his teeth, then made his light sword vanish… only to reappear directly in his palm. He launched himself toward Korgami at high speed, hoping to stop him… before he did something irreversible.
"I'm sorry… Amicia. It seems… we won't meet again. But I'll kill Jeff… and make the Heroes stay away from you… and our parents. So don't worry… I'll kill him without fail," Korgami murmured to himself.
The rings in his violet eyes shifted, then… the violet color began to fade. Replaced… by utter darkness.
"Uggghhhhh…" A deep roar erupted from Korgami's core as agony exploded throughout his body. This time, the darkness wasn't energy… it was him in control.
His body stopped leaking energy and began devouring it… everything nearby was sucked inward, then violently channeled toward… his eyes.
"Hah… Hahahah…"
Korgami's demonic laughter burst from behind his mask as he glared at Jeff, who was hurtling toward him, his pure light sword cleaving through the rain like a flame defying the night.
"Oh… Seems you're in a hurry to meet your end, Hero."
Korgami said it calmly... more terrifying than any scream. Then he slowly raised his right hand, and all the dark energies around him surged violently toward his right eye.
Shadows twisted around his body like terrified creatures… driven toward their fate. The eye itself began to glow… no, to devour light.
Then…
"Release the First Seal…"
"From the Eye of the Dark Sovereign…"
"Dark Energy: Scatter Existence."
Everything exploded.
The air tore apart.
The sky fell silent for a moment…
Even the sound of the rain vanished.
From his eye erupted a soundless, heatless black wave… carrying a single sensation: "The End."
Jeff raised his luminous sword, intending to block the attack. But the moment the eye-energy was unleashed, an instinctual warning screamed in his core: "Don't face it… RUN NOW!" Without thinking, he executed a swift spin, dodging the black energy at the last second. But as it passed him, he felt a dark explosion behind him—a colossal, ominous energy tearing the air apart.
BOOOOOOM!
The area, already scorched into a wasteland by Ragnar's attack minutes earlier, vanished completely. Korgami's final strike finished what the shadows had started, leaving behind only a city-sized crater. A black, bottomless pit, as if a curse had torn through the layers of the earth itself. The air grew suffocating, the rain stopped, the thunder silenced—as if everything around them had also begun to fear the darkness.
Jeff floated in the air, barely breathing. His veins burned, his body's light flickered erratically, his white cloak was torn in places, his back drenched in sweat (hidden by the rain), and his chest heaved at an unnatural pace.
He felt his body nearing its limits. His chest burned from within, as if the light itself was consuming him. "Damn... that attack..." he muttered, pressing his hand to his mouth to stifle a scream. "If I hadn't moved at the last moment, I'd be underground right now... No, erased completely."
His hands trembled, and the sword in his grip began losing cohesion... not from terror, but because his body was collapsing. He'd consumed too much energy trying to match Korgami, and now, this cursed technique... was more than his cells could endure.
As Jeff barely floated, breath ragged and body exhausted, his light fading like a candle in the wind, he didn't know… Korgami's state was far worse.
In the sky, Korgami remained in place, but his right eye—the one that unleashed the forbidden technique—began to twitch. The pitch-black darkness faded, returning his eye to normal, but not truly normal. Blood dripped from it, trickling slowly down his pale cheek beneath the mask.
Korgami coughed violently, and dark, thick blood sprayed from his mouth—like a liquid killed by darkness from within. His body trembled, his pulse irregular, and the pressure he'd unleashed moments earlier collapsed back onto him. He couldn't hold on.
And suddenly… he fell.
His body slammed onto the giant Barrier's surface with brutal force, sending stagnant water splashing upward. A pool of blood spread beneath him, dissolving into the puddles, but the shadows of his body lay still… as if he couldn't rise.
At that moment… the Commander opened his eyes with difficulty and lifted his head. He saw Korgami lying motionless dozens of meters away.
His breath quickened. He understood the danger.
"JEFF!!!" he screamed at the top of his voice, filled with dread, pain, and warning. "He's down now… Kill him immediately!!"
Jeff heard him and descended slowly from the sky. His feet touched the heavy, damp ground, puddles reflecting his exhausted face. His steps were slow, heavy, his face pale from fatigue… but his eyes still burned despite the pain.
He gripped his sword with both hands, ignoring the agony in his muscles and the cracks appearing on his skin from energy overuse.
The sky above them seethed.
Thunder intensified, lightning like whips lashing the sky itself.
On the horizon… remnants of the explosion lingered. Black clouds piled up, swirling slowly over the giant crater as if feeding on the remaining catastrophe.
Jeff continued advancing, dragging his steps over stones and water… heading toward the enemy who'd slaughtered all the Barrier Guards, tortured their Commander—ripping off his hands and right foot, piercing one eye—determined to deliver justice and end this forever.
"And finally... I'll kill this monster. Dispose of him," Jeff muttered to himself, a false cheer in his tone. But inside, something else stirred… silent empathy, despite everything.
He had no real reason for it… except his bond with Korgami's younger sister… Amicia.
Jeff remembered the day vividly—when he'd received the emergency alert: "All Barrier Guards eliminated. Only one life signal remains… the Commander." Shock. He never imagined the culprit… was Korgami.
Two hours earlier…
At Korgami's family home…
He was at the dinner table with Korgami's family. Their modest mansion, quiet walls, dim lights… but what pained him most wasn't the conversation or the silence… it was the fourth chair at the table.
It stood empty.
He thought they'd accepted Korgami was dead… or no longer one of them. But the chair proved the opposite.
They were waiting for him… even if unspoken.
Jeff was enjoying the family atmosphere when his watch suddenly blared—a high-pitched red alert. The Heroes Union's high command ordered him to intervene immediately, with Amicia, as they were a mission duo. But Jeff asked her to stay.
He raced off alone at top speed.
The Commander's life signal was fading… indicating he might die within minutes. As he crossed the sky at light-speed, he saw a massive explosion shaking the horizon… but he passed it. No time to stop.
He ascended the colossal Barrier—three thousand meters high.
When he leaped onto its summit… he saw the nightmare.
The Commander… lay on his back atop a large rock. One eye shut, the other pierced by a strange stone. His arms? Severed. His right leg? Completely amputated. A massive pool of blood formed beneath him, slowly draining life from his body.
A sharp chill shot down Jeff's spine.
He wasn't just seeing the Commander… he was seeing Death itself.
And there… stood that person.
Cloaked in black, standing firm, darkness swirling around his palm, gaze fixed on the Commander's body as if whispering something… something Jeff couldn't hear but felt.
That person… was Korgami.
As they were about to leave the mansion door, Jeff suddenly stopped and turned to Amicia.
"Amicia, you can't come."
He said it quietly, but decisively.
Amicia raised her eyebrows in surprise, suppressed anger in her voice:
"What do you mean 'can't come'? We're a team! Classified missions aren't handled solo! That's a blatant breach of Union rules!"
Jeff replied, fastening his gloves:
"I know the rules well… I'll bear the consequences."
She stepped closer, eyes blazing:
"Bear them?! Don't act like I'm a burden, Jeff! I'm a Hero like you—"
He cut her off, his tone not harsh… but heavy:
"I know."
A pause… then he added:
"But this time… I don't want you to go. Just… stay. With your parents."
She stared at him, not understanding his tension. The only intel was that the Barrier was attacked and the Commander was dying. Everything was strange, unsettling… but not enough to breach protocol like this.
Yet… she didn't argue further.
Perhaps because his tone—how he'd said "with your parents"—wasn't a request... it was a hidden plea.
She sighed, lowered her gaze, and muttered:
"Fine… Come back quickly."
He nodded and opened the door.
Just before stepping out, her final words stopped him:
"Jeff…"
But he didn't listen. He turned and launched himself away, vanishing into the city's horizon without looking back.
Amicia waited a moment, glancing back at the rose garden surrounding the mansion.
A fierce wind suddenly swept through. Trees and flowers swayed violently, as if nature itself sensed the coming storm.
Back to the present…
Korgami's body lay on the ground, gasping heavily. Blood dripped from his mouth, his violet eyes flickering weakly as his body trembled from the backlash of the forbidden power. Jeff approached with quick steps, features tense, his blue eyes boiling with rage. He stopped before Korgami, glared with hatred, then snarled through clenched teeth: "How many innocents died because of you?" He didn't wait for an answer—he kicked Korgami hard in the ribs. Korgami groaned weakly, "Ughh…" but didn't scream or beg. He just lifted his head slightly… and smiled. A vicious smile, visible through the cracked mask, laced with mockery, as if pain meant nothing.
"You're smiling?!" Jeff roared. He raised his foot and kicked him again—in the face, the chest, the stomach. Each kick was charged with fury, but couldn't break that cold smile. When their eyes met, Jeff glimpsed a faint violet glint in Korgami's eye… the same eye that had annihilated everything moments ago.
Jeff snapped. "Shut up FOREVER!" He kicked with all his strength, sending Korgami's body flying through the air to crash against the giant Barrier. The impact echoed violently, followed by electric sparks surging from the Barrier, shocking Korgami as he slid slowly down its surface before collapsing onto his back. Thunder rumbled, lightning flashes reflecting on his partially shattered mask as Korgami… stared at Jeff. No scream, no sigh—just an empty, cold stare and a pale smile, as if all this was only the beginning.
Jeff advanced with slow steps toward Korgami, his blue eyes clouded with fury and grief… the thunder behind him roaring as if in his stead.
"Do you find this amusing?" he said in a low, trembling voice, as if asking the world itself, not just Korgami. "Was slaughtering all those guards… just fun for you?"
Korgami didn't answer. He just leaned against the Barrier, body broken but alive… gaze still icy.
Jeff continued, bitterness raw in his voice: "What did they ever do to you, you monster?! They were just guards… hadn't even drawn their swords yet…"
He stepped closer, voice dropping but sharpening: "Do you think their families… their children… will forgive you?"
Korgami was silent, then exhaled slowly. He lifted his head slightly, staring at Jeff through the cracked mask. Then, in a faint, remorseless whisper, he muttered:
"They were merely… standing in the way."
A cough of blood, then he continued, choked but steady:
"I don't see it as entertainment… but part of something greater… something beyond you all…"
A ragged gasp, then a cold look:
"I am preparing this world for its end… the complete annihilation of Heroes."
A bitter smile appeared behind the mask:
"I'll kill their kin, their friends, their loved ones… anyone who might make me hesitate… or regret later."
"I'll leave nothing… that could make me regret not eliminating it."
Jeff froze for a moment.
"...What is this?"
He stared at Korgami—barely clinging to the Barrier, yet speaking as if the world lay beneath him, as if pain meant nothing.
"Has he lost his humanity completely?"
Then he clenched his fist, veins bulging, face near boiling:
"You're not just sick… You're utterly insane… a blight on this world."
He stepped closer, slow but unyielding.
"That's why… I must end you myself."
As Jeff reached out to seize Korgami, the Commander screamed from afar, his voice hoarse and cracked with pain:
"Jeefff… Don't get close…"
But his voice was barely heard. Too late.
In the next instant, black stains shifted on the ground beneath Jeff's feet—slithering like shadows feeding on inattention…
Then suddenly—
BOOOOOOOM!
Spikes of Darkness erupted from the earth—sharp, lethal—exploding upward and impaling Jeff's body from every angle!
"AAGGGGHHH!!"
He screamed, a torn sound, knees buckling from agony. One spike pierced his thigh, another his shoulder, a third tore through his side.
Jeff staggered, blood gushing, breath ragged.
He hadn't been ready… hadn't sensed it coming.
"H-How?! What technique is this?!" he gasped, trying to stand, but his leg refused.
Above the blood, Korgami still knelt, body shaking from exhaustion, blood seeping from his mouth. But he smiled coldly behind his mask, whispering faintly:
"Spikes of Darkness… don't need light to see you. It's enough… that you're distracted."
Korgami tried to rise…
But his legs betrayed him.
His body convulsed, then he collapsed onto his knees, gasping. Blood streamed beneath his mask, dripping from his mouth and his violet eyes, whose color had begun to fade.
"Not yet…"
He rasped.
He pressed his trembling palm to the ground, gathering the remnants of his dark energy. His other hand rose slowly, glowing with a dim, deadly aura—like embers on the verge of extinction.
His ribs were broken, his chest heaved violently… every breath carved away at his life.
Yet despite it all… he stood.
Slowly.
In agony.
With twisted pride.
He stood.
Korgami stood, body tilted, hand glowing, blood flowing silently behind the mask. Nothing about him was intact… except his will.
Korgami, leaning on his own strength, raised his trembling hand…
The last vestiges of his black energy gathered slowly in his palm—a silent whirlpool of death.
The air grew heavier. Shadows stirred as if whispering:
"Strike him… End it all."
And Jeff—wounded, drenched in his own blood—had no energy left to resist.
All he did… was stand firm, eyes locked on Korgami.
"Go on… Kill me."
He thought it, accepting the end.
But suddenly…
A blast of wind struck…
The Barrier had endured… always. It wasn't designed just as a wall dividing the human continent from the beast continent. It was a symbol—of protection, the boundary between chaos and order. For decades, it had endured blows from all sides—monster blades, heroes' fire, sorcerers' energies, traitors' assaults. Each strike left a scar on its luminous form, later repaired and forgotten. But every time… it endured.
Until this day.
In the heart of the battle, after all that had happened, Amicia—majestic—split the air with her attack cry: "Scythe of Winds!" The strike surged forward, slamming into Korgami's chest with lightning force. He couldn't dodge; he lacked the strength. His body was hurled backward. His black mask, etched with violet patterns, shattered, fragments scattering. And at that exact moment, under the weight of accumulated damage—old cracks, relentless battles—the Barrier… broke. Amicia's strike wasn't the sole cause, just the final drop in an overfilled cup. Its lights exploded, fragments flying like sparks into the sky. A vast tear ripped through its heart, as if the Barrier itself had decided to resign.
Korgami's body flew through the tear, tumbling slowly into the Beast Continent, carried by dark winds as if being swallowed. Jeff watched, panting, as everything unfolded before him. He'd accepted death moments ago… but never expected his little sister to be his savior. She hadn't recognized him. She didn't know the one she'd attacked was her lost brother.
As Korgami's body almost vanished into the gloom, his exhausted eyes met Jeff's for a fleeting moment. Korgami's violet eyes—bloodied, broken—said something that needed no words:
"Protect her… from everything."
Then he closed his eyes… and fell.
********************************************
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