"Nah, fuck this," Yaku muttered, bolting for the exit.
But black tentacles shot out from the shadows outside the shed—slamming the doors shut with a loud thud!
The barn went pitch black.
"Fuck! Who's there?! Open the fucking door!!" Yaku screamed, pounding and kicking at it in pure panic.
Then… a heavy grunt echoed from the darkness behind him.
Thump. Thump.
Slow, heavy footsteps drew closer.
Yaku's breath caught in his throat. His whole body trembled as he raised his axe in shaky hands.
The figure finally stepped into faint view—a fat, bald man easily twice Yaku's size. His half-torn shirt and grimy pants were soaked in blood and guts. His face was covered in scars, and his teeth were so rotted worms were wriggling inside.
He held two massive butcher knives, one in each hand.
"Must be a butcher… The fuck did he eat to get so big?" Yaku muttered.
The man chomped down on something and spat it out.
A dog's head hit the floor with a wet splat.
"…Shouldn't have asked," Yaku gulped.
The butcher roared and lunged with both blades.
Yaku rolled left, just in time. The knives sank deep into the floor where he had stood.
"Fresh meaaaat!!" the butcher screeched, tongue flailing, charging at Yaku again.
He swung in a vicious cross-slash. Yaku blocked it with his axe—but not in time. One of the blades slashed across his right eye.
Yaku stumbled back, blood pouring down his face.
The butcher lunged again. Yaku dove to the side. The beast of a man crashed into the wooden wall, shaking the entire shed.
He shook off the impact like it was nothing.
"My turn!!" Yaku roared, charging with his axe.
He slammed the blade into the butcher's gut with all his might—
But the man didn't even flinch.
With one clean arc of his butcher knife, the man chopped Yaku's head clean off.
His corpse hit the ground and exploded into a flurry of golden butterflies.
Poof.
Yaku revived a few feet behind the butcher, panting and wide-eyed. He stared at his hands.
"I-I'm still in the shed!? I need to get out of here!"
The butcher looked around, confused—but locked eyes with Yaku and roared again.
In pure fear, Yaku raised his arms instinctively.
Shlunk! The butcher cut him clean in half.
Yaku revived. Again.
This time, he rushed for his axe.
The butcher was already coming.
Just as the blade swung toward his neck, Yaku rolled under it.
He reached his axe, spun, and slashed the butcher across the chin in a clean upward arc.
Blood poured—but the monster just gritted his teeth and glared down at him.
Yaku raised his weapon defensively.
MEANWHILE
Inside the small wooden house, Larkwing danced. Literally.
He twirled and spun, dodging stabbing black tentacles that launched out from the floor like spears.
He moonwalked out of the way of three more.
"Just die already, devil's slave!" a ghastly voice growled.
"Why're you throwing these little jabs one at a time? Just destroy the whole damn place already," Larkwing teased with a wink.
"Good idea. Now die."
The entire house trembled.
Tentacles erupted from the floor, tearing the entire structure to shreds. Dust and debris exploded outward.
Larkwing strolled out of the cloud, casually patting his coat.
"Tch. Thought that would work. My bad."
Suddenly, two massive black walls burst from the ground, aiming to crush him.
Larkwing jumped back.
From all sides, enormous black hands—twice the size of the nearby houses—emerged and slammed down on him.
He flipped through the chaos, evading every strike with unnatural grace.
He sprinted across one of the hands with his hands in his pockets, ducking a punch, flipping past a sweep, sliding under a double karate chop.
He leapt from the final hand and landed a few feet away.
The hands all melted back into the shadows.
Larkwing stood tall as a massive black hole opened in front of him.
"Finally facing me, huh? Took you a thousand years. Impressive—for a coward like you, Nareem."
A man rose from the hole, cloaked in shadow. Only his glowing green eyes pierced the darkness beneath his hood.
His frame was thin. Fragile. Young.
The god of darkness—Nareem.
"No wonder you've lived this long with that mouth. You're no mere human, Larkwing."
"Nah, you just suck," Larkwing said with a wink.
Nareem shot from the ground, a shadow dagger in hand.
He went for Larkwing's throat.
Larkwing backflipped away.
Nareem teleported behind him—stab.
Larkwing flipped over his shoulder, dodging again.
"C'mon, go easy on your old pal!" he grinned, hugging Nareem playfully from behind before backstepping away from the next barrage of tentacles.
Nareem pressed both palms to the ground. Tentacles shot up under Larkwing, but he flipped high into the air, dodging everything.
He weaved through a flurry of slashes, spinning and kicking through three incoming tentacles.
"You're holding back a lot to protect this village, huh? Let me assure you—they're all dead."
Nareem's green eyes flared with rage.
"The hellbreaker won't last. The butcher should've finished him by now."
"Right. Same way the last two died? You couldn't kill them yourself because of the deal. So you let your pets do it."
"Smart as always, Larkwing."
Larkwing's smile faded.
"I'm sorry for your world, Nareem. I was there when you made that deal to save it. I know how much you loved your people. But you can't stop what's coming. It was always going to die. So just... give up."
Nareem's breathing grew ragged.
He dove into the shadows again—reappearing in front of Larkwing.
He attacked.
Larkwing dodged, side-flipping, spinning, dodging.
Suddenly—ten shadowy clones of Nareem lunged in from all sides.
Larkwing twirled and evaded each one, moving like water.
He leapt away as five clones smashed into each other, bursting into puddles of dark ink.
The others hurled dark daggers—Larkwing weaved, tilted, caught some midair, and flung them back, disintegrating more clones.
More and more emerged—hundreds of them.
"I'm done wasting time. I'll kill that hellbreaker myself." Nareem growled before vanishing.
Larkwing watched as the clones closed in.
He sighed.
"Hope Yaku's still alive. Even a rookie like him should hold out... with a Bliss like that."
MEANWHILE
Yaku rushed the butcher again, axe raised high.
The butcher caught it with one knife—and decapitated him with the other.
Yaku revived, hands on his head, trembling.
"I've died like twenty times already!! And I keep reviving in this same shed!!" he thought, throwing up.
The butcher pounced.
Yaku rolled away just in time.
A knife hurled at him like a missile—shnk!—right through his face and the shed door.
Dead. Revived. Same spot.
"I can choose my revival point! But the fear... I can't think straight!"
He raised his axe—slash!—cut in two.
Revived.
Snapped. Yaku leapt on the butcher's back and bit into his neck.
The butcher thrashed, roaring.
"Any place! Any place but this fucking shed!!"
Slam. Face crushed underfoot.
Revived.
"Get out. Get out!!"
The butcher jumped.
Yaku screamed.
Crunch.
Gold butterflies. But this time—they drifted out through the shed doors.
The butcher tried to grab them—missed.
Outside, the butterflies reformed into Yaku.
He blinked. Tears welled in his eyes.
"I-I did it!! I'm free!!" he cried.
CRASH! The barn exploded open. The butcher stormed out.
"Meat..." he growled, drooling.
"Eat a cock, motherfucker!!" Yaku shouted and ran.
The butcher chased him.
A tentacle snagged his leg. He hit the ground hard.
"What the fuck!?"
More tentacles emerged, wrapping his limbs, pinning him down.
The butcher lifted him.
Nareem rose from the ground.
"You passed the test. But... your score wasn't good enough."
Crack. Yaku's ribs fractured as the butcher squeezed tighter.
Then—chomp!—his head was ripped clean off.
Blood gushed everywhere.
Nareem turned away.
"Another hellbreaker down. And Larkwing won't collect the bliss himself. Guess he'll go crying back to his master—"
Golden light behind him.
Nareem turned.
Yaku stood there.
His eyes widened.
"This... must be a joke. This hellbreaker wields... Fluttering Fate Bliss!?"
Yaku bolted past him.
The butcher followed.
"HELP ME!!!" Yaku screamed, tears flowing.
Down the lane—Larkwing stepped out and waved.
"Larkwing, help me!!!"
A knife embedded in Yaku's shoulder—he fell, bleeding.
The butcher closed in.
Larkwing sighed—and ran.
Like a cheetah.
"Hope he doesn't run over me," Yaku muttered weakly.
Whoosh! Larkwing zipped past.
"Don't fight him! He's too—"
Yaku looked back. The butcher lay in two halves on the ground.
Larkwing stood beside the corpse, innocently.
"Huh? You say something?"
"Yeah, suck my dick," Yaku grunted.
Larkwing walked over and examined the wound.
"Looks painful. That hurt?"
"Nah, it turns me on, dumb fuck!! Why'd I die thirty goddamn times if you could kill that thing!?"
Larkwing dropped to his knees and hugged him.
"Shhh… it's all gonna be fine. The pain will go away."
"My pain might, but my trauma won't. Let go, creep."
"I will... I will. Just one second. I need to finish something."
Yaku's body tensed.
"Finish what, you creep!?"
"You," Larkwing whispered.
"Wh—?"
Snap.
Yaku's body fell limp.