"Ahhh!!!"
Paliv's scream echoed through the ruined stronghold as she bolted across the debris-strewn battlefield. Behind her, an enormous, nightmarish creature gave chase—a grotesque hybrid of moth, spider, and scorpion. Its towering frame, easily over 300 meters tall, loomed over her like a living disaster. Its wings, twice its height, cast a suffocating shadow over the land, while its many legs skittered unnervingly, kicking up dust and rubble with each monstrous step.
"Why the hell did I agree to this?!" Paliv cursed as she dodged a swipe of its serrated limbs. Her emerald-green eyes darted toward the smug bastard responsible for her current predicament.
Shotaro Mugiwara.
The red-eyed, silver-haired hero sat comfortably on a nearby rock, lounging as if he were watching a play instead of a life-or-death struggle. His long coat draped over his broad shoulders, and he rested his chin in his hand, his expression thoughtful rather than concerned.
"Huh. She's got impressive stamina," Shotaro mused, watching Paliv dart from side to side, barely avoiding the rakhshas's lethal attacks. "Running at full speed for an hour straight? Not bad for someone her size."
The way he said it, so casual, so unconcerned, made Paliv's blood boil.
"You fucker!!" she shouted, skidding to a stop and firing a volley of energy blasts at the insectoid monster. The projectiles slammed into the creature's armored exoskeleton—only to fizzle out like pathetic sparks against steel. "Oh, come on!" she groaned. "What kind of bullshit training is this?!"
Shotaro leaned back, stretching his arms behind his head. "Teaching you to fight, little sister."
"Teaching?! You call throwing me through a goddamn stronghold, TEACHING?!"
He smirked. "Hey, I did tell ya I will make you train through hell."
"I didn't think you meant it literally, you lunatic!" Paliv shrieked as she barely ducked under the creature's stinger, which embedded itself into the ground like a siege weapon. She rolled away, panting. "This is insane. What kind of fucked up student-teacher relationships did you have back in Gaia?"
At that, Shotaro's smirk faded for a split second. The mention of that name stirred something in him. His gaze drifted to the sky, lost in thought.
Hiroki, and Kazaya.
One that he taught & the one who taught him.
"I wish things were different, sensei," Shotaro murmured, so quietly that even he barely heard it. His jaw clenched, and before he realized it, he had bitten his lower lip hard enough to draw blood. It was an old habit—one that surfaced whenever emotions he didn't want to deal with crept in. The metallic taste grounded him, snapping him back to the present.
He exhaled sharply, shaking his head before refocusing on Paliv. She was still running, her golden hair whipping behind her as she zigzagged between the monster's legs. Despite the absurdity of the situation, she was adapting. She hadn't given up. And that, at least, was worth something.
Shotaro smirked again, his previous solemnity replaced with amusement.
"Should I stop that?" he mused aloud, tapping his fingers against his arm in thought.
He paused, watching as Paliv launched another barrage of attacks. Still useless. Still struggling. Still learning.
"Nah," he decided, grinning to himself. "I think she can go a little longer."
Then Paliv just fell to the ground; the rakhsas finally got to her; as he could only see the massive stinger being launched towards her, she tried to run, to crawl away.
But then she stumbled.
Shotaro's expression shifted as the rakhshas seized its moment, its massive stinger arcing downward like a death sentence.
"Damn it. I'm almost a sadist," he muttered, clicking his tongue. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from his perch.
Paliv barely had time to register what was happening before Shotaro appeared in front of her, his arm raised. The monstrous stinger met his palm—and stopped dead, unable to pierce even an inch further.
She stared up at him, breathless.
"You got caught off guard, Little Sister," Shotaro said, glancing back at her with a teasing smirk.
Paliv's eyes widened in awe and shock. He was holding back the stinger with one hand. One hand.
"How did you do that?!?" she gasped.
Shotaro sighed, as if the answer was obvious. "I always had super strength. You know that."
"No," she shook her head. "I'm talking about how you even... just appeared in front of me."
"Oh, that? That's just spatial step—"
Before he could finish, the rakhshas's spider-like mouth snapped open—and in one swift motion, Shotaro was swallowed whole.
Paliv's heart stopped.
"BIG BROTHAAAAAA!!" she screamed.
Inside the rakhshas's exoskeleton, Shotaro found himself held in place by a writhing mass of gelatinous larvae. Their translucent bodies pulsed as they clung to him, secreting a thick, adhesive mucus that tightened like a vice around his limbs.
"Tch. Didn't know it had eggs inside," Shotaro muttered, his voice laced with irritation. The larvae writhed around him, their gooey bodies pressing against his skin. Then, a searing pain spread across his arms.
"Shit!" he hissed as he realized what was happening. The outer layers of the larvae hardened into a resin-like shell, trapping him further while their acidic bodies began to digest his skin. He could feel them tightening, constricting—keeping him from reaching his katana.
Still, he didn't panic.
Shotaro had a secret weapon.
As the larvae finally covered his face, sealing him in a cocoon of burning, chitinous mass, the temperature inside the beast began to rise. A sizzling sound filled the cavity as the hardened larvae began to char and blacken. Then, without warning, two beams of crimson-hot energy erupted from within the darkness, cutting through the writhing flesh like a blade through butter.
Shotaro's eyes burned red-hot, his heat vision vaporizing the larvae in an instant. The molten remnants of their bodies dripped off his face as he exhaled sharply, his breath steaming in the superheated air.
"That was disgusting," he muttered, rolling his shoulders as the last of the larvae burned away. He reached for his katana, now free from its restraints, and grasped the hilt.
"Time to gut this bastard from the inside out."
With one swift slash, a blinding arc of energy tore through the insect's insides.
Outside, Paliv witnessed the rakhshas shriek, its body convulsing violently as if its insides were being cooked alive. It lost all focus on her, thrashing wildly. Its wings, once an ominous presence, flapped erratically as it careened through the stronghold, crashing into waxy walls, smashing through its own egg sacs, until finally, with one last desperate shriek, it plummeted to the ground.
A Grotesque silence followed.
Then, the rakhshas expanded—and exploded.
A wave of liquid bug meat splattered across the battlefield, coating everything, including Paliv, in a thick, steaming mess. She stood there, dripping, staring up at the sky in disbelief.
Above her, Shotaro hovered, his silver hair slicked with the creature's remains. His single visible red eye glowed ominously, a beacon of destruction in the dark.
He looked down at her, calm and untouchable.
Like a demon of ruin.
Like a god of judgment.
"EWWW!!" Shotaro gagged, his disgusted yell echoing across the battlefield. In an instant, the menacing aura surrounding him vanished, replaced by the sheer horror of his current predicament. He wiped his face furiously, only succeeding in smearing the thick, sticky remains of the exploded rakhshas even further. "THIS SHIT STINKS! UGH!!"
Paliv, equally drenched in steaming insect guts, stood frozen in place. Her golden hair, once flowing and immaculate, now clung to her face and shoulders in clumps of foul-smelling sludge. Her emerald eyes twitched as she processed the scene.
"What… the actual fuck?" she said slowly, disbelief heavy in her voice. Then, with venom, "Are you fucking serious?! LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID TO MY HAIR!"
Shotaro landed beside her, flicking off a chunk of bug flesh from his shoulder. "You fucking brat," he grumbled, shaking out his silver hair. "At least act a little happy to see me? I mean, I am your older brother now, after all!"
"Adopted." Paliv deadpanned.
Shotaro paused, lips pursing. "That really doesn't—Okay, you got me there." He sighed, rubbing his face, then immediately regretted it as his palm smeared another layer of sticky bug goo onto his cheek.
Paliv watched him struggle, her expression caught between amusement and irritation. Then, she crossed her arms. "Still," she muttered, "I'll admit… I was kind of worried when that thing swallowed you."
Shotaro raised a brow, his smirk returning. "Oh? The brat actually cares about me?"
Paliv's face scrunched up in an instant. "I—uhh… Shut up!" she sputtered, turning away. "We've been stuck together for a while, you know! It's just normal to care a little!"
"Damn," Shotaro said, stretching his arms behind his head. "You admitted it just like that? I thought you were supposed to be the tsundere lil' sis trope."
Paliv blinked. "The fuck is a tsundere?"
Shotaro waved a hand. "Don't bother with it."
Paliv's eye twitched. "AHHHHH, FUCK YOU!!" she roared, punching him straight in the gut.
Shotaro barely flinched. Instead, he laughed, letting her vent her frustration.
Around them, the battlefield was still soaked in the remains of the fight, the scent of burnt flesh and acrid bug fluids lingering in the air. But at that moment, amidst all the chaos and destruction, the two of them stood there—a brother and sister, bickering as if nothing had happened.
Later, outside the ruined stronghold, the two of them sat around a campfire. The night air was crisp, the sky painted in streaks of deep purple and silver. Shotaro sat comfortably on a rock, a towel draped over his waist after having just cleaned himself in a nearby lake. His silver hair, still damp, caught the firelight as he casually ran a hand through it. Across from him, Paliv sat hunched over, aggressively trying to untangle her hair, which had dried into an absolute disaster thanks to the bug meat sludge.
"Uhh... fuck, fuck, damnit," she grumbled, yanking at a particularly stubborn knot.
Shotaro glanced up from where he was absentmindedly poking the fire. His expression went deadpan. He had seen this exact situation play out before. And he knew exactly what needed to be done.
Without a word, he stood up, walked over, and with a single, swift motion—
SCHLING!
A sharp cry of outrage erupted into the night, so loud and piercing that flocks of birds took off from the distant treetops in panic.
"YOU ACTUAL FUCK!!" Paliv shrieked, staring in horror at the golden locks that now lay in her lap. Her fingers trembled as she touched the uneven, choppy cut left behind. "YOU ACTUAL MOTHERFUCKER!!" she howled, on the verge of tears, fists clenching around the remains of her once-pristine hair.
Shotaro stood there, casually twirling the blade he had just used as if he had done nothing remotely unusual. "What??" he said, utterly unfazed. "I just fixed your hair problem."
Paliv trembled, her rage boiling over. Her eye twitched. Then, slowly, without breaking eye contact, she lifted her hand—
The temperature dropped drastically.
Above Shotaro, a mountain-sized mass of ice materialized in the sky, its weight causing the air itself to hum with tension. The sheer pressure sent cracks spiderwebbing across the ground beneath them.
Shotaro looked up, unimpressed. He'd seen bigger.
With a sigh, he clenched his fist and threw a single, effortless punch upward.
BOOM!
Instead of shattering into ice shards, the massive glacier instantly vaporized into clouds, drifting away harmlessly into the night sky. A gust of wind rushed through the clearing from the sheer force of the impact.
Shotaro dusted off his hands. "What the fuck are you on about?" he said, looking back at Paliv, who was now frozen in sheer disbelief.
Then her lips curled into a snarl. "You retard," she spat. "You actual retard."
Shotaro shrugged. "What? You said your hair was ruined."
Paliv's whole face twisted as tears of rage welled in her eyes. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH EFFORT I PUT INTO KEEPING THOSE HAIRS YOU JUST CRUELLY CHOPPED OFF IN SHAPE??" she screeched, her voice cracking as she pointed at him accusingly.
Shotaro, arms crossed, tilted his head slightly, pretending to think. "Nope."
Paliv let out a strangled scream and lunged at him, fists flying.
Shotaro grinned, dodging effortlessly, letting her wear herself out. This was normal. This was them.
And despite the chaos, the battle, the bug guts, and now the impromptu haircut disaster, they were still together, bickering under the stars like always.
Under the vast expanse of the starry sky, they lay upon the soft grass, the cool night air brushing against their skin. A tranquil silence stretched between them, only occasionally interrupted by the distant sounds of nocturnal creatures lurking in the unseen shadows.
Paliv turned her gaze toward the man beside her, her violet eyes reflecting the starlight. "When we reach the Dark Valley," she began, her voice quiet but tinged with curiosity, "how will you communicate with them? I mean, aren't their dialects supposed to be completely foreign?"
Shotaro let out a low chuckle, his expression relaxed. "Me?" He turned his head slightly to meet her eyes. "I was born with a universal translator inside me. Every word I hear just sounds like English to me. That's why, despite being Japanese, I hardly even hear my own language anymore."
Paliv blinked. "Let me guess." She propped herself up on her elbow, her tone turning playful. "Whatever you say just sounds like the other person's mother tongue, doesn't it?"
Shotaro nodded. "Yeah. Pretty much."
For a moment, Paliv just stared at him. Then, suddenly, she broke into a wide grin, her face lighting up with unrestrained excitement. "You're kidding! Big brother, you can fly, shoot lasers out of your eyes, teleport instantly, wield a cool katana, heal from wounds that should kill you, and even throw energy blasts like some kind of battle god… And now you're telling me you also have a built-in translator?!"
She threw her hands up in exaggerated exasperation. "You're so freaking cool! This isn't even fair!"
Shotaro shook his head, a wry smile crossing his lips. "Don't put me on such a high horse."
Paliv frowned. "Why not? You have all these powers—don't you feel like you could rule over everything?"
"Rule…?" A strange expression crossed Shotaro's face, one that Paliv couldn't quite place. Then, to her surprise, he burst into laughter. It wasn't the lighthearted chuckle from earlier but something deeper, something laced with irony.
"Rule?" he repeated between laughs, as though the very idea was absurd. "Me?"
Paliv tilted her head, visibly confused. "Why not? You could easily wipe out the entire Elvish army if you wanted to. Hell, you already defeated Garm! That alone is way beyond what anyone thought was possible. With power like yours, there's nothing stopping you from—"
"Paliv." Shotaro interrupted her softly, his voice now devoid of amusement. His gaze turned toward the sky, his eyes shadowed with an unreadable emotion. "Just because you have an axe, that doesn't mean you should swing it."
Paliv hesitated, sensing the weight in his words. "But... isn't that what makes someone strong? The ability to control? To lead?"
Shotaro exhaled slowly, his gaze still fixed on the sky. "You think I haven't thought of that?" His voice carried a quiet intensity, a heaviness that spoke of countless unspoken considerations, of burdens unseen.
After a moment, he let out a breath, closing his eyes briefly before speaking again. "I was three," Shotaro told her, his voice quiet but firm. "Three years old, but aware enough to understand who I was."
Paliv listened, the flickering light of the stars reflecting in her curious eyes.
"Even back then," he continued, "I had already decided that when I grew up, I would discard morality. I wanted to do whatever I pleased, to crush anyone who stood in my way. I wanted to take every chocolate in the world for myself." He let out a chuckle, but there was no humor in it—just the tired voice of a man who had lived through too much. "I wanted to rule the world, because I thought to myself, 'Oh, I was born a cosmic event… I was born as a messiah? Who decided that?' I told myself, 'I can just use my power to stand at the top of the world.' I was young, and yet... so selfish."
Paliv remained silent, watching him carefully, the weight of his words pressing down like an unseen force. "What happened then?" she finally asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Shotaro's gaze turned distant, as if he was looking not at the sky but through it, into the depths of his own past. "To learn how to rule…" he said slowly, as if each word carried the weight of a memory long buried. "I couldn't wait to grow up. I was impatient… so I decided to start early."
He took in a slow breath. "I gathered bugs. Hundreds of them. Of all sizes, all types. Moths, spiders, roaches… every kind I could find. And then, I built them a world. A tiny, self-contained kingdom of my own design. An ecosystem within a box."
Paliv listened intently, her expression unreadable.
"I wanted to quench my thirst," he admitted, his tone heavy with something indescribable. "So I decided to rule them instead."
Shotaro let out a dry chuckle. "They were all different, just like people. Some were fragile, some were predators. Some thrived in the light, others hid in the shadows. I placed them all together, confined in a single, small space—small, just like my world back then."
He paused, his gaze flickering toward the sky again. "The thing about bugs is…" he murmured, almost to himself. "They all die quickly. Just like people."
His eyes, dark with something ancient, turned back to Paliv. "So, they were the perfect subjects for the little three-year-old 'king.'" He put emphasis on the last word, his voice carrying a quiet, bitter amusement.
"But soon…" his voice softened, his eyes lost in the memories. "I realized something. I felt sad whenever one of them died. When a moth was eaten, when a spider perished, when a roach withered away… it hurt. At first, I thought it was frustration. That I was losing my subjects. But then, I understood—I felt nothing from controlling them. Ruling gave me no joy."
He let out a slow breath, his expression calm yet resolute. "But the things I did to help them survive? That… that gave me something. In those moments, I found what I had been searching for behind all that bug kingdom nonsense."
His body relaxed as he gazed at the sky, as if laying bare this truth had lightened a burden he had carried for years. "I realized that ruling them—bugs, people—it wouldn't give me meaning. But saving them… helping them… protecting them… that did."
His eyes burned with an unusual determination. "And then it hit me. I am selfless… yet selfish. I always gaslight myself into thinking that I save people because they are weak, because they are little, because they are fragile, and they die so quickly. But that wasn't the truth."
He exhaled sharply, his voice firm. "I save them because all those flaws—their mortality, their limitations, their fragility—make them worth protecting."
His fingers curled slightly in the grass. "Their fragility gives me meaning. Because the beauty of those flaws is that they constantly push them forward. Despite their weaknesses, they continue to move ahead. And seeing them move forward…"
Shotaro's lips curled slightly, his eyes gleaming with a rare sense of purpose. "That makes me want to go even further—so that I can stand as their barrier."
He reached out, placing a hand gently on Paliv's head. His touch was warm, steady. "I didn't save them because I saw myself above them, like a god protecting his creation; I saved them because I saw myself among them, like a guard protecting the village."
"Every time someone called for me… I came. I was 'the man they call.' That was what they used to call me there," he murmured. "Soon, I realized that even if I had been born without these powers, I would have still saved people. Because I can."
His voice deepened slightly, taking on a quiet conviction. "Good or bad… People say those things don't truly exist in the world. And maybe they're right, to some extent. Even I understand that. But I keep trying… trying to do what I think is right, because if right and wrong do exist… then I want to be on the side of right."
His fingers curled slightly, his expression firm. "Because… on a good day—my best one, in fact—if I try really… really hard, put my entire life into it… then maybe… maybe I'm not just some selfish imbecile forced to save people by fate."
He looked straight ahead, as if speaking not just to Paliv but to the world itself.
"I am Shotaro Mugiwara. I am the hero."