Sosuke spun—sword summoned mid-motion—and drove it forward in the same breath.
Steel pierced flesh.
Damien staggered back, impaled through the chest, and collapsed onto the cobblestone with a heavy thud. Around them, the square erupted in screams. People scattered like ants kicked from their mound.
"Ants," Damien muttered, voice mocking, almost curious. "That's all they are… right?"
He raised a hand lazily. A red sigil bloomed in the air—flames erupted in a violent surge, spewing from his palm like a jet. Tents burst into fire. Stalls and bodies alike were swallowed in an instant.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Sosuke shouted, twisting the blade deeper. Damien groaned—but still smiled.
"Aren't you going to save them? That's what you do, right? Always doing everything… except saving people."
His hand clamped around the katana's blade. Shards of ice erupted from his fingers, crawling rapidly up the steel and across Sosuke's arms like a growing frostbite.
Sosuke's eyes darted between Damien and the burning chaos.
He broke free of the ice and ran—straight toward a woman pinned beneath a collapsed food stand. Her leg was trapped, blood pouring from a gash.
He shoved the wreckage aside and pulled her up
A spear of pressurized water sliced through his back.
And hers.
They dropped together.
Sosuke landed on his knees, gasping in silence, staring as the woman beside him screamed, her blood soaking into the sand.
"What are you doing?" Damien called, his voice colder than the ice still clinging to the blade. "Mistakes already? Thought you were some kind of savior."
He stood, hunched over, blood dripping as he yanked Sosuke's sword from his gut.
"I didn't have to be here, you know. No orders, no mission. I intercepted Axel Grey's signal just because I could. Thought I'd feel something, playing with you. But humans are rarely fun. Too easy. The other knights, sorcerers… they're all too balanced. But you…" He tilted his head. "You're easy. A crack in the mind, waiting to split."
"Monster!"
Sosuke raised a trembling hand—pulled the katana through the air with a flick of his fingers. The blade obeyed, whipping toward Damien's leg and slicing clean through muscle and bone.
Damien fell, clutching his leg, laughing through bloodied teeth.
"Hurting me won't bring anyone back," he whispered. "It won't stop what's coming."
A massive sigil opened behind him.
Black tentacles burst out—twisting, writhing, tipped with glimmering blades. They shot in every direction. Buildings shattered. People were impaled mid-run. Screams drowned beneath crumbling stone and smoke.
Sosuke stood frozen.
His mouth hung open. His heart pounded. Eyes wide, shaking in the horror he helped unleash.
"What have I done…?" he whispered.
Then his rage surged.
He roared and shot forward—grabbed Damien by the collar and slammed him into the ground.
"How many times has it been?" Damien hissed through broken teeth. "Or is this the first?"
Sosuke didn't answer.
He smashed his forehead into Damien's face—once, twice—until his nose shattered. Blood spattered across the stone. Then Sosuke grabbed his skull with both hands and unleashed a torrent of lightning straight into Damien's body.
The smell of burning flesh filled the air.
Damien screamed—then gurgled.
And then… silence.
His body dropped, lifeless. Smoke rose from his charred chest.
Sosuke stood over him, breathing hard. His hands—soaked in blood—trembled at his sides. He stared at them.
"Why does this keep happening…?" he muttered. "Why…? Can't I have even a moment of peace? Even a scrap of happiness…?"
…
A weight dropped into his palm.
Clink.
A leather pouch. Coins inside.
Sosuke blinked.
"Here you go," Grey said, smiling. "Should last you a few days."
"Huh…?" Sosuke's breath caught in his throat. The blood was gone. The screams. The fire. Everything.
He stared straight into Grey's eyes—wide, frantic.
"What just happened?" he whispered. "Why am I back here?"
His hands shot out—grabbed Grey's shoulders tight. "What did you do?!"
Grey flinched. "What are you talking about?!"
"Didn't this already happen…?" Sosuke muttered.
His voice was hollow. Eyes wide, but not in fear—more like confusion trying to claw its way through fog.
Grey stepped back, uneasy. He stared into Sosuke's face with something between disgust and worry. "What are you talking about? I'm gonna go now—"
He turned toward the camel.
Sosuke grabbed his arm. Tight.
"I can't remember it clearly," Sosuke said, voice trembling. "It's slipping. But I remember what you did. You sold me out."
Grey froze. "W-what…? What do you mean?"
Sosuke didn't speak. His sword was already out.
The blade flashed.
Grey's scream tore through the desert air as he dropped to his knees, clutching the stump where his hand had been. Blood poured between his fingers.
"You people are monsters!" he cried. "Westoria's done nothing but poison our land. Why would I ever help you?!"
Sosuke didn't respond. He crouched and lifted the coin pouch Grey had given him.
He opened it.
Rocks.
Nothing but rocks.
"Scum," Sosuke whispered. His hand trembled as he let the pouch fall. "What did I ever do to deserve this? I'm hated for things I never even did…"
He vanished, dissolving into light.
Then—thump—he landed atop a nearby building. The town bustled below, unaware. Sosuke scanned the streets, heart racing, breath shallow.
Behind him, a voice.
"Looking for me?"
Sosuke turned sharply. Damien stood there. Same face.
"So… this isn't the first loop," Damien said. "Interesting."
"What are you—"
"You're already forgetting." Damien tilted his head, amused. "Only the feelings stick, right?"
Sosuke's hands curled into fists. He felt it now. That eerie, gut-churning sensation. Like trying to remember a dream right after waking. Details gone. But the dread lingered.
"You're doing this on purpose," Sosuke said, breathing faster. "You want me to forget the facts. You want me to only feel it. That's your game. Your torture."
He summoned his katana. His body flickered.
A violet blur swept across the rooftop—silent, deadly.
A thousand slashes sliced through the air, wrapping around Damien in an instant. Sosuke appeared behind him, eyes burning.
"My Violet Flash," he whispered.
He stabbed the blade straight through Damien's back. Blood spilled across the rooftop tiles. Before Damien could scream, Sosuke spun and sliced off his right arm.
Damien collapsed, barely holding himself up.
Pain twisted his face, but he still smiled.
"How long until you realize none of it matters?" he said, panting. "We're the same, Sosuke."
"I'm nothing like you."
Sosuke slammed his fist into Damien's cheek. His skull cracked against the rooftop. Damien groaned.
"You're not upset because you killed," Damien murmured. "You're upset because you didn't feel a damn thing."
"Shut up."
Sosuke didn't hesitate. He drove his katana straight through Damien's skull.
Stillness. At last.
…
Clink.
A leather pouch dropped into Sosuke's hand.
He froze.
Same weight. Same feel. His fingers tightened around it.
The world felt wrong again.
Everything in him screamed that something was off, but when he tried to remember why—
Empty.