The clash tore the world apart.
Light against Abyss.
Hope against Silence.
Dream against Dream.
Arin led the charge.
The last defenders roared behind her —
their weapons cracked, their armor shattered,
their hearts already broken.
But they charged anyway.
They struck the Abyss head-on.
And the Abyss swallowed them whole.
Asura moved through the battlefield without slowing.
Without hate.
Without rage.
Without mercy.
The System whispered in his mind:
[Resistance Strength: 0.8%.]
[Recommended: Immediate Eradication.]
He ignored it.
This wasn't about strength anymore.
It wasn't about winning.
It was about ending.
Arin slashed through a twisted Abyss-beast,
her Light Sigil flaring bright enough to blind the survivors around her.
Her bones cracked with every movement.
Her vision blurred from blood and exhaustion.
Her Light was dying.
And she knew it.
But still she fought.
Because there was no one else left to fight.
She locked eyes with Asura across the collapsing battlefield.
She screamed.
Charged.
Her sword gleamed like a star being devoured.
Asura caught the blade in his hand.
Bare fingers.
Bare strength.
For a moment —
the world froze.
The last heartbeat before oblivion.
And then Asura spoke.
His voice low.
Calm.
Certain.
"You're not fighting to save the world.
You're fighting to save a memory.
A memory that betrayed you.
That betrayed us all."
Arin screamed in defiance,
her Light flaring desperately —
but he didn't flinch.
"This world deserves to die.
Its kings.
Its laws.
Its cruelty.
All of it.
It cannot be healed.
It must be burned.
And from its ashes —
I will build something new."
He released her blade.
Pushed her back effortlessly.
Arin stumbled, gasping, heart hammering.
Her mind screamed at her to reject his words.
To deny them.
But deep, deep inside…
A part of her understood.
A part of her agreed.
The world had abandoned them both.
Tears blurred her vision.
"But you're killing innocent people.
Children.
Families."
Asura tilted his head slightly.
No hatred in his gaze.
Only something colder.
More terrifying.
Pity.
"There are no innocents left.
Only survivors.
And in the world I build…
there will be no more suffering."
The battlefield cracked beneath their feet.
The sky split overhead.
And the Light in Arin's chest began to fracture.
Still, she raised her sword.
Still, she screamed:
"Then I'll protect this broken world —
Even if it kills me!"
Asura stepped forward.
And the war continued.
Behind Arin, her defenders fell one by one.
Children cut down.
Mothers consumed by shadow.
Old men crushed by creatures they had no hope of defeating.
Their wings were torn.
Their hopes shattered.
But still they stood.
Because sometimes you fight not because you think you'll win —
But because you refuse to kneel.
And in the dying heartbeat of the world,
Arin swore one last silent oath:
"**If I have to kill you to save what little light remains…
Then I will.**"