Author's Preface
Two minutes and two seconds remained.
Across every district, formations shifted with mechanical precision.
"A1 and B1 to the west. Engage Grade A Death Deity."
"A2 and B2, northeast sector."
"P2 reporting-Grade A detected thirty meters from target."
Orders overlapped, yet not a single voice hesitated.
Shields were raised.
Blades steadied.
Breaths aligned.
Hope was dangerous.
But hope placed in their Commander was absolute.
At the peak of the Empire's highest tower, Yuma stood in silence.
He closed his eyes.
His senses spread outward.
Three hundred Shadows.
Simultaneous.
Perfectly stable.
It wasn't their number that was strange.
It was their pattern.
Why reveal power on this scale from the very beginning?
A frontal assault would only accelerate detection.
Unless-
Their goal was not victory.
But exhaustion.
And when the military's strength had truly worn thin-
His gaze hardened.
"The academy."
If the next generation became a source of contamination, the threat would multiply exponentially. Young souls, still unstable, were far easier to corrupt.
Especially when someone important was there-
He shook his head lightly.
Not now.
Emotion would only cloud judgment.
The red glow in his eyes steadied.
Focus.
The air around him trembled.
Pure soul energy condensed in his hand.
A bow took shape.
Not steel reinforced with power.
Not a physical weapon wrapped in aura.
The soul itself assumed form.
One arrow appeared.
Then another.
And another.
Until ten arrows floated around him.
Ten districts.
There was no pride on his face.
Only obligation.
"They're attacking all ten districts at once..." he murmured.
The ten arrows hummed faintly.
"If a summoner of that level is eliminated..." he continued flatly,
"they will fall into chaos."
He drew the bowstring.
"Ten seconds."
His voice echoed through every district.
"Hold your positions."
The final second fell.
He released.
A single blue streak pierced the night sky.
The remaining ten arrows scattered.
Summoner's Location
A woman in black robes smiled as she watched the soldiers freeze in place.
"Surrendering?" she laughed lightly. "Finally realized it was pointless?"
She raised her hand.
"Kill the-"
Pain.
A blue arrow had already pierced her chest.
"What-?!"
She hadn't seen it coming.
Hadn't felt the wind shift.
Cold spread through her limbs.
Her control wavered.
"Th-this is impossible...!"
Her scream broke-
And the skies across all ten districts ignited.
A rain of blue light descended.
Three hundred Shadows vanished.
Not retreating.
Not weakening.
Vanished.
The woman shrieked hysterically as cracks of light spread across her body-
Until she shattered into particles.
Across the districts, the soldiers moved again.
No cheers.
No pause.
They simply resumed the orders given five minutes earlier.
The Death Deities became the new targets.
The hunt continued.
At the top of the tower-
Yuma's bow dissolved into particles of light.
But his awareness did not.
Something remained.
Denser.
Deeper.
"S-rank...?"
Silence.
"No."
His gaze sharpened slightly.
"Above that."
The entity did not attack.
It simply observed.
Yuma stepped forward.
Then-
His step faltered.
His hand pressed against his chest.
His breath caught.
...Seventh regression.
The blade.
His brother.
The moment steel pierced his heart.
The same pain surfaced again.
Brief.
But real.
Time could rewind.
His body could be restored.
His soul could not.
The fracture remained.
He lowered his head for a moment.
Then straightened.
His expression remained calm.
Not because it didn't hurt-
But because he was used to it.
"It's not over."
And his figure vanished from the tower.
He stepped onto the air itself.
Each step left behind thin fractures like glass.
Faster.
Until he stood before his opponent.
Clang!
Two scythes collided.
Black and blue.
The mysterious man staggered half a step back.
Soul power...?
Spears erupted from the ground.
He leapt.
But a shadow was already above him.
"!!"
A hammer of pure soul crashed down.
TANG!
He was thrown backward.
Sharp cones pursued him relentlessly.
An arrow grazed his cheek.
Black blood dripped.
He was strong.
Too strong.
But that was not what unsettled him.
Yuma was already behind him.
The arrow that had grazed his cheek returned to Yuma's hand, transforming into a long blade.
Trang! Ta-taang!
Scythe and sword clashed at a speed nearly impossible to follow.
When the blade slipped free and reshaped itself into a spear aimed straight for his heart-
The man raised his arm as a shield.
He retreated.
I have to leave.
Black mist began pouring from his body. Thick. Cold.
Yuma moved instantly.
Chains shot forward.
Captured.
But-
Another figure appeared before him.
Identical.
Flawless.
Two?
No.
For a fraction of a second, his instinct was late.
The mist thickened.
A second chain lashed out-
Too late.
When the fog dispersed-
No one remained.
Silence.
What he had captured was only a Doll.
A soul-division technique.
One consciousness. Two identical bodies.
And he had been deceived.
His hand began to tremble.
Not from hesitation.
His body gave in first. His soul had done so long ago.
"-Ugh."
Blood slid from the corner of his lips.
In the distance, Rue was running toward him, his face pale.
Yuma's vision wavered.
The world slowly darkened.
Ah...
Living is truly exhausting.
"...You."
His consciousness severed.
His body fell.