Seemingly Beyond Repair

"You betrayers... I'll never forgive any of you!" Asami screamed, her eyes brimming with tears as she glared at Takeda and Fujiwara. Takeda, his face pale, whispered, "But we have no other choice if we want to live..."

Fujiwara remained silent, eyes cast downward in shame.

Below the cliff, Ruga stood, unmoved. Without hesitation, Asami leaped, her mind clouded with despair and fury. Outside the cave, Asami regained a surge of strength. She shoved aside the Vajra guarding the entrance and charged at Ruga, Takeda and Fujiwara following her lead. They hadn't betrayed her after all.

But Ruga was ready.

THUD

A single kick.

It landed directly in Asami's abdomen. Though she had blocked it with her arms, the force was overwhelming. The impact sent her reeling — spit flew from her mouth, water from her eyes, and blood from her nose.

It felt as though her very organs had shattered. She gasped for air, her vision blurring, and instinctively understood — Ruga wasn't someone she could defeat, not even at her full strength.

Staggering, Asami felt something solid beneath her, thinking it was higher ground to steady herself. But as her fingers brushed the surface, the horrifying truth dawned on her. It was Takeda's severed upper half, his blood warm against her trembling hands.

Asami gasped in terror, her body shaking uncontrollably.

Nearby, Fujiwara's body lay in pieces — arms and legs dismembered. Their rebellion had been for nothing.

Ruga's voice broke the silence. "Take a hint, Asami. It's better that they retaliated. Made it easier to kill them. Otherwise, the Vajra would have just toyed with them."

Asami stared, her eyes wide and unblinking, unable to tear her gaze away from Ruga's cold, soulless expression.

Suddenly, a faint voice reached her ears, barely more than a whisper.

"O-Onee-chan..."

Her heart stopped. She recognized the voice—it was her little brother. He was still alive, lying not far from where she stood, struggling to breathe. Panic surged through her veins.

"Ruga, please," Asami begged, her voice trembling. "Spare him. My little brother... he's still breathing! I'll do anything, just spare him!"

Ruga approached her brother without a word, his fingers wrapping around the boy's fragile throat. He tilted his head slightly, as though pondering Asami's request.

"Oh, you were right," he said calmly, after a CRACK sound reached Asami's ears...

Asami, after a few seconds, realizing what had happened, screams tore from her throat. "YOU! YOU!!! AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!"

Ruga's expression remained unchanged, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Fate is cruel, Asami," 

"I'm just easing their pain and relieving some stress."

He turned to leave, offering one final order to the Vajra. "Keep her in check. She's powerless now, but make sure she doesn't try anything... or even kill herself."

Asami collapsed to her knees, her body shaking uncontrollably. "You'll pay for this, Ruga! YOU ARE BROKEN BEYOND SAVING!"

But Ruga responded only with silence, his back fading into the distance.

Asami sat there, utterly broken. Powerless. Devastated. It was ironic—the powerful, when stripped of their strength, felt the sting of helplessness even more deeply than the weak ever could. She had fallen from the heights of her strength into a pit of despair.

Her hollow, empty eyes gazed blankly at the burning city in the distance. Screams echoed from the ruins, the world around her crumbling to ashes. She turned her gaze back toward the cave, the place where everything had fallen apart.

"Ruga doesn't want me to kill myself... after killing everyone I loved...?" she murmured to herself, her voice empty, devoid of life. "What's the point in living?"

Pushed down by the overwhelming weight of her despair, Asami's mind circled around one thought—revenge. She had nothing left to hold on to, no one left to protect. Her heart swelled with rage, but even that felt hollow. She was too weak to fight. What else was there?

Ruga's final words echoed in her mind. "Make sure she doesn't kill herself."

A bitter smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Yeah... I'll do just that. What's the point in living anymore? Even if I kill Ruga, or the Vajra... nothing will change."

Devoid of any emotion and hesitation, Asami bit down hard on her tongue. The sharp pain brought a flood of blood into her mouth, but she swallowed it, refusing to make a sound. Her vision darkened, her consciousness slipping away with each passing second.

The Vajra, standing guard nearby, finally noticed something was wrong.

"Wait... something's off," one of them said.

But it was too late.

Asami had already lost too much blood. Her body slumped forward, the last of her strength leaving her. She tried to form a thought — a final whisper in her mind — but before she could finish, darkness embraced her.

Her suffering had come to an end.