Prologue

The sky was an inferno of blazing orange and deep crimson, as if the heavens themselves were ablaze. Keitaro stood amidst the ruins of a once-flourishing metropolis. What remained were crumbled structures and the skeletal frames of skyscrapers, their jagged silhouettes reaching accusingly skyward. The air was heavy with the acrid scent of charred metal and scorched earth, an oppressive silence wrapping around the desolation.

Each step across the rubble-laden ground was deliberate, his boots crunching against the debris like faint echoes in the void. His body carried the marks of countless battles, and his eyes, once burning with determination, were now dulled by an unbearable weariness. He clung to his weapon—not out of fear, but from sheer exhaustion. Yet he pressed forward. He had to. Not after everything he had lost.

Behind him, a shadow stirred.

"it was never meant to go this far," a voice said, steady but laced with sorrow. Keitaro froze. The words struck him like a blade. His chest tightened as he turned slowly, recognizing the voice instantly.

Nagi stood there, pale but resolute, his hands steady as they held the gun aimed directly at Keitaro. The boy who had once been like a brother now seemed a stranger, his gaze clouded by grief and an unyielding resolve.

"Nagi…" Keitaro whispered, his voice barely carried by the restless wind. "You finally came, I can`t bear it anymore."

Nagi stood as a drop of tear rolled down his eyes. "The pain sorrows of everyone lost in the war, you carried everything. I was always there, it was never mean to be like this" His voice wavered but didn't break. "It has to end."

The wind surged, a mournful wail threading through the shattered streets, carrying with it the echoes of countless lives lost to the chaos. Keitaro closed his eyes for a fleeting moment, memories flooding back—his grandfather's anguished face, the oaths he'd sworn, and the blood-stained path he had carved in pursuit of vengeance.

"You have to be fast, let me be at peace finally ," he murmured, stepping closer.

"I would always be your friend" Nagi's voice cracked as tears rolled down his eyes , the gun trembling in his grip.

Time seemed to stand still. Keitaro's lips curled into a faint, melancholic smile. There was no defiance in it, only resignation. "I have done what I always wanted, it is time for me to go"

The gunshot shattered the silence, the sound ricocheting through the ruins. Keitaro crumpled to his knees, blood seeping into the ash-covered ground as the weight of his choices bore down on him. Nagi stood over him, his hands shaking uncontrollably as tears streaked his face.

"I'm sorry," Nagi stammered, his voice breaking. "I'm so sorry."

Keitaro's body slumped forward, lifeless, as the ashes descended like a shroud over the broken city. In the distance, the skeletal ruins loomed—a stark reminder of the destruction vengeance had sown.

And then, silence reclaimed the world once more.