IT BEGINS (6)

Chapter 48

It Begins (6)

The Deadline puppet lunged toward Jas, clearly seeing her as the weak link. Like a phantom, it closed the distance in little to no time. That sickening cracking noise rang out every time its head moved — loud, jarring, the sound of something that shouldn't be alive.

Leo stood in front of Jas, silent tears rolling down his face. He clenched his weapon tightly, fingers trembling from the pressure. He had to protect Jas. He couldn't lose himself on the battlefield. Not now. Not when she needed him.

He watched the gruesome figure draw closer. There was no mercy in its black-coated face — nothing human left. Just death. Expressionless and yet full of vile, and starved.

He did something no soldier should ever do.

He closed his eyes.

His grip loosened on his short sword. His thoughts drifted somewhere dark.

What was the point?

Could he even fight back?

A heavy clang cut through the air like thunder.

He waited. Still.

Then, slowly, he opened his eyes — only to see a wall in front of him.

But it wasn't stone.

It was Kon.

Shield raised. Muscles bulging. His stance immovable.

Kon had become a wall.

He roared, pushing back the Devil puppet with everything he had. It flew backward, crashing into the ground and sliding across the sticky black liquid coating the cave. The creature was still.

Not dead. But not moving.

Much to everyone's relief, the black liquid on the walls and floors didn't stir. It was unmoving, just sticky and sickly, clinging to everything like rot.

"Fuck... IAM, snap Mia out of this! Leo, grab Jas and run!!" Kon roared.

For a moment, the two of them were stuck in place.

Leo — caught in the weight of his guilt — asked himself why he'd even thought of giving up, when someone still needed him.

IAM — still in shock, still frozen.

But then they snapped into action.

Leo trudged through the viscous black muck, his boots sticking with every step, until he reached Jas. He dropped to his knees, gently taking her by the shoulders. She was trembling, lips parted but no sound coming out. He wiped her face with a shaking sleeve, brushing bile and tears from her cheeks. His voice was soft, cracking.

"Hey... hey, we're still here. I've got you... I've got you, Jas."

She looked at him through fogged eyes.

He didn't say much. Just a few quiet, comforting words. Enough for her to calm down.

There would be time to mourn later.

Not now. Not here.

He pulled her onto his back, arms hooked under her knees, and rose.

IAM reached Mia. She was lost — eyes blank, lips moving wordlessly, muttering names of people long gone. Names that belonged to the past.

But this was the present. And the present needed her.

She couldn't save the past.

But she could still save the present.

"Mia!"

"Mia, wake up... Stop it... We need you now... Fuck..."

She didn't respond. Her eyes didn't move.

IAM looked around, helpless. His heart was pounding. He didn't want to do this. He really, truly didn't. But he had no choice.

"One thing... One thing... One thing..."

He focused. Swallowed hard. Let his mana flow from his avien and into his veins. A burning sensation raced through him.

He opened his eyes, staring directly at her.

His voice came out layered. Ethereal. Something deeper and raw took hold of it.

[WAKE UP]

Mana surged out of his core. He gasped, his knees buckling slightly as he clutched his head. He was losing too much. He could feel it.

His left nostril began to bleed.

But it wasn't as bad as the first time.

Mia blinked. Her eyes widened. Reality pierced through the fog. She looked around, disoriented and confused.

That was it. That was all.

Shit.

It hadn't worked properly. For some reason, she was still caught in a strange state, halfway between worlds.

IAM gritted his teeth.

He didn't want to do this. Really, really didn't.

But he powered up his hand — and slapped her across the face with a thunderous crack that echoed through the entire space.

She gasped, holding her cheek, glaring at him.

"Why the fuck did you do that?!"

IAM sighed in relief, even though he was clearly still shaken. "You weren't waking up."

"I was fucking awake... Just confused!"

IAM awkwardly cleared his throat. "I had to make sure... just in case."

Her eyes narrowed. "Now's not the time. But when it is time — I swear I'll get my hands on you."

"Bu—" IAM began.

Then that sound.

The slurping.

The wet, dragging slurp of something alive and malicious.

The sound of Bryan dying.

Wet. Revolting. Familiar.

IAM's head whipped toward the source — but it was too late.

The black liquid cannoned through the air — straight toward... Jas.

A writhing mass of death and corruption straight toward Jas.

Time slowed.

Her eyes were vacant. She wasn't focused. She was barely even aware of what was happening.

Death loomed closer. There was no way she could dodge.

But she didn't have to.

Leo spun suddenly. In one motion, he dropped Jas from his back.

And took her place.

Stepped into death's path.

The black liquid slammed into his face. His body was flung through the air, twisting unnaturally, sending him flying like a ragdoll. His head cracked against the stone with a horrible thud.

His body went still.

He was dead.

Silence fell again.

But not truly.

The spawnling — that thing — hadn't stopped wailing. It never stopped. Its death-cry screamed endlessly in the background, Screaming in the background, as if mourning the madness it had caused.

Jas stumbled to her feet. Her legs gave out. She fell forward, crawling toward the puppet.

IAM shouted, "WAIT! It's too dangerous!"

She didn't listen. Or maybe she couldn't.

Maybe she did and didn't care.

She cradled the Deadline puppet in her arms, hot tears sliding down her cheeks.

She was devastated.

But she barely even knew why.

She hadn't loved him. She never had.

She only tolerated his advances. Found him amusing. Maybe a little charming.

She didn't love him.

Yet the tears kept falling.

She had felt something — a spark of love.

Small. Fragile.

Not yet fireworks.

But the kind of fireworks that wouldn't fade.

And now, they never would.

She wondered — what if?

What if they had met on a random street, on a random day, at a random time?

What if they'd gone on a first date?

Then a third?

Became lovers?

Married?

Had children?

Grew old together?

What if death was something that happened far, far later?

But no.

It didn't happen.

It would never happen.

And still — she didn't love him.

But she held him anyway, her emotions pouring down her face.

Then... she smiled.

A faint, broken thing.

"Sorry... Sorry I left you waiting... I do not love you... But I do need you."

She remembered when she had that panic attack.

Alone. Far from the others. Too shy. Too scared. Too vulnerable to share her fears.

And he came.

He didn't ask questions. He just held her as she sobbed in his arms, in that tent.

He made her feel safe. Like a rope she could hold tight to.

"I will give you my everything."

And then IAM saw it — for the first time.

A Death Method. One that there was no possible way it was practiced beforehand, one that came naturally.

Lights of unknown colour danced across her skin. Her mana flared, wild and untamed. Her life force drained into the void.

She became a spark in motion, flinging herself onto the puppet's chest.

The black liquid hissed and disintegrated — burning away until only Leo's body remained.

He was still dead.

But not an abomination.

A small smile sat on his cold lips.

He had died with a smile.

Jasmine had given Leovico her everything.

Two people who were meant to be soulmates.

And now...

IAM stood in disbelief.

It hadn't even been two minutes.

And already, half of 241723 had crossed the bridge to the other side.

But it wasn't over.

The Deadline puppet Kon had been keeping at bay suddenly jerked.

Kon tensed. He waited, bracing for a dangerous shift.

Blood began to burst from the puppet's skin — seeping through its pores in thick, ugly streams. It twitched. Twisted. More blood erupted. Then again. And again.

Kon's brow furrowed in confusion.

Then it hit him.

Kon's eyes narrowed. He understood.

This puppet was using one of Bryan's Methods. But it lacked understanding. It was inexperienced.

It was suffering from backlash. Over and over.

This was his chance.

He charged — fast, determined. This was an opening—

Too late.

His shield exploded, shards of it flying like shrapnel. The puppet's claws had torn through it like paper.

Bryan's Path was the path of war.

His concept focusing on the savagery... As for the deadline puppet.

It was savage.

It didn't care for its body. It had no limits. No restraint. No defense.

Just violence.

It attacked Kon like an unhinged beast, its claws flashing, slashing, stabbing like a creature on unnatural steroids.

Kon slipped — just slightly. Caught off guard.

The puppet twisted its neck at a grotesque angle, a sickening crack ringing out.

Then it struck.

Its claws slashed straight toward his neck—