Anxiety.
Fear.
Doubt.
Regret.
All of it overwhelmed him at the same time, as if his mind had become a battlefield parallel to the one spreading around him.
His breathing trembled, irregular and treacherous; even so, he forced himself to control it, to crush it beneath a false calm while pretending to be just another one of the corpses scattered across the place.
"Ack!, clesh, trump."
The sounds were not far away. They were still there, persistent, unavoidable.
Every strike, every break, every sound that was wet and dry at the same time, pierced his mind like a truth impossible to ignore.
And yet...
"Hmm~♪♪, they made him cry, nana~♪, they made him tremble, haha~♪."
That song.
It was the most unbearable thing of all. Not the sound of flesh giving way, not the screams fading away... but that voice.
"Why were they mean to mommy's little boy?~♪♪"
Light. Cheerful. Almost childish. As if it did not belong in that place.
But no. It was there. It was part of everything happening.
That being, the center of it all, was the one singing.
That figure.
Crimson red hair, blending with the red that continued spreading without end.
A demon mask hiding the lower half of her face...
That being was at the center of all this, and she was the cause of the corpses surrounding him.
It was not that this being possessed absolute superiority. No, her own body was covered in countless wounds and blood, but instead of hindering her, it seemed to make her stronger, more savage, and more unstoppable with every passing moment.
To the point that, in reality, most of that blood did not even belong to her.
"Her people are broken, you couldn't trust anyone, or it was theft~♪♪"
She moved with a mastery difficult to describe, barely dodging lethal abilities and attacks while deflecting the ones she could not avoid.
She moved without pause. Without hesitation. Without any apparent weight.
And every time her two enormous axes descended, they effectively reaped a life with almost absurd precision.
And yet...
In the middle of that horrible scene, she sang while smiling.
No, it was not truly her expression; it was her demon mask. But even so, the man had no doubt that beneath that mask, her expression was the same.
A simple smile with no deeper meaning beyond accompanying the cheerful melody she sang, which made it even more disturbing to him.
"There were drunks, bums, fools, and he endured it all in his own way~♪♪"
He could not maintain his gaze.
Not only because of fear, but because of something deeper, something more uncomfortable:
Understanding.
Or the beginning of it.
This was not chaos for that being...It was order.
It was not violence...It was her way of existing.
Many of those who fell...Were not strangers.
They were faces, names, stories.
People with simple habits, small aspirations, with something as fragile as a tomorrow.
That left only one question suspended in his mind:
Why?
Why was all of this happening?
Why, despite preparing himself and saying so many things about "we're in this shit together until the end," could he not stand up now?
Was it because he was a coward?
There were so many whys, so many questions without answers, but in the end, none of it changed anything.
"One day I'll leave, nana~♪♪, I have faith in myself~haha!♪♪"
The melody continued, together with the constant falls of those he knew.
His friends.
But he was here.
To anyone looking at him, this would be cowardice.
Betrayal.
But beneath all of that, there was a simpler, more primitive truth:
He wanted to live.
A basic and simple desire, but at this moment, it was so wrong.
Unlike many of those who were falling, he did not have a family waiting for him.
His only real bonds were the very same ones that were now fading away before his eyes.
And yet...
He wanted to live.
"But mommy on the radio used to play: ~♪♪ 'when everyone in the world feels bad, spread your smile to others, ♪♪'"
Regret arrived without warning, heavy, dense, impossible to ignore.
He had left his home chasing a promise.
Not a concrete one, but one built from other people's stories, from tales embellished by someone else's success.
A great city.
Wealth.
Opportunities.
A better future.
"Your smile can change the world~♪♪"
And for that, he had left behind his parents, already fragile, already declining.
People who, deep down, he knew would not be able to hold on for much longer without him there.
But he chose not to look back.
Because looking back meant facing consequences.
And it was easier to imagine solutions he had never verified.
More comfortable to assume that someone else would take care of things.
Simpler...Not to think.
"So, very inspired, he kept singing and improving~♪♪"
He had built dreams upon that escape.
A big house.
A beautiful wife.
Maybe more than one.
Social advancement.
Recognition.
Even unlikely fantasies: that someone important would notice him, that his life would take an absurd turn in his favor.
They were not impossible dreams...
But they were not real either.
"...he kept singing, and even continued dreaming~♪♪"
When he arrived, he understood it far too late.
The world did not reward intentions.
If you had nothing to offer, you were ignored.
If you did not stand out, you were buried.
And he...
He had nothing special.
His friend had succeeded, yes.
But not because of luck.
Because of ability.
And that detail was never mentioned.
That was the beginning of his downfall.
"Without resting, nana~♪♪, after fighting, haha~♪♪"
He made bad decisions.
Not all at once, but gradually.
Step by step.
Each one seemed justifiable at the time.
Each one had a reason.
Each one, when viewed closely, was simply a man trying not to sink.
Until eventually...
He could no longer climb back out.
Yes, he did end up obtaining that thing that would make him stand out.
He gained more strength, more power, everything he had longed for, but at a price he still could not understand.
And even so, here he was, pretending to be a corpse, fearing that creature that seemed to be enjoying herself while killing his friends.
But, after everything he had done, did he really have the right to call someone else "the bad one"?
"Simply being the judge is not your reality~♪♪"
He had lived many years, experienced many things, and seen countless events.
He had seen those praised as absolute good become more evil than anyone else, and those labeled as filth and hated by everyone turn out to be gentle beings.
What he was doing and believed to be good could be absolute evil to others.
It was a world where black and white were not clearly defined.
There were no clean sides, no completely innocent hands, and no condemnation that fell only upon the guilty.
The world did not work that way.
He himself, in search of self-justification, had reached a conclusion:
There were only differences in thoughts and perspectives.
The world crushed.
The world dragged people along.
And he, like so many others, had done nothing more than keep moving forward in order to survive.
He had lied.
He had remained silent.
He had taken shortcuts.
He had chosen what was easier when doing what was right was too heavy.
But, in the end, what was that other than being a person?
What was a life, if not a chain of murky, cowardly, necessary, shameful acts, all mixed together until they became impossible to separate?
He was not a hero.
That being was not a villain.
Neither of them was wrong.
Neither of them was right.
This situation was simply an unfortunate collision between two different beliefs, and his side was the one destined to fall.
Conflicts were something that never stopped.
They did not even require two people.
He himself was still in conflict between standing up or remaining there.
He was just someone who wanted to live...
But now, that had a price heavier than ever.
"And then luck appeared, what he wanted had suddenly arrived~♪♪"
Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted.
Because, although the song continued to play...
There was no other sound.
And that could only mean one thing:
The decisive moment had arrived for him.
Badum, badum!.
His heart pounded with desperate violence.
He had never felt it like this before.
He had never heard his own life resonate so loudly, as if it wanted to escape from his chest before fear completely devoured him.
"He slowly saved his bills, they were important to live a grand life~♪♪"
Cold sweat covered him.
The inevitability of the moment fell upon him with brutal clarity.
The seconds became eternal.
That being was circling around.
"Until the day that… haha… just as he returned, lala~♪♪"
She walked around searching for survivors with a methodical calm, as if this was nothing more than a task that needed to be properly completed.
"He heard that sound his mommy used to play for him~♪♪"
And that damn song continued, getting closer and closer.
It seemed that his fate, even though he had hidden himself, even though he had simply remained there watching helplessly, had not changed.
~Do you want power?~
And then, in the middle of that horror, he heard it.
He heard a voice filled with an irresistible temptation.
That was hope.
His possible way out of this situation.
He could live.
But when the man heard that illusory voice, instead of feeling happy...
Something inside him broke.
That voice, strangely enough, made him understand that, even though he thought he had fallen to the lowest point...
He could still fall even further.
"When everyone in the world feels bad, spread your smile to others~♪♪"
And understanding arrived.
He realized that he had spent far too long hiding behind excuses.
That he had called his cowardice "prudence," and his inaction "survival."
That he had allowed himself to be reduced to this:
A trembling body, waiting for its turn.
It was true, the world was impartial.
It could reward scum and destroy the innocent, but it always gave people choices.
He had carved his path with the choices he had made.
Were they the right ones?
Obviously not.
But they were his choices.
He was still alive.
And as long as he was alive, there was still a choice.
He did not need to be good.
He did not need to be righteous.
He did not need to find some great truth or redeem himself through one final feat.
He only needed to stand up and do what he was supposed to do.
So he decided to rise and face what was in front of him.
—He knew he would lose. Even so, he decided to give everything he had left.—
At least in the end, he could still decide how everything would end.
He chose his fate.
Every muscle trembled.
Every breath burned.
Even so, he placed one hand against the ground and began to stand.
—Some fights are not fought to win. They are fought to show who you are before everything comes to an end.—
His movement did not go unnoticed by the red-haired figure.
She let out a small hum before slowly turning toward him. The two axes rested on her shoulders.
When the man saw her, fear still gripped him, but he did his best to remain calm. He even managed to form a small, confident smile.
She disappeared.
"Ghk...!"
"Your smile made the world begin to change~♪♪"
The first attack came before he could even see her.
The only thing he caught was the sound of her song.
The blade tore through his side and sent him flying several meters. He rolled across the ground, leaving a trail of blood behind.
It hurt.
It hurt too much.
But he was still breathing.
He could still stand.
So he did.
"Hahaha! Is that the best you've got, bitch?"
He stood again, laughing loudly, and grabbed the sword of a fallen comrade.
The red-haired woman tilted her head at the sight of him and finally stopped singing.
Although only the upper part of her face could be seen, there was a clear hint of curiosity in her expression.
—Sometimes a smile does not mean that a person has no pain left. Sometimes it means they refuse to let that pain take away what little remains of them.—
Without waiting for her to approach, the man charged.
He attacked with everything he had left, but the girl calmly received his strike.
He attacked again.
She did not give him a third chance.
Her movements were difficult to decipher. She shifted her weight, took advantage of the opening he left, and unleashed a double downward slash.
Clank!
He managed to block one blade.
The other tore through his shoulder from top to bottom.
"Agh...!"
His legs gave out.
He fell onto one knee.
"Hey, why are you laughing? What's so funny?"
The woman did not finish him.
Instead, she asked him a question.
"..."
He did not answer.
He simply...
stood up again.
—Sometimes, the only thing a person can do is keep moving while they are breaking inside.—
"Hm? How strange. Did you like my song, or is it something else?"
The woman clearly could not understand how he kept standing, nor why he continued to smile.
He ignored her confusion and attacked again.
Pain no longer felt like separate wounds.
His entire body had become one scream.
Every breath felt as though it were tearing his lungs apart.
Even so, he kept moving forward.
The woman, still puzzled, simply began defending herself.
After several clashes, she made another swift movement.
The blade severed the arm holding his sword.
"Ugh!!"
Pain overwhelmed him.
His legs failed again, and his body began to surrender, dragging him down onto his knees.
"Hey, calm down..."
He caught his reflection in one of the axes.
The end of his life was getting closer.
~Do you want power?~
Again, he heard that voice.
The same voice he had first heard when he received greater power.
A simple farmer like him should never have been capable of holding a sword.
He had understood that far too late.
Even so, he and his companions had agreed not to go beyond a certain point.
But now that voice tempted him with exactly what he wanted most.
Power.
He looked back at his past.
Every decision that had brought him here.
Everything he had run from.
Everything he had abandoned.
Everything he had tried to justify.
—The hardest battle is not against the world. It is against the voice that tells you that you are not enough.—
—It is against the moment when pain becomes so overwhelming that abandoning yourself begins to feel easier than enduring it.—
~You want power!~
The voice came again.
Louder.
Clearer.
More tempting.
But...
"No! I don't want that shit."
Even with blood running from his mouth, he rejected the offer.
Then, with whatever strength remained in him, he forced himself forward.
There was no strength left.
No technique.
No chance of victory.
Only determination.
He reached for one of the weapons scattered among the bodies of his fallen companions.
—There will be days when everything feels lost, when every effort seems meaningless and everything you built collapses in an instant. Even then, giving everything you have is not worthless.—
He gripped the weapon.
"What are you talking about?... Why do you keep fighting? You obviously won't win. I can let you go if you answer me..."
"..."
"Hey, say something!"
The clash that followed was still completely one-sided.
The woman was beginning to lose patience.
Then, with a single movement, her axe pierced his chest.
It sank deeper.
At the same time, his weapon managed to graze her neck.
His legs stopped responding.
But he took one final step.
—Because the true failure would have been giving up without ever discovering how far you were capable of going.—
Blood covered his clothes.
His breathing became slower.
More difficult.
But fear no longer controlled his movements.
"Alright. I see that it's pointless to keep talking to you."
The woman seemed to have decided she no longer wanted to waste time.
She raised one of her axes.
He raised his weapon as well, clumsily and with whatever strength his body could still provide.
Both of them knew exactly how this would end.
Only one of them would remain alive.
—Perhaps the battle will not have a happy ending. But as long as you are still breathing, you can still decide how to face the end.—
He had already taken the first step.
Not to run away.
Not to survive.
But to face it head-on.
Blood splashed across the ground once again.
His fingers could barely hold the weapon anymore.
His body began to collapse.
He was tired.
Wounded.
Afraid.
Still, he was smiling.
"Seriously, what's so funny?"
The girl stared at him.
Whatever answer she had expected, she no longer seemed to care.
She raised her weapon.
He did not close his eyes.
~I will give you all the power you need.~
He heard the voice one final time.
He ignored it.
He held onto that calm smile instead.
He had not stopped being afraid.
He had not stopped wanting to live.
He had not avenged his companions.
He had not won.
And the result of his choice was going to be his death.
But for the first time in a long time...
the decision had been his.
He had decided how everything would end.
And then—
Slash!.
His life ended.
—There are people who believe courage means fighting when there is still hope of winning.
But the greatest courage is born when the soul already knows the outcome... and still chooses to give everything it has left.
True courage is not found in winning the battle, but in preserving your heart even when you know the battle was impossible to win.—
—And Perhaps... That Is The True Meaning Of Living.—
******
"Alright, that was the last one. Although it was a little strange, I thought he was going to tell me some secret plan or something like that."
After confirming that the battle had truly ended, the woman still had some doubts.
When the man had started laughing, she thought it would be one of those cases where minions revealed a second secret plan and smugly claimed that, even if they died, their plan would still be completed.
But he never said anything relevant, even when she held herself back from killing him immediately.
"Ugh... Anyway, I have to get this blood off. Hmm, now that I think about it, I must have looked like a crazy person singing during a battle. Whose idea was that?... Oh, right, it was mine hue~. Well, whatever, it's a good song. Tadada~ trada da~♪♪"
The woman, who was talking to herself, stored away her large axes and, with a great leap, landed on a nearby rooftop.
She began singing again as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop, heading toward the center of the capital.
At some point during her jumps, the mask covering her face disappeared, and her appearance changed.
Her red hair and combat clothes vanished, and now she was a man wearing an elegant suit and a jester mask that only covered the upper part of his face.
"Tadada~♪♪, tata da-rada~.♪"
It was undoubtedly another person.
But the song that continued leaving his mouth made it clear that it was still the same being.
Once he was close enough, he spotted a large, towering building and, without hesitation, jumped toward it.
After all, he wanted to have a good view of the castle where all the nation's power was concentrated.
"When everyone in the world feels bad, spread your smile to others~♪♪"
Still singing, while standing at the top, he pulled out a small pocket watch.
Only a little time remained until the decisive moment.
"My smile made the world change!!~♪♪"
BOOOOM!
And, as if perfectly timed with the end of his song, a massive explosion erupted from the royal castle.
That day, one of the ten ruling nations of this world met its end.