Kondo slowly closed his eyes.
He didn't want the last thing he saw to be his mother's grief-stricken face.
He had accepted defeat. Every shred of hope had faded from his heart.
Then, a familiar voice echoed inside his mind.
"Yo... looks like you still couldn't change anything."
The voice sounded strangely familiar.
Kondo slowly opened his eyes.
Standing before him was someone who looked exactly like him.
The face was identical.
But the eyes...
The expression...
Even the voice...
Everything about him felt completely different.
Kondo glanced around. Endless darkness stretched in every direction, while shallow water rippled beneath his feet.
He wasn't surprised.
He had already accepted defeat.
In a calm voice, he asked,
"Why are you here?"
The other Kondo laughed as he walked closer.
"What do you mean, 'why'? You've already lost. You don't even know how to fight. Just look at yourself... Do you know how pathetic you look after losing?"
He burst into laughter.
Kondo remained silent for a moment before replying calmly,
"So? Just tell me what you want."
The other Kondo extended his hand.
"Just switch with me."
Kondo looked at the offered hand...
Then quietly shook his head.
"No."
The other Kondo blinked in surprise.
"What? No? Do you seriously think you have any other option?"
"No," Kondo answered honestly. "I don't have another choice... but I can't hand over my body to you just like that."
A smirk slowly spread across the other's face.
Kondo continued,
"I'll let you take control of my body... but only if you make me one promise."
The other Kondo tilted his head.
"A promise? What kind of promise?"
Kondo raised his hand toward him.
"Promise me... you'll save everyone. And that you won't hurt the people I love."
The other Kondo stared at him for a second before smiling.
"Fine."
He reached out and slapped Kondo's hand in agreement before gripping it tightly.
The instant their hands met, black smoke poured from his arm, crawling across Kondo's body like a living shadow.
Watching the darkness consume him, the other Kondo whispered with a mocking grin,
"Fool."
Before Kondo could react...
The smoke swallowed him completely.
**
Outside...
Yirina gripped Kondo's jaw and looked straight at Lawine.
"Watch closely, Lawine."
She slowly raised the dagger toward Kondo's throat.
Lawine's eyes widened in terror.
"No! Yirina, don't!"
A cruel smile spread across Yirina's face.
Without hesitation, she slashed the dagger across Kondo's neck.
...
Silence.
Nothing happened.
No scream.
No reaction.
Exactly as before, Kondo remained perfectly still.
Yirina frowned.
Lawine stared at him with wide eyes.
Yirina lowered her gaze toward the wound...
Only to freeze.
There was no blood.
Not even a scratch remained on his neck.
Then...
Kondo spoke.
But the voice that came out no longer sounded like his.
"That pathetic little weapon of yours can't do anything to me."
Yirina's eyes narrowed.
She grabbed his face and turned it toward herself.
The person looking back at her...
Was no longer Kondo.
An eerie smile stretched across his face.
His black irises had turned completely white.
He stared directly into her eyes with a gaze that sent chills through everyone watching.
Every demon nearby fell silent as they watched his transformation.
Yirina's expression turned cold.
"Who... are you?"
He laughed softly.
"Who am I?"
His smile widened.
"I'm the voice people hear... just before death."
The instant he finished speaking, Yirina thrust the dagger toward him again.
But before it could reach him—
Kondo casually swung his sword.
A black slash shot toward her.
Yirina immediately leaped backward, narrowly avoiding the attack.
Kondo slowly stood up.
He glanced at the sword in his hand.
"Who are you?" he muttered.
"Did you join him as well? ...No. You're not my sword."
Black smoke poured from his hand, wrapping around the blade.
Within seconds...
The white sword disappeared beneath the darkness.
It transformed into a pitch-black blade made entirely of swirling smoke.
Yirina stepped back and instantly materialized her butterfly-hilted sword.
She pointed it toward him.
"You're not as strong as you think you are."
"Let's finish this."
Kondo answered only with a smirk.
Then his gaze shifted past her...
Toward Yeld, who was still standing with his foot pressed against Lawine.
Kondo stared at him in silence.
Yeld noticed the glare and sneered.
"What are you looking at?"
"You're nowhere near strong enough to even touch me."
Hearing those words, Kondo smiled.
The next instant, he vanished.
Yeld's eyes widened as Kondo appeared directly behind him.
Surprised, Yeld quickly turned around.
Kondo chuckled.
"You're not real."
The moment those words left his mouth, Yeld's expression froze.
He instinctively looked down and saw a deep slash across his chest.
Startled, he leaped backward.
But when he looked again...
The wound was gone.
"...An illusion?"
Before he could process what had happened, Kondo appeared beside him once more.
"Why are you running?"
Laughing, Kondo drove a fist straight into Yeld's stomach.
The impact slammed Yeld into the ground, creating a crater beneath him.
Before anyone could react—
Kondo vanished again.
This time, he appeared in front of Dolt.
Dolt's eyes widened as he struggled to follow Kondo's impossible speed.
Kondo glanced at him with an amused smile.
"Who gave you permission to lay a hand on my girlfriend?"
With a casual swing of his sword, a black slash shot forward.
Dolt's body split cleanly into two.
Yet instead of blood...
Both halves melted into the ground like water.
Kondo shifted his gaze toward Kim and Shin, who were still lying on the ground.
With a light swing of his sword, the bindings around them dissolved into black smoke and disappeared.
The two of them were finally free.
Without stopping...
Kondo disappeared once again.
He reappeared before Yokzo.
Having sensed him beforehand, Yokzo immediately swung his sword.
Kondo effortlessly dodged the strike by leaning back before countering with a slash of his own.
The black crescent raced toward Yokzo.
He raised his weapon to block—
But the force behind the attack overwhelmed him, sending him skidding backward across the ground.
Kondo then looked toward Sam, who still lay unconscious.
One clean slash severed the tentacle binding him.
Sam was free.
Looking up at the sky, Kondo burst into laughter.
"How weak..."
Suddenly...
He sensed Yirina's killing intent rushing toward him.
Without a second thought, Kondo dashed straight at her.
Their swords collided with a deafening clang.
Kondo laughed.
"Kondo really is hopeless... Imagine losing to someone like you."
His grin widened.
"Now he'll finally get to see what a real battle looks like."
Yirina frowned, clearly irritated by his tone.
The two exchanged blows at incredible speed.
Again and again, Yirina searched for an opening.
But Kondo's sword moved so fast that she couldn't find even the smallest gap in his defense.
Realizing this, she jumped backward.
It wasn't because she was afraid.
She simply couldn't understand the sudden change in the man standing before her.
Seeing her retreat, Kondo laughed.
"What's wrong?"
"Are you scared?"
Yirina answered with a smile of her own.
Raising her sword high into the air, she swung it down with all her strength.
"Dimension Slash!"
A slash resembling the darkness of outer space tore through the earth as it charged toward Kondo.
Instead of dodging...
Kondo sprinted directly at it.
Yirina's eyes widened.
"Has he gone insane?"
Before the attack could reach him—
Kondo caught the Dimension Slash with his bare hands.
For the first time...
Real surprise appeared on Yirina's face.
With a casual motion, Kondo spun the slash around and hurled it right back at her.
Yirina stared in disbelief.
"He... caught my attack..."
"...and threw it back?"
She immediately leaped into the air to avoid it.
The slash ripped across the battlefield below, carving a massive trench through the earth.
While airborne, Yirina searched for Kondo—
But he was nowhere to be seen.
Then...
She sensed a presence behind her.
She turned.
Kondo was already standing there.
Smiling.
Without wasting a single moment, he swung his sword.
A black slash exploded toward her at point-blank range.
There was no room to evade.
The attack struck her head-on, driving her violently into the ground below.
Watching everything unfold from beneath, Yina slowly smiled.
She cracked her knuckles one by one.
"Looks like this fight is finally going to get interesting."