Zilders landed at the edge of the cliff hard.
His claws scraped against ice and stone as he skidded forward, barely managing to shift back into his human form before crashing into a full roll.
Snow burst around him.
For a moment, there was only silence.
Then—
"Gray… it worked!"
Zilders laughed breathlessly, pushing himself up despite the pain in his arm.
"Your plan actually worked, hahaha—man, I thought we were done for."
His laugh faded slightly as he looked down.
His broken arm hung at an unnatural angle.
"…Yeah. That's going to hurt later."
But the relief didn't last.
A sharp voice cut through the air.
"BROTHER—WAKE UP!"
Zilders froze.
His head turned sharply.
Marie was kneeling in the snow.
Gray was lying in front of her—completely unconscious.
"Gray… please… wake up… don't leave me alone… I can't lose you too…"
Her voice cracked.
Tears fell onto the bloodstained snow.
Zilders' expression changed immediately.
"…Shit."
He rushed over.
"Marie, what happened?"
But the moment he saw Gray's chest—
he stopped.
A deep claw wound stretched across it.
Still bleeding.
Still open.
"What the hell is this…"
Marie didn't look up.
"The corrupted being… it got him when it tried to grab us. I didn't see it in time."
Her hands pressed down desperately on the wound.
Zilders crouched beside them.
"Marie, listen. We need blood. Now."
He looked around quickly.
"Give him whatever we have left."
Marie nodded instantly.
She grabbed the blood sack and lifted it to Gray's lips.
"Drink… please…"
Gray's body reacted weakly.
Barely.
The blood went down slowly.
Too slowly.
But the wound—
it began to close.
Not fully.
Not fast enough.
Just enough to delay death.
Marie looked up.
"It's closing… but not enough. He's still losing too much blood…"
Zilders clenched his teeth.
"We need to move him. There's a settlement ten kilometers from here."
He hesitated.
"…But I don't think he'll survive the trip."
That sentence broke something in the air.
Marie's head snapped up.
Her eyes darkened.
Red light flickered inside them.
The temperature around them dropped.
"…You don't know what you're talking about."
Her voice was flat.
Unnatural.
Zilders stepped back instinctively.
"Marie—wait, I didn't mean—"
"I said he won't die."
The pressure around her intensified.
Snow around her feet stopped moving.
Zilders raised his hands slightly.
"Hey, calm down—I'm not saying I won't help, I'm just telling you the truth. My arm is broken. I can't move fast enough to carry him properly, and if I do, his wound will tear open again."
Silence.
Only wind.
Marie looked down at Gray again.
Her hands trembled slightly.
For the first time, her anger didn't look like rage.
It looked like fear.
Not of enemies.
Of loss.
Slowly, she stood up.
"…I'll carry him."
Zilders' eyes widened.
"Marie, no—"
"He won't die."
She lifted Gray's body slightly.
Struggling.
Barely managing.
"I won't allow it."
A voice cut through the air.
Calm.
Almost amused.
Stop worrying. He won't die.
Marie froze.
Her head snapped up.
There, standing a few meters away—
a hooded figure.
Dark cloak.
No visible face.
No sound of arrival.
Zilders immediately tensed.
"…Who the hell are you?"
Marie shifted in front of Gray instantly.
"Who are you?"
The figure tilted his head slightly.
"You don't need to know that."
He took a slow step forward.
"All you need to know… is that I can save him."
Marie didn't move.
"Why would I trust someone who appears out of nowhere?"
A faint sigh came from under the hood.
"Because I am the only option you have left."
He tilted his head slightly.
"And you don't want to lose him."
Silence.
Gray's breathing was fading.
Marie's hands tightened.
Zilders stepped forward slightly.
"Marie… don't—this guy is—"
But Marie didn't look at him.
She looked at Gray.
At his fading breath.
At his blood soaking into snow.
Her teeth clenched.
Then—
she reached out.
And shook the hooded figure's hand.
"…We have a deal."
Zilders' eyes widened.
"Marie—!"
Too late.
The moment contact was made—
crimson mist erupted around them.
Not wind.
Not smoke.
Something unnatural.
It swallowed everything.
Zilders' voice cut through it.
"HEY—WAIT!"
And as everything began to fade—
the hooded figure's voice drifted through the collapsing space.
Soft.
Almost amused.
Almost approving.
"I'm starting to like you, young one."
Then—
they vanished.
THE DEATH SPACE
Gray opened his eyes.
No ground.
No sky.
No wind.
Just an endless dark expanse.
He floated weightlessly.
"…What is this place…"
A voice answered immediately.
This is the deepest state one enters when they are on the brink of death.
Gray turned sharply.
A figure stood behind him.
Hooded.
Like the one from before.
"…Who are you?"
The figure tilted his head.
"You could say I'm in the same situation as you."
Gray frowned.
"That doesn't answer anything."
A faint chuckle came.
"Fair enough."
The figure stepped closer.
Then stopped.
"I came here to thank you."
Gray blinked.
"…Thank me?"
The figure nodded.
"Yes."
A pause.
"For slashing my ankle… destroying one of my heads… and pushing me off that cliff."
Gray's eyes widened slightly.
"…You're the corrupted being."
"Correct."
Gray instinctively stepped back.
"You're dead."
"I am."
The figure shrugged slightly.
"But I am also here."
Gray didn't lower his guard.
"…What do you want?"
The figure was silent for a moment.
Then—
"I am grateful."
Gray froze.
"…Huh?"
The figure's tone shifted slightly.
Calmer.
"Heavy power like mine does not belong in a world like yours. It doesn't die properly. It just continues… breaking things that shouldn't be broken."
A pause.
"I was suffering."
Gray didn't respond.
The figure continued.
"So yes… you killed me. And for that…"
A faint bow.
"Thank you."
Gray looked confused.
"…That makes no sense."
The figure chuckled softly.
"You don't need to understand it."
He stepped forward.
"And you will be rewarded."
Gray stiffened.
"Wait—what kind of reward—"
The figure placed a hand on Gray's chest.
Immediately—
everything broke.
THE AWAKENING PAIN
Pain erupted.
Not physical.
Not even mental.
Something deeper.
His entire existence screamed.
"—AAAAHHH!!"
Gray's breath was heavy.
His body floated in the endless dark space, disoriented, barely able to process what was happening anymore.
The figure stood in front of him.
Calm.
Unmoving.
"…What did you do to me?" Gray asked, voice strained.
The figure tilted his head slightly.
"A protection."
Gray's eyes narrowed.
"Protection…? You call that pain protection?"
A faint chuckle came from under the hood.
"You'll understand later."
Gray clenched his fists.
"I swear… I'm going to kill you for that."
The figure didn't react.
Instead, he stepped back slightly, as if already leaving.
"You won't need to worry about that for long."
Gray's expression darkened.
"Who are you?"
A pause.
The figure turned slightly.
"Oh… right."
His voice lowered.
"Send my regards to Ray Bloodvine."
Gray froze instantly.
"…You know Ray Bloodvine?"
No answer came.
The figure was already fading.
Gray reached forward instinctively.
"Hey—wait!"
But the space around him began to distort.
The figure's presence dissolved completely into the darkness.
Leaving only silence.
And Gray alone in the void.