Kaito placed the bodies of Yuki and Ren gently inside the wreckage of the shattered bus. Their features were relaxed in deep sleep, but Yuki's tears had not yet dried; her grief over Haru's illusory death still clung to her. Kaito stood, removed his coat in preparation for the battle, and placed it over them. Then, he turned to the elegant man who was watching the scene with a warm, unsettling smile.
"You put them to sleep? How merciful," said the Monster of Oblivion, adjusting his dark red tie. "But sleep is the younger brother of oblivion. Soon, they will wake up not remembering who you are... or if you ever existed at all."
Kaito did not respond. Instead, he took a single step forward. At that moment, the pressure around him exploded. It wasn't just a combat aura; it was an "Aura of Separation." The asphalt beneath his feet didn't just shatter; its molecules separated from one another, turning into fine dust.
"Let's try something fun," the elegant man whispered. He raised his right hand, and the colors bled out of the air surrounding Kaito. "Tell me, King of Separation... what is the name of the girl who was calling you 'Master' just a moment ago?"
Kaito felt a sharp sting in his brain. The image of "Haru" began to fade gradually. Her name, her laughter, her constant nervousness—it all began to pull back toward a black hole inside his mind.
"Have you forgotten?" the monster laughed. "And what about your old world? That place you came from... do you remember the feel of its ground? Do you remember your former friends and colleagues?"
Kaito stopped moving. His purple eyes looked dull for a second. The monster was stealing "memories and connections." But suddenly, Kaito's mouth twisted into a mocking smile.
"Human intelligence... but narrow-minded," Kaito said in a deep voice that shook the walls of the buildings. "You are trying to steal what is 'written' in my mind. But you forgot that I don't fight with what I remember... I fight with what 'I am'."
In the blink of an eye, Kaito lunged. It wasn't just a dash; it looked as if he was "separating" the distance between himself and his opponent. He threw a punch coated in purple energy. The elegant man didn't dodge; instead, he used his ability to turn Kaito's attack into "oblivion." In that moment, Kaito's mind forgot how to close his fist, and the attack dissipated.
"You've forgotten how to throw a punch," the monster said, delivering a swift kick to Kaito's chest that sent him flying through an entire building.
Kaito emerged from the rubble, blood dripping from his mouth, but his eyes were burning with a terrifying purple light. The fight had become enjoyable. The monster used oblivion as a weapon: making Kaito forget combat techniques, the direction of the wind, even directions themselves so he couldn't dodge. He even made him forget "gravity" for seconds, making Kaito's movements erratic.
"You are suffering," the monster said, walking on air. "Oblivion is the only mercy in this wretched universe. Why cling to memories that bring you nothing but weight? It makes you forget those you've lost so you don't grieve again. I am doing you a favor."
Kaito stood firm. "Because memory is what separates a human from a stone. The oblivion you take pride in isn't mercy... it's cowardice. You feared the pain of losing your wife so much that you erased her memory from the entire world. You aren't a guide... you're just a child hiding."
Kaito used the Infinite Void in a way never seen before. Instead of directing it outward, he directed it toward himself. He "separated" his sensory perception from his targeted memory. He isolated his memories in a "box of void" that the monster could not reach.
"If you want to erase my movements... then I will separate my instinct from my mind. I am the one holding the key now," Kaito said.
Kaito lunged again, his movements unpredictable. He fought with a primal instinct he was born with. It no longer mattered if he forgot the "name" of the technique; his body executed it before his mind could think.
Kaito delivered a palm strike to the elegant man. He didn't just shatter his shoulder bone; he "separated it from his body." The man let out a thunderous scream; his arm wasn't cut off—it "separated" from the very concept of his body. It fell like a piece of dead wood that no longer belonged to him, as if it had never belonged to him in the first place.
"Impossible!" the monster shrieked, as the fog around him took the shape of weeping faces screaming forgotten names. "How can an 'existent' resist Oblivion?"
"Because I am the Void that concepts themselves fear," Kaito said, advancing as the aura of the King of Separation expanded until it covered the sky, turning it a deep, dark purple.
Kaito raised his hand, and atoms of debris gathered into a single black point. "I will separate this fog from this city... and I will separate your distorted soul from the memories of the man you once were."
Kaito unleashed an explosion that erased an entire street from existence. The elegant man's body shattered, his "clean" suit tearing away to reveal a body filled with black holes.
The monster fell to his knees, but he began to laugh hysterically.
"Impressive... truly impressive," the monster said, raising his distorted face. "You hurt me... you made me 'remember' pain. But do you think that's enough?"
The monster's body expanded. Colors faded from the buildings, the sky, even Kaito himself.
"True oblivion hasn't begun yet, Kaito. What I've done was a test of your resolve. Now... I will make the city 'forget' the laws of physics. I will make the earth 'forget' how to hold you. I will make you forget how to smile... I will make the world forget your very existence, Kaito..."
The monster smiled a terrifying smile and revealed his final truth: *"Cosmic Memory Graveyard."*
In that moment, Kaito felt his entire being beginning to be "erased" from the pages of existence—as if he were a character in a novel that the author decided to remove.
And in a distant place, under the wreckage of a collapsed building, Haru opened her eyes. She placed her injured hands on her face and whispered: "Did it have to be you? Why is this happening to me? Do I really have to face you and kill you... *Flame Monster*?!"
Questions for Readers:😎
1) Kaito separated his emotions and memories to fight. If he wins, will the Kaito we know return, or will he remain a "killing machine" separated from all human bonds?👾
2) Haru is facing a monster she seems to know, calling it the "Flame Monster." Is this monster a part of her lost past? 🔥
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