Lost In Fatal Existence

The fake Ryuta's words hung in the air like a heavy fog, suffocating their thoughts. The group stood frozen, trying to process the enormity of what he was saying. Time had become a distorted, unfamiliar concept, and each one of them felt the weight of his revelation pulling them in different directions.

Roy clenched his fists, the skepticism in his eyes sharp as ever. "You're lying. Ryuta would never—"

The fake Ryuta raised a hand, silencing him with an eerie calmness. "You think you know him? You don't. Time has changed things. The explosion… it wasn't just a physical destruction. It altered everything." His gaze softened as he looked at them, but there was something unsettling in the way his eyes lingered. "It's hard to accept, isn't it? But the truth is, you're just fragments of a past that no longer exists."

Parker stepped forward, his brows furrowed. "You're wrong. We're still us. We're still the same. You're not Ryuta. The Ryuta we know... he would never abandon us."

The fake Ryuta's lips curled into that sickening smile again, as if savoring their confusion. "You're still holding onto those memories, those ideas of who he was. But that's the trap. The explosion, the impact—it shattered everything you thought was real. And in the aftermath, you woke up in this new world. A world where I am the only one who truly remains."

Zhen's voice was hoarse, his anger rising with every word. "What do you want from us? Why are you pretending to be Ryuta? Where is the real him?"

The fake Ryuta's expression hardened, and for the first time, his tone carried a hint of anger. "The real Ryuta? He's gone. You think your friend could have survived after what happened? After everything he did?" His eyes grew distant, and a moment of darkness flickered in them. "He is no more. But I— I am the one who carried on. The one who adapted, who survived the destruction."

Alexia, who had been silently observing, finally spoke, her voice steady but filled with defiance. "So, you're telling us that everything we've fought for, everything we've been through, is nothing but a lie? That none of it matters?"

The fake Ryuta's gaze flickered toward her, a spark of something—regret?—passing across his face before it was quickly masked by cold indifference. "It matters to you. But not to me. You've been living in a dream, clinging to old notions of who you were. I've come to understand that those things are irrelevant. I've transcended them."

Parker, furious, stepped closer, almost daring the fake Ryuta to make a move. "You're not the Ryuta we know. You're a twisted version of him. A shadow trying to wear his face. And we won't accept that."

For a moment, the fake Ryuta said nothing. The room seemed to grow colder, the oppressive darkness closing in on them. The shadows in the corners of the room twisted, as if drawn to his presence. "You think this is a choice? You think I wanted this?" His voice dropped, raw and filled with something that wasn't just malice. "It was forced upon me. The explosion—Ryuta's actions, the Deity of Life's meddling… it changed me. But I survived. And that's more than you can say."

Merlin, who had remained silent up until now, narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean by 'more than we can say'? Are you trying to tell us that Ryuta... didn't survive the blast? That it was you who took his place?"

The fake Ryuta's eyes glinted, his lips curling into something almost akin to a sneer. "Exactly. Ryuta was consumed by the explosion. But I emerged from the ashes. I was born from the chaos he left behind. And now, this is my world." He paused, his gaze sweeping over the group. "You were never meant to wake up. This world... it was made for me."

Alexia's heart pounded in her chest as everything seemed to shift around them. The world she had fought for, the bonds they had formed—was it all just an illusion? Was Ryuta gone, replaced by this dark, twisted version?

"We won't accept it," she whispered, more to herself than to anyone else. "We won't."

The fake Ryuta's smile faltered for a brief moment, a flicker of something almost human in his eyes. But it was gone as quickly as it appeared. He raised his hand, and the room seemed to pulse with an unnatural energy.

"Then you'll have to prove it. Prove that you are still who you say you are. Prove that you can survive in this new world," the fake Ryuta said, his voice cold and commanding. "But know this—everything you once knew is gone. This world belongs to me now."

With that, the shadows around him grew darker, and the atmosphere thickened. The ground beneath their feet trembled, as if the very fabric of reality was shifting, warping to his will.

Parker's voice broke through the tension, low but steady. "We won't stop. We'll fight, no matter what. We'll find the real Ryuta. And we'll put an end to this."

For a moment, the fake Ryuta simply stared at them, as if weighing their resolve. Then, without another word, he turned, walking into the darkness, his form dissolving into the shadows.

Alexia, Roy, Merlin, Parker, and Zhen stood frozen, the weight of his words pressing down on them. The air was thick with uncertainty, but one thing was clear: they couldn't allow this twisted version of Ryuta to control their fate. They had to push forward, no matter the cost.

As they gathered their resolve, the echoes of the fake Ryuta's voice lingered in the back of their minds.

This world belongs to me now.