The Baddest

Hundreds of demonic hands that gripped Ru were like icy chains, binding him to a fate he couldn't escape. His struggles were futile, his screams muffled by the relentless force that dragged him into the abyss.

'You have to be silent to see.'

As consciousness faded, Ru's mind was plunged into a nightmare. He found himself amidst a raging inferno, a forest consumed by flames that seemed to dance with a malevolent glee. The heat was unbearable, a searing torment that threatened to consume his very soul.

'Living in fear is torture.'

As Ru ventured deeper into the oppressive forest, the gnarled and contorted branches seemed to loom over him like an injured specter, casting haunting, elongated shadows. With each breath, he felt the weight of the dense, smoke-laden atmosphere, assaulted by the acrid aroma of smoldering timber. The voracious flames devoured the trees, transforming the once-lively canopy into a seething incandescent orange and crimson maelstrom. The suffocating heat seemed to reverberate the anguish of the forest, imparting the sensation that the very spirit of the woodland was wailing in torment.

'Knowledge relieves pain.'

Ru’s heart pounded as he faced the towering figure of the Demon King. The ground beneath his feet trembled, warped by the sheer malevolence that radiated from the entity. The Demon King's eyes burned with a fire more intense than the inferno surrounding them, a smoldering gaze that stripped away any illusions of hope. He moved with predatory grace, every step deliberate, every gesture laced with cruelty.

But then, a sound shattered the chaos, a cry that cut through the storm of flames and terror.

"Brother, help me!"

Ru’s breath caught. "Fu!"

There just beyond the raging flames, stood Fu, the younger brother who had always been the guiding light in Ru's dark world. During the chaos, Fu desperately tried to save the helpless animals, using all his strength to push them to safety. However, the fire showed no mercy, its relentless advance thickening the suffocating smoke with every passing second. As Fu stumbled, he found himself cornered by the inferno, his terrified screams echoing through the burning forest, a haunting sound that pierced through the chaos.

"Ru! Help me!" Fu's voice cracked, desperation seeping into every syllable.

Ru's body surged forward, every instinct screaming at him to save his brother. But just as he moved, a dark shadow loomed behind him—cold and suffocating. The Demon King was closer than he'd realized.

Before Ru could react, a searing, unbearable pain tore through his back. He gasped, stumbling forward, feeling as though his very soul had been ripped apart. The agony was blinding like something had been violently torn from him. He could not see it, hadn't understood what had happened, only that his somethings - his power - were gone.

'What have you stolen from me?'

Ru collapsed to the ground, the world spinning, and his breath caught in his throat. He tried to push himself up, but his limbs betrayed him. The pain in his back was too much, sending waves of fire through his body.

Through the haze of pain, Ru's eyes fell on Fu, his little brother still screaming, still trapped in the flames. The fire had spread too quickly, too far. The animals scattered in all directions and Fu... Fu was helpless, reaching out to him with desperate, pleading eyes.

Ru's heart shattered. He tried to crawl, to pull himself toward Fu, but his body wouldn't move. He was powerless, pinned to the ground, feeling the fire closing in on both of them. His brother's cries, the crackling of the burning trees, the scent of ash and despair—all of it was too much.

"No, please! Please, no! This can’t happen!"

Tears blurred Ru's vision as his voice broke, his screams merging with the forest's dying wails. He could no longer tell if the sobs were his or the forest's—both felt like they came from the same place of deep, unbearable sorrow.

And then, as the flames swallowed everything he loved, Ru's world faded into blackness. His last thought was of Fu—his brother's name on his lips as the darkness claimed him, leaving nothing but pain and silence.

When everything had turned to ash, it was as though Ru no longer existed. He drifted into void, weightless and untethered, as if outside reality's boundaries. The forest, his brother, the pain—they seemed distant now, as though it had happened to someone else, in another lifetime.

At some point, his eyes—scorched from the unbearable heat—fluttered open. Above him, two suns hung in the sky, twin orbs burning with an unnatural light. They glowed fiercely, yet something was wrong. Were they eclipsed? A shimmering veil of silver seemed to cover them, but whether it was truly silver or just a trick of his broken mind, he couldn't tell.

'Whoever you are, please... let me die. Save my brother.'

The sight was eerie, ominous—a dreadful premonition that clawed at the edges of his soul. A deep, unshakable fear settled in his chest. And then, as if the weight of that moment was too much to bear, Ru's vision blurred, his mind spiraling into the darkness once more. He fainted, slipping back into the abyss where pain and memory could no longer reach him.

'Did you save your brother?'

A haunting melody drifted through the air, stirring Ru's soul with its somber and mournful notes. It echoed in the distance, carrying a sense of sadness and despair, like a lullaby twisted by the weight of sorrow. The notes in each verse appeared to carry the weight of pain, wrapping Ru in its melancholic embrace.

"You cannot run, you cannot hide,

From the weight of the grief that you hold inside.

I'll follow you, in dreams and screams,

I am the ghost that haunts your dreams."

And Ru's lips were moving independently, forming a cruel and seemingly unending melody.

"Gray Shadow, Gray Shadow, where do you roam?

In the cracks of a heart that's turned to stone.

Gray Shadow, Gray Shadow, why do you sing?"

And Ru kept singing; he repeatedly sang the same refrain and couldn't silence himself no matter what he did.

"Gray Shadow, Gray Shadow, why do you sing?"

Then a warm butterfly gently landed on his lips and kissed his song. It wiped away the sound with its delicate wings.

Ru smiled, though he didn't open his eyes. He rose like a snowdrop that had seen the sun, piercing the cover of winter. He let his skin get wet as his palms filled with warm snow.

As the butterfly flew away, the sound falling from its wings said, "I love you."

Ru was covered by a strange warmth that embraced him tenderly. He floated weightlessly on the surface of a tranquil lake. The air was still, filled with the sweet scent of the roses, yet something about the place felt unfamiliar - ethereal.

A gentle breeze, barely a whisper, caressed his ear and echoed, "I love you very much."

The words startled him, not out of fear but of a deeper, aching longing. His eyes snapped open. For a moment, all he saw was the water, the red roses, and the vast silver sky. The voice had been so close, intimate, like a memory long forgotten but somehow familiar.

"Who are you?" Ru asked, his voice barely audible, as if afraid the answer might shatter the fragile serenity of the moment.

The only response was the gentle rustling of the roses in the breeze; Its crimson leaves swayed in tune with the notes of Gray Shadow. But something—someone—was there, watching, waiting. He could feel it in the air, the weight of an unseen presence that lingered just beyond his sight.

"Gray Shadow..." he whispered, the name slipping from his lips like a forgotten secret.

At that moment, he realized—he wasn't alone.