75~ Despair

Wail narrowed his eyes and prepared to attack, but Vale stopped him with his words.

"Wait, wait! Are you planning to end this with a single blow? Let's enjoy our fight a little, brother..."

He didn't finish his sentence. Instead, he smiled and tilted his head to the side.

Wail had moved at lightning speed, throwing a punch charged with black lightning. Because of the blow's tremendous speed, its effect lagged behind his movement. After his fist struck empty air, a surge of black lightning erupted from it, causing an explosion behind Vale.

Wail didn't stop. He continued his assault, advancing as the ground shattered behind his opponent. Yet Vale dodged every attack with ease, his Bloody Eyes glowing.

Suddenly, Vale's fingers moved.

Wail's eyes widened, and he retreated in the blink of an eye, putting distance between them.

Vale spoke dismissively.

"We both possess an element, but I'm superior to you because I have these eyes. I can't fight my little brother without giving him a fair chance, so..."

A massive boulder stood beside him. Vale extended his hand toward it, and an invisible aura began forming around the rock. It gradually expanded until the air within it started to bend. The moment the aura touched the boulder, parts of it began to shatter and disappear.

Wail watched in astonishment.

Vale calmly explained,

"The Void Element... Imagine a sphere that keeps growing, destroying everything it touches."

Then he narrowed his eyes, and his smile briefly disappeared.

"Everything, Wail."

Suddenly, Vale vanished from his position, moving forward in a flash.

But Wail had moved at the same moment, preparing to catch him off guard. As soon as he appeared, he was surprised to find Vale standing directly in front of him as well.

"Impossible! Did he attack at the exact same time?!"

Vale answered calmly,

"This isn't a coincidence... This is what was supposed to happen."

Vale threw a punch surrounded by an aura of void energy. Wail quickly retreated, but the attack grazed his arm, leaving a deep wound.

Wail didn't stop at retreating. He spun around and launched a side kick toward his opponent. However, his foot stopped just short of reaching Vale, as a dense aura of void energy appeared around him. Had Wail moved any closer, it would have torn his foot apart.

Vale smiled.

"I knew you'd stop!"

He then punched Wail in the face, sending him flying backward.

Wail struggled to his feet, staring at his opponent.

What is this? He's anticipating every attack I make...

He fixed his gaze on Vale's glowing Bloody Eyes.

Is this the power of his eyes? Or is it simply his combat experience?

Wail exhaled, trying to regain his composure, then allowed his red aura to erupt around him once more.

"It doesn't matter... I'll defeat you either way."

Vale jumped just as a red lightning bolt struck the spot where he had been standing.

His smile remained even when he found Wail waiting for him in midair, his fist charged with electricity.

Wail threw his punch, and the aura of void energy reappeared around Vale's body, forming a barrier that should have destroyed anything it touched.

But Wail's fist stopped just short of reaching it.

Vale looked surprised.

In the next instant, a delayed surge of black lightning erupted from Wail's punch, hurling Vale toward the ground.

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Wail landed behind him, watching his opponent.

So Kyle's element could affect both energy and physical matter, but Vale...

He remembered how the void aura had destroyed the boulder.

It seems he can only affect physical matter...

Electrical sparks gathered around Wail's fists as he lunged at Vale.

Vale dodged his successive attacks, then formed a sphere of void energy in his hand and charged toward Wail with it.

Wail jumped to avoid the sphere, then gathered the glowing sparks around his fists and compressed them into red energy, which he fired as a direct beam.

But the beam vanished before hitting Vale, who had released a wave of void energy to intercept it.

Nevertheless, Vale didn't escape completely unscathed. Some burns from the attack marked his body.

Wail watched him from above, his eyes tracking his opponent's movements.

So he can affect energy too, but he has to choose how his ability interacts with it. Which means...

Wail descended into the crater created by their battle. It wasn't wide enough to give Vale much room to maneuver, and Wail immediately took advantage of that.

Electrical threads spread out around him, all shooting toward Vale and surrounding him from multiple directions until there was no clear path of escape.

Even so, Vale smiled.

He raised his hands, and transparent energy condensed around them. He began attacking the electrical threads, destroying them one by one as Wail continued pressing him.

But amid the assault, Wail suddenly appeared directly in front of him.

He delivered a powerful punch to Vale's chest, synchronized with a highly concentrated electrical thread that shot straight toward his heart.

Vale didn't hesitate.

He chose to destroy the electrical thread, leaving himself exposed to Wail's punch.

The fist struck with tremendous force, crushing Vale's rib cage. In the next instant, a delayed surge of black lightning pierced his chest, tearing a gaping hole through it before hurling him into the crater's wall.

Silence fell for a few moments.

Vale stared at Wail as the transparent aura around his body began to fade.

Then he fell to the ground, his eyes reflecting unmistakable shock.

Wail stood watching him, waiting for any movement.

It's over...

But Vale slowly raised his head.

In an instant, Wail suffered deep wounds across his entire body, and his transformation and energy vanished...

Vale was standing in front of him again, completely unharmed.

Not a trace of the attack remained, except for his coldly glowing Bloody Eyes.

Vale spoke.

"In another timeline... you failed to kill me."

Wail froze.

Vale grabbed him by the neck, then leaped out of the crater with him and threw him to the ground.

Standing over him, he began speaking in a calm tone, as though explaining something obvious.

"You know, Wail? The power of the Bloody Eyes depends on luck. Activating a powerful ability usually requires a difficult condition, while an ordinary ability tends to have an easier one."

He leaned slightly closer.

"Furthermore, a person who possesses the Bloody Eyes usually receives only one ability..."

A smile appeared on his face.

"But I'm lucky, Wail."

Wail stared at him in confusion, struggling to comprehend what had just happened.

"What... are you talking about?!"

Vale laughed, then straightened up.

"You really did kill me in this timeline. But in another timeline, in the future, you failed."

He spread his arms and continued explaining.

"My ability allows me to choose one of the possible future timelines and make it my own original timeline. In other words, when I'm about to die, I can replace the version of myself that died with another version who survived in a different future timeline."

He lowered his voice, a confident smile spreading across his face.

"And that's what allows me to see the future as well."

A brief silence followed before Vale raised his hands and shouted louder.

"No one is as lucky as me! No one possesses Bloody Eyes like mine! I have two abilities that no one can stand against!"

He leaned close to Wail's face and screamed hysterically.

"No one, Wail! No one!"

Then he stepped back slightly, his calm smile returning.

"You can't defeat me. You've lost now, and you'll lose again if you try to fight me."

Vale turned and glanced at the surrounding battlefield.

"You're feeling despair, aren't you? But it's still not enough."

His gaze shifted toward one of the fighters.

"Is that person your friend?"

Wail turned and saw Adam struggling to rise from the ground.

Vale approached him, bent down, and placed one hand on Wail's shoulder before extending his other hand toward Adam.

"Watch this."

"Adam! Look out!"

But it was too late.

A sphere of void energy formed around Adam's arm and tore it apart completely.

Adam's screams rang across the battlefield as Wail watched in shock.

Vale spoke coldly.

"No, not yet."

He sent another sphere toward Adam's leg, tearing that apart as well.

Adam collapsed to the ground, screaming in agony until he lost consciousness.

Wail couldn't do anything.

He couldn't even bring himself to think of a way to save him. He could only watch in shock, unable to act.

Vale continued speaking, as though inspecting the results of a battle that had already ended.

"I see the rock user is about to die too, after taking an attack from your friend whose limbs I just tore off... As for the ice user, he appears to be dead."

He examined Raouf for a moment, then raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, he's still alive! Should I kill him too? Or was turning your sound-element friend into a pile of dust enough?"

He turned his gaze back to Wail and smiled wickedly.

"By the way, I launched an enormous Void Sphere at the city where the people are hiding. Nothing remains of it but dust and scattered blood."

Everything inside Wail's mind came to a halt.

The city...

Dua.

Her image flashed through his mind. He remembered that she was there, far from the battlefield, unable to defend herself against what Vale had unleashed.

His breathing grew unsteady, and he felt fear creeping through his body.

This was no longer about defeating his opponent or taking revenge. It no longer mattered whether he could fight at all.

There were people he had failed to protect, and he might no longer be able to save any of them.

Red and black electrical sparks appeared across his body.

Wail screamed and charged at Vale with all the strength he had left.

But Vale effortlessly evaded his attack, then delivered a devastating punch to his stomach.

The sparks vanished instantly.

Wail coughed up blood and fell to his knees.

Vale grabbed his face and lifted his head, forcing him to look directly at him.

"This is despair, Wail. You haven't drowned in it completely yet, but you've tasted enough of it now."

His tone then changed, becoming more serious.

"I'll kill more of your friends if you want to feel even more of it. So let me ask you... Are you going to fight me again?"

Wail didn't answer.

His face was devoid of expression, and his eyes stared blankly into space. He no longer tried to free himself, nor did he think about attacking.

There's no point... It's over.

Vale leaned closer, raising his voice.

"Answer me, little brother! Are you still planning to stand against me?!"

Images of the fallen fighters flashed through Wail's mind.

Half of Isaac's body.

Elyes sitting on the ground, unable to do anything after exhausting all his energy.

Kyle's scattered blood.

What remained of Noah's ashes.

Adam unconscious after losing his arm and leg.

Mark lying on the ground, a small hole in his chest.

Raouf sprawled across a pile of ice, unconscious.

No one remained who could stand against Vale.

Wail lowered his gaze to the ground.

I can't defeat him... No one can.

It's all over...

Vale burst into laughter, then threw Wail to the ground.

Wail didn't try to get up. He remained where he lay, unable even to convince himself to resist.

Vale walked away, speaking before he departed.

"Stay there and drown in your despair, little brother. Wait for my return. I'll come back to save you... and save this miserable world."

Then he vanished in an instant.

---

On a vast frozen plain, a frozen river stretched alongside a mountain with a colossal crater in its center.

Vale appeared in the middle of the river and looked ahead, where Excalibur was embedded in the ground.

He walked toward it slowly, his eyes fixed on the sword.

"The time has finally come... I've succeeded in eliminating every obstacle that stood in my way. All that's left is to convince my pathetic little brother."

He stopped in front of Excalibur and studied it for a few moments before slowly reaching toward it.

"I will put an end to this farce of you fools possessing power you don't deserve."

But a nearby voice stopped him.

"You have no right to decide whether they deserve it or not. You don't have the right to decide anything."

Vale's eyes widened, and he slowly turned toward the source of the voice.

The reply came in a sharp, resolute tone.

"I'm the one who decides."

Vale froze in shock.

"Bahaa?"

...