Endless Darkness

The exact moment he opened his eyes, there was nothingness, hollowness, and endless darkness. In such a sight, it was hard to determine whether he had actually opened his eyes or not. Clearly no wind was blowing, yet his skin could distinctly feel a penetrating chill. What on earth was this place? No one could give a definitive answer; perhaps the existence of this place itself was an unknown. Why had he appeared here?

He did not know...

He did not even know if this unanswered question had any meaning.

Finally, something he could clearly see appeared before his eyes—it was his own body. He seemed to be the only luminous body in this world. Why was he all alone in this darkness?

He seemed to want to move his body, only to find himself bound by this darkness. Then, at some unknown moment and quite suddenly, a tiny trace of light appeared before Ryuseki's eyes.

A pair of black hands appeared before his eyes and slowly reached toward Ryuseki. Was that reaching pair of hands salvation or slaughter? Ryuseki was not sure, but just as they were about to draw close, he noticed that those hands were dripping with something—it seemed to be blood. Bright red blood was actually flowing down those black hands; what was the meaning of this?

A sense of terror began to loom in his chest, Ryuseki's gaze firmly captivated by that blood. Just as he was watching in a trance, those black hands suddenly stabbed into his chest like a sharp steel blade.

"Help!"

Ryuseki's very first reaction was to cry out for help. Although Ryuseki usually would not ask others for assistance, his own body could not move a single inch now. Facing the threat of death, the only thing he could possibly do was cry out.

There was no response whatsoever; his shouts were merely in vain.

Then his heart suddenly thumped violently, and sweat poured from his entire body like rain. He did not know what he ought to do, because his body completely refused to obey. Even though there was no reply, he could only desperately scream for help.

"Help! Lin Yingbin! Ryuu Mufei!"

Ryuseki shouted with all his might, continually trying to break through his restraints by writhing his body. Everything was in vain; he could do nothing. This sense of oppression, this sense of confinement, this helpless feeling that anything he tried to do was futile and had no time limit... it felt almost like his soul was being peeled away from his body!

Convulsing, the bound Ryuseki was currently feeling a sensation like electric currents striking his entire body. This feeling originated from his heart and quickly swept over his whole frame. It assailed him with every single beat of his heart, each heartbeat triggering the trembling and contraction of his body's muscles, the excitation of every nerve, and the quivering of every cell. Could this perhaps be fear?

However, he did not give up his will to survive because of this. As he continuously called out his friends' names, another emotion gradually emerged.

What is going on?

This other emotion was anger, different from fear; this wrath stemmed from a hatred of his own powerlessness. This feeling of rage seemed to touch off something, and then in the next instant, everything vanished.

The two emotions—whether fear or anger—all disappeared. The luster in Ryuseki's eyes was gradually fading, soon to turn into that dead-person-like gaze. He looked blankly at that pair of black hands.

The black hands stopped, pointing toward a certain spot nearby, and Ryuseki looked over in the direction indicated.

Then, a scene appeared in that previously pitch-black place. However, that scene was not pleasant at all; upon seeing that sight, Ryuseki almost broke down.

It was the corpses of both Lin Yingbin and Ryuu Mufei, and the blood of the two was actually pooling beside their bodies. That battered and mutilated appearance made Ryuseki's scalp go completely numb!

Ryuseki's jaw dropped in awe at the sight before him. While he was in shock, those black hands proceeded to take his life.

Vague sounds of "Ah... ah..." could only issue from Ryuseki's mouth, and his dilated pupils were entirely occupied by agony.

Seeing that pair of large black hands about to reach over, Ryuseki began to call out the names of the two.

"Lin Yingbin?! Ryuu Mufei!?" He attempted to use his shouts to wake the two up, but there was no response at all.

Ryuseki's whole body began to tremble, and gradually, the owner of those hands appeared. Yet the darkness here made it impossible for Ryuseki to clearly see that person's face; he could only see that his silhouette looked very familiar.

Then, that person grinned.

"You... you killed them?" Ryuseki began to grow angry, his trembling pupils staring desperately at the person before him. He knew his time was short, but he wanted to see clearly just who it was that killed him before he died.

"That's right!"

That person's voice was exceedingly cold. He did not know if it was the chill of the environment here or because of his voice, but just hearing it made one feel as though they had plunged into an icy wasteland.

"Who... exactly are you?"

The intense fear and anger generated in his heart assaulted every single cell of his body.

"Hehe! You'll find out soon enough!" That person approached Ryuseki step by step, uttering those words in an indifferent tone.

Ryuseki stared at his face with wide, terrified eyes. Slowly, Ryuseki saw his face clearly and immediately screamed out, because he completely failed to accept the reality before him.

"How... how... how could this be?!"

That person—that person was none other than Ryuseki's older brother, Kouhi! It turned out to be Kouhi; this was something Ryuseki had never expected in his wildest dreams. Looking at Kouhi's face, the fear and anger that had previously been equal in Ryuseki's heart became unbalanced. The feeling of terror deepened and encroached upon the portion originally held by anger.

"No... it can't be... you are..." The unfinished words drifted softly from Ryuseki's mouth.

Kouhi thrust that steel-blade-sharp palm toward Ryuseki's chest. There was not the slightest hesitation in the expression on his face, and it looked completely devoid of human emotion. The impression he gave off was just like a cold-blooded killing machine, leaving behind only that which chilled the bone.

Slap... The black hand pierced into Ryuseki's chest without the slightest obstruction.

"No!!!" Ryuseki roared with the utmost of his remaining strength, and then a vast, blinding whiteness filled his vision!