“Lazerus, my son. Don’t make me bear the sin of killing you.”

“You killed us the day you abandoned us with that monster! And now you stand here before me, protecting those two? You’re new sons- while I’m your old one. Well, let me tell you this, father. You’ll have to kill me if you don’t want me to kill them!”

Tsander responded by creating several stars. Determined to protect Alexander and Tujitou from the threat he sees before him.

“And again.”, Lazerus responded by creating several of his clones.

Both of them waited for the other to make the first move. The surrounding mist made it hard to see and the heat made it unbearable to breathe. But their determination ensured that neither could avert their gazes. With each passing second, it became harder for them to remain there. It seemed as if Tujitou became hotter with every breath.

“Alex, it’s time for you to leave.”

“I’m not leaving either of you behind!”

“It’s not a request!”

In that split moment when Tsander lost his focus, Lazerus gained enough time to create several hidden clones within the mist. He sent them to capture Tujitou, who lay at the bottom of the lake. Unfortunately for him, Tsander had anticipated this and hurled one of his stars in his direction. But before it could reach him, all the stars and clones had vanished.

“As entertaining as round three would be, it would complicate things for me if you continued to use your gifts on this planet.”, a dark figure appeared between them, grinning from ear to ear.

“So you finally came.”

“Beyond!”, Lazerus shouted.

“In the flesh!”, as it struck a pose.

[BEYOND]

Race: ???

Gender: ???

Age: ???

Weight: ???

Height: ???

Beyond summoned Argons. What remained was a shriveled pile of ash, burned to a crisp by the explosion. The pile didn’t stay still for long. It began to swell and twist—skin reforming with a violent sizzle, bones knitting together with sickening cracks.

Argons was being dragged back to life by Beyond, and it was clear he intended to make every moment of the revival as painful as possible.

Argons was alive again, gasping desperately for air. Fear burned in his eyes, as though he had clawed his way back from hell itself.

“Wh-what? What’s happening right now? Where am I?”

“You made quite the mess here, you know. A mess that needs to be addressed immediately. And I’m not just talking about you using your gifts here-we’ll get to that soon. I’m talking about that monstrosity right there.”, it pointed toward Tujitou.

“DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE?”, Beyond stared into his eyes. Argons stared back into its lifeless, pure white eyes.

“I-I’m-I am-I’m s-s-so sorry.”

Beyond kept staring at him, unblinking. With every passing second, Argons’s fear tightened its grip, coiling deeper into his chest. The heat and mist already crushed his lungs, but now it felt as though the air itself had been stripped away, leaving him gasping in a world that no longer allowed him to breathe.

“All is forgiven.”, Beyond said with a smile.

The air seemed to return to his lungs. He gasped greedily, as if he hadn’t felt its touch for centuries. In that moment, Argons knew only one emotion—the overwhelming rush of happiness. Happiness at having escaped its wrath.

He laughed, first in disbelief, which quickly twisted into pure joy, like a child receiving his very first toy.

Thrumph!

“Now—where were we again?” it grinned, Argons’s blood dripping from its face.