(Theme: The Emperor's Blind Spot)
EARTH SCREAMED.
Molten rock vomited skyward—KRTHOOOM!—as the Infernal Dragon detonated from below. Trench walls glowed white-hot. Akari's horns SCREECHED crimson lightning. She smashed into Kaito. Ribs groaned. "GAP CLOSING! SOUTHWEST! MOVE!"
Burning claws carved the ground—HISSSS!—scorching lines of fire. Herding them. Corralling. The aurora's dead zone pulsed ahead like an infected wound. Kaito choked on ash and ozone. Not hunting. Herding. Like cattle to the slaughter chute.
The sky ripped.
Purple light bled into the silhouette of a horned god—strings of void tethering its wrists to the dragon's spine. The Blood Dragon Emperor. Pulling the butcher's strings.
Kaito lunged. Dragonsteel dagger thirsting for the beast's molten eye—
—FROZE.
Golden blood crystallized mid-air. Jagged spikes impaling time itself. His heartbeat stopped.
SILENCE.
Not quiet. Anti-sound. It gnawed his inner ear. Peeled nerves raw.
From his shadow—blooming—a hole in reality. Seventeen eyes. Seventeen dead Kaitos:
Impaled through the throat
Melted into screaming sludge
Skeleton grinning inside-out
"YOU DIE POORLY."
The voice wasn't sound. It was cancer chewing thought. "FORTY-SEVEN DEATHS. TWELVE BEGGED. YOUR BEST LASTED..." A corpse's finger tapped frozen blood. "...THREE SECONDS."
A claw of nothingness plunged into Kaito's chest.
No pain.
Only the wet rip of rotting threads yanked from his marrow. His DNA—a shimmering thread—dangled like spoiled meat.
"MY GIFT WAS WEAKNESS."
The strand dissolved. "WANT POWER?" Seventeen corpses leaned in. "EARN IT." The void yawned. "NEXT DEATH STICKS. PROVE YOU'RE MORE THAN MEAT."
Silence became TEETH.
KAITO JOLTED AWAKE SCREAMING.
Hands tore at his chest—smooth skin—no wound—
"THE TEETH—! FELT THEM—!"
Tremors cracked his spine. Rusty's final whimper echoed in his molars.
Camp gates exploded inward. Soldiers stumbled—half their gear erased. Vanished. One retched—GLORRK!—black tar splattering boots. "TREES—! MOVED FOR IT—!"
Akari's hand CRUSHED Kaito's jaw. Claws drew blood. Golden eyes BORED into his soul. His pupils betrayed him—left eye blown wide with terror—right a slit of feral fury.
"YOU. KNEW. ITS. PATH."
Her breath scalded his lips.
"TALK."
MEMORY TORE OPEN—
—Rabid dog thrashing under his knees—foam flecking fur—
—Its eyes MELTING into Mary's as the needle plunged—
"COULDN'T SAVE... ANYONE..."
Kaito's fist SMASHED the med-table. Steel dented. Knuckles split—blood sprayed.
"TEACH ME."
His voice—ground glass and grave dirt.
"NOT TO FIGHT DRAGONS."
Eyes locked on Akari's—twin abysses.
"TO OUTTHINK GODS."
The dragonsteel knife THUNKED into the table between his fingers. Fractal edge humming. Reflecting her PREDATOR'S SMILE.
"DAWN."
She turned. Horns bleeding crimson in the corpse-light.
"DON'T DIE BEFORE I BREAK YOU."
FALSE DAWN.
Kaito paced the camp's edge. The wall—shattered yesterday—stood whole. Seamless.
Impossible.
Only his bootprint remained.
Etched into stone that shouldn't remember.
Above—the aurora CONVULSED.
Coalesced.
A SINGLE EYE. Massive. Lidless.
It BLINKED.
Vanished.
Kaito grabbed the knife.
SHINK.
Edge biting deep into his palm.
Red blood. Normal. Human. No gold. No power.
Just meat. Just weakness.
His whisper froze the air:
"NO MORE RESETS."
Blood dripped onto the bootprint.
"NO MORE LUCK."
ORION'S NOTE: "Forty-seven deaths? Even a goldfish has better stats! But hey, at least he's got a new trainer... and a time-anomaly bootprint. Next time: Will Kaito become the ultimate dragon chessmaster or just another smear on the timeline? Stay tuned :D"