I sprinted forward as he landed and placed his hand on the ground. The ground cracked from under me, so as before, I darted away from it, it was in a larger area than before.

  I jumped with all the strength I could muster before countless blades rose from the ground beneath me.

  “You can’t dodge midair 963!”

  I looked down and saw he had formed a spear made of bones and was preparing to throw it.

  “Damn!”

  He threw it with full force, and I put both of my arms in front of me to block. The spear ripped through my left forearm, stopping right before it reached my right shoulder. I used my right arm to rip it out of my other arm, as I pushed off the side of one of the blades that rose from the ground.

  Holding the spear with my right arm, I twirled it and primed it for a throw.

  “Copying me, huh?!”

  I launched it at full force toward his head, and he put both arms up to block it just as I did. It embedded itself into his armor, but did not go through it. However, by the time he began to lower his guard, I had already landed, with another punch prepared.

  “Disruption!!”

  It landed, and the bones began to crack even more, but I could notice they were slowly regenerating. He stumbled backwards as I charged forward to deliver another punch. Before I could reach him, he recovered and stomped on the ground with a punch of his own, prepared.

  “Disruption!!”

  “Goetia!!”

  He landed an immensely strong punch on my face, as I once again hit his heart. The armor was holding on by a thread at this point. However, this time he didn’t stumble backwards, and I could feel the smile behind his mask.

  Suddenly, I felt something sharp rip through the left side of my face. Spikes had burst from his bone-clad fist, as my vision from my left eye faded to black.

  “Grrrrr! GRAAAAGH!”

  While the numbing effect was still active, I grabbed his fist and ripped it out of my face to stop the spikes from extending any further, as I aimed my other hand at his heart once again.

  “Disruption!!”

  The bones completely broke, and his bare skin was now visible past the armor.

  “I’m ending it here, 963!”

  In a scream of rage, spikes extended from all parts of his body, skewering me from multiple angles in close range. With bones piercing both of my arms, I clenched my fist tightly as blood gushed out from the shifting of muscles and bones.

  “I…..*cough* know your weakness No.1. Your core…..it’s a miniscule little thing in your heart…..isn’t it? I can…….see it. Your regeneration…..won’t……work against…. this attack.”

  His eyes widened as I clenched my fist tightly. Moving forward, with each bone ripping through my flesh, I delivered the strongest punch I could muster in that moment.

  “DISRUPTION!!”

  The energy from my fist connected with his skin, and burst so heavily that a shot of energy burst from the other side of his body. The one singular particle in his heart spiked violently, as his bone armor and all of the bones that were skewering me faded away.

  “Gah….agh!”

  He clutched his heart as he fell to his knees, with exasperated breaths and an expression of confusion and desperation.

  *Cough!*

  He coughed, and blood began pouring out of his mouth.

  “I….can’t regenerate! It hurts, need… to heal my heart!”

  He grasped his heart with his other hand in an attempt to restart the regeneration, but when he did so, more blood came spewing out of his mouth.

  “Gah…! Why?!”

  “I disrupted your core.”

  “.....What?!”

  “Right now, your core is shaking violently due to my gift attacking it. What I’m saying is, after that last attack, your gift has been completely disabled.”

  “....”

  He let go of his heart and looked down at the ground with a dejected look.

  “So….I lost then?”

  “You did.”

  “I see.”

  “Do you have any last words?”

  “.....None.”

  “Very well.”

  I tightened my hand and drove it straight through his heart. His expression tightened in pain for a mere moment before his face became relaxed and his body went limp. I removed my hand from his body, and he fell to the ground, with his dull eyes looking up toward the moonlight.

  I knelt down to check his pulse and truly confirm whether or not he was dead, but I heard nothing. I then used Scan to check if his core was still intact, but there were no longer any particles in his body. He was dead. I couldn’t tell if the expression he passed with was peaceful relief or wistful longing.

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  “I hope you find the answer you’re looking for in the afterlife. Truly.” I said softly, closing my eyes in respect. To he who walked a similar beginning, but was unable to diverge.

  I gave him one last look before turning around and running back the way I came. On the way, I saw No.1’s gun lying on the path where I had knocked it out of his hand earlier. I quickly knelt down and picked it up. It had stopped steaming, and as I was running, I quickly shot it to check if it worked. A yellow blast ripped through a nearby tree as it faded into the distance.

  “Thankfully, it just needed time to cool down.”

  I exited the forest and ran across the field, seeing No.9 wrapping some cloth around a still unconscious No.5’s wounds by the facility. I would’ve liked to ask no.9 for help with my injuries, but in her current state, there is a chance she may die from helping me.

  “963, you’re safe! Does that mean–!”

  “No.9, I don’t have time! I have to get to Zero quickly, just focus on healing No.5!”

  I didn’t hear her response as I continued to run in the direction where I saw the explosion. After a few more seconds, I finally saw them. Zagra was holding Dawn up with one hand, as half of her body was charred and seared with various burns.

  “Why do you keep acting so defiant?! Why can’t you understand?! My daughter, I want nothing more than to live a happy life with you! Why are you giving me no choice but to hurt you?!”

  “You….have a choice. You’re choosing to harm me and…… keep me prisoner. You…..don’t even…..need me. You don’t even…..see me as your real…..daughter, just a……convenient replacement…..for mom.”

  I aimed the gun at Zagra and fired a yellow blast. He heard the shot, but couldn’t move in time as it hit his right leg. He released Dawn and fell to the floor, with her gasping for air and struggling to get up.

  “Sorry to say, but reinforcements have arrived!”

  I ran up to him while he was still struggling to get up, and punched him across the face with my full force. A large burst of energy, far bigger then when I fought against No.1 exploded from my fist.

  “GAGH!”

  His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he flew far to the west into the forest.

  “Dawn?! Can you hear me? Hey! Are you alright?!” I said as I knelt down to check her condition.

  “I’m…fine.” She said as I helped her up.

  She finally looked toward me and her face contorted with worry.

  “Your eye! What happened?! Are you ok? How are you still standing?!”

  “Would you believe me if I said I couldn’t feel the pain?”

  I gave Dawn a quick lookover and she wasn’t much better off than me. She was bleeding from multiple places along her arms and legs, with the thorns accompanying the bleeding.

  “BOY! How many times must you stand between my daughter and I?!” A voice yelled from within the forest.

  I heard a small *boom* and saw Zagra above the trees with flames below his feet.

  “Dawn, can you still fight?” I asked, glancing at her burns.

  “Duh! You’d be crazy if you thought I was gonna throw in the towel here!”

  “Perfect, let’s end this.”

  I aimed the gun and fired three shots while he was still airborne. Noticing this, he put a wall of flames that swirled around the shots to stop them in their tracks.

  Dawn darted forward and sliced through the air with precise cuts, each sending an arc of dark ominous fire toward where Zagra was. He was forced to keep his attention on those, as both Dawn and I narrowed the distance.

  Right before he was about to land, I switched the dial to blue and fired an ice shot right under his feet. When his feet touched the ground, the foreign footing made him lose balance, and Dawn didn’t waste the opportunity.

  She lunged forward, bringing down her katana in a curved arc, slicing open his chest.

  “Gagh!”

  “Keep him off balance!” I yelled as I ran forward.

  I couldn’t fire my gun because she was in my line of fire, I had to switch to close-quarters combat.

  Flames erupted from his wound, but as if the dark flames had a mind of it’s own, they fought against each other, like it was preventing the healing.

  He swung his flaming fist in an arc, but Dawn quickly ducked and went for a stab to his stomach. Noticing this, he used his other hand to grab the katana and keep her in place.

  “Cease this, Zero!”

  From the right side, I ran in with gun in hand. He held his hand out and flames spewed from his hand, but I quickly rolled on the ground and pressed the gun on his side.

  “Grit your teeth.”

  I fired a point blank shot on his right hip, but no blood came out as heat armor had formed over his skin. I could see particles rapidly being drawn toward him as the air began to feel hot.

  He’s gonna do the AOE again!

  I grabbed Dawn by the scruff of her suit, and threw her as far as I could before the explosion hit. The flames enveloped my skin with such force it felt like a truck had just rammed into each part of my body. It was so fierce that it bypassed my supercharged state, and it felt like each blood cell was combusting in my body.

  “AAAAGH!”

  I was blown back in a direction, I couldn’t even get my bearings. All I could feel was my body spinning uncontrollably while airborne.

  Recover! Recover!

  I opened my eyes and bent my knees right before I hit the ground. I rolled backwards multiple times to dampen the blow and put out the flames simultaneously. When I stood up, I saw Zero about 50 feet to my left, and Zagra staring at me with rage in his eyes.

  “This is all your fault, boy! She would have never gotten these ideas in her head if it weren’t for you! Because of you, I’ve been forced to lay my hands on my own daughter just to keep her safe!”

  Flames erupted from his hand as he opened his palm.

  “I–!”

  Then I felt it. My supercharged state wore off, and my body was shutting down. There were so many alarm signals from each part of my body that my brain couldn’t even process the pain. It just felt like there were large weights on each of my limbs, and I became unable to move.

  “963, what are you doing?! You gotta get up and get out of the way! You–!” She stopped as her eyes widened. “Your injuries…..they couldn’t have! Not now! 963!!”

  I could hear her feet pounding against the ground, but my vision was beginning to fade.

  “Once you’re dead, things will go back to the way they were before! My daughter will be healed, and she will be kept safe inside of the place I made for her! No more ideas of escaping! No more bad influences! Just me and my daughter, living as a family! Just like my wife wanted!” He screamed as our both his hands out. For his hands fire coalesced and combusted, forming a small nova directed at me.

  This is it.

  The heat stained the air as the fireball got closer and closer, but a shadow fell over my vision as I saw someone in front of me with their arms crossed over their face. Her flowing white hair brimmed with determination as I snapped back into focus. My eyes widened upon seeing Dawn in front of me, with her arms crossed.

  “You think I’m just gonna let you sacrifice yourself?! Quit dreaming! We’re getting out of here together!” She screamed.

  No, only one of us can get out here. And if it should be anyone….

  Using reserves of my strength that didn’t exist. With pure willpower and determination, I stood up on one knee and grabbed her waist.

  “It should be you.”

  Tightening my grip, using my very life to activate my gift and strengthen myself even slightly, I threw her out of the way.

  She looked at me with disbelief as the small nova flew closer. I couldn’t hear her, but I could see her mouth opening in a scream as thorns rushed out of her body.

  Goodbye, Dawn.

  “YOU FOOL!” A deep voice in my head screamed as the flames reached my face, and my eyes closed for the last time.