A Late Farewell | Pushing On

Keiya City | Starlight District | Arena | Concert

A blue-haired woman wearing a blue crop top, tight blue pants, and a black leather jacket was rapping onstage. The crowd cheered for her.

She rapped the following passage with a powerful, soul-crushing voice:

“Chains forged in ancient memory, the world unveils my role:

Hangwoman of a future lost, the hammer for your soul.

You crushed the bloom of culture, crowned dominion as a creed—

I’ll shatter your idea of law till every tyrant bleeds.

Yes, I whisper of salvation—hypocrite inside the glare;

For my life is built on bloodshed, down in abyssal air.

In that archaic city’s depths, where drowned empires persist,

I stand—Atlant’s Reaper, the last eternal fist.”

She finished the song covered in sweat as the crowd shouted her name.

“MARI! MARI! MARI!”

She raised her fist into the air as thunderous applause filled the arena.

Backstage | Mari’s Dressing Room

Mari looked into the mirror.

Mist filled the room, and the lights went out.

“Oh, what an exaggerated entrance. Come on, Nameless.”

Nameless burst into laughter, and the lights returned to normal.

“I can see the sweat, Mari! You were scared.”

Mari sighed.

“You’re such a goofball. So, you’re visiting me. Do you want something from me? Do I need to fight?”

“Nah. Your time as the Reaper of Atlant is over. Just enjoy your life.”

Mari stood up and sighed.

“To be honest, I never believed this was possible. But this peaceful city and the opportunities here… I want to protect them too.”

She looked at him.

“Yeah, shut it. If I let you fight, then everything will have been worthless. Are you having fun, or do you miss the bloodshed?”

Mari laughed.

“You know you aren’t the only person in the States who can fight. It’s normal that we want to support you.”

Nameless yawned.

“To be honest, what do you think I am? I’m just excited to challenge a maniac. And if I die, just jump her…”

Mari closed her eyes, and her voice softened.

“The Nameless Reaper has never lost. Quite an ego. But that gives me comfort. You have some friendly disciples, but tell them they need to work as a group. I mean, being a lone warrior is something that suits you, not them!”

Nameless changed the subject.

“Avaril… You knew her, right?”

Mari’s expression changed, revealing a hint of sorrow.

“Yes, she was the Judge… How do you know her?”

She stopped as she looked into Nameless’s eyes.

“That’s impossible. You’re too young, and Atlant was destroyed. So how…?”

Nameless looked at Mari.

“I have a message for you…”

Nameless told Mari about Avaril’s final words.

Mari crumpled to the floor, crying as her heart shattered.

“No… no, no…”

She bit her lip.

Nameless opened the door and shouted:

“Catch.”

Mari instinctively caught a key.

Nameless left the room.

Mari’s body trembled.

Keiya City | Starlight District | Concert Arena | Parking Lot

Half an Hour Later

Mari walked out of the concert arena. Her eyes were red and filled with tears.

“That idiot… I hate crying. Hrrr…”

She saw a blue futuristic motorcycle waiting in front of her.

Goosebumps spread across her body.

“No way…”

She pressed the button on the key, and the motorcycle turned on.

She sat on it, and a small holographic display lit up.

A picture of her and Avaril appeared on the cover of a magazine, with writing in an unidentified language above them.

Mari grinned.

“Reaper and Judge… That’s nostalgic. I really miss you, Ava…”

Then a message appeared on the display.

Mari swiped toward it.

“The city was destroyed, but this is everything I found. So take it as a present.

Nameless Saiwano.”

A folder was attached to the message. It was named:

In Memory of Avaril, the Last Mermaid

Mari opened the attached folder.

It contained pictures of her childhood with Avaril, school photographs of Mari trying to wake Avaril during their teenage years, and silly pictures of Avaril playing pranks and sticking out her tongue.

Mari laughed.

“I truly loved you, Ava… In memory of you. And now I need to cry again…”

She started the engine and drove out of the parking lot.

Maina City | District Serinda | Midnight

A woman with long blonde hair walked through the district. With her golden eyes, she looked down upon the other plateaus of the futuristic city.

She sighed.

The lights were bright, yet the center of the district remained quiet. Huge skyscrapers surrounded her.

Then she snapped her fingers.

“I need to do it again.”

Smoke suddenly spread through the area, and then a voice spoke.

“Bato, El Dorado, Atlant, and now this city.”

As the smoke faded, Nameless appeared. His hands were in his pockets, and he was smoking a cigar.

“I am protecting this world,” she said.

“Yeah, and I am protecting my people. My city, my States. Blah, blah, blah. Come on!”

He spoke in a sarcastic yet threatening tone.

“I am also good at killing, and you are doing a great job mass-murdering civilizations. So we have one thing in common, right? By the way, even if it’s true and something stronger than us exists beyond our comprehension…”

Nameless laughed maniacally.

“What do you know?!”

She stared at him in shock.

“Everything. But I am not scared. And I will never kill the innocent again. But… killing you would be a joy.”

Shades began to reveal themselves.

More and more appeared until an unending mass surrounded them.

As they rushed toward Nameless, he spoke.

“Absolute Zero.”

His skin glowed white, the mist evolved, and the shades froze.

She nodded and laughed maniacally.

“THIS CIVILIZATION NEEDS TO DIE!”

“You need to die. And if that threat is coming, I will evolve and end it. You know what I hate even more than mass-murdering, civilization-ending, depressed maniacs?”

His fangs sharpened.

The woman stared at Nameless’s menacing, crazed expression in shock.

Then he shouted:

“I HATE STAGNATION!”

The woman spoke.

“You are crazy!”

Nameless smiled broadly. His black eyes cracked like glass, and glowing white sclera shone through the fractures.

The woman’s heart sensed the danger.

“PROJECT NIMBUS!”

An exoskeleton formed around her body.

“It’s not Atlant. You are facing me this time, and trust me—I am the one who will end this madness.”

“So be it. My name is Eden—the will of this world!”

“My name is Nameless Saiwano, the Nameless Reaper.”

With a single movement, he threw off his cardigan and shirt.

A tattoo covered his back.

It depicted a lightly clothed, blindfolded woman holding a scale at its center.

A visor formed around Eden’s golden eyes.

At that moment, the scale tattooed on Nameless’s back tilted to the left, and the eyes beneath the blindfold began to glow red.

“Hasrah—”

A greatsword made of light formed in his right hand.

A soul-crushing sound erupted.

Then an immense light spread across the entire city.

Eden shouted:

“Project Nimbus: Eclipse Heart of Eden 13.”

A mechanical roar burst through the sky.

Above them, a colossal white mech with a blue visor descended from the heavens.

A massive mechanical blade pointed toward Nameless, wrapped in glowing blue wires.

Transcendent wings formed behind Eden. She flew toward the mech and entered it.

Nameless held his blade in his left hand and the greatsword of light in his right.

He pointed both blades at the mech, ready to challenge it.

His phone rang.

It was Maya.

“Nameless, the civilians have been evacuated. Be free and kill this pest!”

Nameless nodded.

The light around him grew stronger, and his skin glowed. Determination filled his eyes, while a wide, manic smile spread across his lips.

“Pushing on.”

At that very moment, the mad Nameless Reaper fought against the rules of the world to avenge those who had long since been forgotten.