Sougo Kyoya regained consciousness. His senses were numb. A vague feeling of tranquility clung to his mind, as if he was in a dream. Suddenly, his battle instinct kicked into action. He tried to open his eyes, but to no avail. The rest of his body was also unresponsive. Kyoya panicked. Was the seemingly lethal dose of morphine and krokodil not enough to kill him? Could his body actually be susceptible to Cirona without the control of his brain? The terminal stage of Cirona flu would cause the neural system to mass produce pain-suppressing chemicals, causing the mind to go into a trance. Then, the Bervine fungi already in his body would take the chance and pump his blood full of adrenaline mixtures, triggering unstoppable violent behaviors…
“...Wait, I dragged that thing to the bottom of the sea, and I`m on a boat surrounded by endless water… my neural system should already be fried from all those drugs… Zombies can`t swim, hah.”
With no freshwater to support the fungi, his infested flesh should soon deteriorate while exposed to the harsh elements. By deteriorating, it means that the flesh will burst open into countless tiny crawlers, squirming to separate from its host as they cannibalize eachother. While his brain is still active of course, because where else would all that suffering go.
Trying to dismiss the scenario of rotting to his death alone in excruciating pain at the mercy of the ocean, Kyoya mumbled:
“Yeah, shouldn`t be as bad as when this body got hungry for the first time.”
Still, he trembled.
Or felt like so, but there was nothing shaking.
Kyoya pondered. His thoughts were along the lines of “Maybe the drugs were still in effect, and when they wear off all hell will break loose.”
He braced himself for that god knows when moment.
Yet all of his muscles were static.
“Dear god, are you so darn cruel that I can`t even brace myself for when my meat fucking CHEWS ON ITSELF WHILE UNDERGOING NECROSIS!?”
“This is just too cruel! So unfair! Why?!” He broke into tears, screaming.
Rather, he saw himself doing so.
“Huh, wha…”
Kyoya looked around, but all he saw was his teary and confused face.
“...”
“…”
“Pffft… What the hell… I`m already dead!”
He felt embarrassed for throwing a tantrum because of his non-existent body. This otherworldly point of view can only exist in religious depictions of rebirth and afterlife.
Sighing in relief, he saw himself laying down, bringing his arm up to cover his eyes.
Kyoya thought about a million possibilities and futures. Some of which were bone-chilling. But he eventually grew tired of it and stopped speculating. Fear did not keep him occupied anymore, and even someone who has been subjected to abusive discipline methods from childhood like Kyoya would get bored being stuck in his own mind.
Overtime, he learned the afterlife was very similar to lucid dreaming. He could create any vision if he focused enough. What felt like and indefinite amount of time was spent on rewinding his life and memories. That soon got him uneasy and so he decided to bury himself into academics.
Advanced physics, calculus, geometry, applied chemistry, general science, English, ITF, Muay, marines` CQC, sniper training, battlefield first-aid, battlefield tactics, even his qualification as an demolishing expert and more got played on repeat in his mind. He was surprised not of how clear the memories were, but how he chugged down all of this before he died at 27. Maybe he should have thought more of what he really wanted to do. Or what made him happy.
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On the 696969th loop of recollected lectures and books, Kyoya heard a disturbance. A voice. Many voices.
“They… they are whispering… of their regrets.”
These voices were undoubtedly from other humans. There were scattered roars and growls of unknown beasts, but what flooded the space were the overwhelming voices of sentient creatures.
Then, from the abyss of darkness surrounding him, someone spoke in Japanese.
“I-It`s Kuro Saddako! Ru-” The sentence was cut short with painful gargles and sounds of flesh being ripped apart.
And then another.
“Get of me you fucking brat! aaaAAAAAA! GYYAAHHHHH! STOP! NO! MY FACE! AAAAAAAAHHHHH!”
Ear-splitting shrieks followed, but not of the person…
“That`s undoubtedly my voice! When I was… 9” Kyoya recalled his first kill.
And another.
*Bullets whooshing over their heads*
“Shit! Duck down! It`s the wraith!”
*Horrendous sound of something penetrating a skull*
Another. Another. Countless, unending death.
“Of… course. I`m going to… hell.”
A rotten hand surged from beneath, pulling him down. A dozen other rose, clawing wildly at him. Slowly, he sunk into the ground.
“But… I did protect the good… I died for them… why… why am I going to hell?”
“God… do you hear me? These people... They were hurting others. They had to be stopped! Do you hear me?” He pulled a hand off his mouth “They did this to themselves!” He struggled upwards “Someone had to deliver justice!” He grit his teeth “THEY FORCED ME TO DO IT!” Pointing his fist at the sky, he screeched:
“I`M INNOCENT! CAN`T YOU SEE? I`M DIFFERENT FROM THEM! GET ME OUT! LET GO OF ME! RRAAGGHHH!!”
Kyoya bolted straight up. With spiteful eyes he stomped the rotten arms back into the ground.
“DIE! GO TO HELL! FUCK YOU! FUCKING DIE ALREADY!”
Immediately a team of corpses dug themselves out of the ground. Kyoya locked eyes on one, before shoving a side kick into its abdomen. The wretched landed with a thud, and Kyoya`s heel smashed its face into a splattered pulp. Not wasting a second, Kyoya spun into his roundhouse. Like a scythe, his foot hooked onto a neck, pulling it towards the floor. A horrid crackle, and the head was folded neatly against the back.
Kyoya charged into the crowd. Grasping another head by its hair, he shank his thumb into its unfeeling earhole. The thing could not escape. His knees launched off the ground and pounded its ribcage until it became a rattling sack of bones. Others tried to attack Kyoya, but he swung the corpse wildly, knocking them down.
Kyoya stomped the ground madly, crushing skulls and milking brain mush out of their cavity. More corpses in the distance. He leaped, clasping his arms on a face. It tried to bite, but he torqued his core and yanked its head off. He grabbed the next two foes by gouging into their eye sockets. They desperately clawed at him before their skulls crashed into eachother, exploding into a firework of gore. One of them grabbed him from behind. He threw it over his shoulder, plucked its arm off, and used the bone to stab the next corpse in the throat…
Carnage ruled. Anger blazed. A man was losing his humanity. In despair, he become hell itself.
One to the left. Clobbered his head into batter. In front. Grabbed the helmet and beat him with it. Cared for what was behind, moved to somewhere clear. Hook. Spinning back kick. Grab, smash. He couldn`t remember how many he has killed. He couldn`t remember what these attacks are called anymore. He couldn`t remember why he was fighting anymore.
Until he pounced onto a familiar body. A female. Young. With a bullet hole in her head. Blood drenched her silver hair and sullen her radiant skin.
“Eirin?!”
“Hey, specimen.”
Kyoya staggered. Holding her in his arms, he frantically called out:
“Eirin! Eirin! I`m sorry! I`m-”
“There`s nothing to cry about, specimen.” The voice didn`t come from the corpse, but from outside.
“Just shoot me in the head. With the speed of a .38 magnum, the human brain won`t even realize that its dead. You would not fancy this body becoming infected. This is but a vessel, a probe searching for information. This body will perish, but I am unharmed. The spell I have cast on you, will lead you to where I am. Evolve, specimen. And look for me. Swear that you will find me.”
He could hear his own sobs, and the oath he made.
“I have been… to many places. Yet my data showed no stimulation similar to that of when I am by your side. Fufufufu, I can`t wait to meet you again, and finally understand what this phenomenon truly is.”
Then, she closed her eyes. Kyoya was beside her, with a gun in his hand. A gunshot resounded. And there she was, just a corpse in his arms.
“The hell… She was really an alien this whole time…” He peered into the void that has become silent “She`s a god... God has saved me…”
On that day, a baby was born. Not on earth, but on a far, far away planet.