SSS Ranked Awakening: I Can Rewind Time!-Chapter 46: Colorless World [2]

’W-where am I?’ Panic surged through my veins.

"..."

Everywhere around me was painted a bright orange, and the surroundings were littered with broken structures, burning buildings, and charred wooden structures.

Creak—!

Wooden planks fell onto the ground, bringing forth more flames. The flames roared, and rose into the sky, burning even more furiously with each passing second.

It was then that,

Ba- thump! Ba- thump!

I realized something strange.

I seemed to be viewing all this from a strange omniscient angle. A-Almost as if I were overseeing everything beneath me.

Just then,

"....!"

My eyes were drawn towards two figures. A young boy and a very young girl.

Chaaar!!! Whoosh—!

Surrounding them were bright flames that burned violently.

They hid behind a wooden structure as the flame burned continuously, bringing more structures to the ground.

"Who are they?" I muttered with a raised brow, confusion marring my features.

’What sort of trick is this?’ I wondered.

Yet, I watched on.

...I had no other choice.

Something about it drew me in.

"It hurts brother... It hurts."

The small girl who seemed to be around six years old cried out to her elder brother.

"It’s okay, Cassie."

He covered her in his arms and the flames burned and charred his body.

The pain.

It was so terrible.

It hurts.

It hurts like hell.

Yet, he knew this was his responsibility. S-She was his responsibility.

He stood before her and ensured the violent raging flames didn’t reach her. The broken structures did their best to block some of the waves, but some still managed to scorch his skin, sending a wave of pain and agony through him.

However,

Clench.

He stood tall. For she was his responsibility.

Despite his young age, he knew that much.

"Mum!!"

The young girl cried out, tears streaking down her pale, white skin.

"She’s coming, Cassie. She’s coming."

The boy had no idea if his mum was going to come or not.

But he knew he had to comfort his sister. He had to pacify her.

As he withstood the burning flames, his body slowly turned charred and the flames continued to burn him.

Pain.

Agony unlike never before rippled through every fiber of his being.

Tears streaked down the corner of his eyes as he waited.

Drip!

It hurts.

Yet,

He waited.

Shaarr!

It burns.

Yet,

Drip! Drip!

He persisted, tears falling freely from his cheeks.

...And then,

’It is so painful.’

Crack!

The door was flung open, and a figure dashed into the fire.

A figure I assumed to be their mum.

Her white hair cascaded down her shoulders as her eyes darted around. Soon, she caught sight of them.

Arriving before them, a smile slowly crept up Azrael’s pale and charred face.

’Finally.’ he forced a weak smile.

"Mum!"

"Mama it hurts!"

They both cried out at the same time.

"It’s okay. It’s all gonna be okay."

The flames burned violently around her and she immediately stretched her hand forward.

In an instant, his little sister was drawn out of the fire. And then, his mum dashed out of the building with his younger sister.

"...Mum!"

He cried out.

Mum... It hurts.

Mum... Aren’t you coming for me?

’Mum... Mum.’

He waited.

The flames burnt his skin and a charred color crept up his pale, white skin as tears slowly streaked down the corner of his face.

Drip!

Drip!

Mum...

He waited. And waited.

Yet,

Drip! Drip!

She never came back. She never came back for him.

I felt a surge of emotion surging within me as my hands got tightly clenched.

I tried to dash towards the young boy. I tried to save him. Tried to help out. But,

"Hahahaha."

As if the world itself was mocking me, I couldn’t move.

Drip! Drip!

Tears streaked down the corner of my face.

...Yet, even with all that, the boy never lost hope.

He waited.

The flames burned all around him, structures crumbling one after the other. Soon enough, it was also going to consume him.

’Doesn’t she want me?’

What did I do wrong?

His vision started to fade, a weird feeling rising in his heart as tears dripped onto the charred ground beneath him.

And just as the flames threatened to consume him, his outstretched hands was tugged on.

’I-Is it mum?’

That was the last thought on his mind as he blacked out, the world turning a dark shade.

Then-

...The scene changed.

"..."

The young boy opened his eyes to a ruined structure. Surrounding him were kids with hollowed eyes.

"I want to go home."

"Mum!"

"Where is this? Hic- Hic- I want to go home please."

"H-help... me. I’m scared."

Within the dark building, a boy cried. His voice echoed through the stifling quiet. He looked no older than seven, and he held his legs with both hands as sobs broke out from his chest.

"Waa...!"

"Wha!"

He could hear the cries of other children. Hugging his legs tightly, his body trembled as he hugged his body tightly.

’Where am I...?

’What’s going on?’

"...I-...I am scared."

Such was Azrael’s first memory of the Fallen sky.

From that day onward, he was subjected to endless torture.

"...I’m sorry."

He was beaten.

"It... hurts... I won’t do it again... Please don’t hit me."

And it never stopped there.

He was forced to repeat the same word over and over again, day after day, months after months.

"For the Fallen Sky!"

And he could remember how many times he had starved.

"...I’m hungry."

Day after day.

"It hurts."

Life was worse than hell.

’Uh... I can’t do this anymore... I really can’t.... It hurts.’

"Hic-... Hic-."

His cries echoed through the stifling quiet as he wept to himself.

Step. Step.

That was when another child approached.

Holding onto a piece of bread, the young boy shrouded in mist handed it to Azrael. Raising his head, Azrael stared at the bread. He blinked, unable to understand what was going on.

"F-For me?" he asked, his eyes gleaming in disbelief.

"Yeah."

That was when Azrael met the boy shrouded in mist.

He was stronger than the other children. He was smarter. He’d give them his share of his food whenever someone was hungry.

It didn’t take long for him to advance in rank.

But even then...

He could only help so much. Even as he starved, even as the hunger pangs tore through him like a dazzling arrow, and as he took beatings in place of the other children, it changed nothing.

The number of children within the group slowly dwindled.

"...When are we going to leave?"

Longing.

"When am I going to see mum again."

It slowly started to consume them.

"I’m hungry..."

Next came pain.

"My stomach hurts."

And it had only just started.

"It hurts... Mom... Please save me."

Even as his stomach roared in pain, his body turning as white as a thin sheet of paper, and his muscles growing feeble and weak to the extent whereby he could see his bones, the boy still gave his food to those who needed it most.

...Soon, Azrael followed in his steps. But even then, the death tolls only continued to increase.

"From today onwards. You will all be the dark unit."

And then-

"..."

The scene changed once again.

But this time around, Azrael found himself in the middle of a training ground. Save for the fact that this training ground was a... murder room.

Creak.

A figure stood in the centre of the room, and surrounding him were multiple teenagers.

The figure’s chest heaved up and down in... In excitement.

"Ha-ha-ha-haha-."

Crack! Crack!

The figure moved with uncanny precision.

"More!! More!!! More!!!!"

Puchi!

Blood dyed the ground red. But to Azrael, it wasn’t red. It was a vibrant pulsating color.

The first true color he had seen since the fire.

"Hahahaha."

One of his hands covered his face, and then, I could feel it.

The familiar glow. The chilling gaze.

It was slowly crawling towards him.

Madness.

It was slowly igniting within him.

"...More, More, More!!"

Creak!

It was slowly consuming him.

The teenagers shrieked and some cried as they all frantically ran for their lives.

But there was no escape.

Ba- thump! Ba- thump!

The door was locked down.

...Only one person could survive.

Azrael stared at his trembling hands.

’Only one person was going to come out of here, alive.’

His hands trembled as the gray world around him continued to shift. Slowly, but surely, he started to feel the slight change.

A wide grin slowly crept up his face.

"Hahahaha."

Madness overflowed from the depths of his eyes.

Crack!

He moved once again.

His sword severed heads off their bodies. The teenagers all banded together to put an end to him, but they stood no chance. It was as though Azrael was being backed up by some unseen force.

Each time he struck,

Drip!

Blood would glimmer in the lightless room.

"More! More!!!"

The more he killed, the more he got immersed in the feeling.

Puchi!

The more he basked in it.

It was thrilling.

Puchi!

Ecstatic.

T-hat feeling....

That cold soothing feeling.

’More!!! More!!’

He wanted more of it.

Drip! Drip!

Every drop of blood was a brush stroke, every wound a piece of art.

"Huff, Huff..."

Staring at the pile of corpses around him. No, to be more precise, the crimson liquid pooling around him, for the first time in what felt like ages ago, the edge of his lips curled into a smile.

"It’s... beautiful."

He whispered softly, his chest heaving up and down in... In excitement.

His hands trembled as the adrenaline within him slowly ebbed away.

...The last thing I saw was the bright smile on his face as he stared at the crimson liquid pooling around him.

And then—

Crack, Crack!

...The world shattered.

The gray monotone word crumbled into a chaotic mass of bright red.

Hence... he was born.

The psyche of Monochrome.

He was born here.

...Not out of malice, but out of a desperate yearning for meaning in a colorless world.

In search of the color that would give meaning to his life.

This was his life.

His story.

And it was all for one thing:

It was all in search of a colorful world.

...It was all to escape from the colorless world of his.

End of the Arc: Psyche Of Monochrome.