I looked at the piles of corpses.

  "Why are you all so boring and sad?" I asked the dead. "Let’s live a little. Even now."

  I stomped my foot.

  SNAP.

  Mana pulsed through the ground, and the corpses began to rise clumsily, shaking off the mud.

  "Come on, half of you go that way, the other half go this way. Cut each other down, kill, spread fear. Entertain your savior."

  I stepped away merrily to the sound of the resumed slaughter, when suddenly...

  A White Wave swept in from the horizon. Massive, reaching the very sky, it swept away everything in its path. It passed through me, and I felt a strange prick.

  What? It felt as if I had forgotten something. Although... I didn't even know what exactly I had forgotten. Some piece of knowledge just evaporated, leaving behind a blank slate.

  POP.

  I teleported to the epicenter.

  There, in the very heart of the frozen world, stood something. White, radiant, vaguely resembling a human but devoid of features. It was screaming.

  "WHO ARE YOU WITHOUT YOUR MEMORIES?!"

  It touched one of the soldiers, and he instantly collapsed, turning into an empty shell.

  I walked forward and stumbled upon a body. A strange creature: black wings, something like horns... You could still discern something human in her, but she was a "vegetable." She lay in the dust, gasping convulsively, staring into the sky with empty, uncomprehending eyes. It felt like I had seen her before, but at the same time, I was seeing her for the first time.

  "Why are you suffering so much?" I muttered.

  I simply stepped on her head. Her skull shattered under my feet like a dry pumpkin. Finished. Mercy. (Author: Crying).

  I raised my eyes to the radiant being. It was half-stained with darkness.

  "How pathetic you all are..." it hissed.

  The Demon of Oblivion. I didn't know where that name came from in my head, but it sat there like it belonged.

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  "You?" the creature bared its teeth. "HA-HA-HA! Thank you!"

  It held out its palm, and another white wave hit me. I jumped back, trying to avoid contact, but it appeared right in front of me and struck again.

  A fire flared up in my head. The pathetic scraps of my memories began to burn, turning to ash. I grabbed my temples, trying to hold on to at least something.

  SNAP.

  The green light of regeneration flooded my body. I began to heal my brain faster than it could erase it.

  "HEY YOU! HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST YOUR MIND?! I’M GOING TO BURY YOU!"

  I lunged forward and slammed my fist into its glowing head. In response—another wave. Another piece of memory into the trash.

  "YOU FILTHY CREATURE!"

  We began to methodically beat each other. A strike—and I forget what I did yesterday. A strike in return—and again, I’ve forgotten something. This lasted for about five minutes.

  I jumped back, but my legs buckled. I... I didn't remember how to stand. How to control my own muscles. My center of balance simply vanished.

  The creature flickered; it was in a rage.

  "How... how are you still alive, you scum?!"

  "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SCUM?!"

  I sank my teeth into its spectral throat, and it did the same to mine. We rolled in the dust, driven by pure instinct.

  POP.

  I tore out a piece of its neck and swallowed it. It did the same. My body glowed green, mana boiled, but I no longer understood—was this me? Who am I? Why am I fighting? Who am I?

  What is my name? Who am I fighting?

  WHATEVER. I MUST WIN.

  The creature before me flickered, losing its light. It was in terror.

  "How?! Why aren't you forgetting?! Why are you still here?!"

  I staggered. My legs wouldn't obey; my arms hung like limp rags. But the mana inside was boiling. I teleported right up to it—for the last time.

  I don't know where the word came from. It just tore out of my throat.

  "DEATH."

  KABOO-OO-OM!

  The Demon of Oblivion exploded right in front of me. A blinding flash, and then—silence. Perfect, dead silence.

  I smiled. It seemed like a victory. And then I simply collapsed face-first into the mud.

  I lay there, not understanding how to breathe. I didn't know who I was. What is my name? Where am I? What kind of world is this? Everything was erased. I was empty, washed up on a shore.

  Suddenly, I felt warmth. Someone’s hand rested on the crown of my head and began to slowly, gently run through my hair. I closed my eyes. A familiar feeling.

  "I thought no one would win," Mira’s quiet, tired voice sounded. "Even Riza didn't withstand it. Look at her... she suffered a death she couldn't have imagined in her nightmares. Being a 'vegetable' was worse than the end of the world for her."

  She continued to stroke me, and I felt the storm inside slowly subside.

  "The Demon of Oblivion, then... Yes, little brother, if it weren't for you—who would have stopped her? I see you didn't waste any time in Hell. All the Fears have already whispered to me about your 'dealings.' You caused real chaos down there, well done. Because of you, heaven knows what's happening in the human world now—everyone has signed contracts with escaped demons and they’re cutting each other down, unable to win."

  Mira sighed. Her hand slid toward my ear.

  "Saw that friend of yours recently, the Demon of War. She got caught in the crossfire too. Remembered nothing, turned into a mindless doll. Had to kill her again... Seems like it's becoming a habit."

  She leaned in and whispered directly into my ear:

  "But it’s alright. You showed me the solution, Zen. You are our perfect end."

  I didn't answer. I didn't even have the strength for a thought. Under the rhythmic movement of her fingers, I fell into a deep sleep.