—The Whole World is painted in black.

Bleakness. Hopelessness. Despair.

In both the metaphorical and literal sense, the world is draped in a pitch-black curtain with not a single hint of light in sight.

—Where am I?

Even as he questions himself, his body didn't fail to maneuver itself in response to the overwhelming, relentless attacks of his enemy.

This fighting style relying mostly on his instincts was the method he hated to employ the most. It gave him a feeling as if he was no longer the one in control of his body—his fate. It was as if it wants to remind him of the cowardly actions he made in the past; the time he could not stop himself from fearing for his life and abandoning things that shouldn't be abandoned at all costs.

But then, as the current circumstance dawned upon him with greater clarity, he realized something.

'It's fine, no matter how I fight, I'll lose...'

Weakness? No, what dawned upon him was the futility of his actions. The overwhelming difference between the power held by him and his enemy is so enormous that a mere change in fighting style won't do any good.

As he regained enough capacity to think, things turned more and more clear to him. But make no mistake; This last visage of clarity came from overdrawing the last wisp of life in his body; others might call this "clarity before death".

Recovering his clarity was both a fortune and misfortune; for it helped him recognize his current predicament, but it also made him unavoidably recall the things that happened in this accursed life of his.

Nonetheless, once more, he realized the significance of this battle. This isn't just the usual hopeless battle everyone faced—which ironically became the norm for people living in this hellish world— no, this battle carries a much more significant meaning than that.

This is a blitz; an attack performed by the last surviving member of humanity against the strongest. Other races might regard this as the last struggle of a losing race, but still, it is a monumental event in human history, because this is...

—Humankind's last stand...

--

"My friend, if there's a next life—"

"If there really is—"

"I hope you won't waive so easily..."

"Don't run... Fight!"