There are myriad ways humanity could perish.

The fragility of humankind is often an overlooked aspect in our daily lives; we take it as normal that the sun will rise and set every day without fail and that the rain will fall to give us water to drink.

But what if, one day, the sun never rises again?

What if, one day, it never rains again?

What if, one day, the oceans will swallow us whole?

What if, in the future, the moon and stars fall upon us?

These were the thoughts that were going through Ayame Yuuna’s mind when she was seven years old and sitting in the car looking out at sea.

 

Because of her father’s job, her family moved quite a bit throughout her childhood.

It was the eighth time in her life that they had to uproot their lives and move somewhere new.

Even though she was accustomed to this lifestyle by this point, she was still uneasy about moving around town like some kind of nomad.

She wished there would be somewhere where she could stay forever—a place she could call home.

After seven years and many more relocations, Ayame found herself in a situation in which she was surrounded by criminals who were equipped with a variety of makeshift weapons.

Bats equipped with nails, bats strapped with barbed wire, brass knuckles, Molotov cocktails, and even a katana were among the weapons used.

It was a dangerous situation... for the delinquents.

A young man who had been standing close to Ayame suddenly made a move toward the gang leader.

He was Yuuto Nanashi, a Muay Thai hobbyist who practices the Muay Khao style, a close-quarters fighting style that focuses mostly on the use of the knees and elbows.

His range was much less than that of barehanded fighters who specialize in kicking and punching since knee and elbow strikes have a shorter reach than kicks and punches.

But what he lacks in range, he makes up for in attack power.

In exchange for having a shorter range, he is able to deliver more damage to his opponents and is less likely to suffer wrist injuries as a result of poor punching setup or technique. He is also less likely to have his leg caught as knee strikes are significantly harder to grab than kicks.

Over a large period of time of fighting in the streets, he became a source of terror for the local delinquents, giving him the title “Demon Fist,” despite the fact that he barely uses his fists.

Yuuto drove his knee into the leader of the group.

The leader fell back onto the ground from the impact.

The rest of the delinquents attacked after seeing their leader pummeled by Yuuto.

He skillfully evades all of their attacks, every time the enemy attacks, he counters with his arms, preventing their attack midway or effectively using their own attack against them.

With nothing but his knees, elbows, extraordinary agility, and precise intuition, the group of delinquents failed to land any meaningful blow on him and earned nothing but a mind-numbing beatdown.

His knees and elbows are like a spear that cannot be stopped and an arrow that cannot be dodged.

“What are you spacing out for Ayame? Ohh shit, they have a gun, they have a gun,” Yuuto pointed behind Ayame when he saw a man loading a round object into a PVC pipe. “Get down!”

He shoved her off-balance and rolled just before a marble could hit the place they were standing earlier.

He suddenly stood up with an angry expression.

“Fuck! If I get my hands on you, I’m going to put an ‘I lose’ button right in between your asymmetrical eyes!” Yuuto threatened the shooter as he ran full speed in the shooter’s direction.

The shooter was far from him, allowing the shooter to have another chance to reload before aiming at Yuuto again.

The shooter tried to load another liquid into the gas tank and marble into the pipe when he noticed that Yuuto had disappeared.

Unbeknownst to him, Yuuto had entered one of the dark alleys.

The gunner looked around in panic while trying desperately to reload the weapon.

Just as he was done reloading, Yuuto appeared behind him, approaching from a distance away.

He aimed at Yuuto’s head.

Pop. The sound of the marble hitting the pavement rang through the alleyway.

He had missed. Yuuto, without fear, predicted the marble’s trajectory and ducked down just as the shooter fired.

Yuuto quickly leaped towards him and grasped the other end of the gun with his right hand to prevent him from using the gun against him again.

With one swift motion, Yuuto rotated his upper body. He removed his arm from the gun as he spun clockwise and used his elbow to hit near the ear area.

He made a mistake in his calculations and struck the guy in the neck region; nevertheless, the elbow had already done its harm, and the man fell backward onto the floor unconscious.

The rest of the group immediately ran away, but they were blocked by Ayame.

Completely off guard and not noticing her in front of them, one delinquent was knocked out by a straight knee strike from Ayame.

The other delinquent ignored his friend and continued to run away, but he was caught by Ayame, and they rolled on the ground.

He tried to pull Ayame’s hair, but she responded by rapidly hitting his head with both of her elbows until he got knocked out.

Yuuto approached her, “Are you okay? You took quite a beating.” he asked.

Ayame nodded and said, “Yeah. I don’t feel so great, though…”

Her face showed no sign of pain, which meant that she wasn’t injured too badly. However, her voice sounded strained.

“What are we going to do now?” Ayame asked.

Yuuto walked towards the gunner and didn’t respond. Then, he took the gun and said, “Hold him still, Ayame. I’ll finish him off.”

The gunner, who was barely awake, felt his heart sinking into despair upon hearing those words.

He knew what was coming next.

Yuuto refilled the gas tank and loaded the marble into the pipe.

He aimed above at the gunner’s nose, “I told you, didn’t I? That I’m going to put an ‘I lose’ button right in between your eyes.”

Bang! A soft bang echoed throughout the area.

Yuuto didn’t actually load a marble inside the pipe, but it served its purpose.

The gunner had pissed himself in fear.

His mouth opened wide, but only a faint moan escaped it.

Ayame smiled, knowing that Yuuto wouldn’t kill the man.

Yuuto and Ayame’s daily life of beating up random thugs went on for about a few months. Ayame was on cloud nine. She had never felt happiness like this before.

She felt at home, a feeling she had never felt since her family often relocated.

She even learned how to fight, thanks to Yuuto teaching her.

But all good things must come to an end.

One day, she heard that Yuuto was attacking a hideout of gangsters.

 

When she arrived at the hideout and opened the door, the smell of blood and vomit assaulted her nostrils.

The hideout is drenched in blood, with bodies scattered around and pools of crimson liquid soaking into the floorboards.

The room is filled with the smell of death and decay, and as Ayame approaches, she sees Yuuto standing in the hallway, his hands covered in gore, gripping the throats of several gangsters.

It was then that she realized beneath her feet was a small owl, obviously dead.

It was Yuuto's pet owl, Ruru.

Yuuto turned his head around to look at her.

Ayame watches in horror as the unnaturally slow rotation of Yuuto’s neck sends chills down her spine, and she feels her hair stand up on end as goosebumps rise on her arms.

Yuuto’s gaze is cold and unfeeling, his eyes dead and expressionless.

It seems as though all emotion and humanity have been extinguished from his being, leaving behind a void that appears to threaten to consume everything around him.

Yuuto’s movements are slow and relaxed as he walks towards Ayame with a calm and measured pace.

His dark hair flows behind him, and his piercing gaze seems to look through her as he strides forward.

She was terrified, and her greatest concern was that he would also take her life.

However, he did not pay any attention to her as he made his way toward the exit.

After a short while, he found himself outside of the compound, maintaining the same unhurried and relaxed gait.

 

Days later, Yuuto’s family moved away.

He was never arrested, thanks to his uncle being the police chief in the area.

They easily framed it as a fight between two gangster groups.

After all, who would believe that a high school student would be capable of such brutality?

Ayame cried for days, knowing she might never meet him again.

As she moved on from the loss, a new feeling had begun to replace it, an obsession of sorts.

Every time she remembered Yuuto’s gaze on her in that accursed red room, she felt a surreal feeling of ecstasy and excitement.

Ayame’s father had changed professions, allowing her to stay in the same city, but it didn’t feel the same as before.

Her life felt dull. She was consumed by a feeling of monotony and stagnation.

She felt listless and uninspired, no matter how much she fought against the other local thugs and gangsters.

Two years later, Yuuto’s family returned to the city.

A surge of excitement and anticipation rushed through Ayame as she saw Yuuto walking towards her.

Her eyes were alight with hope, and her body seemed to thrum with energy.

Her heart raced, and her breath quickened as she longed to be reunited with her old friend.

But he was no longer the same.

The once confident and strong-willed Yuuto now moved with an air of vulnerability and uncertainty.

His eyes were vacant and empty, seeming to lack the fierce passion and determination that once drove him.

The once withdrawn and seemingly aloof Yuuto had become a social butterfly, chatting and laughing with his classmates and friends.

He seemed far more confident and at ease with himself, no longer plagued by the loneliness and isolation that had once consumed him at school.

As Ayame watches Yuuto from afar, she is filled with both hope and anguish, taken aback by the stark contrast she sees in Yuuto.

She is disheartened and confused by his transformation, longing for the old Yuuto, who is strong and determined.

Her heart races as she longs for him to be the same strong and determined person he once was.

She is simultaneously angered and horrified by his transformation, feeling a sense of loss as she watches him interact with his classmates.

She becomes consumed by the desire to see him return to his former self and is driven to act out in increasingly desperate and manipulative ways.

This was because, deep within her gut, she believed that Yuuto could return to his former self and become the man she fell in love with once again.

She becomes enraged by the mere thought of someone changing so drastically, vowing to do whatever it takes to bring Yuuto back from the edge.

But, every single day, she began to hate the new Yuuto.

She was maliciously grinning as she watched Yuuto stand alone, waiting for her in the cold after asking him out on a date and making him wait for hours and hours on end.

She moves with predatory confidence, easily manipulating and controlling others with her words and actions. She seems to take pleasure in causing pain and misery, using any means necessary to get what she wants.

She taunts him, mocking him for being so easily led and manipulated, directing thugs after him, a malicious gleam in her eyes as she revels in his suffering.

She takes delight in seeing Yuuto suffer and does everything in her power to torment and torment him.

She became much more sinister and evil, but he never changed.

The senior high school graduation was approaching, but he was still the same new coward.

But she was not aware that in just a year, life would give her another surprise.

And that her life would take more depraved turns.

 

 

 

A century had passed since.

The once bustling city streets are now a desolate wasteland, filled with the rusted, abandoned remains of what were once urban dwellings.

The streets are overgrown with weeds, and the air is filled with a heavy stillness.

Ruined buildings and dilapidated structures stand in ruins, their windows are shattered, and their doors are broken.

The Earth is dry and barren, choked by a layer of dust and ash that blankets everything in sight.

In the distance, silhouettes of cars and skeletons can be seen protruding from the lifeless landscape.

There is no sign of life, save for the occasional vulture circling overhead.

Everything seems to have been left behind as if time had simply stopped and moved on without it.

The sky is gray and dim, and there is no sign of life anywhere.

Through the desolation, a lone figure sits above the skies, silently watching as time passes on.

 

Amid the ruins of a once-bustling city, an emaciated man named Arthur stands alone, his tattered clothes and weary face evidence of the hardships he has endured.

He is one of the few survivors of a great war that wiped out most of humanity, and he struggles to maintain his meager existence in a world that has been reduced to chaos and desolation.

The three hundred survivors, which included Arthur, were being torn apart by constant fighting.

A week later, after their exit from the bunker, their group began to split apart.

Arthur decided to head out on his own to see if there was anything out there when she was approached by another survivor named Melissa.

She joined him in his quest to explore the world and seek a safe haven.

But after months of exploring, there had been no progress.

And Melissa was wounded when she scraped while trying to run away from a collapsing building.

The wound became infected, and she had been sick for three days.

She was flushed and feverish, sweating with chills and hugging Arthur as they lay together in their makeshift bed.

Unfortunately for Arthur, she died in the night.

Arthur cried for days and nights, begging to be put to death, but his body was tough, and he lived despite the harsh conditions.

He cried for another night when in the distance, something flew through the air toward his location.

Arthur, with tears in his eyes, looked up to see a girl sitting on a flying red spear, like a witch sitting on her broom.

She was wearing a dark double-breasted coat and a black skirt covering her legs below knee length, ending in a pair of leather boots that reached almost mid-thigh.

She had long dark hair with full, straight bangs and sidelocks.

His eyes widened in shock when he recognized this young woman.

She was the witch who destroyed the world, Ayame Yuuna.

The one who caused the great war.

She stole and smuggled nuclear weapons to countries in secret and manipulated them into fighting one another.

Soon a small war between two nations grew into a worldwide conflict.

And its result was this, nothing but total devastation.

“K-kill m..e,” he pleaded weakly.

Ayame smiled and then placed the back of her palm underneath her chin.

“Very well,” she said with a smile on her face.

“Strike true, Gungnir!” she roared.

Arthur’s body is wracked with agony as the red spear plunges deep into his chest, leaving a gaping hole that bleeds freely.

His face is contorted in pain, his eyes wide with desperation.

As his vision fades, Arthur sees the face of his wife, Melissa, hovering in front of him. She is smiling warmly, her eyes shining with love and compassion.

He died in the arms of Melissa.

 

Spiders spin their webs without needing to be taught - Instinct.

Hot air or water rises when it’s hot and sinks when it’s cold - Behavior.

Stars, planets, and asteroids will always orbit in an elliptical shape - Law.

These are all directives.

Just as you are finding food now so that you can eat, or the fact that you would kill a person just to survive. All objects in this world are born with a directive.

I, too, was born with a directive.

And the directive given to me - is to exterminate a single species - humanity!

 

Ayame stands alone in a barren wasteland, her eyes filled with determination.

She grips a gleaming spear in her hands and seems poised to strike at any moment.

She is the last living human on Earth after killing the other survivors, and thus she must kill herself to finish the job.

She threw the spear that gave her immortality into the sky.

It arcs through the sky like a shooting star, its gleaming red surface glowing a crimson flare.

Ayame’s face is twisted in pain and anguish as the cold, hard point of the spear pierces her heart, sending ripples of shock and agony through every inch of her being.

Ayame falls to the ground, her eyes blank and lifeless as she lies motionless.

Ayame Yuuna had died.

 

 

<<Atlas System Notification Start>>

[Eradication of humankind: Status completed]

[Death of User-01 (Yuuto Nanashi): Status completed]

[Death of User-02 (Ayame Yuuna): Status completed]

[Awakening of User-01’s latent ability: Status Failure]

[Awakening of User-02’s latent ability: Status Partial Success]

[Eradication Record has been logged]

[Restarting Awakening Procedure]

[Planet CVS-2A7B (Earth) Rollback: Status in progress]

[Planet CVS-2A7B (Earth) restoration: Status in progress]

[Planet CVS-2A7B (Earth) restoration: Status completed]

[Restoration of human entities from the soul memory table: Status in progress]

[Restoration of human entities from the soul memory table: Status completed]

[Off-world intruders detected]

[Transporting User-01 (Yuuto Nanashi) to Planet CXS-4203 (Artia): Status in progress]

[Transporting 40 Random users to Planet CXS-4203 (Artia): Status in progress]

[Transporting User-01 (Yuuto Nanashi) to Planet CXS-4203 (Artia): Status failure]

[Transporting 40 Random users to Planet CXS-4203 (Artia): Status completed]

[Transporting User-01 (Yuuto Nanashi) to Planet CXS-4203 (Artia): Scheduled restart in thirty minutes]

[Randomizing Planet CVS-2A7B (Earth) history: Status in progress]

[Randomizing Planet CVS-2A7B (Earth) history: Status completed]

[Transporting User-01 (Yuuto Nanashi) to Planet CXS-4203 (Artia): Status completed]

[Planet CVS-2A7B (Earth) rollback: Status completed]

<<Atlas System Notification End>>

 

 

But she didn’t know that fate had more surprises for her. And that the second chapter of her life is merely about to begin.