A saviour?

  Or another threat?

  Jin barely had time to exhale – barely had time to think before the world shifted again. One moment, the air seemed to warp as the monstrous corpse of the black dragon crumpled to the earth, its decapitated form still twitching in the dust. Next, it ceased to exist. As if all his trouble, pain and suffering were never there to begin with.

  And then, it was there.

  Another dragon. But not like the first.

  This one was smaller. Way smaller. With its obsidian scales slick as polished onyx, it stood no taller than Jin himself, its horns included. Yet its presence filled the space, the void, the everything. As if the very dimensions of the collapsing realm had bent to accommodate its existence.

  Then it moved, appearing in front of Jin in less than a blink.

  His breath hitched.

  He hadn’t seen it arrive. No. He couldn’t have seen it. There’d been no rush of wings, no scrape of claw on ground. It had simply materialised, like a shadow stepping from the edge of an abyss.

  Jin’s backside hit the ground; the dying carbuncle clutched to his chest. His laugh was raw, laced with the hysteria of a man who’d stared death in the face one too many times.

  “What do they say again?” He grinned, though it felt more like a grimace. “Out of the frying pan, into the fire?”

  But he wasn’t done just like that. One last act of defiance left. Go out with a bang. He glared into the dragon’s eyes, itching to flip it off, to spit a curse or two. But when their gazes locked, the world stilled.

  His world.

  If the first dragon’s gaze had been nothing but a butcher’s blade with red slit, exuding nothing but primal terror, this one had no pupils. Only an endless expanse of blue-green depths, swirling like a cosmos trapped in small twin orbs. Stars – no, constellations – flickered within, pulsing with gentle light of myriad colours. It was the hue of cacophonic harmony over an alien sea; serene and divine.

  Jin’s throat went dry. If this was how he died, if this was the last thing he saw, then maybe the universe wasn’t entirely without mercy. His fate sealed, under the feet of the majestic divinity.

  The dragon did not move. It did not need to. Its voice, when it came, wasn’t a sound. It was pressure. A resonance that bypassed Jin’s ruined ears and vibrated in his bones straight to his very soul.

  “You want to talk?” Jin scoffed, his voice rough with exhaustion. “What for? We’re all going to die one way or another. You kill us now, or the RIFT does – what’s the difference?”

  Jin’s earlier defiance disappeared, replaced with a certain acceptance. Of his eventual death. All he did next was to lie down on the ground, sprawled and caressing the carbuncle on its chest.

  “Don’t worry, partner. I’ll follow you. Soon.”

  The dragon did not answer. Instead, it lifted a single claw and pressed it to Jin’s forehead.

  Jin tensed before cracking into a smile. “Fine. Make it quick. Painless. Or I’ll curse you to kingdom come, bastard!”

  But there was no pain. No blood. Not even a single movement. Just light. A blinding light.

  A surge of memories flooded his mind. Not as an assault, but as an unfurling revelation. One that he was too familiar with. Every moment of his life, from his first breath to the present, played out before him like a film reel. Vivid, vibrant and yet, unnerving.

  He saw his childhood in Neo-Tokyo, how he survived through his troubled youth, joined the yakuza, the day he met Elyzabeth, the birth of his daughter, the years of grief and survival that followed. It wasn’t invasive. It was inevitable, like the turning of seasons.

  And then – the dragon spoke.

  This time, Jin heard it clearly. It was not any voice. It was a resonance. Of something deeper. Something more profound. Deep, smooth and timeless like a godly revelation uttered from the edge of the creation. And in every language that Jin ever knew – Japanese, Chinese, Korean, English, Russian, and French. All at once yet perfectly understandable.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Or maybe, just maybe, nearing his death, his mind was playing tricks on him.

  “You… are human?”

  It was not a question. No. It was a statement. A realisation.

  “From Earth?”

  Jin’s eyes widened. “You-you can talk?”

  “I see you and the little one have endured much.” Its claw retracted, leaving no mark, no trace of its touch. Then it flapped its wing once – oddly enough, one was smaller than the other. “I am… impressed.”

  Jin was stunned. He’d read every report, every scrap of lore, official or not, on monsters since the RIFT ever appeared. But none ever recorded a speaking monster. None ever understood human language. Or any language.

  Yet, there was one in front of his eyes, right now. Any other time, he would be the one who was impressed.

  But this was not the time to get dazzled – his situation was grave.

  He let out a bitter chuckle. “What’s the point? We’re all dead anyway. You, me, this little one…” He caressed the dying carbuncle. “The RIFT’s closing. Can you not feel it?”

  The dragon tilted its head, its cosmic gaze deep and unfathomable. “Dead?” It considered the next words. “Why?”

  “Why?” Jin laughed before gesturing weakly at the nothingness creeping in at the edges of the cave. “Look around. You tell me why. The RIFT’s collapsing. No escape. No second chances.”

  The dragon’s voice was calm, almost amused by what it heard. “I know.” A pause followed. “But why must I die?”

  The space around them shook. Another system announcement blared through the void, in its cold and unforgiving tone.

  <<< DEBUGGING COMPLETE. TO ENSURE DIMENSIONAL STABILITY, THE RIFT WILL NOW PROCEED TO CLOSE. >>>

  “Hear that? Wonder who the announcement is for? We’re the only ones here.” Jin shot out a chuckle. Almost amused by his predicament. “Like I said, it's a dead end. Game over. Poof.”

  The dragon did not flinch. It did not need to. It simply watched as the world turned into an abyss. As if it had already seen the end of all things and found it lacking.

  “This… make you die?”

  The dragon’s gaze swept across the newly formed void around them. Before Jin could press further, a barrier snapped into existence, encasing them in a translucent bubble.

  “I do not need this… but you and the little one do,” the dragon said. “In here, you are safe with me.”

  “Huh? What?”

  Confused, Jin struggled to sit. His left side twitched momentarily. And when glanced downward, he froze. The missing limb was back; the flesh knitted seamlessly, as if it had never been gone. He flexed his fingers, pinched it and was left stunned.

  How could it be?

  Right then, another System Announcement blared. This time, it was the final one.

  <<< THE RIFT IS NOW CLOSED. >>>

  The cave, the trees, the ground - all of it vanished, replaced by an endless dark gorge. A void without form or sound. As vast and far as one could see.

  Jin’s breath skipped. His fingers twitched against the carbuncle’s fur, his mind racing, unable to keep up with what happened.

  “So… that’s it? We’re still alive?”

  “Is that not what you want?”

  “B-But…”

  “But?”

  “But what now?” Jin shook his head, lost in his thoughts. “Thanks, I guess. For helping us. I guess this is better than being swallowed by… by that. Like they say, some deaths are better than others.”

  “Are you not happy being alive? Or do you like dying?”

  “Dying? Hell no!” Jin snapped back at the question. Not out of malice but frustration. “Who wants to die? I know I don’t. I still have lots to do. But tell me, how the hell we’ll escape from… from this?”

  “Escape?” the small black dragon said. “There is no escape. It ends here. It will be only you, the little one and me.”

  Jin slumped his shoulder. “See? So, no matter what, that’s it, huh?” Jin heaved a long, deep sigh, finally accepting his fate. “Well, it would be nice if there were a drink to accompany me.”

  “Drink? Accompany? Why? Do you not like my company?”

  Jin laughed. Amused but also had a tinge of bitterness. “You can join me anytime. But I would rather do that at home. Back in my place. You can drink and eat all you want.”

  “Home? You wish to return home?”

  “Yeah?” Jin sounded sceptical. Everything he’d experience today had been nothing short of weird, like a roller coaster deep into an unknown abyss. Not that he was inside one itself.

  "Humans. You ask for life. Then you ask for home." A pause followed. "What is this ‘home’ that you cling to now?"

  Jin blinked, thrown off by the question. "What do you mean, ‘what is it’? It’s where I belong. Where my daughter is. My friends."

  “Very well, then. If you wish to return to this ‘Earth’… then you will have to wait," the dragon said, as if it finally understood what Jin wanted.

  "Wait?" Jin’s voice rose a few pitches higher. But he held himself back. He had been burned before, and today’s lesson was one of them. "You mean… I can actually go back?"

  “Yes.”

  Jin laughed. Raw. Bitter. But it was also a release.

  "YOU HEAR THAT?! I’M GOING HOME! HOME! Baby, Dad’s coming back! I’ll promise to buy you that makeup set you always wanted!"

  The dragon watched him in silence, its vast mystic eyes gleaming with intrigue. A couple more words that were alien to it were spoken by the man, now dancing his heart out.

  Once the little celebration was over, Jin wiped his face off drool, though he still grinned like a fool. “Anyway. Since we’ve got time…”

  He adjusted his posture, cradling the carbuncle – now sleeping peacefully. And to Jin’s pleasant surprise, its gemstone was restored. Life had returned to his saviour.

  “I’m Sasaki Ji-ah, right. You already know.” He smirked. “Ishikawa Kazuma. Or I was. Call me Jin.”

  “And the little one?”

  “This little one?”

  Jin’s fingers brushed the carbuncle’s fur, his voice softening. Almost as if he were speaking near a newborn. He owed this creature his life more than he could ever repay. A proper name should be the bare minimum.

  “She’s brave. Stubborn. Too damn smart for her own good.” His smile warmed. “Fight like a proper warrior too.” He then paused for a moment before revealing the carbuncle’s name. “Viridiana. Viri for her green fur. Diana for the divine. And you? What’s your name?”

  “Mine? Bahamut.”

  The dragon yawned, then spoke as if reciting a long-forgotten verse.

  “God-Emperor of Allbeast, Ruler of the Cosmic and known Universe and the First System Arbiter, Divinia Bahamut.”