Hate.

"It was a futile endeavor nonetheless. You didn't stand a single chance." Rain snapped his fingers, causing a massive gash to open on my chest before blood sprayed outward. I tried to hold it in but couldn't stop the red liquid from pouring out from my insides, staining the pure snow in vivid crimson colors. "ENZO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sora screams with agony. Rain narrowed his gaze before him, lowering his shoulders as he took a deep breath and clenched his fists together, forming claws out of ice with them.

"So, that was your ace?" Rain smirked, turning his attention toward Sora. "Oh, sweet, naive boy." He paused momentarily as a terrible expression spread across his features, and then let out another laugh. Sora was terrified by the mere sight of what his father had just done in front of him.

"Get up. You aren't finished yet." A voice in my head called out to me. My eyes flutter open in confusion. At first, I was having trouble focusing clearly; all I could see were fuzzy shapes and blurry outlines. Gradually, however, I came into focus, managing to catch glimpses of vague objects, including shadows cast by my surroundings. There were footsteps somewhere close behind me and they sounded strangely familiar. "You're going to lose all those emotions," The voice taunts me once again; however, I paid it no mind and instead attempted to comprehend what it had told me.

Rain growled loudly, taking another step closer to the corpse lying on the floor below him, observing it with disdain and pity. I began standing up shakily as soon as I found my balance and saw Rain staring back at me in disbelief, his eyes wide in astonishment, yet he didn't react other than his usual frown appearing on his face. "Impossible."

Even though Rain used an authority to get rid of my mana, it was still there. It was like I was reborn with new abilities!

"Just fucking give it up. This is over." Rain threatened before aiming his right hand in front of himself once again and sending multiple dark spikes toward me, which I deflected effortlessly with one swift swing from my forearm and was hit straight in the gut, causing him to fall onto his back on the ground and vomiting blood immediately after the blow landed.

This is when I started to notice changes happening to me physically. I was stronger, my skin tougher, and more durable than ever before. Even when I take fatal blows, my body automatically heals them. This is a power I received from the blessed one, Imonojin.

I look up to find Sora's desperate form lying nearby, his wounds not quite visible from where I am standing. There was blood on his body. His face appeared almost blank, as if all the life had drained out of him completely, leaving just the empty husk in front of me. "You are broken." Rain grunted, punching me in the face again before tossing my lifeless body through the wall.

My body smacks against the side wall, causing a loud, echoing thud to be heard throughout the entire area. "Rain, just stop holding back and kill me already. You enjoy toying with people weaker than you. I understand that I have been bestowed this gift from the blessed one, Imonojin, however." Rain suddenly changed expressions from confident to nervous. "What the fuck did you just say? Imonojin...? There's no way you could be talking about Imonojin Katayama."

"Your father." I smirked back at him before landing my final strike. Imbibing the light mana that surrounds me, I begin concentrating all the light mana that lingers nearby into my right palm. The amount of pure white mana gathered around my arm starts shining brighter and brighter, causing the temperature to rapidly increase as well as heating up my own flesh.

When it got too much to handle, my hands turned crimson and started swelling. I clench them tight to hold off any discomfort caused by this feeling, but I still manage to continue channeling more magic into my arms.

"Getting the old man involved was your worst mistake; I lost all interest in you, so I'll be killing you now." Before I finished charging up, I was split in half. I didn't even have time to react as I watched my body fall to the ground. A horrific wailing noise comes from outside as several trees are engulfed by an intense fire and erupt into flames before quickly being consumed by its destructive power.

I lost focus in the last moments, the power within me dissipating; however, it seems like the spellwork still has enough energy left in it that has not exploded yet. There was an odd sensation coursing through my entire body, almost like a sort of pins-and-needles tingle on my skin.

"ENZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" All I could see was Sora running over to me. It was all just a blur; I can't even see much anymore aside from the colors and outlines of the things around me.

"It was worth a shot." I mutter weakly to him as he gets near. This is it, then—the end for me. At least this time, it won't matter how fast time moves while everything's happening to me; if death isn't immediate, I will be fine; it just depends on the degree.

Everything is growing dimmer and dimmer as the sound of something moving nearby catches my attention. It's so far away, though—so far from reaching its destination—the darkness. I don't think anyone else would care either way, except perhaps those closest to me. It doesn't matter, because in those last moments, I could hear myself begin crying softly at my impending demise.

"I tried to live up to your expectations... I just couldn't." I apologized to Sora as tears streamed down my face while I soaked the ground with every passing minute. My eyes closed involuntarily; everything had started fading away. But, before they did, there was a light—a light that illuminated all within its reach and beckoned me to look at it. At that moment, I felt no pain; I was at peace.