**Volume 2: Upper World**

  **Chapter 110: What Do You Wanna Be?**

  **(Arc: Beginning of the End)**

  July 4th, 1:17 a.m. – Shinjuku (Ray’s Realm of the Gods – Final Collapse)

  Jason ran.

  He didn’t look back at the burning plaza, the blood rivers turning to steam, the obsidian mountains crumbling into dust. He just ran — dark blue-pink aura trailing like smoke — straight toward Ray.

  Sky clapped Max’s hands — once — sharp — light blue and green will energy snapping together like a spark. In that split second Ray swapped places again — purple energy flickering — thinking he’d put Max in Jason’s path.

  He didn’t.

  Jason was already there.

  He twisted mid-air — legs snapping around Ray’s neck like a vice — thighs locking tight — then threw. Ray’s body spun — six arms flailing useless — crashed toward Max. Max summoned a shadow dog — massive, green-eyed, roaring — fist cocked back — punched Ray square in the chest as he flew past. The impact cracked the air — Ray’s ribs snapping inward — purple aura stuttering — body tumbling through the blood river, sending crimson waves splashing high.

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  Ray landed hard — rolled — got up coughing purple-tinted blood — eyes glowing violent.

  He clapped both hands — will energy exploding outward — a massive shockwave of purple force — like a dying star going off. The blast hit everyone — Sky, Max, Jason — throwing them back. Sky hit an obsidian boulder — cracked it in half. Max slammed into a bone island — shadows cushioning the fall. Jason skidded across the ground — boots carving trenches — but got up first.

  All three rose — side by side — breathing ragged, blood dripping, auras flaring weak but stubborn.

  A god against three broken boys fighting for a world that had already taken everything from them.

  Ray stood thirty feet away — six arms retracting back to two — purple aura rolling like thunderclouds — calm again.

  Sky looked at Max — then Jason — then Ray.

  Max’s shadows curled weak around his boots — green Gem dim but still glowing.

  Jason wiped blood from his mouth — dark blue-pink aura steadying — eyes hard.

  Sky’s light blue flickered — infinite frames trying to hold — infinite blood still leaking from wounds that wouldn’t close fast enough.

  No words. No speeches. Just three kids who’d lost too much standing against the one who’d taken it all.

  The chapter ended with a single question echoing in the silence — a memory from months ago like March back when everything was still possible.

  A classroom. A teacher — Mr. Joe — smiling gentle. Joy beside him — golden glow soft. The main cast — younger, untouched — sitting at desks.

  “What do you wanna be when you grow up?”

  Sky — , hoodie up — had said “I just wanna keep my friends safe.”

  Max — grinning — “Pro soccer player. And make shadow puppets for kids.”

  Frosty — pigtails, ice nails tapping the desk — “I wanna make snow days every day.”

  Kira — quiet, katana across her lap — “Someone people can rely on.”

  Hiro — golden glow faint — “A healer. So no one hurts anymore.”

  Aoi — knees hugged — “Somewhere far away… where it’s quiet.”

  Taka — sword leaning against his desk — “Strong enough to protect what matters.”

  Mara — void eye dim — “The best hunter. For them.”

  Cam — wolves curled at his feet — “I wanna be the guy who never leaves his friends behind.”

  Mr. Joe had smiled — “You’ll all be great.”

  The memory faded.

  Now — in the ruins — only Sky, Max, Jason stood. Taka knocked out

  The question hung in the air — unanswered, broken, still burning.

  To be continued…