FREEDOM
1033 Words
The desert was gone.
Where it stood: glass. Melted.
Where the Master stood: a god.
12 arms. 4 faces. Stars in its skin.
*“YOU ARE NOTHING WITHOUT IT,”* the Master said. All 4 voices. *“GIVE IT BACK.”*
Enma stood. 0%.
Kurenai stood next to him. 0%.
Behind them: Jin. Aoi. The Wanderer. Everyone.
No red.
No King whispering.
Just them.
Enma took a step forward.
“Then come take it.”
The Master roared.
---
*THE FIGHT: GOD VS HUMAN*
The first arm came down.
Enma didn’t dodge with power. He dodged with timing.
It missed by 1cm and vaporized the ground.
Second arm. Kurenai slid under it.
Third. Fourth.
The Master was fast. Too fast.
One arm caught Kurenai and threw her.
She hit a rock and stood. Bleeding. “That’s gonna leave a mark.”
*“INSIGNIFICANT,”* the Master said.
It grabbed Enma.
All 12 arms.
Squeezed.
Enma’s ribs cracked.
His vision went black.
_“GIVE IT TO ME,”_ the Master said. _“THE POWER. THE SYNC.”_
Enma opened his eyes. 0%.
“No,” Enma said.
And he bit down.
On the arm.
Human teeth. On a god.
The Master screamed and threw him.
Enma hit the ground and stood.
Blood in his mouth. Bones broken.
Kurenai was next to him. “That was stupid.”
“Worked,” Enma said.
They ran.
Not away.
*At it.*
Enma hit the leg.
Kurenai hit the other leg.
No Sync.
Just force.
Just will.
The Master stumbled.
*“YOU CANNOT WIN,”* it said. *“I AM ETERNAL.”*
Enma looked up at it. “So am I.”
---
*THE TRUTH*
The Wanderer was watching from the edge.
He was crying.
_“This is it,”_ he whispered. _“This is what she wanted.”_
Aoi was next to him. “What?”
“The Sync was never meant to fight demons,” the Wanderer said. “It was meant to fight _this._”
He pointed at the Master. “The Architect made the Sync from the Master’s blood. To kill it. But she got scared. She made the Wall instead.”
Jin looked at him. “So all of this...”
“Was her running away,” the Wanderer said. “But Enma isn’t.”
Below: Enma and Kurenai were climbing the Master.
Arm to shoulder.
Shoulder to neck.
Neck to face.
The Master tried to grab them. Missed.
Enma reached the first face.
It had no eyes. Just a mouth.
Enma punched it.
The face cracked.
The Master screamed.
*“STOP!”*
Enma didn’t stop.
Kurenai reached the second face.
She headbutted it.
It cracked.
The Master fell to its knees.
The ground shook.
---
*THE OFFER*
The Master grabbed them both.
Held them in front of its third face.
This one had eyes. Red. Sad.
*“WHY?”* it asked. *“WHY DO YOU FIGHT?”*
Enma was bleeding. Broken. 0%.
“Because of him,” Enma said. Pointing down. At Jin.
“Because of them,” Kurenai said. Pointing at the camp.
“Because we’re not yours,” Enma said.
The Master was quiet.
Then: *“JOIN ME. BE GODS. RULE WITH ME.”*
Enma laughed. “Hard pass.”
The Master’s face twisted.
*“THEN DIE.”*
It raised all 12 arms.
Above: the sky opened.
And from it: *CHAINS.* Thousands. Coming down.
To bind. To take. To end.
The Wanderer yelled. “ENMA! NOW!”
Enma looked at Kurenai.
Kurenai nodded.
They held out their hands.
The stone. The Anchor.
It was glowing. Hot.
Enma crushed it.
Light exploded.
---
*0%*
Not red light.
*White.*
It hit the chains.
The chains stopped.
Then turned to dust.
It hit the Master.
The Master screamed.
Its skin started cracking.
Stars leaking out.
*“WHAT DID YOU DO?”* it yelled.
Enma smiled. Blood on his teeth.
“I let go.”
The light kept going.
Into the Master.
Into the sky.
Into the Wall.
The Wall shook.
The 70 floors glowed.
Then: *CRACK.*
And fell.
Not down.
*Inward.*
The Wall collapsed into itself.
Into nothing.
The tear closed.
The Master screamed one last time.
And then: *silence.*
It was gone.
Just dust.
---
*AFTERMATH.*
No Wall.
No Master.
No Sync.
Enma was on his knees. 0%.
Kurenai next to him. 0%.
Both of them breathing.
Jin ran to them. “Brother! Brother are you okay!”
Enma looked at him. Smiled. “Yeah.”
Aoi was crying.
Hana was cheering.
The kids were running.
The Wanderer walked to them. “You did it.”
Enma looked at him. “The Wall’s gone.”
The Wanderer nodded. “Good. It was a prison.”
He knelt. “You’re free.”
Enma looked at the sky. Blue. No red. No tear.
Free.
---
*1 YEAR LATER.*
No F-Blocks.
No Wall.
No Sync.
Just people.
Enma was sitting on a roof. In a city.
Real city. With lights. With kids.
Jin was next to him. 0%.
No red lines.
Kurenai dropped down. 0%. “You two look dumb.”
She sat between them.
Below: people were living.
Working. Laughing.
No soldiers. No S-Class.
Just people.
Kurenai bumped Enma. “So. What now?”
Enma looked at the horizon. “We live.”
Jin smiled. “Rule 3.”
Enma smiled back. “Rule 3.”
---
*EPILOGUE: THE WANDERER*
The Wanderer was old. Dying.
He was sitting at a grave.
The Architect’s.
“I did it, little sister,” he said. “He did it.”
He looked at the sky. “No more Walls. No more prisons.”
He closed his eyes.
And smiled.
---
*FINAL SCENE: ENMA*
Night.
Enma was alone on the roof.
He held out his hand.
No red.
No glow.
Just skin.
He closed his hand.
And for the first time in his life:
*It was his.*
He looked at the stars.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
To no one.
To everyone.
*FADE TO BLACK.*
*THE END
- Writer
