Entering Apocalypse in Easy-Mode
Chapter 533: Something Stirred

Chapter 533: Something Stirred

Ray stood amidst the carnage, the air thick with the iron scent of blood and the silence that only death could bring.

His chest rose and fell however not from panic or from fear. But from something else, satisfaction, his victory, adnd released feelings.

He looked around slowly, as if admiring an art piece he’d just completed. The sprawled bodies. The red stains. The way the warm blood still trickled down cracks in the concrete.

It was horrible and was violent. But to him, it was beautiful.

"I did it," he whispered to himself, his voice light and trembling. "I really did it."

A breath escaped his lips and then a laugh. Soft at first, then louder, deeper, the laugh rising like a wave.

His shoulders shook with it. It was real laughter not forced or frantic, but joyful. For the first time in his life, Ray felt truly alive. He felt powerful and not helpless.

He laughed for minutes, alone in the shadowed corner of the gym, surrounded by still bodies and warm blood.

He wiped his face with a sleeve, smearing red across his cheek.

Then, as his laugh faded into a quiet grin, Ray looked at the blade still clutched in his hand. It pulsed and hummed. It felt eager and hungry. He somehow knew what it could do next.

"Burn them," he said softly. "Make it all disappear."

A flicker of red light glowed from the weapon’s cracked surface, then it flared into fire. Black-edged flames wrapped around the blade like a living thing.

Ray flinched, but the fire didn’t burn him. Instead, it caressed his skin like a breeze.

He looked at the blade in awe. "So it can do this... but where does that power come from? Magic?"

He remembered shows he used to watch. Stories where swords drew power from their wielder’s magic power.

But he didn’t have mahic power. He wasn’t a mage or a sorcerer. He was just a broken kid who’d found something this magical.

"Maybe," he murmured while looking at the blade, "you have your own magic inside you. Not mine."

But that didn’t matter now. What mattered was that it worked.

He walked to the first body and touched the blade to the corpse’s chest.

Silent and swift flames erupted. The body curled and withered in seconds then dissolving into ash without a trace. Ray watched with cold focus as flesh and blood became nothing.

Then he moved to the next. And the next.

One by one, he erased them.

The bloodstains on the concrete evaporated into smoke. The pieces of torn flesh and the sticky splatters on his clothes vanished under the purifying fire.

Then, when all that remained were six piles of fine black ash, Ray raised his foot and kicked them apart. Scattering them across the wind.

Nothing remained. No corpses. No blood. No trace.

Ray looked at his hands. They were still damp with some of the blood. So he lifted the burning blade and let it brush against his own body.

The flames roared again but only where blood touched skin or cloth. They licked away every trace, yet left him unharmed.

When it was over, he stood clean.

But then the dizziness hit him.

His legs weakened. His vision blurred. His breath turned shallow. The warmth of the weapon now felt like something draining his core.

He fell to one knee, gripping the blade tighter to steady himself.

"So... it’s not free," he muttered, panting. "You used my energy."

He gritted his teeth.

"That’s fine... just means I have to be careful next time."

He clenched the blade close to his chest, letting its warmth pulse gently against his heart.

Whatever this weapon was... it had chosen him and he was fine with that.

---

After finding the dagger, Mina had been more restless than ever. A storm brewed beneath her calm face. Relief tangled with dread.

Relief, because she had actually found something real. Something powerful. A hidden magical weapon, just like the one that Jack’s had. A secret piece of something bigger.

But that also meant the what Jack said were really true. The Selection Stage, the so-called apocalypse... it was coming.

And it was coming fast.

She had to prepare herself.

Fortunately, she had Jack. Or at least, someone who looked like Jack.

He somehow knew what was going on. Things she hadn’t told anyone. And now that she thought about it, Jack had changed too much and too fast.

He was no longer the timid, quiet boy who used to mumble his greetings and avoid eye contact with her.

Now, he walked differently. Spoke more clearly. His eyes were sharper and bolder. He carried himself like someone who had seen too much to be afraid anymore.

That wasn’t something that happened overnight.

Something must have happened to him. Something impossible.

Maybe it was the same kind of thing that happened when she touched the dagger, those feeling of some strange energy flowing into her. Maybe something bigger and more mysterious than she was able tl thought.

She sighed as she pulled her uniform over her shoulders.

Even if she asked, he wouldn’t tell her. He would only speak when he wanted to and she could sense that now was not the time.

The morning sun had barely cleared the rooftops when she arrived at the bus stop.

There he was. Jack was ready here.

Standing tall, arms folded, eyes forward. That cold and unreadable expression again.

That was the part that bothered her most. Jack never used to look at her like that. He used to be shy, flustered, and too nervous to meet her eyes. But now? It was like he was completely different person. But she can’t help but still thinking that he was still her childhood friend.

She forced a small smile and said, "Good morning."

Jack — Clyde in Jack’s body — nodded. "Good morning."

His voice was calm and steady.

The bus arrived with a sigh of brakes, and they boarded together.

Mina sat down first, and Jack sat beside her.

They didn’t speak for a while.

Then Clyde turned slightly toward her, his eyes scanning her expression before speaking in a low voice.

"Do you feel anything now that you have the dagger?" he asked, keeping his tone calm.

Mina blinked, surprised by the question. Then she nodded. "Yeah... I do. It’s strange. It’s like... some kind of energy entered me the moment I touched it. Not painful, just heavy. I feel like something was waking up inside me."

Clyde nodded slowly, unsurprised.

So it’s true, he thought. The hidden pieces left behind by the World Master must still carry fragments of their original magic power. Powerful enough to be felt even by ordinary humans.

For someone like Mina, who hadn’t yet awakened any formal power, it made sense that she’d feel the surge. But for Clyde—whose soul already brimmed with strength—it was barely a ripple.

"You’re not imagining it," Clyde said aloud. "These weapons are not just tools. They carry power inside."

Mina stared at her hands. "It’s kind of scary knowing this is real now."

There was a pause.

"Do you know when it’ll happen?" she asked quietly. "The real apocalypse? The... The Selection Stage?"

Clyde looked out the window as the streets rolled by. His reflection was cold and unfamiliar in the glass.

"I still can’t say," he answered.

Mina nodded slowly. "Oh..."

Her voice held quiet disappointment. Her shoulders sagged slightly.

Clyde glanced at her, studying the worry etched in her face.

"But," he added gently, "what we can do now is prepare. Find the hidden pieces and train to get stronger. If we do that, we’ll have a chance no matter when it comes."

She looked up at him, and though she didn’t say anything, her eyes softened.

He could still sense how tightly she was holding onto her fear.

So he leaned just a little closer and said, "It’s going to be alright."

And somehow, those simple words pierced through the noise in her mind.

She smiled faintly. Not forced, not bright but real. It was enough.

The bus continued on in silence, and for the first time that morning, the air around Mina felt a little less heavy.

The days blurred into a rhythm of training and school. Each morning and night, Clyde and Mina honed their reflexes in secret corners of the city park. They learning, adapting, and growing stronger.

Mina’s friends and classmates began whispering about how often they were seen together, but Mina brushed it off with a quiet smile.

"It’s nothing," she said.

But then, one afternoon, Clyde suddenly stopped. His eyes narrowed. A chill ran down his spine.

He looked up. The sky was clear. Still blue and bright. But something had shifted. Something that still invisible but huge. Clyde can feel the stirring in the air.

A weight pressing down. A silent signal. Is the Selection Stage already started? Is it right now?

---