The illusion of the blond man dissipates like cigarette smoke, returning a deathly silence to the arena.

  Itsuki-sama stands up. He vigorously brushes his suit jacket as if he just touched slime, his movements sharp and disgusted. His face hardens, cold as ice. The cowardly fear from earlier has vanished completely, replaced now by utter contempt.

  "See that?" He hisses, pointing a finger straight at Snow-Itsuki cowering on the ground. "Reconcile? With this trash? Keep dreaming."

  Hot blood rushes straight to my head.

  What the hell is this? Just now he was kneeling and begging, and now he turns around to stomp on his own head?

  "There is a limit to being despicable!" I step forward, shouting in the fox god's face. "Bullied by your boss, you don't dare make a peep, so you come back here to take it out on him? What did he do wrong? He just wants to sleep!"

  I point at the empty air, then down at the ground.

  "This cycle of hatred... don't you find it disgusting?"

  "Disgusting?" He steps forward. "Kid, do you think this is an anime? Shouting slogans is easy. What do you want me to do? Hug him?"

  "You have to understand him!" I argue back, feeling rage flare up violently. "He is you too! He is lonely and tired just like you! You two need to sit down and talk, to share..."

  "Understand?"

  "You open your mouth and it's all about understanding. Then let me ask you..." He grinds out each word. "...Who understands me?"

  "Who pays the bills? Who carries the sales pressure on my shoulders? You? Or that useless piece of garbage lying there crying?"

  I stammer, trying to find the most reasonable answer possible, but my mind is blank.

  "But... but you can't treat him like an animal like that! Why can't you be friends..."

  "SHUT UP!"

  The shout explodes like thunder in my ears. Itsuki-sama stands up straight, flinging his sleeve.

  "First time I've had a brat still wet behind the ears lecture me. Who do you think you are? The Messiah?"

  The surrounding air screams and churns. From Itsuki-sama's palm, blue fire erupts violently. The flames twist, crystallizing into dozens of scorching chains that shoot out like vipers.

  Zap! Zap!

  "Aaaaaahhh!!!"

  Snow-Itsuki screams pitifully. The Fox Fire chains wrap tight around his limbs and throat, digging hard into his flesh.

  "Stop!" I lunge forward, but an invisible wall of air knocks me back, sending me sprawling on the ground.

  "Get lost," Itsuki-sama turns his back, voice icy. "Don't stick your nose in my business anymore."

  Watching Snow-Itsuki writhe in the fire, looking at Itsuki-sama's cold back... something inside me explodes.

  Unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable!

  "No..." I grit my teeth, hand gripping the hammer handle tight.

  In my head right now, there is only one single thought: Destroy the villain.

  The warhammer in my hand vibrates violently. It reacts to its master's frenzied rage. Blinding golden light flares up, swallowing the clumsy shape of the weapon. It elongates, becoming sharper, more elegant, completely transforming into the Blade of Justice.

  "I SAID STOP!"

  I scream until my voice is hoarse, putting all my strength into swinging the sword forward.

  A streak of golden light tears through the arena space, flying at unstoppable speed.

  Itsuki-sama turns around. His pupils contract.

  Thwack!

  The sword pierces his left chest cleanly. He freezes, looking down at the light-filled wound on his chest, then looks up at me. His purple eyes widen in surprise, then shatter in an instant.

  His body dissolves into thousands of specks of light, floating up into the air and vanishing into the void. The fire chains wrapped around Snow-Itsuki's body also dissipate.

  I stand there, panting, hand still gripping the fading sword hilt.

  I won.

  So the evil has been defeated.

  "No... No..."

  Sobbing, miserable cries ring out, dragging me out of the intoxication of victory.

  Strangely, Snow-Itsuki is not happy at all. He is crawling on the cold stone floor, hands clawing desperately at the empty air, trying to grab the remnant specks of light that are floating away.

  "Please... Come back..."

  He whips his head around to look at me. His eyes are bloodshot and swollen.

  "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!" He screams, his voice cracking. "You killed him! You killed us!"

  "Huh?"

  The sword drops from my hand to the ground.

  "Kill...?"

  "No... I... I just destroyed the evil personality, right? I was saving you?"

  RUMBLE!

  The ground literally evaporates beneath my feet. The pure white marble pillars, the majestic stands, and even Snow-Itsuki's miserable wailing... all are sucked into an invisible black hole that just opened in mid-air.

  Whoosh...

  I blink, nausea rising to my throat due to the sudden shift in gravity.

  Looking down at my feet, strangely, I am still standing on that high platform of cold stone.

  Below, Itsuki-sama is still standing with arms crossed, face tilted up to the sky arrogantly. Snow-Itsuki is still kneeling on the ground, trembling like a dog caught in the rain.

  "What... what the hell is this?"

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  I clutch my head, taking a step back, almost slipping and falling. Cold sweat beads on my forehead.

  Just now... was it a dream? Or a hallucination?

  No. The feeling of the blade piercing flesh and the recoil running up my arm earlier was too vivid, too real to the point I still feel numbness in my fingertips.

  "So that's it..." I gasp, heart pounding like it wants to burst out of my chest. "I killed him. Did that cause the world to reset or something?"

  It seems I am being forced to re-enact this play until I find the right ending.

  "Fine. Stabbing and slashing won't solve anything. This time I have to use my head."

  I take a deep breath, trying to suppress the trembling inside, then jump down from the high platform.

  "Itsuki-sama!"

  I call out loudly, voice trying to sound as calm as possible.

  "Please calm down. What good does beating him do? Look, he is already that pathetic..."

  Itsuki-sama turns to me. His smoky purple eyes narrow, full of contempt and disgust.

  "Starting to preach again? Kid, do you think you are teaching a Civics class?"

  "I'm not preaching!" I argue back, trying to swallow the lump of anger in my throat. "I just want to say... you are one and the same! If you hurt, he hurts too; if he cries, you aren't happy either! Why not try... um... sitting down to talk?"

  "Talk?"

  Itsuki-sama laughs.

  "Talk to this piece of trash? Do you think I haven't tried?"

  He doesn't bother using his powers anymore but rushes forward, grabbing Snow-Itsuki's collar and hoisting him up.

  POW!

  A brutal punch lands straight on Snow-Itsuki's face.

  "Speak! What do you want me to say to you, you loser?!"

  POW!

  The second hit. Blood splatters from Snow-Itsuki's nose, staining Itsuki-sama's pristine suit jacket.

  "Why do you keep clinging to me?! Why don't you just drop dead and do me a favor?!"

  Itsuki-sama screams as he hits, his face distorted with rage, but also full of pain. As if every punch landing on the alter ego's face is also a knife stabbing into his own heart.

  The brutal scene before my eyes is too much to watch for another second. Reason, reconciliation plans, all vanish into thin air.

  "STOP IT!"

  Instinctively, my hand swings up the Blade of Justice again.

  I rush forward, slashing an arc to knock Itsuki-sama away.

  CLANG!

  Space shatters like a cracking mirror.

  Opening my eyes, I see myself standing on the judgment platform once again.

  "Dammit!"

  I punch the stone floor hard. Back to square one again.

  "What do I do? Can't fight, can't talk."

  I tear at my hair. My brain is working at full capacity, rewinding the manga I used to read. In this situation, what would the protagonist do?

  Sacrifice.

  Right. I have to show him the consequences of tyranny. I have to make him regret it. If he hits an innocent person...

  "Fine. Let's gamble."

  Without a word, I jump down. This time I understand clearly that verbal intervention is useless.

  Just as Itsuki-sama raises his blue fire-wrapped fist, about to bring it down on Snow-Itsuki's head...

  I rush in, spreading my arms wide to use my body as a shield, covering the cowering fox on the ground.

  "Hit me! If you want to hit him, then beat me to death first!"

  I squeeze my eyes shut, bracing myself for the earth-shattering pain.

  But there is no punch.

  Itsuki-sama's fire fist stops just centimeters from my face. The heat scorches my skin.

  He stares at me. His eyes... contain only the emptiness of a bottomless pit of despair.

  "You..." He whispers. "You would rather die to protect him?"

  I swallow, about to open my mouth to explain. But he doesn't give me the chance.

  "Everyone... everyone chooses him. Reo too. You too."

  He steps back, letting his arms hang loose. The fire on his hands extinguishes.

  "This whole world condones weakness. While my effort... my sacrifice to keep this entity existing... in your eyes is just cruelty?"

  "Fine. If you guys love him so much..."

  He raises his right hand high.

  The surrounding air is sucked dry, creating a terrifying pressure weighing down on my shoulders. Above the arena, black clouds churn. A giant flaming greatsword, tens of meters long, slowly appears, pointing its tip down at the ground.

  It is aiming straight at the top of Itsuki-sama's own head.

  "Let's end this."

  "No! WAIT!" I scream, rushing forward intending to push him away.

  BOOM!!!!

  The sword descends. A giant pillar of fire swallows the fox god's small body. The shockwave from the explosion flings me backward, slamming me hard into the stone wall.

  The sound of wind blowing through stone cracks.

  I open my eyes. Heart beating wildly, chest aching as if crushed.

  Once again, I find myself standing on the high platform, holding the warhammer of judgment.

  Below, Itsuki-sama is still standing there, arms crossed in arrogant and cold manner. Snow-Itsuki is still kneeling there and trembling pitifully.

  I slide down to the floor, clutching my head with both hands.

  A feeling of helplessness surges, drowning all thoughts. No matter what I do... Fight back, advise, or even sacrifice... why can't I find any other answer?

  "Right! I have to get out of here!"

  A daring thought flashes in my mind. As long as I don't see this scene anymore, this painful, repetitive play will finally come to an end.

  I grip the hammer handle tight. Feeling the trembling in every muscle fiber, but there is no way back.

  The hammer vibrates violently, blinding golden light exploding, transforming into a sharp longsword. Without hesitation, I reverse the blade, pointing the tip straight at my own chest.

  Thwack!

  Bone-chilling pain shoots straight to my brain. Fresh blood gushes out, hot, soaking my school uniform. The pain blurs my vision, the world around shattering into small pieces.

  "It's over..."

  I mutter, then collapse into darkness.

  "Huff... huff..."

  My own panting drags me violently back to reality. Reality is truly mocking; when I open my eyes, the surrounding scenery is still the cold stone ceiling. Still that damn high platform.

  "Useless..."

  I punch the stone floor hard, tears of frustration flowing. "Why? Why can't I be a good person? Why can't I save anyone?"

  The efforts, the sacrifices, the heroic suicides... all in vain. This loop is like a hamster cage, and I keep running on the wheel of fate without finding an exit.

  "Or maybe... I was wrong from the start?"

  I sit down heavily, tearing at my hair.

  "Destroying evil didn't work, protecting the victim failed, even the self-destruct plan was a bust."

  "So what about forgiveness?"

  A flicker of light appears in the mess of thoughts. Right! A true hero isn't one who only knows how to swing a sword, but one who knows how to open arms in forgiveness even to enemies. Must know how to sacrifice one's ego to redeem evil.

  This time, I won't play the judge anymore; to save others, I must dialogue directly with them. I step down from the podium, approaching Itsuki-sama with the most sincere expression possible.

  "Itsuki-sama..." I call, voice gentle as a breeze.

  The fox god turns around, face narrowing in suspicion.

  "I know you have your own burdens," I continue, trying to convey sincerity through every word. "Work pressure, expectations, fears... I understand. But can you... for everyone's sake, reconsider?"

  Itsuki-sama smirks contemptuously.

  "Change? You tell me to change?"

  "Yes!" I nod vigorously. "No matter how cruel you are to yourself, we always have a way to turn back. It is never too late to start over. I understand your pain!"

  "Understand my pain?" Itsuki-sama laughs.

  "Then have you ever tried to understand your parents? People who also have to work themselves to death every day like me? Or do you only know how to sit in one place, play games, read mangas, and demand them to understand your teenage angst?"

  "I..."

  "I've heard enough," Itsuki-sama waves his hand, turning away. "You are only good at memorizing theory, but understand nothing about me. Go play somewhere else and let adults work."

  Finished speaking, he rushes at Snow-Itsuki again, grabbing his collar and raining blows like thunder on the poor fox.

  This time, I was prepared. Itsuki-sama's expose didn't make me falter; on the contrary, it urged me to act even more decisively!

  I rush in, using my body to shield Snow-Itsuki.

  Whoosh!

  The fire fist stops right in front of my nose. Itsuki-sama looks at me, eyes filled with utter boredom.

  "Again?" He sighs. "You are truly hopeless."

  He lets go, stepping back. Above his head, the giant blue fire greatsword appears once again, pointing its tip down at its master's head.

  "Let's end this."

  Here it is! This is the chance!

  Must save Itsuki-sama, even if it costs my life!

  "NO!"

  I scream, putting all strength into my legs and sprinting. My whole body launches like a torpedo, ramming into Itsuki-sama and knocking him out of harm's way.

  At that very moment... The fire sword descends on my head without mercy.

  BOOM!!!!

  Space is incinerated, so hot I no longer feel pain. Only a blinding whiteness covering everything, and the explosion echoing in my chest.

  "Success..." I smile before consciousness fades. "I saved him..."

  The sound of wind blowing through cold stone cracks rings in my ears again.

  Opening my eyes, greeting me again is the stone ceiling, the familiar high platform. And below, the two foxes are still standing there, reenacting the eternal tragicomedy.

  "What... what the hell is this?!"

  I did everything! I judged, I committed suicide, I advised, I sacrificed to save lives! Why? Why still can't escape? Why won't this damn loop let me go?

  I collapse, pounding my fists on the stone floor until my knuckles bleed.

  "What exactly am I supposed to do to get it right?!"