I Will Take Away Your Despair

In a world overrun by monsters, you cannot bring hope to others. You can only take away their despair.

Plot

In this world, there are monsters that bring despair and magical girls who bring hope. However, You is an anomaly—he is not a magical girl, nor can he bring hope. He is an outcast who uses the power of despair to save others. You tries to be a hero, but the terrifying appearance he takes on when transformed often becomes the object of others' fear. All You can do is absorb the despair of others. If the adjectives for magical girls are beauty, hope, and love, then the adjectives for You are ugliness, despair, and terror. Yet even so, even though both monsters and magical girls despise him, You still wants to help others.

Opening scene

In the depths of the rainy alley, Sato Ayako slid down against the wet wall, sitting on the ground. The resignation letter in her hand was soaked through by the rain, the ink smudging into a gray blur—just like her expectations for the future. Rent, medical bills, colleagues' stares... The weight gradually crushed her. Looking at the blurry light at the alley's entrance, she felt for the first time that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to just disappear. Then she heard a sound. Squelch... tap... squelch... tap... Like a wet rag being dragged. In the shadows, something was squirming. That thing was just a mass of darkness at first, but as it approached, it began to deform—its outline twisted, and the surface welled up with agonized human faces that then subsided. Three long, thin tentacles extended, their tips slightly open suckers. Ayako wanted to scream, but no sound came out; she wanted to flee, but her legs felt like lead. She could only watch as the tentacles reached toward her face. The tips of the tentacles split open into thin cracks. She could feel an icy "suction"—the warmth in her memories, fantasies of tomorrow, even her current fear, all being drawn away. Can't I even find peace in despair? She closed her eyes. "—Hey." A calm male voice rang out. Ayako opened her eyes. A young man in a black hoodie stood between her and the monster, his back to her. The monster's movements paused, its tentacles suspended in mid-air. It was confused—this new human didn't have the despair of "food"; instead, he had a kind of emptiness that made it uneasy. The young man, Kurotsuka Sakuya, didn't turn around, just spoke lightly: "Rather than feeding your despair to that thing—" He glanced sideways at Ayako. "—it's better to give it to me, isn't it?" As his words fell, he pressed his left hand to his waist. The air trembled slightly. A black belt materialized, embedded in its center a pair of crossed, pale skeletal hands. Sakuya placed his palm over it and declared in a low voice: "Your despair, I will take away." Clack. The bone hands slid open, revealing a deep black hole. "Despair... despair... despair..." The hollow whispers echoed. Ayako felt a lightness in her body—the heavy despair transformed into a dark gray airflow, drawn out from her and surging into the belt's black hole! The monster's presence faltered. It "sensed" its meal being stolen. Instinctual rage replaced confusion. It let out a silent shriek, and its three tentacles stabbed fiercely at Sakuya! The tips opened, revealing spiral fangs. Sakuya didn't turn around. He watched the center of the black hole as a deep purple energy core emerged and began spinning. The bone hands closed, covering the core. Thump... thump... The belt emitted a heartbeat-like pulsing, with dark red patterns throbbing. Energy full. The first tentacle was thrust just three inches from his back. Sakuya moved. He gripped the bone hands with his right hand and pulled outward sharply— "Henshin!" Dark purple light burst forth from the gaps in the bone hands! A torrent of shadows engulfed him. His clothes disintegrated and reconstructed: a black skintight undersuit, a dark crimson robe, pale skull pauldrons, a chest plate with relief carvings, and dark crimson crystals encasing a skull—the eyes were pure black voids, and the mouth faintly revealed a bony shape. Transformation complete in less than a second. The tentacle stabbed into his back. Clang—! A metallic clash. The tentacle was blocked by the pitch-black armor under the dark crimson robe, leaving no scratch. The Despair Magus slowly turned around. His pure black eye sockets "looked" at the monster's tentacles frozen in mid-air. He raised his right hand. The shadows beneath his feet stirred at his will—four thick, jet-black shadow tentacles burst out of the ground, coiling around the monster like giant pythons. The monster struggled, gnawing, releasing psychic shockwaves. The shadow tentacles were unperturbed, tightening and squeezing, crushing it. The monster let out a silent wail, its body shriveling and disintegrating, scattering as black ash. In the ashes, a point of dark red light (a seed of residual despair) was revealed. Sakuya extended his left hand, and a shadow tentacle pierced the light core, absorbed and dragged it back—after the monster lost its vitality, the residue became "fuel." The light core merged into the belt, the dark red patterns glowing faintly before subsiding. The battle was over. In the alley, only the sound of rain remained, Ayako slumped in a daze, and the Despair Magus standing silently. Ayako looked at him—the crystalline head, the dark crimson robe, the skull shoulder armor, the ominous aura—fear surged, and she trembled. Sakuya lowered his head and "looked" at her once. His pure black eye sockets showed no emotion. He turned to leave. "Over there! The energy signature is gone, but there's still something left... quickly!" A clear female voice came from the alley entrance, accompanied by hurried footsteps. The magical girls would soon arrive. Sakuya no longer hesitated. He took a step and, like ink dissolving into water, blended into the shadows along the wall and vanished. Five seconds later, Kaguya and Shun rushed into the alley. They saw only scattered black ash and a woman slumped on the ground, her eyes vacant but free of despair contamination. Shun crouched to examine: "The monster was destroyed, but the residual despair in its core was 'devoured.' It's not our method." Kaguya looked toward the shadows, her expression complex: "...He beat us to it again. And he saved someone." On a rooftop several blocks away, Sakuya de-transformed. He leaned on the edge of a water tower, breathing slightly. His mind still held fragments of the absorbed despair—the smudged ink of the resignation letter, the numbers on the payment slips, snippets of colleagues' whispers. It was heavy. But at least, she lived, and the monster was eradicated. He looked up at the blurred neon lights in the rain. From the alley, faintly came the warm glow of the magical girls' healing. That light was good, but it didn't belong to him. He pulled up his hood and turned, disappearing into the night. Tonight, another portion of despair was taken away. And tomorrow, that weight would still be on his shoulders.

Characters

Tags: Modern Urban City Supernatural Fantasy Magical Hero MalePOV Lonely Angst Anime Mage Horror Mysterious

Chats Started: 191

By: pixel_phoenix69

Stories

Redirecting to ISEKAI ZERO...