Angra Mainyu shook the realm violently.

Not controlled tremor, but a spasm of rage fueled by rejection of what it witnessed. Cracks erupted underfoot, bone bridges fracturing in dozens of places, and the sea below surged higher, waves reaching toward those standing above.

"No! No!"

The voice lost all pretense of control. "You do not choose them, and they will not follow you. They will-"

"Help me." Reinhard said it simply before he held out his hand. "Please?"

There was no hesitation.

The first warrior, one with a jagged walking stick, a half-charred face, and a single bright eye, stepped forward immediately. Her boot moved onto the cracking bone bridge without pause for consideration.

"I'm with you." She said it as a statement of fact.

Another raised his hand, which trembled from exhaustion but lifted nonetheless. "Me too."

Then another was a woman whose face showed corruption lines but whose eyes held clarity. And another, which was a man who'd lost both legs below the knee but stood on makeshift supports fashioned from rubble.

Dozens of them began volunteering, and even more. Each one stepping forward, raising hands, voicing agreement, until finally every person Reinhard had helped out stepped forward to help him.

All of them were smiling.

They had burned lips cracking with movement, drawing thin lines of blood. Ash streaks on faces in patterns suggesting tears that had evaporated before falling. Eyes shining with light that had nothing to do with spectral nature and everything to do with helping out.

One man cheered. "Let's go save your siblings! Let's move!"

A roar of agreement echoed around Reinhard. The sound was raw, fierce, that held everyone's will and desire.

And Angra Mainyu recoiled.

The crimson-black light dimmed, and the pressure constricting them loosened. The realm itself seemed to step backward, creating distance where none should exist.

Reinhard nodded once to the crowd before saying. "Let's get to them."

They surged forward.

Not onto the road but around it.

The warriors didn't follow the path Angra Mainyu had created. They rejected the false choice entirely, forging their own route through impossible terrain.

Some of the warriors had a plan, and after explaining it to the others, some of them, whose eyes were deep in construction, lit up.

They started tearing down walls around them. Their grip made the melted structure around groan, crack, and then finally topple over.

They dragged broken beams into position, multiple people working together to lift and move them over. They coordinated with each other, shouted instructions, and gestured communication.

They built platforms from rubble.

Fragments too small for bridges became foundations when stacked properly. They would thrust it into the walls and then use it as a platform to stand on and navigate forward with.

Warriors formed human chains passing stones hand-to-hand, creating supply lines that fed construction at the leading edge. Some climbed over one another's shoulders, forming living pyramids with three warriors supporting two supporting ones.

Allowing the highest person to reach locations that are impossible for individuals.

They continued creating their makeshift bridge across the wall, making sure it was high enough that the flames below wouldn't touch.

Everyone quickly moved together; the leading person would soften the area in front before taking the slabs of stone and thrusting them inside.

And then tested that it was stable before moving on to it, with those around always holding just in case.

Those with strength held position, those with agility moved, and those with neither provided encouragement.

Reinhard led from the front, with him climbing up before turning around and his hand extended back immediately, reaching for the next warrior. He grabbed their wrists before pulling them up, and then the same process repeated.

The entire group moved like a single unified creature. They became so attuned that it felt like they were breathing together, straining in synchronization, and struggling with shared rhythm.

The abyss thrashed.

The crimson-black sea recognized the threat and responded with violence. Waves surged higher than before, tendrils reaching with desperate hunger, and the malice sought to pull down anyone who came within range.

The fire howled, a scream filled with rage of being denied.

All of which shook the area and led to Klein slipping. His remaining grip failed with his fingers releasing the stone, and his body began to fall to the sea below.

Anna screamed. "Klein!"

Reinhard's eyes narrowed as he shouted. "Everyone, hold on to the person in front, I'm jumping now!"

The warrior next to Reinhard held on to his waist just before Reinhard leaped towards Klein, who was falling. He used the stone slab as a launching pad with the warrior behind, holding on as he soared down towards Klein, who was falling.

While this happened, the first few warriors kept on latching onto each other's waist to help give Reinhard time to reach Klein. Then, as soon as Reinhard caught Klein's wrist and pulled him into his arms.

The warriors on the bridge of stone began pulling instantly! Reinhard felt his body being jerked before it swung towards the wall underneath the stone slab. They crashed into the wall, but it didn't matter as Reinhard smiled and saw Klein was alright.

Anna sighed in relief before smiling and saying. "Rein! You saved Klein, I knew you would!"

Reinhard smiled and shouted. "Don't worry, you're next!"

The others above sighed in relief before they began pulling everyone up. While this was going on, the others began jumping over since they were close to the bone bridge.

Then a golden warrior knelt down before extending both arms toward Anna, who continued clinging desperately to the failing outcropping.

"Come on, little one. I've got you, let's not worry your brother anymore." His voice was gentle despite the circumstances and gave a tone of reassurance.

Anna sobbed, but even as fear swirled through her, she still reached toward the extended arms, and then the warrior caught her wrists.

His grip tightened, pulling her away from the crumbling ledge and toward safety. His body shielded her from sparks that erupted from frustrated thrashing.

Once everyone was lifted up and not dangling under the slabs of stone. They began rushing over towards the bridge and then jumping off towards the other side of the land.

Reinhard lifted Klein onto his back with the boy wrapped arms around his neck, legs around his waist, clinging with desperate strength.

Then, after leaping over and landing on the ground. Everyone turned to see the stone slab crumbling and falling into the malice below.

Klein burst into tears against Reinhard's shoulder.

The sobs had Klein body trembling, chest heaving, and shaky breath, all his suppressed fear releasing in a single moment. His small hands fisted in Reinhard's tattered uniform, holding with strength suggesting he'd never let go.

Anna rushed over and wrapped her arms around Reinhard's waist. Her entire body trembled while continuously shaking with tears soaked into the fabric as she pressed her face against his side.

"Everything alright, you two. Everything is alright." Reinhard whispered, voice soft despite everything. His arms wrapped around both siblings, holding them close, providing shelter with his body. "We're safe, and we're together."

Behind them, the warriors sighed in relief, all of them smiling before collapsing to the ground. Tension that had sustained them through the crisis dissolved, leaving exhaustion but also satisfaction.

Reinhard turned back toward the crimson sea, but to his surprise, it went silent. No more thrashing, no more reaching tendrils, and it was simply motionless.

Then the world itself trembled.

Reinhard smiled softly and then said. "With the help of others, I don't need to choose the choices you gave me. I don't need to limit myself… Not anymore."

He looked at the crowd behind him. His people now, if only for this moment when they all worked towards the same goal. Each one marked by what they'd endured but defined by what they'd chosen.

"Whether it be saving Anna and Klein or moving on with the warriors I saved… I chose all of them."

And the realm shuddered.

Cracks appeared across the sky. The crimson-black atmosphere showed fissures spreading like lightning, each branch spawning dozens more in an accelerating pattern.

Angra Mainyu's voice echoed across once more, but in confusion.

"...How...? How did you...?"

Reinhard could feel the genuine incomprehension from an entity that thought it understood humans completely.

The Source of All Evil couldn't process what it witnessed because nothing in billions of observed examples had prepared it for this response.

Reinhard shifted Klein onto one hip while his other hand found Anna's, and their fingers interlaced with hers in a tight grip.

"Because I didn't do it alone, by simply asking for help and getting others to work with me."

And that truth sent a quake through Angra Mainyu's world. The flames dimmed, flickered, and nearly extinguished before catching again with diminished intensity.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.