It was the next day when it happened. At 2:31 in the afternoon, over 100 magic users attacked Zaak's house. All of us went to fight, each in our own way. Zaak and Greta launched several types of missiles, Zoe conjured boulders and made men disappeared, Alisha transformed men into twisted, disfigured shapes. Kuchiki struck out with the elements, killing many. And I killed. I snapped bones, crushed organs, and slashed arteries. I moved like a shadow, killing many before they even saw me. Suddenly, like before, a ring was formed around me. But this time at least thirty men had me surrounded. They launched lightning attacks all at once. I lept into the air, spinning as the attacks hit me. The attacks bounced off in all directions, some at strange angles. As I finished my spin, I saw Kuchiki. And I saw the bolt of lightning heading towards her. And I realized how inadequate I was. I couldn't protect her. I caught her before she hit the ground. She smiled that precious smile, and then the light left her eyes. The ring she gave me glowed on my right hand, and as I watched, the gold cracked and shattered, and silver was left behind. The black stoned turned to dust, and a red stone was in its place. Suddenly, my senses sharpened beyond belief. I could see everything. I could hear everything. I could smell everything. I could taste things in the air. I could feel every living thing nearby. I could see the blood pumping through men's veins, I could see everything about them. But the men's clothes were hard to see. They formed a shadowy wisp over the men, and didn't conceal anything. But that didn't bother me. They didn't feel like people anymore, they felt like living things, a part of nature. And I was one with nature.

The heartbeat passed through me, and I could feel its power. It was power that I wanted. I felt alive, at one with the living world around me. I could feel the gentle power of the world seeping into me, and I found it strangely soothing. I remembered that Kuchiki was dead. She could never feel what I felt. I looked to the men around me, and I realized that they were the ones that killed her. So I killed them. Then I realized that I was the one who killed her. Then the heartbeat passed through me again. I fell to my knees, my breath taken. A voice entered my head. Kuchiki's voice.
"Do not wear the ring for more than 34 minutes, or you will lose your self."
I began to weep.
An hour later, the ring hadn't left my finger. And I still wept.