My Trash Talent Is Actually OP!

Emma, Nova, and Tay stood in a tight group near the far corner of the rooftop, quiet and tense. They stayed far away from Cinder, who still hadn't moved from where she stood, her eyes locked on Asher and Sinnett.

The rooftop felt heavier now. No one dared to speak as Asher stood beside Zero's lifeless body, staring down at it with a mix of dread and sadness.

Sinnett finally broke the silence.

"Raise her," he said simply, voice low but clear.

Asher blinked, not sure he heard him right. He turned slightly, looking at Sinnett with disbelief.

"You want me to... raise her?"

Sinnett nodded, folding his arms across his chest.

Asher looked back at the body on the table. His stomach twisted painfully.

"I'm not even sure if I can..." he admitted, his voice rough and dry.

He thought back to all the weird messages the system had thrown at him before. Especially that one glitch when he awakened, and then when he saw that error notification. Something about dragons… about their souls not being lost.

Maybe Zero… maybe she still had a piece left that he could reach.

Taking a shaky breath, Asher moved closer to the broken table. His legs were still stiff from earlier, and every step sent sharp pain through his body, but he kept going.

He stood over Zero's body for a long moment, feeling the pressure of everyone's eyes on him.

He grabbed a small blade from the supplies left on the table. Without hesitating too much, he dragged it across his palm, reopening a fresh wound.

The blood pooled quickly, warm and sticky in his hand.

He held it over Zero's forehead, watching as the first drop fell.

It landed with a soft pat against her cold skin, then slowly started to slide down the side of her face.

Asher gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stay still. His hand trembled, the blood dripping steadily.

Seconds passed. Then minutes. Five long minutes.

The blood kept falling.

At first, nothing happened. Zero's body remained still, her face pale and empty.

But just as Asher started to wonder if it had failed, something changed.

Her entire body turned dark.

Not the kind of darkness you get when a body rots—this was deeper, almost like shadows were crawling under her skin. The air around her grew colder, and a soft rumbling filled the rooftop, so faint that you could only hear it if you held your breath.

Then it happened.

A thick, black smoke started to pour out of Zero's chest, rising and swirling like a living thing. It twisted and spun into the air before dropping back down and taking shape right next to her dead body.

It was her.

Zero stood there, made of the same smoke, her form flickering and shifting until it solidified. She looked the same but different. Her hair still wild, her armor still cracked, but her eyes—her eyes were not the same.

They were amber now, just like Asher's.

Only the blue of her old eyes remained in the sclera, giving her a strange, haunting look.

Slowly, she lowered herself into a bow in front of Asher, silent and respectful.

Asher's throat tightened.

He looked at Sinnett, searching for answers, but Sinnett only watched with his usual calm, like he expected this all along.

Sinnett stepped forward a little, speaking to her gently, like one would talk to a wounded animal.

"Can you hear me?" he asked.

Zero didn't respond with words. Instead, she tilted her head slightly, almost like a curious bird, and then turned her gaze back to Asher.

He felt a soft pressure in his mind, a voice not made of sound but of thought.

"I hear you... through him," she said quietly.

Asher stiffened. The voice in his head was hers, but it felt strange, distant, almost like listening through a broken window.

She kept speaking, sending the words straight into his mind.

"I remember... the dragons. I remember... the death. And... the pain... before my body gave out."

Asher swallowed hard. The sadness in her voice wasn't like anything he had heard before. It was raw and empty, like a deep pit with no bottom.

Zero's gaze shifted from Asher to her old body lying on the table.

Without hesitation, she reached out her hand toward it.

Blue flames burst from her fingertips, swallowing her dead body in a slow, steady fire. It burned without heat, without smoke, almost silent except for the soft crackle of the flames.

The others watched, frozen in place.

In less than a minute, Zero's old body was reduced to fine ash. No bone, no armor—nothing left but a small pile.

She gathered the ash into her hand, cupping it carefully like it was something precious, then turned and offered it to Asher.

He hesitated at first, but something inside him—some instinct—told him to accept it.

He reached out and took the ash gently from her, feeling the strange warmth it carried even after the fire was gone.

Asher tucked the ash into a small cloth Nova tossed to him from the side, wrapping it carefully.

Zero stepped back, standing quietly at his side now, waiting.

The rooftop was dead silent, the only sound the wind whispering around them.

Sinnett finally moved, clapping a hand on Asher's shoulder.

"Good," he said simply.

Asher looked up at him, exhausted but somehow lighter.

"You did good."

Asher nodded weakly, too tired to argue.

Sinnett turned to face the rest of them, his expression growing serious again.

"Get ready," he said. His voice carried over the rooftop like a warning.

Everyone stiffened.

Sinnett looked back at Asher, his dark eyes steady.

"You're going to raise the others next," he said.

Asher blinked at him, barely able to process it.

"The others?" he echoed, voice rough.

Sinnett nodded.

"You lost most of your soldiers. Orin's the only one left. You need them back."

Asher glanced at the ashes in his hand, then at Zero standing silently beside him.

Could he really do it?

He didn't know.

But he knew he had to try.

He shifted his gaze to the side where Emma, Nova, and Tay still waited, watching him closely.

Emma gave him a tiny nod, her expression full of silent encouragement.

Nova just crossed her arms, but there was a softness in her eyes she rarely showed, she was silently glad to have Zero back, even if she was only a 'hardened ghost'

Tay shrugged, a small smirk tugging at his mouth.

Asher turned back to Sinnett.

"Alright," he said, his voice steadier now. "Let's do it."