An
unnerving aura
radiated from Haeren—
thick, suffocating
, pressing down on them like
an invisible hand
. The air itself
warped around him
, vibrating with
unseen energy
.
Towan
stood firm
, his jaw set.
But even he
couldn’t mask the tension
in his voice.
"We need to retreat."
He
stepped back
, slow and deliberate, his eyes
never leaving Haeren
.
The others
couldn’t move
.
FLASH.
A blur—too fast to track.
Only
Towan’s instincts
caught the movement, his eyes barely registering the shift before—
CRACK.
A
knee smashed into Alira’s stomach
, the force
lifting her off her feet
. Blood
exploded from her mouth
, splattering the ground in a
dark arc
as she
crumpled
to her knees.
"Blugh—!"
"ALIRA!"
Len’s scream
split the air
, her hands already moving.
Water spears materialized mid-air
, lancing toward Haeren in a
barrage of razor-sharp strikes
.
They
shattered on impact
no splash, no wound
, just
vaporized droplets
dissolving into mist.
"Shit."
Towan’s curse was
raw, visceral
.
Haeren
moved again
, this time toward Len—
no hesitation, no wasted motion
, just
lethal intent
.
Towan
forced his body forward
, his shoulder
screaming in protest
.
"HAAAH—!"
A
tornado kick
, his heel
whipping around
with enough force to
splinter stone
, connected
squarely with Haeren’s face
.
The impact
should have shattered bone
.
Instead, Haeren
staggered back—just a step
.
(No damage…?)
Towan
landed in front of Len
, his breath ragged.
"Run away."
"But—"
"RUN."
His voice was
steel
.
"You’ll get in my way."
A single
glare
toward Rellie, Calo and Veik—
wordless, but absolute
.
Get out. Now.
They ran.
Not out of cowardice—
out of necessity
. Every one of them knew: staying meant
death
, and Towan wouldn’t let them throw their lives away.
Alira, still clutching her stomach,
stumbled forward
, her usual fire reduced to
labored breaths
. Len
supported her
, her grip tight, her face pale. Rellie, Calo, Veik—
all moving
, all
forcing themselves to leave
.
Because Towan
stood alone
.
And Haeren
attacked
.
A
simple punch
. No flourish, no technique—just
raw, devastating force
hurled straight at Towan’s chest.
Towan
crossed his arms in an X-block
, muscles straining as the blow
slammed into him
.
CRACK.
The impact
sent him skidding backward
, his boots
tearing grooves into the earth
as he fought to stay upright. His arms
throbbed
, the pain
radiating down to his bones
.
This tale has been pilfered from NovelFire. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
(So much force…!)
But he
grinned
. Blood trickled from his lip, his breath came in
sharp gasps
, but his voice
boomed across the battlefield
:
"Come on! Is that all you’ve got?!"
A taunt. A challenge.
A
final gamble
to keep Haeren’s attention
locked on him
.
Towan braced himself, muscles coiled, arms raised in a desperate guard.
(It’s okay… I can do this.)
A lie. But one he needed to believe.
Haeren’s arm
twisted unnaturally
, the flesh
rippling
as a
thick, violet tentacle erupted from his palm
, its surface
glistening like wet rot
. It
hung in the air for a heartbeat
, poised—
—then
split apart
.
A thousand needle-thin spears of Corruption
, each
twitching with malicious life
,
fanning out like a hellish storm
.
Towan
squeezed his eyes shut
, bracing for the
agony of piercing flesh
.
But—
Nothing.
"What…?"
A
scream tore through the air behind him
not his own
.
His stomach
dropped
.
He
whirled
, dread clawing up his throat—
—and saw them.
All of them.
Fallen.
Alira,
collapsed forward
, her back
bristling with jagged Corruption
, each spear
buried to the hilt
. Len,
gasping
, her hands
scrabbling weakly
at the dirt as the poison
seared through her veins
. Rellie,
curled in on herself
, her dagger
still clutched in limp fingers
. Veik, Calo—
all motionless
, their bodies
pinned like insects
.
"N-no…"
Towan’s voice
shattered
.
His gaze
snapped back to Haeren
—but the student
was gone
.
Now just stood a monster
And on its
featureless face
a smile
.
Wide.
Hungry.
Drinking in his despair.
FLASH.
A blur of motion—too fast to track, too brutal to comprehend. Towan’s arms jerked up, instincts screaming to block, but his body
wasn’t his anymore
. Exhaustion dragged at his muscles like chains. His guard came up—
a fraction too late.
Haeren’s hand
punched through his chest
.
Not a strike. Not a wound.
A violation.
Fingers, slick with Corruption and glistening violet,
burst out through his back
in a spray of crimson. Towan’s breath
hitched—
not a scream, just a wet, shuddering gasp. Blood
fountained
, painting the grass in dark, arterial arcs. His vision
whited out
for a second, the pain so vast it
erased thought.
Then—
silence.
Haeren
wrenched his arm free
, tendons and shattered bone
snapping audibly
as Towan’s body
jolted
from the force. The monster tilted its head,
studying him
with those
pupil-less, glowing eyes.
No triumph. No hatred. Just
curiosity
, like a child pulling wings off a fly.
Towan
looked down.
A
hole.
Not clean. Not surgical.
Gaping.
The edges of his ribs
splintered outward
, flesh
peeled back like torn parchment.
He could
see through himself
—glimpses of trampled grass, his own blood pooling beneath his boots.
“No…”
His voice was
a whisper, a plea, a denial.
His legs
buckled
, but he didn’t feel himself hit the ground. The world
tilted
, colors bleeding into gray. Distantly, he heard
screams
—Alira? Len?—but they sounded
muffled, underwater.
His fingers
twitched
, grasping at nothing.
At everything.
“This… can’t… end… here.”
Each word
cost him.
Blood bubbled at his lips. His heartbeat
stuttered
, a dying drum in the hollow cage of his chest.
Then—
darkness.
And the last thing he knew?
The monster was still smiling.
“TOWAN!”
Len’s voice
ripped through the air
, raw and shattered. She
forced herself up
, her body trembling as the last dregs of her Essentia
burned through her veins
, dissolving the Corruption needles embedded in her back. They
sizzled away
into black smoke, leaving behind
jagged, weeping wounds.
But she barely felt them.
Alira
staggered to her feet beside her
, her hands
glowing faintly
with the last embers of her fire. The needles
melted off her skin
, hissing like acid, but her flames
sputtered and died
—just like the light in her eyes.
Then—
silence.
They
stared.
At the body.
At the
blood still pooling in the dirt.
At the
hole where their friend’s heart used to be.
Frozen.
Alira’s axe
slipped from her fingers
, hitting the ground with a
dull thud.
Her mouth
opened
, but no sound came out. Just
a choked, broken noise
, like something inside her had
snapped.
Len’s breath
hitched—
sharp, uneven. Her hands
shook
, her vision
blurring.
She
wanted to scream.
Wanted to
rage, to fight, to do anything—
but her body
wouldn’t move.
“What… what do we do?”
Alira whispered.
Her voice was
hollow.
Empty. The fire that had always burned in her words—
gone.
Len
looked at her
, and for the first time, Alira saw
terror
in those usually calm, calculating eyes.
“I…”
A
tear spilled over
, tracing a glistening path down Len’s cheek.
“I don’t know.”
Her voice
cracked.
“I’m scared.”
And in that moment, they weren’t warriors.
They weren’t fighters.
They were just
two girls
, standing in the ruins of everything they’d known,
watching the world end.
Haeren—
no.
That thing
that had once been Haeren
moved forward.
Not with urgency. Not with rage.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Like a predator who knew its prey
couldn’t run.
Every step
squelched
in the blood-soaked earth. Its breath came in
wet, rattling exhales
, the sound of a corpse forcing air into dead lungs. The violet glow of its eyes
pulsed
, drinking in their terror, savoring it.
It was
death walking.
And it
knew it.