Ness surged forward with explosive speed, plunging headfirst into the chaos of battle. Kaelis g desperately to the massive feline's muscur back, sciousness flickering violently, his vision swimming as blood poured from his wounds, leaving a crimson trail in their wake. Around them sprawled the grotesque remains of fantastical creatures, their vibray shattered by merciless lightning-infused bdes: Sky Seraphs y lifeless, translut wings cracked and shredded, their once radiant bodies dimmed and splintered. Crystal bloom pnts were scorched, their delicate spiraled petals now brittle, bed husks scattered across the blood-slicked earth. Kaelis gasped weakly, struggling to stay awake even as darkhreateo suffocate him. Ness, sensing this, forced a fierce smile, his voice strained yet arrogantly defiant.

  “e onnnnn, little human, stay awake—no passing out now, or I'll leave you to the vultures. And trust me, vultures here are nastier than you imagine.” But the joke fell ft, Kaelis fading in and out of painful lucidity, his breathing shallow, bored, desperate.

  “Okay that usually gets people.” Ness smirked. “Am I getting rusty? You better not die, human. If you die, then Espen will brutally explode.”

  Hunters surged from every side, their presence relentless, overwhelming. Lightning crackled violently around their ons, each warrior wielding uny and terrifying forms of lightning Kenda. One Hunter swung a serrated whip of crag violet lightning, each sh violently searing the air, leaving arcs of scorched ozone behind. Another wielded twin daggers pulsing with ghostly pale lightning, which bent and twisted unnaturally, seeking prey like living serpents. Their movements were precise, fwless, disciplined—a stark trast to Ness's primal fury.

  “Form ranks!” shouted a Hunter in ornate jade-green armor, eyes narrowed intensely. “Box him in, overwhelm him in numbers. The witch ot escape without him!”

  Ness growled ferociously, darkness erupting around his feline form in thick, ing waves. His cws extended, razor-sharp, slig the air violently with each swipe, unleashiating arcs of red and bergy that cleaved through Hunters with merciless precision. Bodies shattered, armor splintered, limbs severed in grotesque explosions of blood and lightning. Still, the Hunters pressed their assault, bdes lunging and parrying in synized harmony, each strike threatening to end Ness and Kaelis in an instant.

  Ness vaulted skyward, spinning into a seamless, intricate somersault as bolts of violet and white lightning smmed into the grouh him, shatterih and tree roots in explosive devastation. His tail shed outward, elongating into a deadly, spiked whip of shadow, carving through two Hunters in a single brutal sweep, their screams cut violently short as they colpsed lifelessly. Landing, wisted acrobatically, narrowly evading a barrage of lightning-infused arrows that pierced through the air with celestial speed, embedding themselves deep into nearby trees that exploded violently into shards of fming timber.

  ‘Close!’

  He lunged fain, cws sshing furiously, cleaving another Hunter’s bde ly in half before pierg through armor and flesh, blood erupting like a geyser. “Hold him back!” a voice shouted, desperate now, crag uhe strain of battle. “Do not falter! Our reward will grant us divinity! We will be oh the gods!”

  Ness grinned savagely, smming his fists downward in a titanic blow, crushing another Hunter beh him, bones splintering audibly, armor shattering intments. Yet still, they came. Ness spun violently, unleashing a volley of shadowy sshes that decimated everything they touched, trees colpsing in ruinous heaps, armored warriors hurled backward in ragged, broken heaps. Kaelis's bloodied hands gripped Ness's fur weakly, his sciousness flickering violently, reality slipping away into darkness.

  “….I need help…a doctor…something…” Kaelis struggled to say. “Fuck…you guys don’t have doctors here…”

  “What's a doctor?”

  Ness sensed his fading strength and growled sharply, voice trembling with frantic urgency masked by false bravado.

  ‘Craaaaap. This is bad. Of course the White Brigade was trag us all the way here. We were careless.’

  “Hey, human, you better not give up yet! I haven't finished making fun of how soft and pathetic you humans are!” Kaelis coughed, blood dripping from his lips, vision hazy. Ness's jokes rang hollow now, drowned by the relentless, brutal chaos surrounding them. “I stole that joke from Espen..though I don’t know if that was a joke or not. I mean, I ughed when she said it.”

  “…That…wasn’t funny. Sorry…”

  Lightning fred brightly, Hunters coordinating precise assaults with uny discipliheir lightning Kenda crag hungrily, ons infused with votile energies eager to pierd carve through flesh.

  A massive Hunter, obsidian armor etched with glowing crimson runes, lunged forward, wielding a colossal double-edged greatsword pulsing violently with bck lightning. Ness ducked beh a ferocious swipe, spinning fluidly into a low, graceful twist, his spiked tail shattering armor and tearing through flesh in an explosive, ruthless terattack. Blood sprayed violently, coating Ness's fur in thick crimso he surged forward relentlessly, driven by raw fury and desperation to protect Kaelis. Another Hunter hurled a spear engulfed in blinding white lightning, the on shattering the air itself. wisted sharply, narrowly avoiding the strike, his body carved brutally across the shoulder, blood erupting from the wound. But he retaliated instantly, cws igniting in swirling shadows and sshing through the Hunter’s chest, leaving a ragged, smoking crater where armor and flesh oood.

  The battle intensified violently, Hunters swarming from every dire, desperation and greed driving their relentless assault. Ness moved with godlike agility, eaent precise yet chaotic, a devastating dance of violend grace. He somersaulted htning whips, vaulted beh arcs of crag energy, spinning and cleaving through enemies with primal wrath. Blood and lightning paihe forest floor, bodies and armor littering the ground in grotesque heaps.

  A Hunter shouted urgently, voice trembling with fear: “He’s a demon! No bounty is worth this!”

  Yet, another voice barked harshly, rallying ce: “Stand yround! Riches await us! Glory and Assion!”

  Ness smirked savagely, dark shadows swirling violently around him, eyes bzing crimson. “You greedy weirdos..you’ll all just die here anyway!” He roared, cws smiting downward in a brutal, shattering strike that carved through armor and bone alike.

  Kaelis, barely scious, managed a weak whisper, voice trembling painfully. “Ness… why… are you proteg me…?” Ness paused briefly, breathing heavily, voice suddenly somber beh arrogant bravado. “Because, human, if you die, Espen dies. And Espen… she’s everything to me. Mae enhanced me a little, enhanced me for her when I needed help.. from shadow and blood. From that day, I swore I'd alrotect her, even from herself.” Ness’s eyes darkened with haunted memory, pain flickering briefly across his feliures, quickly suppressed beh determination. “So hold on, human. I won't let you both die here. It’s not like I give a damn about you, it’s just you o live.”

  Kaelis weakly nodded, heart thundering painfully, the desperate siy in Ness's voice grounding him, anch him to sciousness even as death cwed at his senses.

  ‘How long do I have…? Visioing super damn blurry…’

  Yet more Hunters surged forward, some screaming defiantly, others trembling visibly with fear and doubt. Lightning crackled violently, bdes raised, desperation and hunger in every strike. Ness growled fiercely, preparing for another brutal csh. Kaelis's heart thumped violently in his chest, pain and adrenaline surging through him. And in that precise moment, a shadowy vision fred vividly in his mind—an enormous throne cast in deep, imperable darkness. Upon it sat a shadowy figure, eyes bzing crimson, a sinister smile curling slowly upward. Kaelis felt a strange sensation ripple through him, his teeth lengthening slowly, being sharp, predatory. His eyes widened in shod fusion, breath catg painfully, reality shifting violently around him.

  ‘What was that…?’

  The Hunters closed in rapidly, shouting encement and threats, lightning swirling ferociously around them. “Kill them both!” roared a Hunter desperately, greed and fear blending chaotically in his voibsp;

  Ness braced himself, snarling violently, cws erupting in shadowy fme. Kaelis gasped weakly, eyes bzing crimso pounding violently. The shadowy figure in his mind smiled wider, voice eg softly, darkly amused. “You are special. Bring war..Kaelis.”

  Kaelis trembled violently, pain, fusion, and fear surging fiercely. Yet something else stirred within him—dark, powerful, primal, and terrifying. His teeth sharpened further, heart rag violently, as darkness ed him from within, ready to awaken.

  …

  Espen's heartbeat thundered in her chest, adrenaline flooding her veins like molten fire. The world slowed to a crawl as Hunters surged forward, their bodies crag with unique, destructive lightning Kenda. Espen spuaff ferociously, carving intricate arcs of bd crimson through the air. She vaulted upward, somersaulting gracefully over a Hunter’s brutal lunging strike, then nded fluidly, twisting her body as she retaliated with a fierce sweep of Shacklebrand. The staff grazed the Hunter’s arm, instantly branding him with bzing dark tendrils. Yet, before she could savor the minor victory, Espe a sharp sting—her own Shacklebrand surged wildly, tendrils ing around her wrists and burning deep into her flesh.

  Espen bit back a scream, g her teeth as agony surged through her nerves. ‘I was careless! Damn it! Shacklebrand is too votile—if I don’t trol it precisely, it'll turn against me!’ She staggered, barely dodging a sed enemy's devastating strike, a cwed gau of lightning shattering the grouh her feet into white-hot embers. She grasped desperately at her burning wrists, just managing to release the tendrils before they crushed her bones.

  “Pathetic,” Orenn, the veiled woman who was the head of this group of Hunters, mocked coldly from afar, arms folded elegantly beh her veil. "Is this truly Mae's protégé? The woman whose madness could shatter kingdoms and terrify Apostles? Pitiful."

  Espen’s breath came ragged, her vision blurred as atacker lunged, his fists encased iial white lightning bzing with destructive heat. She braced herself, twisting again, flipping backward seamlessly through a spinning somersault to evade. But a sed Hunter intercepted her mid-air, his lightning-infused hands gripping her ankle ferociously. Espen cried out in agony as the brutal lightning surged violently through her, frying her nerves and shattering her tration. She twisted desperately, kig him in the jaw and breaking free, tumbling violently onto the forest floor.

  She rolled aside, narrowly avoiding a crushing, explosive strike that splihe earth, hurling burning debris into the air. Espen coughed violently, thoughts rag desperately. ‘They’re too disciplioo precise. Their lightning Kenda isn’t just destructive—it’s adaptive, explosive on tact, creating localized devastation. I 't fight them head-on. I o predict their momentum, anticipate their moves, use their aggression against them! If I … but my power betrays me..this sucks.’

  She staggered upright, raisiaff shakily. “Thornbor..” she shouted, spinning the staff and carving bzing crimson circles into the air. Jagged bck spikes erupted at lightning speed, pierg one Hunter’s chest brutally, impaling another’s thigh. But before Espen could celebrate, agony exploded through her—one spike burst violently from beh her ow, pierg through her calf. She screamed, tears streaming down her face as she colpsed forward, blood poolih her.

  ‘No! I lost focus again—my Kenda keeps backfiring. I’m losing trol. If I don’t regain posure now, I’ll die here! I won’t lose at all, fuck that!’

  Espen pushed herself up painfully, barely evading another Hunter’s devastating lightning-imbued fists. She twisted desperately away from his relentless assault, spinning, rolling, narrowly parrying brutal strikes with her staff, each blow rattling through her bones. His lightning surged through the metal, burning her palms severely, sending tremors of agony through her limbs. She gasped sharply, staggering away.

  Orenn ughed ptuously, voice dripping with venomous mockery. "So weak, Espen. Did Mae truly waste her time on a fragile child like you? She was a woman feared by Apostles—a woman who broke the very s of Spirits. And you? You barely stand."

  Espen’s shoulders heaved, shame burning fiercely in her chest. ‘She’s right. I’m nothing pared to Mae. My skills are chaotitrolble. But chaos… chaos is my strength. If I ’t match their precision, then I’ll drown them in my instability! My magic..Please just work for once…! I’m begging you, please.’

  She raised her staff defiantly, blood streaming down her face, mixing with tears of fury. “Bloodletting Pyre..” Espen whispered, abs every ounce of pain and wound; Her injuries burst open violently, bd red Kenda-infused blood boiling forth, igniting explosively into living fmes. The fire roared around her, votile and untamed, singeing nearby Hunters, melting armor, charring flesh. Two Hunters screamed, their bodies ed by the untrolble inferno.

  But again, Espen’s triumph was fleeting. The fmes began dev her own body, blistering her flesh violently. Her vision wavered, agony overwhelming her senses. She colpsed forward, retg blood and smoke, trembling violently.

  “AGHHH!” She screamed.

  Hunters seized their advantage, overwhelming her brutally. “Now! Send that damn witch brat to Hell!”

  One spun forward, brutally cleaving downward with lightning-infused fists. Espen barely mao brace herself, staff shattering violently beh his strike. Another lunged from behind, his lightning-enveloped hands gripping her shoulders, sendiructive arcs searing through her bones. She screamed in raw agony, colpsing helplessly to her knees, vision darkening.

  Espen’s heart sank, despair flooding her veins. ‘Is this… is this all I am? A failure? A pathetic imitation of Mae's legacy?’ She hated herself for a split sed, humiliation searing deeper than any physical pain. ‘I 't… I 't let it end like this! I refuse!’

  She cwed desperately at the earth, pulling herself up weakly, bloodied hands gripping her shattered staff. Her body trembled violently, muscles screaming with exhaustion, pain, and raw determination. She swayed precariously, barely standing.

  Orenn approached slowly, her voice calm, ice-cold, and mog. "Did Mae truly abandon reason by taking you as her apprentice? You wouldn’t have run far, Espen. Those without Kenda have heighterength, speed, senses—all to pensate for their agic. You ood a ce."

  Espen gred defiantly, spitting blood fiercely into Orenn’s veiled face. "Bitch..," she snarled weakly. “e at me..”

  Orenn smiled coldly beh her veil, lightning sparking violently through Espen’s spittle. An explosive force bsted Espen backward, her broken body rolling brutally across the blood-soaked earth. Yet even then, even as agony ed her, Espen cwed painfully to her feet once more. Her legs shook untrolbly, blood streaming from tless wounds, but still she stood—defiant, stubborn, unbreakable.

  Her heart beat wildly, every nerve afme, raw determination burning brighter than ever. ‘I won’t surrender. I refuse to die here, mocked aed. Mae… I will surpass this. Even if my magic fails me, even if my body breaks apart, I will fight until my st breath. I’ll prove myself worthy. Even if my power betrays me, I’m not betraying my fug self..’

  Espen’s vision blurred, tears mixing with blood, yet she stood tall, fag Orenn as darkness swirled violently around her. Her voice was ragged, but her words echoed with unyielding resolve.

  “I… am not… finished yet.”

  Espen barely had time tister Orenn's movement—one moment the veiled woman stood at a distance, and the , she vanished in a blur of lightning-infused speed. She appeared directly in front of Espen, her slender finger crag violently with white-hot energy aimed precisely at Espen's forehead. Espen's eyes widened in shock, fear gripping her heart as she realized, too te, that she wasn't fast enough to retaliate.

  ‘No!’ Espen's mind screamed desperately, her muscles frozen in panic. ‘She’s too fast—I 't move!’

  Orenn's voice was cold, triumphant, dripping with mog finality as her fiip surged towards Espen's skull. "Yes you are, dear. You are finished now.”

  But at the st possible sed, a shadow blurred in front of Espen, shoving her violently aside. Espen gasped, tumbling backward and skidding painfully across the blood-soaked ground. Her vision spun, and she twisted around frantically—just in time to see Kaelis standing in her pce, taking the full force of Orenn's devastating lightning strike directly into his shoulder.

  “Fool!” Espen snarled.

  A horrific explosion of electrified energy erupted around Kaelis, sparks and arcs of lightning ripping through the clearing, carving deep, molten scars into the earth and shattering nearby trees. Espen's breath caught violently ihroat, horror flooding her veins as Kaelis's torso exploded grotesquely, blood and gore spttering violently across the battlefield. Yet, impossibly, Kaelis did not fall. He stood tall, motionless, seemingly ued by the catastrophijury.

  Espen's heart thundered wildly, disbelief overwhelming her senses. “Kaelis…? How—how is he still standing?”

  Slowly, the air around Kaelis began to distort, shadowy tendrils of red and bck magic swirling violently around him. His torn flesh kself back together rapidly, muscles ref, bones snapping into pce with siing cracks. Espe a chill surge down her spine, a primal fear unlike anything she'd ever known. Upon Kaelis’s head appeared a single swirling horn, red and bck, pulsing with sinister energy. Dark veins spread across his pale skin, writhing like serpents beh the surface.

  Kaelis lifted his head, a malicious, unnatural smile spreading slowly across his lips. His eyes glowed deep, unnatural crimson, and from his lips came words in a nguage older than stars themselves, a distorted, aongue resonating with dark, runic power:

  "???? ????? ??? ????????, ???????? ?????????."

  Orenn gasped sharply, her arrogant posure shattered utterly as she stared, horrified, into Kaelis's crimson eyes.

  ‘That dark prese’s evil…that witch has to be using her magi him! Right?!’

  Reflected there, within Kaelis’ irises, she glimpsed a shadowy throne, upon which sat a demon-like king wreathed in shadows—a being of immeerrifying power. Her lips parted in stunned disbelief, her voice trembling in shod terror.

  "You… What—what are you…?"

  Espen y frozen, her heart hammering painfully in her chest, her mind screaming desperately in disbelief.

  ‘No… that's impossible. This aura… this prese feels demonit. The same feeling during Mae’s rituals..Kaelis is no ordinary human. ower lies dormant within him?’

  Ness, battered and bloodied, stood frozen beside her, muscur feline body trembling visibly. His eyes widened in shock, breath catg sharply in his throat. “This magic… this darkness… It's beyond anything I've ever sensed before. Who—or what—did the hell came into our world?”

  Kaelis moved with terrifying, unnatural grace, extending his right arm slowly. From his ched fist erupted a bde of pure shadow and crimson, swirling with smoky grey tendrils. With a speed beyond prehension, he lunged forward, driving the bde directly into Orenn's open mouth, pierg brutally through her skull aing grotesquely from the back of her head, leaving Espen and Orenn to gasp.

  A malicious grin twisted Kaelis's lips as he pnted one foot firmly against Orenn's chest, kig off violently. Her body flew backward, violently severed from her head, spraying blood and viscera across the battlefield. Kaelis stood motionless, holding Orenn's severed head impaled grotesquely upon his shadowy bde, blood dripping steadily onto the scorched earth beh him.

  Slowly, Kaelis turoward Espen and Ness, crimson eyes bzing fiercely, his smile unwavering and malicious. He stepped toward them, movements jerking oddly, his head twitg and glitg unnaturally, as if reality struggled to tain the horrifying presehat now inhabited his body.

  Espen's body shook untrolbly, dread pooling coldly iomach, every nerve screaming desperately to flee. Yet she stayed frozen, uo tear her gaze from Kaelis's terrifying approach, heart pounding violently in her chest.

  ‘Kaelis what have you bee? Is he even in his right mind?!’

  "???????? ??? ????????," Kaelis whispered again, voice eg with a, corrupted power.

  He stepped closer, and closer, each footfall resonating heavily, his sinister smile never wavering, eyes locked unblinkingly upon Espen as shadows danced violently around him.

  Espen could only stare helplessly, hripping her heart, as Kaelis moved ever he severed head of Orenn still grotesquely impaled upon his dark bde.

  “Kaelis…wake the hell up! Whatever is going on with you, it’s resonating with me. I feel it…it’s dark. Snap out of it! I’m not pnning on losing to you either.”

  In Kaelis’ mind..he was falling.

  Darkness surrounded him, thid suffog. There was no wind, no rush of air against his skin, ion of momentum—just an endless, silent pluo the void. It was a fall without end, without beginning, without dire. He wasn't even sure if he still had a body; he felt like a disembodied sciousness, tumbling forever through a cold, empty nothingness.

  His mind flickered desperately, grasping at memories, at fragments of sciousness, trying to make sense of what was happening. Images fshed before him—Espen's terrified eyes, Ness's stunned expression, Orenn's severed head impaled on a bde of darkness. Each memory was distant, surreal, as if viewed through shattered gss.

  He felt fusion, numbness—ah it all, a slow-boiling rage. But this wasn't the kind of anger he could scream out, wasn't the kind that could explode into fists or shouts. This rage was quieter, deeper, like a sm ember buried beh yers of shame, self-doubt, and despair. It was a rage aimed inward, a rage at himself—at his own weakness, his own inadequacy, his owence.

  Kaelis felt his throat tighten, though he had no throat. He felt tears welling, though he had no eyes. He felt a familiar ache within him—the same hollow, gnawiiness he'd felt tless nights alone in his empty apartment, staring at empty bottles, divorce papers, unanswered messages. It was the same feeling he'd experienced in those dark moments when he'd pted the worst, when he'd stared into his own refle and seen nothing but a broken man.

  ‘How did I end up like this again?’ He thought bitterly, helplessly. ‘For a sed, I thought I escaped this. For a sed I thought this world—this beautiful, surreal pce—could finally give me purpose, finally make me feel alive again. But here I am, falling bato the same daminess.’

  Fshes of his pathetic attempts at bravery came ba—his smug jokes, his casual teasing, the arrogant facade he'd shown Espen and Ness. He had desperately wahem to see someone fident, someone brave. And even if he did think this was a dream before, he tried t his reality to it unknowingly. But he wasn't brave. He was scared, weak, fragile. He'd always been those things, hiding his insecurities behind smirks and sarcasm. He'd always been falling, even when he appeared to stand tall.

  ‘Am I a failure?’ Kaelis admitted silently, a wave of humiliation washing over him. ‘I always have been. Even here, even in this world of magid wonder.’

  The darkness pressed closer, colder, heavier. Kaelis's thoughts blurred, despair pulling him deeper into the void. He wondered if this emptiness erma, if he'd finally lost himself food—if he'd ever truly been found at all.

  ‘Maybe I belong here’, he thought bitterly.

  ‘I want to go home. I’m damn afraid.’

  Suddenly, a preseirred in the darkness. Kaelis felt it before he saw it—a vast, overwhelming power, a and unfathomable. He struggled to focus, and slowly, a shadowy figure took shape before him. A dark throne emerged from the void, carved from shadows and whispers, and upon it sat the same demonig he'd glimpsed in his own refle. Eyes of crimson fire burhrough the murky darkness, pierg into Kaelis's very soul.

  ‘The same guy…from before..?’

  Kaelis trembled inwardly, uo look away, fear and awe mingling in his chest. A massive shadowy hand formed above him, its fingers elongated, its palm vast and impossibly rge. The hand desded slowly, inexorably, reag for him.

  Kaelis tried to scream, but no sound came. He tried to move, but he aralyzed, frozen in pce by the sheer magnitude of the being before him.

  Then the shadowy hand closed around him, cold and unyielding, ing him in an unbreakable grip. The demonig leaned forward slowly, eyes bzing with a, dark power. His voice resohrough Kaelis's entire existence, deep and anding:

  “You are my avatar of Uuen.”

  Kaelis felt himself being pulled inexorably towards the throowards the darkness, towards a destiny he could not yet uand.

  Back outside, Kaelis approached slowly, footsteps heavy against the blood-soaked earth, the severed head of Orenn still grotesquely impaled upon his shadowy bde. Espen's breath came ragged, her body trembling violently as she struggled to stand. Ness, battered and bleeding heavily, snarled softly, stepping boldly in front of Espee his own grievous wounds.

  "I won't let you hurt her, kid. I know I know you’re both like, married and all, but I ’t just let you attack her.” Ness growled fiercely, eyes locked defiantly upon the corrupted Kaelis. His muscur feline form trembled visibly from exhaustion, lightning wounds still smoking painfully. Espen's heart twisted bitterly in her chest, humiliation and shame surging fiercely within her.

  "Stop," she hissed weakly to Ness, f herself upright despite her shaking limbs. "I don't… need your help." Her voice wavered, quiet yet filled with stubborn pride; a herself for beihis weak, this vulnerable, scorched through her veins. She hated the pity, the fear, the helplessness ing her now. “I am Mae's apprentice. I am a witch of darkness. How did I allow myself to fall this low?”

  Ness gnced back briefly, eyes softening slightly with uanding, yet his stance did not waver. "Espen… I don't know what's happening with Kaelis, but whatever it is, we 't lose him," Ness murmured, voice heavy with . "No matter how much you dislike him, we 't let him die. Something powerful has awakened within him—something we o uand. Right? Damn I sound cool and heroic.”

  Before Espen could respond, the remaining Hunters suddenly emerged from the shadows, their bodies crag violently with unique, unstable lightning Kenda. Their eyes bzed fiercely, some shouting encement to one another, rinning savagely, bloodlust shining hungrily in their eyes.

  "e on, brothers!" one Hunter roared, pounding his chest violently. "With Orenn gone, her share is ours! Kill the witch, and we'll live like kings!"

  Another, more cautious and calg, nodded grimly. "The bounty grows higher every day. Even if we fail, more Hunters will e. She'll never know rest—only endless fear and battle until she breaks."

  Ness snarled angrily, stepping forward defiantly. "Cowards! You White Brigade Guild Hunters disgrace your own name, chasing after like beasts in a frenzy. Have you no honor left?"

  A Hunter ughed coldly, lightning sparking dangerously at his fiips. "Honor doesn't fill our bellies, beast. The Apostles reward strength, not foolish ideals. Espen's head means riches, power—everything we've dreamed of. That’s what Hunters in this world revolve around. If we just overwhelm you all while you’re all in this state of exhaustion, we have the advantage!”

  Espen stood froze hammering painfully in her chest, fear coiling tightly withiomach. She wanted desperately to fight, to unleash her chaos upon these Hunters, but terror rooted her to the ground. Her magic felt unstable, untrolble—dangerous even to herself. ‘What if I lose trol again? What if I fail?’ Dread washed over her, but she gripped her broken staff tightly, refusing to let her fear show.

  The Hunters lunged forward, lightning crag explosively around them. Before Espen or Ness could react, Kaelis—still grinning maliciously, still holding Orenn's severed head—leapt violently over them, nding directly amidst the charging foes. His body moved with terrifying, primal fluidity, his bded fist carving brutal arcs through flesh and bone, Orenn's head a grotesque, improvised on swung mercilessly, shattering skulls and crushing limbs.

  “HAHAHAHAH!” Kaelis ughed.

  Kaelis vaulted acrobatically, dodging lightning-irikes effortlessly, his body t impossibly as he twisted, spun, and somersaulted through the chaos. A dark star crest—deep red and smoky grey—swirled violently behind him, pulsating with sinister, a power. Even as lightning seared his flesh, his wounds healed instantly, muscles and bones knitting seamlessly back together. Kaelis ughed softly, eyes bzing crimson, his smile never faltering as he carved a merciless path of destru.

  Yet beh that horrific smile, Kaelis's mind screamed desperately, horror flooding every fiber of his being. He watched helplessly, feeling his own body move, his muscles trag, his limbs striking mercilessly, blood spraying grotesquely across his skin. ‘No…Stop! This isn't me! I don't want this!’ His thoughts quaked violently, terror and disgust overwhelming him. He saw the life fade from his victims' eyes, felt the siing ch of boh his strikes, his heart wreng painfully with every kill.

  Kaelis's body twisted violently, flipping through the air and nding atop a Hunter's shoulders, driving his bded fist deep into the man's heart, Orenn's severed head swung brutally into another Hunter's face, shattering his jaw. Kaelis’s movements were fluid, primal, relentless—exactly like a predator stalking wounded prey. He vaulted off the dying Hunter, spinning through the air and cleaving through two more Hunters mid-flight, nding gracefully as their bodies fell broken and bloody to the ground.

  Internally, Kaelis sobbed bitterly, panid despair surging through him. ‘I ’t stop myself!’ He pleaded desperately, but his body refused to listen, moving with relentless speed and savagery. ‘I’ve aken a life before—this isn't me. Someone, help me stop..’

  Kaelis ducked beh a Hunter's ferocious strike, spinning around violently, driving Orenn's head brutally into the Hunter's temple, sending him sprawling lifeless to the ground. A sed Hunter lunged from behind, lightning bziructively, but Kaelis twisted effortlessly, impaling the attacker mercilessly upon his shadowy bde. Blood spttered Kaelis’s face, but his smile remained hauntingly unwavering, his eyes glowing fiercely as he turo face his final oppo.

  The st Hunter backed away desperately, lightning crag weakly around him, eyes wide with terror.

  “You demon! Y-You’re the type of bastard the Apostles warn us about—!”

  Kaelis lunged forward, primal and unstoppable, ripping the Hunter apart in a grotesque dispy of violence. Kaelis nded softly, the forest clearing now eerily silent, broken bodies strewn grotesquely around him.

  Slowly, Kaelis dropped heavily to his knees, breath ing in ragged gasps, horror flooding through every nerve. His body trembled violently, tears streaming unchecked down his blood-smeared face. The dark star crest faded slowly behind him, the swirling horn disappearing, bck veins reg from his skiared bnkly at the age surrounding him, mind numb with disbelief, despair, and self-loathing.

  “What… have I dohis… this was all me. I'm a monster. I killed them—I sughtered them all…” Kaelis's hands shook violently, his vision blurred with tears of anguish, fusion, and overwhelming guilt. Espen and Ness stood frozen, eyes wide with shod fear, as Kaelis k brokenly in the blood-soaked earth, utterly lost, devastated, and shattered.

  The sileretched painfully around them, the weight of what had happened pressing heavily upon each of their souls. Kaelis, sobbing softly, could only whisper brokenly into the silence:

  "What… am I?"