[Content Warning: This chapter contains graphic violence, torture, and disturbing imagery. Reader discretion is advised.]
CH was frozen, fear clear in his eyes after seeing the shadow.
Vinn looked at Nero, voice tight, "That thing… it isn't from this world, is it?"
Nero's eyes never left Anika. "No. It's not."
Vinn swallowed hard. "I don't like where this is going. We're way over our heads with her."
Nero's gaze stayed locked on Anika, cold and unwavering. "You might be right… but if we run away, she'll hurt more people. Children."
Anika moved forward, slow, deliberate, the shadow trailing behind her like a predator's shadow stalking its prey.
Vinn raised his sniper and fired, but the bullet struck the shadow with a metallic ting, bouncing harmlessly away.
Nero barked, "CH! Get out of here!"
CH didn't move. He planted himself firmly beside them and let out a low, stubborn Maaa—as if saying, I'm not running.
Nero glanced at him, a small, grim smile tugging at his lips. "Damn stubborn goat… alright, let's do this."
Anika closed the distance, a cruel smile on her face. "A monster, a soldier, and an old goat? You three would make a great circus show."
The shadow slid to her side, grin widening, and in an instant, it struck. Smoky claws slashed toward them. Dirt, rock, and splintered debris erupted with every swing.
Vinn drew his handgun and fired repeatedly at Anika, but the shadow absorbed every shot, its base solid, unyielding.
The shadow lunged at CH, but the old goat's reflexes, honed despite age, kept him just out of reach.
Nero charged at Anika, closing the distance—but she fired her handgun, keeping him back.
"What are you? How do you control these things?!" Nero shouted.
Anika's voice was detached, almost bored. "What I am is none of your concern. Your worry should be for yourself… and those two."
The shadow returned to Anika, slashing toward Nero. He dodged, weaving through its attacks while trying to reach her.
"Dorne crushed Eli's head under his heel," Nero spat.
"So?" Anika replied, flat.
"Don't you feel anything?!" Rage coiled in Nero's chest. "You took everything from Sophia… she always looked so sad, because of you."
"I couldn't care less," she said, her voice void of emotion.
Nero snatched a rock from the ground and hurled it, but the shadow moved in between the rock and Anika. The rock shattered from the impact, like hitting a steel wall. Vinn continued firing, bullets spitting and bouncing off the shadow.
"The bullets… didn't even touch it," Anika sneered. "And you threw a rock? Are you dumb?"
Nero didn't answer. He swung at the shadow with his fists—but his eyes widened as he saw his fists pass through as though striking nothing.
It took advantage of that split second and slashed at him. Nero dodged, but not fast enough. A clean strike cut through his left arm. Blood sprayed as Nero jumped backward for distance, and the severed limb dropped to the ground. He gritted his teeth as regeneration kicked in, bone regrowing, flesh knitting back together.
Vinn's eyes widened. "That's… not normal."
"I know," Nero muttered.
Vinn's handgun clicked empty. He drew his sniper and fired again. The shadow blocked the bullets once more. CH attempted a charge, but the shadow intercepted him too.
Nero blurred into motion, sprinting at full speed. The shadow raised a claw toward CH—Nero leapt in between them, pushing CH away and taking the strike across his right shoulder and chest. He was slammed away, blood spraying everywhere, painting the ground red. His neck twisted unnaturally, nearly decapitated.
He fell, cracked and broken—but his healing surged, stitching him back together.
Inside his mind, Angelo's voice whispered, low and calm: You can't beat her like this.
Nero looked at CH as he ran toward him. "You okay?"
CH was covered in Nero's blood, but he managed a soft Ma.
Angelo's voice returned, echoing inside Nero's skull: You still can't use your powers.
What do I do? Nero thought.
Switch with me. Just for now. I want to pay her back for Sophia, Angelo said.
Nero looked at Vinn and CH as Anika slowly approached with that shadow. "Vinn! CH! Run! Get away as far as you can!"
The shadow was on guard, staying close to Anika. She stopped and frowned, confused. What's he on about? Why tell them to move back?
Vinn yelled as he sprinted, shooting over his shoulder. "Why?!"
"Just do it!" Nero roared. "Take CH and run. Don't come near me… or her."
Vinn and CH bolted. Nero remained, bloodied, torn T-shirt hanging in tatters. He ripped it off and let it drop to the ground, exposing the gashes across his torso as they fully healed.
He closed his eyes, inhaled, and let out a long breath. In his mind: "Alright… you're up."
Angelo's voice returned. "This won't take long. You might want to take it easy after."
Time stuttered for a fraction of a second. The air thickened. Light bent toward Nero like a black hole. The world grew colder—every shadow heavier, every breath tighter. The presence was suffocating, infinite, and aware.
Everyone in the town, and beyond, felt it. Even those miles away at Ironwatch Hold froze mid-motion. Seraphine didn't dare breathe; her five glowing orbs dimmed, flickering like dying stars. Vehicles on the way to Nero's location screeched to a halt, engines stuttering, drivers frozen in terror. Lina, hiding in Thom's basement, screamed before passing out, convulsing from fear.
Anika's shadow, once a living extension of her cruelty, froze mid-grin. Even it fear what was coming.
A halo began forming above Nero's head—not of light, but of the absence of everything. The cracks that had healed across his body reopened, jagged and thick, spreading across his skin like shattered porcelain. His face fractured, lips splitting slightly with the tension. His silver eyes faded, replaced by pitch-black pools that mirrored the void.
This was not Nero.
It was Angelo—fully fused with the Void.
And he was looking directly at Anika.
Anika, trembling violently, still held her gun. Her finger tried to squeeze the trigger—but her arms erupted outward in grotesque violence. Bones snapped, muscles tore, tendons shredded. Veins, nerves, and sinew scattered violently in every direction. Blood sprayed like a crimson storm. She tried to scream, but her jaw imploded inward with a sickening crunch, leaving only gurgling sounds as her screams were trapped in her own throat.
The shadow, desperate to shield Anika, turned — and froze.
Nero—no, Angelo—standing beneath the moon, its light dying around his black halo. The void above his head didn't glow. It ate light. The shadow met those pitch-black eyes… and screamed as it tore itself apart, black ichor splattering like cursed ink.
Anika remained standing, barely, shaking, choking on her own blood. As she tried to turn—perhaps to flee—her legs got severed at the knees, flying back a short distance. She collapsed with a wet thud into the pooling blood. Her torso quivered, trembling with pain and terror, every breath a gurgling struggle.
Vinn and CH stared at the horror, unable to move a muscle from the fear the whole time. But the pressure started to ease.
The halo on Nero's head dissolved. The jagged cracks in Nero's body mended themselves, the pitch-black of his eyes receding back to its normal state. Angelo's presence withdrew, leaving Nero in full control once again.
A dull throb settled behind Nero's eyes. His vision blurred for a moment, the world tilting—then snapping back into place as he steadied himself.
"You said you'd rip her spine out with your bare hands, right?" Angelo whispered in Nero's mind.
The pressure lingered, faint but heavy, like something vast had just passed through him and left an echo behind.
"So I left her breathing."
Nero stepped forward, his feet slapping the blood-soaked ground. Anika writhed helplessly, surrounded by the blackened remains of her shadow, her body broken and bleeding.
He knelt beside her, towering over her. "I told you what I'd do, didn't I?"
He drove his hand into her back, tearing through flesh and fabric. She tried to scream—only gurgles escaped, rasping through the blood in her throat.
Nero gripped her spine with both hands, a monstrous pull twisting it free. Her body went limp instantly, the air filled with the wet, hollow snap of death.
The ground around them was drenched in blood. The black remnants of the shadow hissed and fizzled into nothing. Silence fell, broken only by the wind whispering over the ruined town.