The dust hadn't even settled when Rui rose to his feet again.
But this time…. something was wrong.
His eyes glowed—a haunting, otherworldly light pulsed through them like a storm barely contained. Symbols, ancient and furious, lit up across his chest and arms, pulsing like veins of fire where his torn T-shirt had once clung.
Alice took a step back.
"…No way," he muttered. "This aura—what is this…?!"
Rui didn't speak. He didn't growl. He didn't even blink.
He charged.
The ground cracked beneath his first step, like the earth itself recoiled from his presence. The air around him shimmered, warping from the pressure of his unleashed energy.
BOOM!
His fist slammed down—not at Alice, but into the ground just beside him. The impact cratered the concrete, sending debris and shockwaves blasting outward. A streetlamp nearby exploded from the pressure.
Alice barely managed to leap back.
Too fast. Too strong. He's not even the same person anymore!
He vanished—then reappeared behind him with another strike.
THWACK!
Alice twisted mid-air, avoiding a direct hit—but Rui's knuckles grazed his ribs, sending him flying into a dumpster. The metal warped around his body with a screech.
"Gah…!" he coughed, staggering to his feet. Blood dripped from his lip.
But he wasn't done.
From his pocket, he pulled out five rings, each gleaming silver, each linked by thin chains, each tipped with tiny, deadly spikes.
Click.
He slipped them over his fingers and spun them with a flick of his wrist.
"Let's see if this gets through to you, Rui!" he shouted, charging forward.
His hands moved like a blur, rings whirling like chakrams. One strike, two, three—metal slashed through the air with a singing hum.
They hit.
Clang! Clang! CLANG!
But Rui didn't even flinch. The rings hit his body—then bounced off like they'd struck steel.
Alice's eyes widened.
He's not just stronger… he's invulnerable…!
And then he remembered Mahir's words:
> "Everyone has a dark side.
Rui's… is darker than anyone else's."
Just then—
"ALICE!"
He turned.
A figure landed beside him in a crouch, wind gusting from his arrival.
Damiyan.
He glanced at Rui, brows furrowed. "What the hell happened to him…?"
Alice's chest heaved with each breath. "His dark side… it's awakened. We need to stop him. Now."
Damiyan hesitated only a moment, then cracked his knuckles. "Alright. Let's bring him down."
Together, they rushed him.
The battle that followed shook the street.
Alice darted left—Damiyan went right. Rui didn't dodge—he took both their attacks head-on. A punch to his jaw, a knee to his side—
He didn't even blink.
He grabbed Damiyan by the collar and hurled him like a ragdoll into a wall.
Alice jumped high, spinning with a flying kick, but Rui caught his leg mid-air—and slammed him into the pavement.
Blood pooled. But he got up.
"Dammit…" Damiyan groaned, limping back into the fight. "This isn't Rui anymore… this is a monster."
"No," Alice said, spitting blood. "He's still Rui. Somewhere in there…"
They looked at each other.
A nod passed between them.
One last shot.
They rushed in, together. Time slowed.
Alice's punch came from the left.
Damiyan's punch came from the right.
CRACK.
Both fists connected.
The world went still.
The symbols on Rui's body flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then—shattered into glowing fragments, vanishing into the night air like fireflies in the dark.
Rui's body slumped.
He collapsed to his knees, then fell face-down on the cracked pavement, unconscious.
The street fell silent.
Alice and Damiyan stood over him, breathing hard, bruised and broken.
But it was over.
At least… for now.
--