As we were walking through the outskirts, the ruins whispered around us — wind cutting between half-collapsed towers, the distant hum of nightmares echoing through the dark horizon. Kai walked just a little ahead, his posture too upright, his steps too clean.
I decided to ask. "So why are you even out here, pretty boy?"
He didn't turn around. "Some guards asked me to look for someone who was kidnapped a while back. I decided to do it."
How heroic.
"So are they paying you?"
Kai nodded. "Around two soul shards. Why?"
Good. He wasn't a complete moron. I smirked and stretched my neck.
"I'll join you then."
Kai shot me a look over his shoulder. "Why?"
"What, I'm pretty strong. Can't hurt to have some extra backup."
He sighed. That long, tired kind of sigh that says I know this is a bad idea but I'm too polite to say no.
"Oh, uh, sure. Yeah, I guess you can come."
How cute.
"Alright then, lead the way, K-pop star."
Kai turned, blinking. "You… know about K-pop?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, duh."
He chuckled softly, stepping over a cracked curb. "You don't really seem like the kind of guy who listens to K-pop."
"Yeah, well, what's more badass than killing monsters while BLACKPINK is playing?"
Kai just stared at me, then chose silence. Coward.
"I mean, nowadays no one really listens to those vintage songs," he said after a moment. "Hell, the only reason I know about K-pop is because I had to learn a dance move for a show a while back."
"Old is gold, Kai."
He actually laughed. "You sound like my old manager. She used to listen to pre-Dark Times songs and say they had more talent than anyone in this generation. Well—except me, of course."
Ah, stroking the old ego. Classic manipulation tactic. Maybe she stroked—never mind.
We kept walking, the silence turning comfortable. The dark road ahead stretched like an endless artery, red mist curling from the cracks in the stone.
Then I noticed something. The sound of steps that weren't ours.
I waited until Kai started humming before saying casually, "So where exactly are we looking, Kai? 'Cause, uh… don't be scared, but we've been followed for about ten minutes."
He froze. "What?"
Kai spun around and jumped back, summoning a gleaming ethereal bow in a burst of blue light. His first shot flew before the creature even fully emerged — an arrow of pale flame that pierced the shadows.
A nightmare screeched, the air vibrating like broken glass.
I grinned. "Showtime."
I sliced open the stump of my arm — blood spilling out like ink in water — and shaped it into a long, coiled tendril that hardened into an arm. The blood pulsed with my heartbeat.
With both arms ready, I summoned my twin crossbows. Their limbs unfolded with a hiss, strings humming with power as I loaded arrows made from condensed blood.
The first volley hit like thunder. My arrows struck and twisted on impact before bursting apart, coating the beasts in their own gore. Kai loosed his arrows faster than I could count — clean, graceful shots that left glowing streaks in the air. He moved like a dancer, his feet barely touching the ground as he fired, rolled, and pivoted.
Then more came. Dozens of them — nightmare creatures shaped like twisted monkeys, their limbs too long, mouths splitting open sideways. They came from all directions, howling.
One leapt from above. I swung my blood arm upward, catching it midair and slamming it into the cobblestone hard enough to crack the ground. Another rushed from the side — I twisted around, firing an arrow that detonated midair, splattering crimson light over the walls.
Kai leapt back, as he took to the air, firing down at the pack. His arrows left trails of heat through the mist, each one striking a target dead center.
"Running out of arrows?" I shouted.
He didn't answer, too busy dodging claws and snarls. I grinned wider. "Fine. Use theirs."
I reached out with my will — blood answering my call. The crimson spilled from the corpses, swirling upward into thick streams that solidified into arrows around Kai like a halo. He grabbed them mid-air and fired, the blood igniting into spiraling bolts that cut through three beasts at once.
"Holy—how are you—"
"Shut up and shoot, K-pop!"
The rhythm of battle was intoxicating. I moved like water — sliding across the blood-slick ground, spinning on one foot, firing from impossible angles. A creature tried to tackle me; I used the recoil of my own shot to spin backward, caught its arm with my tendril, and flung it into another one.
Another came crawling low. I planted a boot on its head and vaulted over, landing behind it with my crossbows crossed. Two shots. Two detonations. Head gone.
Kai, above me, loosed another volley. I sent a line of blood to stabilize him mid-air, letting him reload faster. The teamwork wasn't planned, but it worked frighteningly well — like we'd done this a hundred times before.
Finally, the last one lunged straight for me, its jaw wide open, rows of teeth dripping black ichor. I didn't even bother with my weapons this time. I grabbed its head, slammed it to the ground, and sank my fangs into its neck.
Warm blood flooded my mouth. Metallic, sour, perfect.
When I tore away, the creature went limp. Dead.
I stood there for a moment, breathing hard, the battlefield quiet except for the soft crackle of burning flesh from Kai's arrows.
Kai landed beside me, panting and wiping sweat from his face. I snapped my fingers and drew the blood off him in threads, pulling it out of his tunic and hair until he looked clean again.
"Hey, Kai," I said, stepping over a corpse. "You can keep the soul shards, okay?"
He blinked at me, still catching his breath. "You're… just giving them up?"
"Yeah," I said, gathering all the blood from the creatures into a hollowed carcass. "Think of it as a tip for the performance."
I waved lazily over my shoulder as I walked away. "Later, pop star."
The city wind carried his confused laugh behind me.