Ren Ashford's eyes snapped open.
He gasped, sucking in air like a drowning man coming to the surface of an ocean. His chest rose quickly, his heart pounded. He was alive.
How?
The last thing he remembered was dying. His heart stopping, blood forming into a small pool beneath him. The armored figure collapsing beside him and then…
Pain. Purple fire consuming him from the inside out.
"What the fuck," Ren whispered, staring at his hands.
They looked the same. Mostly. But there were faint dark patterns along his fingers, like veins traced with ink. When he flexed them, purple sparks danced across his knuckles before fading.
Power hummed beneath his skin, and it was not the weak, pathetic trickle he had had as an F-rank. This was a river, and it terrified him.
"What... what is this?"
"Congratulations. You survived."
Ren froze. The voice wasn't his. It echoed inside his skull, deep, exhausted, tinged with surprise and something like disappointment.
"Who—" Ren spun around, scanning the destroyed plaza. There were bodies everywhere. Rubble. Smoke. But no one alive except him. He looked to the side where the armored creature had come closer to him, and was shocked to see he was no longer there.
"I'm in your head, fool. Stop looking around like an idiot."
Ren's breathing quickened. "I'm... I'm losing it. I died. I'm dead and this is—"
"You did die," the voice confirmed. "Your heart stopped. I brought you back. The fusion—"
"I DIED!" Ren shouted, stumbling backward. "I felt it! My heart stopped beating and—"
"WOULD YOU SHUT UP AND CONCENTRATE?" The voice thundered through his mind, and Ren clutched his head with a groan.
"I don't have much time with you," the voice continued, calmer now. "The fusion is unstable. I'm... fading. Two days. Maybe three. But you need to—"
Suddenly, the ground shook.
Ren's head snapped toward the gate, realizing it was still open and rackling with purple energy. Then something else emerged.
It was easily ten meters tall. Obsidian skin covered in glowing purple runes. It had four arms, each ending in massive claws, and had horns curling from its skull like a crown. It's eyes burned with violet fire too. The gate vibrated once more, and then collapsed on itself, before a terrifying silence descended upon the space.
The monster turned its burning gaze toward Ren.
"Oh no."
"What do you mean 'oh no'?!" Ren's voice cracked. "What do you mean OH NO?!"
"That's a Floor 52 Warden. I wasn't expecting—"
"WHAT?!"
The Warden roared, the sound sending chills straight into Ren's bones. Windows shattered in nearby buildings, and the ground cracked beneath the creature's feet.
Ren did the only logical thing.
He ran.
"FOOL!"
"FUCK YOU, VOICE IN MY HEAD!" Ren sprinted toward the nearest alley, his legs moving faster than they ever had before. "I'M NOT FIGHTING THAT THING!"
"You're stronger now! You have my power! Just let the body move!"
"LET THE BODY—WHAT ARE YOU EVEN SAYING?!"
The Warden moved. One moment it was fifty meters away. The next, it was right there, massive claw coming down like a meteor.
Ren threw himself to the side. The claw smashed into the pavement where he had been standing, creating a crater three meters wide.
"That fucking hurt!" Ren groaned, clutching his ribs where he had hit the ground.
"Listen to me," the voice, Kyrenth, that was the name, said urgently. "Your body knows what to do. My muscle memory is yours now. Stop thinking. Just—"
"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!"
"My name is Kyrenth, you fool! I was a Floor 87 Ascender! And if you don't calm down and let me guide you, we're both DEAD!"
The Warden's shadow fell over Ren, and he looked up.
The creature stood directly above him, all four arms raised, claws shining. Its mouth opened, revealing rows of teeth and purple energy building in its throat.
Time seemed to slow.
"Now," Kyrenth whispered. "Move."
Ren's body moved on its own. His hands flashed forward, and purple energy exploded from his palms. Two daggers materialized, identical to the ones Kyrenth had wielded, jagged and wreathed in violet flames.
He rolled forward, under the Warden's strike, and came up slashing. The blades bit deep into the creature's leg, and purple blood sprayed. The Warden roared and staggered back.
"What—" Ren stared at his hands, at the glowing daggers. "I didn't—how did I—"
"Concentrate, fool!" Kyrenth yelled, drawing Ren's attention to the changes in the Warden's form.
Its massive body compressed, shrinking, reshaping. In seconds, the ten-meter monster was gone, replaced by a humanoid figure that was at least seven feet tall. Lean but muscular. Blonde hair that seemed to glow with its own light, floating as if underwater. Sharp, elegant features twisted into a nasty smirk. The same violet eyes, but now they held intelligence. Cruel amusement.
"Well, well," the figure said. "Kyrenth. I'd recognize your essence anywhere." He tilted his head, studying Ren.
"But you're not completely Kyrenth, are you? You're something... else. A Calamity."
"What?" Ren's grip tightened on the daggers. "What calamity? What's a calamity? I'm—"
The blonde figure vanished.
Ren's body twisted, daggers coming up on pure instinct. Metal clashed against metal as the figure appeared directly in front of him, two energy blades in hand.
"I am Xaelic," the figure said, grinning. "Floor 52 Executioner, or Warden. Your pick. And you, little Calamity, are an abomination."
He pushed forward, and Ren stumbled back, barely holding the block.
"Focus!" Kyrenth's voice snapped. "Left feint, then—"
Ren's body moved before Kyrenth finished the sentence. Left feint. Right slash. Spin. Duck under Xaelic's counterstrike. Xaelic laughed, blocking each strike with ease. "You have no idea what you are, do you? How delicious." Their blades locked. Xaelic leaned in close, eyes sparkling.
"When I kill you, I'll take Kyrenth's head as a trophy. The Council will reward me handsomely for ending a traitor."
Purple energy exploded between them, and both fighters were thrown backward.
Ren hit a car, denting the metal. Xaelic landed gracefully on his feet, already charging again.
"Stop panicking!" Kyrenth commanded. "You're stronger than him! Trust the body!"
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!" Ren screamed, rolling away from another strike that carved through the car like paper.
"Then let ME do it!"
Something twisted in Ren's chest, like a hand grabbing his lungs from the inside. Then his body just... moved.
Fast. Too fast. His legs pushed off the ground without him telling them to. His arms swung the daggers in patterns he had never learned, and purple energy trailed behind every movement.
Xaelic's smirk dropped.
Ren slashed. The blonde asshole blocked. Ren spun, and caught Xaelic across the ribs, blood spraying.
"What the—" Xaelic jumped back, but Ren was already moving again.
It felt like being shoved into the backseat of his own body. He could see everything, feel everything, but someone else was driving.
Kyrenth.
Xaelic's blade came down. Ren's body twisted away, daggers flashing up to slice across the executioner's arm. There was more blood, and Xaelic hissed, stumbling back.
"Impossible!" He was bleeding from cuts all over now, breathing hard. "You're just a Calamity! You can't—"
Ren's dagger slammed into his chest.
Xaelic's words cut off. He made this horrible choking sound, purple blood spilling from his mouth, and his glowing eyes flickered.
"Your... betrayal..." he wheezed, staggering backward. "Hasn't gone... unnoticed..."
He dropped to his knees. Then face-first into the concrete. Dead. Defintely dead.
The control snapped back so hard Ren nearly fell over. His hands were shaking. His whole body was shaking.
"I just—" He stared at the corpse. At the blood on his daggers. "I killed him."
"You did well," Kyrenth said, quieter now. "For your first—"
"FREEZE!"
Ren's head jerked up.
A man stood at the edge of the plaza. Big guy, probably six-foot-something, built like he could bench press a car. Hunter gear. And right there on his chest, the red-and-gold insignia of an S-rank guild.
An S-rank.
The hunter's eyes went from Ren, to Xaelic's body, then back to Ren. His face had gone pale.
"What..." His hand moved slowly toward the massive sword on his back. "What t