Tiger Qi-imbued palm strike on the right and his left punch shot up together like twin pistons, slamming into the under-edge of the crystal-plated chest with brutal force. Red-fiery Qi energy flared around the impact and burst penetrating through its grotesque body — a compressed blast that cracked the air like thunder.
The whole front of the monster lurched.
The plate shuddered. A concussive wave rippled across its torso, a visible distortion running through parasite sacks and bone-gel structure. For a moment, the Variant's feet almost left the ground.
It staggered back two steps, foundations buckling, claws gouging trenches as it fought to stay upright.
Arika's eyes tightened behind her visor.
That's it. He's forcing a stagger state…
"Give him space!" she called, already moving to herd her team back out of the line of fire.
Yuri and Albert shifted back with her, still keeping their weapons trained, ready to intercept any stray tendril that tried to catch the boy in retreat.
But Kaodin wasn't retreating.
He pushed forward.
The Variant slumped forward from the double strike, weight thrown slightly off center. Its upper body dipped for the shortest fraction of a second.
That opening was all he needed.
Kaodin pivoted hard on his lead foot, sliding along the collapsing center line of the monster's stance. He skimmed around its flank, ducking beneath a twitching parasite sack, boots splashing through dirty rainwater.
A desperate swipe came down toward him from above — the spine-tendril trying to correct.
He felt it in the back of his neck before he saw it, that cold prickle of killing intent.
He rolled his shoulder, spine bending just enough.
The tendril carved the air where his skull had been a heartbeat earlier, smashing into a ruined wall and punching a crater into it.
Concrete dust rained down over Kaodin's back.
He came out behind the monster.
Perfect.
The cracked crystal plate vibrated in front of him now, the fracture from Jarake-fad-hang still faintly glowing, parasite gel pulsing beneath.
He sucked in a breath.
Now.
His feet grounded.
His tiger arm drew back.
Everything else vanished.
The Variant's body began to respond, even as his position shifted behind it. Parasite fibers thickened beneath skin. The fracture under the plate started to knit from inside, like something was sewing it shut in a hurry.
He could see it — faint threads weaving frantically.
"Too slow," he whispered.
He poured himself into his right arm.
The volcanic fur bristled, every ember-strand standing on end. The black stripes along his torso pulsed once, then flared, each line acting like a conduit, relaying everything he had from his chest, his legs, his spine, straight into the tiger palm.
It hurt.
Heat knifed through his nerves, deeper than muscle, like molten metal being forced through veins never meant to hold it.
He didn't hold back.
His rage.
His guilt.
The image of Nyla's blood on the ground.
Liara's voice in the dark.
All of it drove the Qi harder.
The flame around his arm thickened — no longer just flickering fur, but a dense, roaring sheath of fire hugging close to his skin. It didn't explode outward; it compressed, sharpening, all that violence tightly wrapped into his palm and claws.
The air around his hand began to scream.
CRACK—BOOM—
A low, constant hiss — like a forge vent opened in a sealed room. The sound of fire under pressure. The rain falling near his arm vaporized instantly, turning into a thin mist that rose and curled around him.
The Variant's broken plate glowed, parasite threads nearly done repairing the fracture.
Kaodin stepped in.
His left foot slid forward, heel digging into rubble, anchoring his weight. His hips turned. His spine followed. All the rotation, all the stored power, funneled into that one arm.
"Magma…..", Kaodin shouted, his clawed right hand ignited—
a plume of volcanic flame bursting around it like a comet tail.
"Tiger….."
He drove his arm forward—
"Palm Slash….."
A tearing arc of molten Qi.
The Magma Tiger Palm struck the weakened crystal plate—
KRRRRRRSHH—BWOOM—!!!
A dense, muffled crack boomed through the night, rolled inside with a deep, bass thud that hit the chest more than the ears.
His palm slammed into the fractured crystal plate; the compressed Qi detonated inside the impact point, sending a focused shockwave straight through the barrier and into whatever writhed beneath.
Crimson-orange light flashed through the cracks, as if the parasite core behind it had swallowed a piece of the sun.
The plate shattered.
Chunks of crystal-chitin blew outward, spinning through the rain. The parasite gel underneath vaporized in an instant, bursting into a cloud of black steam that curled away like burned ink.
For a heartbeat, there was no other sound.
Only the sound of Kaodin's fire.
A low, continuous roar wound tight around the silence — the whispering crackle of magma Qi eating through alien flesh. The flames were so hot they made almost no color at all near his palm, just a white-yellow edge that faded quickly back to volcanic red as it licked along the monster's chest.
Inside the Variant, something burst.
Parasite veins along its spine lit up in sequence, flaring a sickly green, then going dark.
The creature convulsed.
Its entire body arched backward, limbs flailing in chaotic spasms. Tendrils snapped against the air with the sound of wet whips; one slammed into the ground beside Kaodin, showering him with cement dust and acid droplets that hissed harmlessly off his burning skin.
He refused to let go.
He dug his claws in, pushing deeper, forcing the last thread of his Qi into the ruptured core. The tiger-flame on his arm burned brighter, then began to gutter at the edges as his reserves crashed.
"Break," he growled through his teeth. "Just… break already…"
The plate shattered—
shards flung like burning glass.
Kaodin's claws plunged through the monster's chest cavity, carving a molten channel through parasite flesh, bone-gel, and the crystalized organ beneath.
KRRRRRRSHH—BWOOM—!!!
The impact detonated like a volcanic vent erupting open.
A ring of red-orange fire blasted outward, flattening the rain around him into a circular void of steam.
A roar—inhuman, warping, choked—tore from the Variant's throat.
The Variant gave one long, strangled roar — half-choke, half-scream — then its legs buckled.
The full weight of the monster crashed down onto its knees, then forward.
Kaodin tore his hand back and threw himself sideways just in time, rolling across the broken street as the Colos Variant collapsed like a felled tower. Its head hit the ground with a final, heavy thud that shook dust from hanging signs and shattered glass in already broken windows.
Silence hit them like a wave.
The rain sounded far away.
Kaodin lay on his back, chest heaving, the sky a swirl of red moon and drifting steam above him. The tiger stripes and furry flame along his arm flickered weakly, the fur dimming, ember by ember.
Then it died out completely.
His arm remained tiger-like shape for half a breath longer — solid, clawed, striped.
Then the Qi-infused flesh loosened its hold.
The volcanic fur receded, shrinking inward. The claws softened back into fingers. The black stripes faded, leaving only faint, angry red tracings along his skin like fresh burns.
Pain rushed in.
He coughed copper on his tongue.
His vision blurred.
Wawa burst free from his right palm in a tumble of light and flesh — no longer a pure Qi form, but a small, exhausted tiger cub in physical body, fur matted, breath shallow. He landed right beside Kaodin, paws splayed, chest rising and falling in tiny, stubborn gasps.
Kaodin turned his head weakly.
"Hey…" His voice was hoarse. "You did great…"
Wawa's ear twitched once in answer, then the little cub slumped, half-conscious.
"Hold positions," Arika called, eyes locked on the fallen monster. "No one assume it's dead yet. Han-Xiao, confirm."
Han-Xiao was already raising her visor, fingers flicking data windows across her display.
"Scanning…" she muttered. "Primary biomass… collapsed. Parasite activity…"
Her voice trailed off.
Arika glanced sideways. "Report."
For a heartbeat—
the area, warzone-like state, went silent.
Only the sound of smoldering parasite flesh hissed in the rain.