Location: Quarry Chin, Northern Region of Kalindi
Through the shattered scrapes of the ruined city, shadows stretched at light-speed.
The Hayash was rushing back to his sect—something urgent had forced his return.
But as he descended the glass spine of a half-broken skyscraper, a sudden burst of flame shot toward him.
He barely moved, simply crossing his index and middle fingers. The blazing attack vanished, swallowed whole by a black aura that shimmered around him.
"Tch… didn't see that coming… fuck."
Hayash's voice was calm but sharp.
And then, a voice echoed through the air.
"Still prefer not to show yourself?"
Three silhouettes hovered above, their presence pressing against the skyline.
"How impressive," a frail-looking man sneered, his red aura leaking and cracking the air. "To replicate that move without even sacrificing life energy…"
Hayash narrowed his eyes.
"It's you… Suryesh Sahah. So, you've broken through the Core. I see."
The ground beneath them trembled as Hayash spread his fingers wide.
"Darkness Prevails."
In an instant, the world turned void. The air grew heavy, sight vanished, and every trace of color dissolved into pitch-black silence.
From within that darkness, Dejuki's voice broke through.
"Artishte! Burn everything you can sense. Use up your life energy—now!"
Artishte gritted his teeth, firing three massive blasts—
One toward the square, one at the tip of the skyscraper, and one toward a parked truck.
Explosions thundered across the city, yet when the smoke cleared… there was nothing. Not even a scorch mark.
"Where'd he go? He can't be that fast—can he?"
"Quickly, finish him! We're under his illusion, otherwise—" Suryesh shouted, his voice shaking.
But before he could finish, Hayash appeared right before Artishte.
Between his fingers flickered a sphere of condensed black flame—like a dying sun burning with purple fire.
> "You died by your own energy," Hayash whispered, his tone almost mocking. "Unless… you wanted me to use it instead."
"Shadow Tip."
The sphere exploded silently.
Artishte's body froze—eyes wide, unable to move—as the illusion shattered around him. His own attack consumed him whole, his scream vanishing into the black haze.
The battlefield shifted again.
Within the lingering dark cloud illusion, Hayash moved like a phantom, parrying Suryesh's crimson blade and Dejuki's rapid strikes—alone, unfazed, unstoppable.
"You brat!" Dejuki roared, clashing his sword against nothing but air. "You think you're immortal?!"
Suddenly, the Darkness Prevails faded.
The night bled red.
From behind, a whisper—low, trembling, deadly.
"Sword of Blood Sacrificial!"
The sky cracked open.
An enormous array of crimson sigils formed above Hayash, dripping light like falling blood. The blade of pure life essence began descending from the heavens.
Hayash looked up, smiling.
The purple fire in his eyes dimmed—almost… knowingly.
"You shouldn't have done that, Suryesh…" he murmured. "Because now—"
The crimson blade struck--
--and everything turned white.
The light swallowed the city.
When the smoke cleared… only one shadow stood amidst the ruins.
But whose shadow it was… no one could tell.