127 BLACK HALO- DEBUT
From the wreckage, a figure rose—unscathed, calm, almost amused by the mangled car smoldering around him.
Airbender stared. "You're not crushed?"
The man brushed a fleck of ash from his cloak. "You're not worthy to fight me."
"You are useless, can't even deal with a high schooler," Aura snapped, glaring at Airbender. Then she closed her eyes and reached inward.
A wave of pressure burst from her—soundless at first, then crushing. The air thickened, and the man's body trembled under the invisible gravity pressing down on him, his skin pulling taut under the strain.
"You will obey me," Aura commanded coldly. "Or you'll die beneath my mind-aura."
The man didn't even blink. The corner of his mouth lifted. "Try me."
Dackerie swore under his breath. "That's impossible. Zairgid Aukouma's just a high schooler. How's he tanking a psychic like Aura head on?"
Leviathan stepped forward, scowling. "You two are useless."
The ground groaned as pipes burst beneath them.
Water erupted into the air—but instead of splashing down, it gathered, twisting and folding until a massive form emerged. A whale of living water hung suspended in the air, casting shadows across the broken road.
"Leviathan—wait!" Aura shouted. "We're not supposed to kill him!"
Airbender cut in, his voice sharp. "Kill him? You really think that's even possible now? After what he's just shrugged off? We give him our everything now if we want to make out from this alive."
He raised both hands and conjured another wind spear, a cyclone spinning around Leviathan's water-beast. The two forces merged, descending in a storm that shattered the street.
When the dust cleared, a crater yawned where the man had stood.
"Did we kill him?" Aura asked, panting.
Dackerie scanned the area. "He's not on my sensors. No heat signature, no vitals. There is nothing. He's dead."
They stepped closer to confirm. The crater smoked of burning ash and tar, but it was …. empty.
Then Aura froze.
A chill shot through her bones like a presence was behind her. Then a voice rang in her skull.
"Your mind tricks don't work on me," it whispered. "My blood is beyond your power to command."
Before she could react, she was lifted into the air, flung like a ragdoll. Invisible blows struck her again and again, snapping bones mid-flight.
"What the hell—!" Airbender shouted.
"Aura's a psychic! Her body's fragile! Let's just pray," Leviathan yelled, forming a sign of faith.
She plummeted moments later, slamming into the pavement. The cloaked man descended beside her slowly, his cloak lifting him like a paraglider.
He returned to the ground untouched.
Aura's body was ruined—her skin was wrinkled, her hair turned grey, her eyes hollow with age like she was drained.
She tried to speak. "Help…", but the word died halfway out from exhaustion.
Leviathan's throat tightened. "What the hell are you?"
The man looked at him calmly. "I told you. You're not worthy to fight me."
"At least tell us your bloody name," Leviathan said. "I've never heard of anyone like you in Melrose City."
The man tilted his head, as though deciding.
"You can call me… Black." He paused, smirked, and added, "Halo."
"What in hell…" Airbender breathed, as the man's cloak was torn apart by unseen force.
Beneath, darkness moved.
From under his skin, a black substance rippled outward like ink blooming through water. It wasn't metal—more like living muscle threaded with glassy veins of molten light.
The armor spread across his chest, while thin silver filaments snaked across his shoulders, locking into place with a whisper like closing blades. At his neck, the armor sealed itself seamlessly, as though it had always belonged there.
Along his spine, vents opened and released coils of steam that twisted through the cold air. The streetlamps flickered, their glow bending toward him—drawn to the armor like moths to a flame.
His silhouette sharpened, lean and predatory, no longer entirely human.
The chestplate formed last, layered like ribs that flexed as he breathed. Across his back, small spines rose and fell in rhythm, pulsing faintly against the night.
Then the black substance climbed his neck and swallowed his face like a mask. For an instant there was only silence, and the slow thrum of his pulse.
Two narrow slits opened across the helm—his eyes burning a quiet crimson.
He flexed his fingers, and the armor responded—gauntlets blooming into claws of light, then melting back into smooth black. The veins within the armor flared, alive with energy, until a faint, fractured halo appeared on his chest, glowing like a wound that refused to fade.
The air trembled around him. Power rolled outward in a silent wave.
He looked up, his voice low but carrying across the shattered street.
"I am Black Halo."
-----
[Before the attack on the sedan]
Damen discovered something extraordinary about the Annunakin form—it responded to his thoughts.
With focus, he could reshape it—adjust his armor plates, shift its density, even alter its silhouette. The living body obeyed his will like a loyal servant.
After much thought, he realized its potential. The Annunakin form could be his mask, his separation from the man beneath… his alter ego.
He could wield his Blue Blood powers freely without exposing himself- Damen Dark. From now on, the world would see only his other self—Black Halo.
When word reached him that Zairgid had been kidnapped he laid his own trap. He knew the kidnappers would strike again but this time, the "Zairgid" in the sedan wasn't a victim.
It was Black Halo waiting for them.
They came fast and confident. They were Rank C operatives, poorly masked behind arrogance and powerful gear.
Damen sighed in relief.
His Annunakin body already pulsed with Rank B energy, nearly reaching Rank BB. The enemy were never a threat to him.
When they attacked, his armor rippled in response.
Leviathan and Airbender unleashed their strongest attacks—kinetic bursts and massive water forms—but they couldn't even scratch him.
Only Aura made him cautious.
Her psychic reach could slip through his defenses, probing thought and perception. Even under the Core of blue blood's mental shielding, Damen felt her touch like cold fingers brushing his skull.
He had to end her quickly in close range, where she was weakest.
He moved.
One instant, Aura stood beside Airbender.
The next, the world blurred—she barely saw the shadow cross her vision before his blow struck. Energy cracked the air as her psychic field collapsed, her body stunned and leaking energy.
"What is happening to me?" she struggled to cry but it was too late.
Her body soon hit the pavement, motionless, her aura dimmed to nothing, her powers drained, her life…gone.
Then came Leviathan.
Damen's strike landed on Leviathan like a hammer of thunder. The man convulsed as lightning stunned him.
"Zzziiizz…" The sound of electricity filled the street.
Leviathan winked out, and soon his power was fully drained.
Airbender watched helplessly as his mates were taken down by the angel of death…. the Black Halo. He tried to flee but the dark angel was already there in a blur of black and crimson.
A single kick shattered the wind barrier around him breaking him. Soon he suffered the same fate as the other two.
With that, the three Rank C were gone and done with.
Then Black Halo noticed something on one of the bodies that excited him.