The world cracked beneath my heel the moment I landed.
Dark-purple lightning crawled across the burning sky while shattered buildings groaned around us like dying beasts. Smoke drifted upward in massive spirals, mixing with the holy flames still consuming the dragon nation behind me.
And standing ahead of me…
her.
The pig-faced woman.
The same disgusting creature who tortured Satre.
Who murdered Yura.
Who blew Shina apart right in front of me.
For the first time since seeing her again…
she wasn't smiling.
Good.
Training under Raiku's disciples had changed me.
No.
It ruined me.
The hesitation was gone.
The fear was gone.
Even the guilt had become dull and distant, buried beneath violence and exhaustion.
What stood before her now wasn't the same desperate boy she once toyed with.
I rolled my neck slowly while Zenith spun lazily around my fingers.
"Frana. Lilith," the pig-faced woman growled. "Kill him."
Two women stepped beside her instantly.
The moment they looked at me, pure hatred exploded from their bodies.
"You destroyed our planet!" Frana screamed.
"You murdered our families!" Lilith shouted.
For half a second, my body stiffened.
Planet.
Right.
That planet.
That giant explosion.
That golden light swallowing everything.
I remembered that.
I remembered rage.
Pain.
Loss.
And then waking up alone in another world.
But everything else?
Blurred.
Broken.
Like trying to remember a dream after drowning.
I looked at them blankly.
"…You're annoying," I muttered.
Then they attacked.
FAST.
Frana's fist ripped toward my jaw while Lilith came low aiming for my ribs simultaneously.
Finally.
Something worth hitting.
CLANG.
Zenith shifted instantly into a dual-bladed staff as I blocked both attacks casually.
The impact shattered the ground beneath us.
I slid backward laughing softly before rushing forward myself.
No hesitation.
No restraint.
I ducked beneath Frana's spinning kick and drove my elbow straight into her stomach hard enough to launch her through a burning building.
Lilith tried capitalizing immediately.
Cute.
I caught her wrist mid-strike and twisted violently before smashing her face-first into the stone beneath us.
CRACK.
Blood sprayed upward.
I grinned.
"You people seriously thought you could jump me?" I laughed. "That's adorable."
The pig-faced woman snarled.
"He's changed."
No.
I'd broken.
There was a difference.
Frana wiped blood from her mouth before screaming again.
"You killed everyone!"
Something inside me twitched violently.
Not guilt.
Annoyance.
Because every time they said it, flashes hit me.
Purple fire.
Screaming.
A planet breaking apart.
Then silence.
I grabbed my head briefly before forcing the memories down again.
"Shut up already," I snapped.
Zenith split apart instantly into twin daggers glowing with radiant heat.
"Dagger Style: Fifth Form…"
Dark-purple magic exploded outward.
"…Rapid Slash."
Fifteen shadow clones erupted across the battlefield instantly.
Five attacked Frana.
Five descended on Lilith.
The last five rushed the pig-faced woman simultaneously.
The battlefield became chaos.
Daggers flashed endlessly through smoke and holy fire while my clones attacked from impossible angles without pause.
Not lethal strikes.
Humiliating ones.
I sliced Frana's cheek deliberately.
Cut Lilith's arm open just enough to make her scream.
Kicked the pig-faced woman through a collapsing wall before appearing beside her instantly.
Every hit carried the same message:
You're beneath me now.
Frana destroyed one clone with a burst of lightning.
Lilith crushed another with void magic.
The pig-faced woman began chanting some ugly-looking spell.
I sighed dramatically.
"Oh no," I mocked flatly. "Magic."
I snapped my fingers.
The remaining clones converged instantly.
One dagger pierced Frana's shoulder.
Another buried into Lilith's thigh.
Then I moved.
Shadowfang Ascendant took over completely.
The world slowed.
Heartbeats became obvious.
Breathing patterns.
Muscle tension.
Everything predictable.
I slipped around Frana's desperate swing and kneed her directly in the face.
Spun low beneath Lilith's blade.
Then threw a spectral dagger backward without even looking.
It pierced straight through the pig-faced woman's casting hand.
She screamed.
I laughed harder.
"See? That's what happens when you try thinking during a fight."
Dark-purple destruction magic surged through all the wounds I inflicted.
"Destruction Style…"
The air itself warped around me.
"…Final Breath."
Their bodies convulsed violently.
Purple cracks spread beneath their skin while destruction magic invaded their bodies from the inside out. Frana screamed. Lilith collapsed to one knee trying desperately to heal herself.
Too slow.
Way too slow.
The pig-faced woman looked genuinely terrified now.
Good.
I walked toward them slowly while their bodies began breaking apart.
"You should've killed me properly the first time," I said quietly.
Then—
ash.
All three exploded apart into burning fragments.
Silence returned instantly.
I stood there breathing heavily while ash drifted around me like black snow.
Then I smiled.
Not proudly.
Not happily.
Just empty.
"Pathetic," I muttered.
Slow clapping echoed from behind me.
Raiku stepped from the shadows with the disciples standing behind him silently.
Some looked impressed.
Others disturbed.
Lais looked sick.
Then suddenly—
my body convulsed violently.
Black-and-violet energy erupted from my chest like a collapsing star.
I dropped to one knee instantly.
Pain surged through my skull.
A voice echoed inside my mind.
Male.
Cold.
Amused.
"I am your third skill…"
The darkness around me pulsed unnaturally.
"…Soul Manipulation."
My magic exploded outward again.
The ashes around me trembled faintly as lingering soul fragments were absorbed into my aura instinctively.
I could feel emotions inside them.
Hatred.
Grief.
Despair.
Disgusting.
I crushed the feelings instantly.
Then—
a blurry memory surfaced briefly.
A boy laughing beside me.
Warm sunlight.
Someone calling my name.
The image shattered before I could fully grasp it.
My chest tightened painfully anyway.
Raiku stepped beside me calmly.
"You ranked up again," he said quietly.
I lowered my head automatically.
"My master…"
He grabbed my shoulder firmly.
"Raise your head," he ordered. "You are one of us now."
A faint smile spread across his face.
"We bow to no one."
Then he turned and walked away.
The disciples followed.
And after a long silence…
so did I.
Behind me, the dragon nation still burned beneath the collapsing sky.
Ash drifted endlessly through the air.
And somewhere inside that storm of fire and death…
the last remaining pieces of who I used to be disappeared quietly without me even noticing.