Chapter 07: Realm Manipulation.
'What in the world am I seeing?'
Kandril had his focus on the jacked one's metamorphic state. He had never seen anything like this before. And that death threat? It went in one ear and out the other.
'Four arms. A tail. Two horns. All that was missing was a pair of bat-like wings, and he'd be a demon in every sense of the word.'
But it wasn't just the look that had him curious. It was the jacked one's atmosphere.
'And this… pressure… What the hell is this?'
Around the jacked one's demonic shape was a shadowy, sinister aura. And Kandril could feel it pressing against his skin. Like standing too close to an industrial blast furnace without protection, the heat seeping into your bones, slowly melting you alive.
He may have managed to drag him last time into unconsciousness. But this one in front of him was different. No—more like ten times different. A real threat. And he still remembered how that flashy attack nearly caved his ribs in when they first met.
Even so. He didn't feel scared. Not intimidated either. If anything, he felt more excited.
A grin formed across his lips. He raised his guard, lightning crackling around his clenching fists and underfoot.
'Now we're talking.'
In front of him, Lilith 's jaw clenched, visibly annoyed. Whatever stern composure she usually carried had cracked clean through. She stared at this new form of the formerly 'lanky one' with open displeasure. Like he was her own personal pet peeve.
The air shifted.
The jacked one stepped forward.
But before his feet could even land—
He was gone. Vanished. That skin-crawling presence too.
In the split second that followed, a baleful shadow fell over Kandril.
His eyes snapped upward.
And there it was… The jacked one. Looming above him, all four arms drawn together, hands clamped like a descending hammer.
Kandril leaped back just in time. The blow missed him by inches and crashed into the ground.
The earth shattered. Dust and debris erupted outward in a violent burst.
From within the cloud of dust, the jacked one surged forward, fast enough to tear through the dust in an instant.
But midair, he halted.
Then—
CLAP!
All four arms struck together.
A shrieking shockwave ripped through the air and slammed into Kandril. It wasn't just a sound. It hit like a physical force hitting hard on Kandril's entire frame.
The kid staggered back, senses rattling, balance broken.
"Ghkk~"
'What the hell…'
Well, that was just a feint.
The real attack came a heartbeat later.
The jacked one lunged—
Then—
BAM!
His punch screamed and crashed forward with devastating force, strong enough to crumple the nearby building under its wake.
But—
It didn't land.
A yellow-golden barrier flared into existence, intercepting the blow cleanly. The impact was swallowed whole, leaving Kandril untouched.
The jacked one recoiled, caught off guard.
His head snapped toward Lilith, fury cracking across his face.
"LILITH!!!"
And in that instant… He made a mistake.
His guard dropped.
BZZZT.
In battle, you don't lose when you're defeated. You lose the moment you stop paying attention.
And Kandril didn't hesitate.
KABWAAAG!
Lightning exploded from his fist as it connected clean through the jacked one's face, sending him flying backward, his massive body skipping brutally across the ground before slamming hard into the hollowed beast behind him.
But the fight wasn't over.
The jacked one's sinister aura crept back into the air. His devilish figure stirred from the dust, walking out of it slowly.
And when his shape finally came clear—
He was pissed. Really, really, really pissed. All of it aimed squarely at Kandril.
"YOU DAMN BRAT!" He growled, loud enough to split the ground beneath him.
He stared at Kandril with menacing purple eyes, chest heaving in frustrated gasps. But as time passed, his breathing calmed. Gradually. Steadily.
Then he closed his eyes. Like he was savoring something. A chuckle slipped out from under his breath. Low and quiet. Then that sinister grin crept back across his face.
And Kandril's gut didn't like that one bit. He could feel it. Something foreboding stirring behind that smile.
He moved to raise his guard—
But before he could—
The jacked one was already in front of him. Same flashy, unpredictable move. A mere inch from his face, still wearing that wide grin, gleaming with excitement and hunger, like a predator ready to eat its prey.
But he didn't attack.
Not a punch or a swing.
Instead—
He whispered.
"R E A L M…"
"…M A N I P U L A T I O N."
A dark magic circle erupted beneath them, wide enough to fit them both. A red pentagram burned at its center while dark lightning crackled and coiled around its edges. Nothing like any magic circle.
Then, barely a breath apart—
"W A S T E L A N D — O F — T H E — D A M N E D ! ! ! !"
The dark lightning shattered. Became shadows. They surged inward fast, compressing and twisting around the two of them like a violent tornado, until all that remained was a single dark streak splitting the sky above.
And just like that, they were gone.
Then—
'Huh?'
Kandril found himself standing in a flattened, desolate land stretching endlessly in every direction. The ruined districts were nowhere to be seen. Neither was Lilith. The hollowed beast. The toddler-like. All of it, gone.
"Where the hell am I?" he muttered, spinning around. All he could see was a cracked, parched earth in every direction, as if drought had consumed it for centuries. No trees. No life. Just a vast expanse of nothingness.
A wasteland.
He didn't know what the hell had just happened. It all unfolded in a flash. The last thing he remembered was that spine-chilling voice echoing in his ears, and then this. An unknown world with no warning and no door back.
Then a voice.
"WHERE ARE YOU LOOKING? RIGHT HERE. IN FRONT OF YOU."
Kandril's eyes snapped forward. And there he was. The jacked one—sitting on a throne woven from bones and skulls, perched atop a mountain of stacked skeletons and what looked like to be rotting animal carcasses and human corpses.
He rose from his throne and spread all four arms wide, greeting Kandril with a confident grin.
"WELCOME TO MY WORLD, KID."
Kandril stayed calm. But he was fully alert. Lightning skittered beneath his feet. His irises gleamed blue. A quiet preparation for whatever came next.
He pointed. "What are you and where the hell did you bring me?"
The jacked one tilted his head, all four arms crossing lazily over his chest.
"ME?"
A shrug.
"WELL. I'M 'NOBODY' WHO JUST FOLLOWS ORDERS."
"Nobody who just follows orders," Kandril repeated slowly. "So there's someone above you."
The jacked one's grin didn't waver. But something behind his eyes shifted. Just barely.
"SHARP KID."
"Then you're just an errand boy." Kandril dropped his pointing hand, his expression flat. "Dressed up real scary though. I'll give you that."
A silence settled between them.
Then the jacked one laughed. Not a chuckle. A full, genuine laugh that bounced across the dead wasteland like it had nowhere else to go.
"DAAA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAA-HAAAAAA!!!"
"I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHY I FELT FRUSTRATED AND PISSED WITH YOU EARLIER," he said, shaking his head. All four arms folded together. "MOST PEOPLE WHO END UP HERE ARE ALREADY CRYING BY NOW."
"Good for them." Kandril's lightning hadn't faded. Still skittering beneath his feet. That blue gleam still burning in his irises. "But I'm not those people."
He jumped down from his throne. The impact sent a small shockwave rippling across the cracked earth.
He began to walk. Slow, unhurried. Circling Kandril the way a teacher circles a student he hasn't figured out yet.
"LET ME EXPLAIN SOMETHING TO YOU, KID." His voice had shifted. Less grin in it. More weight. "YOU WEREN'T TAKEN ANYWHERE. WHAT JUST HAPPENED—THIS TECHNIQUE—IT DIDN'T MOVE YOU. IT BUILT A WORLD AROUND YOU."
A grin crept across his face, gleaming with something ominous. "MY REALM. AND I AM ITS WARDEN."
He let that settle. Then his demeanor eased back, almost casual.
"MOST PEOPLE LIVE THEIR ENTIRE LIVES WITHOUT EVER SEEING THIS. A HANDFUL KNOWS IT EXISTS." He paused. "EVEN FEWER CAN ACTUALLY USE IT."
"A REALM MANIPULATION," he continued, almost to himself. "THAT'S WHAT 'WE' CALL IT."
Kandril said nothing. Just watched him circle.
"NOW. I'M SURE THAT CLEVER LITTLE HEAD OF YOURS IS ALREADY ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTION." The jacked one stopped. Faced him directly. "HOW DO YOU GET OUT?"
He held up one finger.
"FIRST WAY. YOU BEAT ME." A smirk. "SIMPLE ENOUGH, RIGHT? YOU PUT ME DOWN, THE TECHNIQUE COLLAPSES ON ITS OWN. THIS WORLD FOLDS. YOU WALK FREE."
A second finger joined the first.
"SECOND WAY." His smirk widened. "YOU DIE. AND TRUST ME, THAT ONE'S MUCH EASIER TO ARRANGE."
He let that hang in the air for a moment.
Then he resumed walking, tilting his head upward, studying the dead sky above them with an almost bored expression.
"FUNNY THING ABOUT THIS KIND OF TECHNIQUE THOUGH." He clicked his tongue. "IT DOESN'T EXACTLY COME CHEAP. NOTHING THIS WORLD DOES." He flexed one hand slowly, opening and closing it. "YOUR BODY KEEPS THE BILL WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT."
He glanced at Kandril sideways.
"BUT WHAT WOULD I KNOW? I'M JUST AN ERRAND BOY, RIGHT?"
"Ahhh… right. Heard all of it." Kandril said with a smirk, as if brushing every single word off his shoulder.
"Alright then…" He rolled his neck. Cracked his knuckles one by one. Then bounced lightly on his feet like a boxer settling into the ring. "Let's settle this right now. I beat you. I go home."
The air around him hummed. Then crackled. Then roared. Lightning surged across his body, thin arcing bolts snapping off his skin. His irises burned brighter—deep blue into almost white.
Across from him, the jacked one watched. And slowly, that lazy grin stretched back across his face. All four arms uncrossed. Spread wide. His sinister aura bled outward, darker and thicker than before.
The ground between them trembled. The sky above cracked as if the world itself was bracing for an incoming storm.
Neither of them moved. They both knew what the next step meant.
"YOU KNOW WHAT I LOVE ABOUT KIDS LIKE YOU?" the jacked one said, his voice low, almost gentle.
"THEY ALWAYS THINK THEY HAVE A CHANCE."
Kandril's jaw tightened. A single spark jumped from his knuckle.
Then—
ZWWWWITT—
He vanished.
KABWOOOOSH!
The jacked one too.
Same moment. Same direction. Screaming toward each other in raw power. Fists forward. Everything forward.
And the moment their power met—
KABOOOM!!!
The wasteland split.
TBC…