Rubble shifted.
A broken skyscraper groaned under its weight before collapsing in a plume of ash and smoke. Beneath it, something stirred. Blood soaked the shattered stones, and from the wreckage rose a figure—Tyrone, shirtless, blood streaming down his face, his right eye swollen shut, his mouth red with blood. Every breath came in short, ragged bursts.
He spread his arms toward the violet sky and laughed.
It wasn't joy.
It was madness.
It was rage.
Tyrone (laughing): "Heh… you really tried to kill me."
His scythe spun into his hand like a dance of death. He twirled it once, then took off at a sprint—straight toward the four-armed beast now tearing apart the district.
The monster roared, ripping up streetlights and cars, throwing them like toys. Tyrone slashed them from the air with surgical precision, sparks flying with each contact. As he lunged high, the beast hurled a massive hunk of concrete—a piece of a building—straight into his path. It struck.
Crack.
Tyrone was sent flying through the air like a meteor, tumbling before slamming against the cracked pavement. His head rolled back, eyes momentarily unfocused—but he gritted his teeth and forced himself up, leaning on his scythe for balance.
Tyrone (spitting blood): "This thing just keeps getting stronger. Dammit… I should've ended it earlier."
Then his eye caught movement.
The building—collapsing near Lihanna's location.
His heart stopped.
Tyrone (screaming): "LIHANNA?!"
The blood in his veins turned molten. His breath burned in his throat. And then—
A burst of purple energy exploded from his right eye.
Tyrone's muscles bulged as two dark purple horns sprouted from his head. His body grew taller, broader. A jagged mark scorched itself beneath his right eye as his aura erupted—shadowy, twisting like ink through water.
Tyrone (roaring): "You want destruction?! I'LL SHOW YOU DESTRUCTION!!"
He charged again. Each clash with the beast rang like thunder. The scythe whistled with every slash. The creature responded with brutal precision—but now Tyrone tanked the hits. A punch to the face? He absorbed it, eyes burning with purple flame. He grabbed one of the beast's arms and threw it over his shoulder, slamming it to the ground and driving his fists into its skull.
And still—it kicked him away.
Lihanna stood opposite Enma, her chest rising and falling with fatigue, the battle pushing her to the edge. Her blade—dripping not blood, but steam—was coated in crimson-tinted water, the once clear aura around her now warped into something more feral.
Then—across the battlefield, a beam of dark purple erupted from the other side of the city, splitting the sky.
Tyrone…
Lihanna (softly): "You overloaded…"
Her grip tightened on her nodachi. She felt the stir of emotion in her chest—not fear, not envy… but fire born of pride and determination.
Lihanna (to herself): "If you can push past your limit… then I can too. I won't fall behind."
A pulse of energy burst from her chest, rippling out into her limbs. Her water—normally soft, calming, rippling—darkened, becoming deep red, glowing like magma hidden beneath waves. Her hair, once cobalt blue, turned to jet black, and her eyes shimmered like rubies reflected on a rippling tide.
A cyclone of red steam began to spiral around her.
Lihanna: "Let's see how well you swim in boiling oceans, Enma."
Lihanna stood perfectly still. The air around her hissed as red-hot water vapor billowed from her body in waves. Her nodachi glowed, now thrumming with crimson aquatic pressure, like the weight of the abyss compressed into a single blade.
She raised it slowly, two hands on the hilt, water swirling like a storm around her feet.
Lihanna (chanting): "Scarlet… Oblivion."
She slashed the blade horizontally.
The energy that erupted wasn't fire. It was liquid destruction—a massive curved arc of blood-red water, boiling and churning with such force it screamed like a banshee. The pressure wave hit Enma with the force of a collapsing dam, disintegrating everything in its path.
Ten minutes later.
Both warriors limped toward each other, their steps slow, clothes tattered, bodies drenched in sweat and blood.
Tyrone emerged first—horns still faintly glowing, his form monstrous, barely human.
Lihanna (stunned): "Wait… you're not human?"
Tyrone (grinning weakly): "Yeah, I'm a Kijinn. Surprise."
Lihanna: "I should've known… the ridiculous muscles make sense now."
She chuckled—but her knees nearly gave out.
Tyrone (worried): "Hey—are you hurt?!"
Lihanna: "No… I'm fine. Just tired. Your hair's even more ridiculous now."
Tyrone: "You're one to talk—your aura turned red and you look like a final boss."
Lihanna (grinning): "Shut up, Kijinn."
They laughed.
Then she pressed herself against his chest, exhaling.
Lihanna: "...Do you mind if I stay like this for a moment?"
Tyrone (softly): "No. Stay as long as you want."
They collapsed together onto the ruins of a shattered wall. Beneath the blood moon, two warriors sat side by side—battered, changed, but alive.