The smell of blood still lingered in the suffocating air of the cave. Cracked torches lined the walls, their dying flames casting sinister shadows. Rudra stood tall, bruised and bleeding, while Alex stepped forward in his dark armor, calm and unreadable.
Before them stood Grave, the infamous leader of the Mountain Leopards. His eyes were cold, devoid of empathy, and his blood-stained whip hung loosely from his hand. Around them, criminals and monsters roared with laughter, jeering from the sidelines of the demonic coliseum they called home.
"You crossed the line, Grave," Alex said, voice low and sharp. "There's no redemption for you."
Grave smirked, taking a sip of bloodwine. "Redemption? I thought you knew, Commander. I don't believe in fairy tales. But I do believe in endings."
Rudra clenched his fists, eyes burning with rage. "And I believe in justice. You tortured Elendro. You scarred Lily. And you killed Alex's son. Today, that all ends."
Grave let the goblet fall to the ground. "So be it."
The fight began in an explosion of motion.
Rudra lunged forward, fists flying. Grave blocked with frightening ease, countering with a devastating elbow to Rudra's chest that sent him sliding across the stone floor. Alex followed up, blades flashing like silver lightning. Sparks flew as his sabers clashed with Grave's curved daggers.
Grave moved like a beast unleashed, snarling, countering, twisting. He ducked low, swept Alex's legs, then spun into a kick that cracked Rudra across the jaw.
"Still think you're strong enough, boy?" Grave taunted, blood dripping from his brow.
Rudra wiped the blood from his lip. "Not strong. Just angry."
They attacked in tandem now — Alex with ruthless precision, Rudra with untamed fury. A blade sliced Grave's side; a punch dislocated his shoulder. For a moment, it looked like they might win.
Then Grave dropped to one knee.
He laughed.
From his belt, he pulled out a black crystal horn, humming with dark energy.
"I didn't rise to power through strength alone," he whispered. Then, he stabbed the horn into his chest.
The cavern roared.
Grave's body cracked and convulsed. Black veins spread across his flesh. Horns burst from his skull. His eyes turned pitch-black, and an aura of malevolence poured out of him.
He had become something else. Something inhuman.
He moved like a demon incarnate.
Rudra was hurled into a stone wall, the impact breaking the pillar in half. Alex was knocked aside, his blade skittering across the floor. Grave roared, voice no longer that of a man.
"THIS is power!"
Blood poured from their wounds, but they stood again.
"We end it now," Alex said.
Rudra nodded. "Together."
They attacked in perfect coordination.
Rudra distracted, baited. Alex struck at weak spots. They moved like a single mind with two weapons. And finally, Rudra tackled Grave, pinning his arm.
"Now!" he shouted.
Alex leapt, slicing off both of Grave's horns in one clean motion. The crystal shattered.
Grave howled.
Rudra jumped behind him, gripped his jaw and shoulder, and slammed him headfirst into the stone floor. Alex followed with a twin-blade strike, burying steel into Grave's chest.
Grave coughed blood, looking up at them with a twisted smile.
"Still... not enough... to cleanse the world..."
Rudra leaned close. "Good. I'm not here to cleanse it. I'm here to burn it down."
Grave collapsed. Lifeless.
The cave trembled. The sigils cracked. The ceiling began to collapse.
Alex rushed to lift Elendro from the blood-stained floor. Rudra picked up Lily, shielding her tiny body in his arms.
They ran.
They didn't look back.
Behind them, the den of the Mountain Leopards crumbled, buried in darkness and ash.
Outside, under the pale moonlight, Rudra and Alex stood side by side.
Two warriors. Two broken souls.
But now, for the first time, united.
The war was far from over.
But tonight, justice had its moment.
⚔️ Rudra vs Grave – The Awakening of the Demon Slayer
Rudra: "Commander, what the hell is that thing? After everything we've thrown at him—he didn't even flinch. That's not a human."
Alex: "You're right. He's not human anymore. I've heard tales—whispers, really—that he made a deal with something… a demon. It sounded absurd, but now... I'm not so sure."
Rudra: "A demon? What's that supposed to be? I've never heard of anything like it."
Alex: "Neither have I—not truly. But from what I know... it's an ancient force, older than the world we know. Overwhelming. Unnatural. And I hate to say this, but I don't think even the two of us together stand a chance."
Rudra: "Like hell we don't. He's going to pay. I won't die until I see him dead."
Grave: "Ah... confusion, fear. You both look delicious like that. Allow me to enlighten you—"
He stepped forward, shadows dancing around his body.
"I am contracted to Valekor."
Rudra: "Valekor?"
Alex: "What a load of crap."
Grave (smiling): "No. Listen well—Valekor was once a man, a butcher of souls. He flayed his victims alive and wore their skin to cheat death. He became something far beyond mortal. And now... his power runs through my veins."
Rudra: "You're lying—demons, skin-wearing—it's madness."
Grave: "Are you sure, Rudra? Ever wondered how your parents died? How you ended up in the northern woods after Amber's fall? Do you really think it was random?"
Rudra lunged in rage, "You filthy demon! How do you know that? You're going to tell me everything!"
Grave easily blocked Rudra's strike and sent him flying with a brutal kick.
"You think you're ready for this world's darkness, boy? You think that tiny heart of yours can carry the weight of real pain? Go back to your safe little army office and forget about this nightmare."
Rudra (rising, blood dripping from his lip): "Forget? Don't ever say that word to me. I will NEVER forget that night!"
Grave raised both hands. Shadows coiled, his body crackling with demonic energy.
"Then welcome your grave."
He unleashed a devastating spell:
> "O Demon Lord Valekor, lend me your wrath! Shatter these pests into pieces!"
A massive shadow surged forward.
Rudra dodged, but a soldier behind him wasn't so lucky. The man screamed as his body tore apart—flesh, skin, and bone ripped into separate layers.
Rudra fell to his knees, vomiting. "This… this is beyond hell."
Alex growled: "Stay focused! This thing's not holding back!"
Together, Alex and Rudra attacked with everything they had. Their coordination was perfect—blades, fists, and raw rage clashed with Grave's demonic force. For a moment, it felt like they could hold him.
Grave hissed: "Futile. You can hold your ground... but you cannot win."
In a flash of shadow, Grave plunged his sword into Rudra's chest.
Alex screamed: "RUDRA!" His grip faltered—just long enough for Grave to deliver a crushing blow that sent him crashing to the ground.
Rudra collapsed, blood pouring from his chest. His breathing slowed.
Grave stood over him, whispering: "So this is how the great Shadow Soldier falls. Now, let me end the rest—Lily... and that fool Elandro."
---
🔥 RUDRA: THE DANCE OF END — The Fall of Grave (Finale of Arc One)
Grave's laughter echoed through the cave, twisted and victorious, as he dragged Lily from the cage by her hair. Tears streamed down her face, her small hands clutching at air, screaming for her father. Elandro lay bloody and broken, helpless, tied and gagged like prey awaiting slaughter.
Grave raised his sword high.
And then—his blade stopped mid-swing.
Someone was holding it… but not someone. Something.
He turned slowly—and what he saw turned his bones to ice.
Rudra stood there, no longer a boy, but a being consumed by a fire not of this world. His entire body was engulfed in brilliant, cerulean flame—flames that didn't just burn... they devoured. Time warped around him; even the shadows recoiled. These weren't ordinary flames.
They were the Flames of Samsara—the fire that burns the sins of the past, the regrets of the present, and the hopes of the future into oblivion.
Grave stepped back, trembling.
"No... not you... not that flame..."
Rudra's voice, when it came, was cold and hollow, like judgment itself.
> "You played god with others' lives. Now meet the god of your end."
In a blur, Rudra drove his fist into Grave's stomach, sending him crashing into the roof of the cave. Stone crumbled. Blood sprayed mid-air. The mountain trembled under the weight of vengeance.
Grave, desperate, tried to stand—but Rudra was already there.
One punch.
Another.
A flurry that tore reality around them.
Each blow carried the weight of every scream, every tear, every life shattered by Grave's hand. Elandro's cries, Lily's fear, and Alex's warnings—they all became fuel for Rudra's wrath.
Grave collapsed, coughing blood, his face broken, his demon form crumbling. He tried to crawl, but there was nowhere to run.
"You said the show must be interesting…" Rudra growled, his voice like thunder.
"Are you enjoying it now?"
Grave laughed weakly through broken teeth. "You... you are the real demon…"
"No," Rudra whispered, stepping closer, "I'm what demons fear."
Grave, desperate, transformed—shrinking himself into the form of a small child, trying to escape divine wrath by mimicking innocence.
But Rudra wasn't fooled and said I am not as naive as patriks these little tricks isn't gonna work on me.
He walked over, grabbed the child-like form by the throat, and lifted it off the ground. Then, with calm, unstoppable force, he drove his hand through Grave's chest, fingers piercing bone, flesh, and the echo of Valekor's contract. He pulled out Grave's heart—still beating.
The demon's eyes widened. He saw... everything.
As Rudra crushed the heart in his palm like a piece of fruit, Grave's mind fractured, forced to relive every atrocity he'd ever committed. The faces of his victims flashed before him in rapid bursts—pleading, screaming, cursing.
And as his body began to burn from the inside out, turning to ash within Rudra's flame, he muttered his final, trembling words:
> "This... this is just... the beginning…"
A gust of wind scattered his ashes into the cave.
Silence.
---
Rudra stood still, the flames dimming from his body, smoke rising gently from his shoulders. His eyes were hollow—but clear.
He turned to Lily and Elandro, freed them, then walked toward the exit where Alex stood.
Alex looked into the boy's eyes and felt... fear. Not of Rudra—but of what he might become.
> "Rudra... rest now. You've done enough," he said.
Rudra shook his head.
> "No... this world hasn't paid enough yet