The black void rippled with distant echoes, each vibration shaking the drifting ruins of the industrial complex. The air tasted like rust and cold smoke, as if the dimension itself was dying. Somewhere in this twisted shell of a building, stones cracked and steel twisted under an invisible pressure—Kroor's presence tightening around everything like the grip of a demon.
Lioran limped through the shattered corridors, his breath shallow and uneven. Every step stabbed fire through his injured leg, but he forced himself onward. Blood soaked his torn clothes; his vision wavered from the rising heat in his body.
"Aishwarya… Sharin… where are you…" he muttered, leaning against a scorched wall.
But the void didn't respond. Only silence. Cold, mocking silence.
Suddenly—
KRSHH!!
Black energy erupted beneath his feet, tearing the ground apart. Lioran's instincts screamed, but his damaged leg failed him. He couldn't dodge.
The explosion swallowed him whole.
BOOOOOM!!!
Lioran shot upward through collapsing floors, crashing through the roof. Burning wind whipped across his skin as he was thrown into the open void.
"U—Ugh—!!"
Blood sprayed from his mouth, floating in the air like crimson petals. His body spun, limp, helpless, before gravity reclaimed him.
He slammed into the ground below.
The impact shook the entire complex.
Lioran lay motionless, face pressed against broken concrete, his body smeared with blood and ash. His clothes were scorched. His left side burned a little from the blast. Cuts ran across his arms and shoulders, each one stinging like fire.
For a moment, he didn't move.
Then—
He coughed violently, blood splattering on the ground.
"Just one… attack…" he whispered. "I'm… I'm finished from just one attack…?"
Something moved.
A shadow fell over him.
Lioran forced himself upright, staggering on one foot. His broken leg trembled violently beneath him. He leaned against a pillar, teeth clenched so hard his jaw ached.
The Narvan—Kroor—emerged from the smoke.
Tall. Horrifying. Its smile stretched impossibly wide. Its limbs bent in unnatural angles. Its aura crushed the air like a mountain.
Lioran felt tiny before it.
But he still stepped forward.
Forcing strength into muscles that could barely hold him.
The two stood facing each other.
Kroor tilted its head, examining him with predatory amusement.
Lioran glared back. "I won't… go down here…"
He summoned every last drop of Prāṇa into his right hand, golden light swirling violently.
"Golden—!"
Before he could strike—
SLASH!!
A flash of black.
A sensation of tearing.
A spray of warm blood.
Lioran froze.
His body didn't process it immediately.
Then—
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH—!!!"
His scream ripped through the entire complex, echoing endlessly across the void.
Kroor had severed his right arm.
The limb flew through the air, spinning, trailing blood before landing somewhere in the darkness.
Blood poured from Lioran's shoulder like a fountain.
He collapsed, rolling across the floor, clutching the stump, agony flooding his senses. It felt like fire. Like knives. Like death itself.
"Aaah… aaah…!!!"
"It— hurts—!!"
His scream echoed again.
Kroor laughed.
Not a chuckle.
Not a growl.
But a twisted, delighted, horrific laugh.
It enjoyed his pain.
Lioran trembled, body convulsing, breath broken. The blood loss made the world fade in and out. The edges of the void blurred. His thoughts swirled.
But slowly… he forced himself to stop screaming.
He placed one knee on the ground.
Then the other.
And pushed himself up.
Standing… on one leg.
Bleeding from a torn shoulder.
Barely conscious.
Kroor paused its laughter.
Lioran wiped blood from his mouth.
"What happened…" he said through gritted teeth, "…if my hand is gone?"
The Narvan raised its arm again, dark sparks forming in its palm.
Lioran's voice hardened.
"I can't run… because—"
Golden light burst from Lioran's left fist.
"I made a promise…"
Kroor's black aura expanded.
"And no matter what happens…" Lioran whispered, eyes blazing, "I'll keep that promise."
He roared and charged.
"GOLDEN BURST!!"
His left fist glowed like a sun.
Kroor responded instantly—
WHOOOM!!!
A black eruption exploded from its hand, consuming Lioran.
The blast hurled him like a ragdoll.
He smashed through two walls and tumbled into another section of the complex. He hit the ground so hard it cracked beneath him.
Blood poured from his wounds. He coughed violently.
His vision blurred—
And then sharpened in horror.
"Aishwarya…?
Sharin…?"
Both lay motionless on the ground, bodies covered in blood, eyes closed.
"No…" Lioran whispered. His voice broke. "No… it can't… can't be…"
He crawled toward them, dragging his injured body.
"Aishwarya… Sharin… please— please wake up—"
His tears mixed with blood, dripping on the shattered floor.
Footsteps echoed behind him.
Slow. Heavy.
Mocking.
Lioran turned weakly—
And froze in absolute horror.
Kroor stepped through the broken wall…
Holding Lioran's severed arm.
It raised the limb like a trophy.
And then—
it began to eat it.
Tearing the flesh.
Cracking the bone.
Drinking the blood.
Lioran's stomach twisted. His mind screamed. His breath froze.
For the first time—
He felt real fear.
Pure, paralyzing, unbearable fear.
His entire body trembled.
"What… what is this monster…?" Lioran whispered. "What kind of Narvan even is this…? My body… it's telling me to run… but I can't. I can't leave them behind…"
Blood ran down his face. His remaining hand clenched weakly.
Kroor threw the half-eaten limb aside and walked toward him. Its tendrils slithered like serpents.
It grabbed Lioran's head.
Lioran gasped, coughing blood.
Kroor raised a clawed hand—
And plunged it through his chest.
SHUKK!!
Blood flooded Lioran's mouth.
His body convulsed.
His breath rattled.
His heart faltered.
Kroor pulled its arm out and let Lioran fall.
The boy collapsed like a broken doll, blood pooling beneath him.
His heartbeat became faint.
Kroor stepped forward, placing its foot on Lioran's face, pressing slowly—
ready to crush his skull.
Lioran closed his eyes.
He whispered the last words he thought he'd ever say—
"I'm sorry… Mother…
I couldn't keep my promise…"
Kroor leaned forward.
Its foot pressed harder.
CRACK—
But before it could finish the kill—
The creature froze.
It sensed something.
A presence behind it.
It turned.
Nothing there.
It turned back to crush Lioran—
But the boy was gone.
Someone was holding him.
Gently.
A shadowy figure stood beside the broken wall, cloak rippling, mask gleaming in the dim glow of the void.
He placed Lioran down softly, covering the gaping wound in his chest with cloth to slow the bleeding.
Lioran's eyelids fluttered open.
He saw the mask.
"Who… are you…?"
The figure's voice was calm. Strong.
Unshaken by the void.
"I am your senior," he said softly. "Skanda."
Lioran's bleeding lips formed the word. "Senior…"
"You did well," Skanda said. "Now rest. Leave the rest to me."
He stood slowly, turning toward Kroor.
The Narvan stared.
Even it felt something strange—
something dangerous.
Moonlight from some unknown source glinted on Skanda's mask.
One side divine.
The other demonic.
He stepped forward, aura rising.
"Alright…" Skanda whispered.
"Time for the real battle."
TO BE CONTINUED…