Chapter 51: Fangs in the Fog
Waker stood frozen, his breath caught in his throat. His eyes locked on Ravi—no, not the Ravi he'd known, the calm and slightly reckless friend he'd fought beside recently—but a different version entirely.
This was the first time he'd seen Ravi fight at his full potential. He didn't know what was restraining him back then, but the Mask Revenant was nothing but a weakling in front of him, right now.
Every movement was sharp, deliberate, yet blindingly fast. Energy pulsed around him like a living storm, arcs of light bending in unnatural angles as his body moved. Waker could feel the raw gap between them—a gulf carved not by training alone, but by something deeper, something ... Because of difference in their Essence Aspect.
So this is the difference between us … Waker thought bitterly, tightening his fists.
But then, the beautiful woman Ravi had been facing—golden hair shimmering under the eerie red light—twitched.
Her smile cracked unnaturally. Her pupils darkened into bottomless black pits. Then, spreading from her eyes, inky black spots began staining her porcelain skin. Clumps of blond hair fell to the ground like autumn leaves, revealing patches of grey, rotting flesh beneath. Her beauty degenerated away in seconds, replaced by something cold and wrong.
The air turned colder around her.
"She … she was already dead …" Waker whispered in disbelief as he saw her transformation.
Ravi's eyes narrowed as he lowered his stance.
Her lips curled back unnaturally wide, revealing teeth far sharper than human. Her voice, when it came, was layered—hers, and something deeper, guttural and ancient as she tilted her head at an unnatural angle.
"A Dark Devourer … " Ravi said. He understood it the moment he activated his Arringun. This lady would've entered this cursed land in search of Heart of the Dusk Dragon. But unluckily, she was attacked by a sinister Dark Devourer. Her body was then possessed by the creature after her death. She was nothing but a corpse now, and his real target was the Dark Devourer possessing this person's body.
She lunged faster than before, leaving her sickles behind.
The ground cracked beneath her feet, her clawed hands swiping for Ravi's throat. He defended himself using his twin Great swords and then dodged with a blur-step, his afterimage shredded into nothing. The clash rang out like metal on stone, the shockwave rattling Waker's teeth.
He saw his great swords started staining with black aura, so he dismissed them quickly as they turned into black and white sparks, and disappeared.
She lunged - Ravi sidestepped and quickly countered, palm slamming into her stomach—Boom!—She shrieked, but there was no pain in it—only fury. Black mist poured from her wounds, reforming the damage instantly.
She shrieked again, this time sound waves shattering loose stones around them. Waker stumbled back, covering his ears.
Ravi vanished again, appearing above her. His right arm glowed faint white as black lightning spiraled down to his fist.
The punch dropped like a meteor. The shockwave flung her body across the arena wall—stone burst outward—but again, the black fog knit her body together.
Waker said from afar, "Hey, how you can kill what's already dead."
Her speed increased again. Now it was Ravi who blocked desperately—claws swiped so close they grazed sparks from his shadow armor that bled black fire. Her attacks blurred, each strike carrying the strength to crush bone.
Ravi slid back, boots digging grooves in the obsidian ground.
Then, he let out a sharp breath.
His eyes—violet irises with a white dot of fire at their centre, focusing and concentrating on the enemy. He was trying to find the part from where the creature was controlling the corpse.
He charged as he found it.
The fight exploded into a blur—Ravi weaving between her blows, counterstrikes flowing like water into steel. Every impact cracked the ground, every miss split the air. Energy flares lit the fog like lightning inside a stormcloud.
Waker could barely follow. All he could see were flashes: Ravi's knee shattering her jaw, her claw raking across his cheek, his elbow smashing her spine—until finally—
Ravi's spinning kick smashed into her temple. The creature retaliate as it passed its claws through his heart, but soon a fist followed instantly from behind her, crushing her skull followed by shadowy swords pinning her on place. Ravi, in front of her, disappeared like a mirage. Behind her, a shadow sword appeared in Ravi's hand, and he swing it without hesitation.
The strike cleaved clean, the head tumbling free. The body spasmed, collapsing into the crimson-stained floor before dissolving into black mist.
The black stadium crumbled from different places regained back its silence as Ravi won the fight and kill the Dark Devourer.
Waker took a step forward—then froze as he heard clapping sounds.
Someone was standing in the shadows, and he couldn't even able to sense his presence.
He wore a black cloak, the glistening crimson twin-sting Scorpion Symbol burned into its back. A ferocious white demonic mask hid every trace of his face. He said with a sigh as he walked towards where the corpse and Ravi stood, "I really didn't believe on die-hard people, but you made me believe on them."
Ravi's stance tensed, but his eyes were full of fury as anger started clouding his mind. "You!?"
The masked man tilted his head. "You've improved. Impressive … for someone who is the son of Ghost Monarch, it was expected."
He moved.
Ravi didn't even see the strike until the pain exploded in his chest—he was airborne, slamming into the black wall. Waker barely had time to draw the silver blade before a single backhand disarmed him, the shockwave sending him sliding across the floor. The stranger tilted his head. "Consider this a … test. You passed. Barely."
It wasn't even considered a fight. Ravi turned back into his base form again, he felt his body weak and on the edge of death.
"If I ever had a magic lamp that could grant my wishes." the man said, voice disheartened and sad. "Then, I would wish that everything will goes as I planned."
He bent down near the corpse and started examining it. He muttered in a cold tone as he placed his fingers on his chin, "I guess my experiment could be considered a success ... just as predicted."
The floor beneath Waker and Ravi dissolved into shadow. With a flick of his fingers, the shadow warped around Ravi and Waker.
In an instant, the arena, the corpse, the fog and the mysterious masked man—all vanished.
Waker opened his eyes, and shielded himself from the sunrays using his right hand. He was greeted by chirping of birds and cool breeze. As he regained his senses, he found himself laying on the grass field below the clear sky. He pushed himself up and looked around, "I-I ... I'm back on the surface."
He looked at the silver sword in his hand and started looking for Ravi around, but couldn't find him anywhere. He stood up and walked around and found out, he was on a cliff.
He saw a beautiful city from above the cliff filled with fountains and streams of water circling and decorating the city. The city was itself build on river. Waker closed his eyes as if remembering something.
Waker remembered the city as he said in surprise, "Fontarin City!"