The Upper District was silent, save for the sound of blood dripping onto cold stone. Kojo felt the world tilting. The slash from Gale had been so fast that Kojo only felt the cold steel after it had already passed through him. It was a phantom pain that blossomed into a searing reality a second later. More blood came out of his body, a vivid crimson staining his tattered clothes, and he fell to his knees, coughing blood onto the white marble that had once been the pride of the kingdom.
Gale stood over him, the black scythe resting loosely in his grip. His eyes remained empty, devoid of any heat or hatred. He looked at Kojo not as a warrior, but as a harvest that was almost finished.
Gale: "You are losing too much blood. If this keeps up, you will die."
Scene changes to the Throne Room.
The air in the Grand Throne Room was thick with the metallic tang of blood and the scorched scent of Zyrrex's void energy. Faramis lay broken on the floor, the golden tiles beneath him slick with red. Ato stood at the entrance, his chest heaving, his vision blurring with a heat he had never felt before. He was furious after seeing Faramis on the ground and bleeding. Every memory of their journey, every book Faramis had explained, and every joke they had shared flashed through his mind, fueling a fire that burned through his veins.
Ato: "FARAMIIISSSSSSSS!"
The scream shook the remaining glass in the high windows. Without a second thought, Ato lungled forward. The floor cracked beneath his feet as he charged towards Zyrrex and said, "Beast Punch!"
Zyrrex didn't even flinch. He watched the boy approach with a condescending smirk, his three tentacles waving lazily behind him. He thought as always he can't hurt him; he expected the boy's fist to pass through his shadowy form like a breeze through a ghost. But the laws of reality had changed in the heat of Ato's rage. The punch connected with the solid weight of a mountain. The impact crackled with golden energy, and the punch sent him flying into the walls and broke the walls. Stone shattered into powder, and the entire throne room vibrated from the force of the collision.
Ato didn't wait to see if Zyrrex would get up. He was running towards Faramis, his hands reaching out to pull his friend away from the darkness. But the shadows were not finished. From the ruins of the broken wall, a tentacle whipped out with the speed of a strike of lightning. It attacked Ato and it pierced his skin and he was bleeding. The black tip sank into his shoulder, but Ato didn't even scream. He just kept moving, his eyes locked on Faramis.
Zyrrex rose from the rubble, his face twisted in a mask of pure, Abyssal hatred. His calm was gone, replaced by a frantic need to destroy the brat who had made him feel physical pain.
Zyrrex: "YOUUU ARE NOT GETTING AWAY WITH THAT!"
He was continuously attacking Ato, his three tentacles lashing out in a frantic, deadly dance. Ato moved with the instincts of a wild animal, his body twisting and ducking. He was easily dodging them, his Beast Aura allowing him to see the movements before they happened.
Suddenly, Zyrrex saw an opening—not in Ato's defense, but in his heart. One of the tentacles diverted its path, an attack was going towards Faramis's body. The scholar was unconscious, unable to move or defend himself.
But... Ato came in front of it.
There was a sickening sound of tearing flesh as the tentacle pierced through him. Ato stood like a shield, his body taking the blow meant for his friend. Blood flowing out his body, he gripped the black appendage to keep it from going any deeper into his chest.
Zyrrex laughed, a high-pitched, manic sound that echoed off the high ceiling. "Do you think I will stop here?"
He attacked with three of his tentacles and...
Scene changes to Lemon.
In the Lower District, the battle was a brutal display of raw power. The big pale man was mercilessly attacking Lemon, his punches landing like falling stars. Each blow Lemon blocked sent a shockwave through his bones. Lemon skidded back, his boots smoking against the pavement. He knew he couldn't play defense forever. He stepped back and launched an attack: "NARAKU KEN: Manfazu-Assaku!"
The air pressure shifted as a barrage of heavy punches began pushing the man back. The force was enough to level a city block, and for a moment, the pale giant was forced onto his heels. Suddenly the man said, "Rock," and a gray, stony texture rippled across his skin. His body became hard as rock, and Lemon's fists began to bruise against the indestructible surface.
Lemon gasped, shaking out his aching hands. "You are strong. What's your name?"
The giant stood still, the gray stone of his skin reflecting the purple light of the portals.
????: "Vlad."
He didn't wait for a response. Again he said, "Obsidian."
The transformation was terrifying. The gray stone turned into a polished, razor-sharp black glass. His body and his hand turned to sharp obsidian. The sunlight—what was left of it—seemed to be sucked into his dark form. He charged towards Lemon and started attacking him, his hands now acting like twin blades that carved through the air and the stone buildings around them.
Scene changes to Ato again.
Back in the throne room, the air was screaming. The three tentacles were attacking Ato, aimed at his heart, his head, and his throat. But the "Beast" was no longer just a boy. He caught three of them with his hands. He stood there, blood dripping from his wounds, holding the three dark limbs as they struggled to break free.
Zyrrex was shocked. His eyes widened in disbelief as he tried to pull his appendages back, but Ato's grip was like iron.
Ato: "You didn't only attack me. You attacked him... Faramis."
The temperature in the room plummeted. Ato's aura turned from a golden flame to a dark, blood-red heat. With a guttural growl, he heaved his arms. He started slamming Zyrrex continuously on the ground. Left, right, into the ceiling, and back into the floor. The marble shattered, the pillars crumbled, and the sound of Zyrrex's body breaking against the stone was constant and brutal.
After some time he stopped. The violence ceased as quickly as it had begun. Dust was everywhere, a thick gray cloud that obscured the throne and the broken walls. Ato stood in the center of the ruin, his breathing heavy, his hands still clenched into fists.
The silence that followed was heavy. As the dust began to settle, a dark shape was visible on the floor, and—