Ronan stood still, his body bathed in crimson flames, licking the air like wrathful serpents. The fire didn't burn his flesh. It burned his soul. The temperature in the room skyrocketed, but it wasn't heat that made the air unbearable.
It was malice.
A suffocating pressure twisted the atmosphere as if the building itself was holding its breath.
Something had changed. Something ancient and monstrous had been let loose.
Liam, Ryan, and Jake froze.
Their faces drained of color, their bodies locked in place, staring at Ronan who no longer looked like a human at all.
"W-What's… what's happening?" Liam stammered, stumbling back a step, his voice thin and brittle.
Ryan collapsed to his knees.
His mangled hand still trapped in Ronan's grip, trembling violently. The pain he felt was excruciating, but it was nothing compared to the fear flooding his chest, a suffocating certainty that whatever came next would be far worse.
"N-No way... You didn't awaken… You weren't supposed to!" Liam's voice cracked as he screamed his denial, as if shouting it could undo the horror rising before him.
Ronan tilted his head, a crooked smile playing on his bloodied lips.
CRACK!
Ryan's arm gave way.
Crushed.
Flesh split. Skin tore. Blood sprayed across the dusty floor in a dark, ugly arc.
"AAAAAAARGHHH!!!"
Ryan's scream tore through the building, raw and ragged, his body convulsing as if the sound itself might pull him back from what was happening.
Ronan didn't let go.
With the same cold, steady expression, he reached down and tore free a jagged shard of bone from what used to be Ryan's arm.
For a heartbeat, the world seemed to hold its breath.
Then—
STAB.
The bone drove straight into Jake's throat.
Hot blood burst from the wound, spraying across Ronan's hand and chest. Ryan's body thrashed wildly, legs kicking against the floor, fingers clawing at his own neck as if he could push death back inside.
His eyes bulged, wide and glassy.
Then they went empty.
Liam and Jake staggered back, nearly tripping over themselves.
Jake screamed in terror. "WHAT THE HELL IS HE?!"
He raised his hand, attempting to activate his ability—
But he was too slow.
In a flash, Ronan appeared before him and delivered a devastating punch to his chest, so powerful that his ribcage caved inward. His ribs shattered, his lungs collapsed, and blood spewed from his mouth.
His body was flung across the room like a broken doll, crashing into the far wall before sliding down in a twitching heap. His breaths came in thin, ragged pulls, each one weaker than the last.
A dying candle.
Ronan didn't look back.
He grabbed a long wooden beam from the floor, its surface splintered and stained with dust and blood.
And threw it.
BANG!
The beam struck Jake's head dead-on.
Bone shattered. Blood burst outward in a violent spray. Jake's body went limp instantly, collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut.
Liam watched in sheer horror. His heart pounded violently, his body trembled, and his legs felt weak.
Ronan's gaze shifted toward him.
"P-Please…" he whimpered. "I… I was just joking before! We were just messing around! I didn't mean—"
CRACK!
Ronan's boot crashed into Liam's knee, snapping it sideways. Bone erupted from his skin. Blood sprayed like a fountain.
Liam howled like a dying animal, thrashing on the ground, screaming as his body betrayed him.
But Ronan didn't flinch.
He walked forward slowly, like a reaper without haste.
Then, he grabbed Liam by the hair and slammed his body to the ground, flipping him onto his back.
Ronan crouched over him.
Face to face.
The tormentor was now the terrified one.
"You know," Ronan murmured, voice cold and hollow, "I've always wondered… what it feels like to crush a human skull. With. My. Hands."
"Wait! WAIT—"
BAM!
Ronan's fist crashed into Liam's face.
"I'm sor—"
BAM!
A tooth flew out, bouncing on the floor.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
His nose collapsed. His eyes swelled shut. His jaw dislocated.
BAM!
His skull cracked. Blood erupted in a fountain, mixing with brain matter as Ronan's fists turned bone into mush.
BAM!
Something popped, something deep. And Liam stopped screaming.
But Ronan didn't stop.
His knuckles broke. Then healed. Then broke again.
He kept going.
Until finally—
SPLAT.
There was nothing left but pulp. The remains of Liam's head were unrecognizable, a crater of gore, smashed into the concrete.
Silence.
Only Ronan stood.
Surrounded by the corpses of the monsters who once preyed on him.
The crimson flames still flickered around him, bathing the carnage in an unholy glow.
[Devil's Covenant: 60%]
His breathing slowed.
Blood dripped from his knuckles, down his arms, soaking the floor.
And then—
He cried.
Low.
Quiet.
Cold.
Tonight, he was no longer prey.
No longer the weak Ronan Raylinde.
Something else had taken his place.