Present Time.
Lucas and the boy rode atop the crimson-scaled Eastern Dragon, cutting through the air like a streak of blood.
Below them, Wei Jun stood battered and panting—and across from him, Rein Arclight, his right arm nothing but a scorched ruin, still sparking faintly from where Lucas had reduced it to charred flesh with a single jolt of Wrath.
Lucas's eyes burned as he snarled, voice laced with fury.
"The hell are you doing to my teammate, huh!?"
Without waiting, Lucas leapt from the dragon's back, his body flipping mid-air before slamming down on the ground between Rein and Wei Jun with a crack of force. Dust billowed outward.
Twisting his head back, Lucas shot a death glare at the dragon above—sharp and dangerous.
"Stay put. You even think of running, I'll end you next."
The dragon visibly trembled, scales twitching under the weight of that stare.
Lucas turned to Wei Jun, voice clipped but commanding.
"Get on the dragon. Now. I'll handle this bastard."
For a moment, Wei Jun froze.
His mind flashed with images—the best moments of his life, memories he'd thought lost forever. Yet here he stood, breathing. Alive.
Without a word, he limped forward. The dragon, sensing no threat, dipped lower, allowing Wei Jun to climb onto its back. With a beat of its body movement, it lifted into the air, rising just enough to stay clear of the battle below.
On the ground, Rein Arclight sneered, his expression cold as ice.
"Who the hell are you, ruining my fun? You've got some nerve."
Lucas didn't bother replying.
His body blurred forward—too fast for Rein's eyes to track—and his right fist, charged with Will, slammed straight into Rein's face.
CRACK!
Rein's body rocketed backward, smashing into a boulder with a sickening thud. The stone cracked apart, and where Rein hit, a 2-meter-deep dent formed in the shape of his body. Blood streamed from his nose, and several of his teeth scattered across the dirt like broken pearls.
Rein coughed, tasting iron, his face twisting in rage.
"You're dead now, kid."
With a hiss, sharp needles erupted from his fingertips—replacing his nails with glinting, deadly spikes.
Rein Arclight lunged forward first.
His hands snapped up, and from each fingertip, a barrage of needle-like spikes shot out—thin, sharp, and gleaming like silver death. They tore through the air with a high-pitched whistle, each one aimed to pierce flesh and bone.
Lucas moved, eyes narrowing. His body blurred sideways, boosted by his Will—every muscle, every nerve firing at triple its normal speed. His bare feet scraped against the dirt as he twisted just enough to dodge the volley.
But Rein wasn't done.
His body bent unnaturally at the waist, spine cracking audibly as he twisted his torso a full one-eighty degrees while his legs stayed rooted. More needles jutted from his other hand and fired again—this time curving mid-air like guided missiles.
Lucas's hand crackled, violet sparks dancing across his palm.
With a sharp pull, he formed his weapon—an electricity-forged blade, its body a crackling beam of violet wrath condensed into solid shape. The air sizzled around it.
"Tch."
Lucas swung.
His sword sliced through the incoming needles, each one vaporizing into ash with electric pops. Sparks exploded outward like fireworks, lighting up the battlefield in flashes of violent pink and purple.
Rein grinned through bloodied teeth.
He twisted again—his arms spinning like windmills, joints popping, elbows bending backward in impossible angles. In a sudden burst, he leapt forward, claws extended, turning his body into a spinning cyclone of slashes.
Lucas braced and brought his sword up. Sparks flared as the first claw collided with the blade, the sheer force sending a tremor through Lucas's arm.
But Lucas's Will was active—tripling his strength, endurance, and reflexes. He gritted his teeth and pivoted, letting Rein's strike slide off the blade before countering with a sharp thrust.
His sword crackled violently as it lunged forward.
The tip grazed Rein's side, and an arc of electricity ripped through his ribs, sending him skidding back with a growl of pain. Smoke curled from the blackened wound.
Rein's eyes widened with something close to fury.
His body twisted again, shoulders snapping sideways, and this time, dozens of needles erupted from both arms—not straight, but in chaotic spirals. They filled the sky, turning into a storm of death raining down toward Lucas.
Lucas's heart pounded, but he didn't flinch.
His Will surged again, muscles tightening like coiled steel. With a sharp breath, he spun in place, his violet blade sweeping in a wide arc.
"HAAAH!"
The sword released a burst of electrical energy, forming a circular shield of crackling lightning around him. The needles struck the barrier—one after another—and each one fizzled out, dropping as smoldering metal shards to the ground.
The dust cleared.
Rein was already mid-air, having launched himself like a spider, limbs twisted backward as he came down like a spear aimed for Lucas's skull.
Lucas shifted, then vanished—boosted by his Will's triple speed.
He reappeared behind Rein in the blink of an eye and slashed upward.
The blade tore through Rein's back, violet arcs flashing as flesh and bone split. Rein screeched, twisting mid-air in an impossible contortion that let him swing his claws backward.
Lucas ducked, feeling the wind from the strike graze his hair.
His sword flashed again, this time slashing across Rein's left arm—cleanly severing it.
Blood sprayed, dark and hot.
Rein landed heavily, his body twitching and contorting as if it didn't even register pain. He snarled, biting down hard, and suddenly more needles grew out from the bleeding stump—like grotesque regeneration.
"You're strong," Rein hissed, spitting blood.
"But I'm not done—"
Lucas didn't give him the chance.
His Will flared brighter—veins bulging as every cell in his body burned with power. He shot forward again, his feet kicking up dirt as he closed the gap in less than a second.
Rein fired another volley of needles point-blank.
Lucas's sword moved faster.
Each needle was sliced mid-air, sparks flying with every cut. His blade danced like lightning, erasing Rein's desperate barrage with cold precision.
Then Lucas closed in.
His knee drove hard into Rein's gut, folding him in half with a wet choke.
Rein staggered. His head snapped up, fury blazing—
Only to meet Lucas's elbow smashing across his face, shattering more teeth and sending him crashing sideways.
"You picked the wrong fight," Lucas muttered coldly.
Rein coughed, his body twitching. Blood ran freely down his chin. Yet, even now, his spine twisted again—legs bending backward as he prepared one last attack.
His mouth stretched open unnaturally wide, and from his throat, a cluster of sharpened bone needles began to form—ready to be launched like a cannon shot.
Lucas's eyes narrowed. His Will pulsed again—faster now, hotter.
The violet sword in his hands sparked violently, the blade extending slightly as if feeding off his surge of power.
"Let's end this."
Rein fired.
The bone needles shot out in a concentrated, deadly stream.
Lucas roared and swung.
His sword cleaved through the stream, the violent slash splitting the air and shattering every projectile mid-flight. The electric arc didn't stop—it carved forward like a reaper's scythe, and before Rein could even react—
SHHHK!
The blade swept clean through his neck.
For a heartbeat, everything went still.
Then, Rein's head separated from his body.
Blood geysered upward as his corpse crumpled to the ground, spasming once before falling still. His head hit the dirt with a dull thud, eyes wide open in frozen horror.
Lucas exhaled, his blade crackling softly as the electricity slowly faded from its edge.
He stood over the corpse, his Will still burning inside him—but steady now. Controlled.
The fight was over.
And Lucas had won.
Lucas exhaled sharply, stepping back from the fallen body of Rein Arclight. His violet blade crackled once before fading into thin wisps of electricity. Victory. At least, that's what his instincts told him.
But then—
Shhk!
Something sharp ripped through the corpse's chest.
Lucas's eyes widened. A cluster of thin, gleaming needles shot out—aimed straight at his feet. Pure reflex saved him. His Will flared again, and he jumped back just in time. The needles stabbed into the dirt where his leg had been, sinking deep like fangs.
"What the—"
Suddenly, the corpse twitched. A horrible sound followed—wet, grinding, and unnatural. The body began to shift, bones cracking and flesh tearing in grotesque ways. Lucas felt the same dark aura he'd sensed during Rudeus's transformation, but this time, it was stronger… fouler.
Before his eyes, Rein's form stretched unnaturally. His spine elongated, ribs snapping outward like broken branches before melting back into a shadowy mass. His legs seemed to dissolve entirely, replaced by long, black tendrils that spilled onto the ground—writhing and pulsing as if alive. The creature floated a few inches above the earth, the tendrils slithering beneath like living shadows.
Its torso shifted next—patches of armor-like texture formed on its chest, hard and plated, contrasting against the rest of its body which remained a warped, melted blend of human and void.
A tattered black robe erupted over its figure—ancient and torn at the edges, flapping weightlessly as if moved by some ghostly wind. The fabric, frayed and rotting, seemed too real and yet too spectral at the same time, like a cursed relic that had endured for centuries. From within the robe, thin tendrils occasionally lashed out—snapping back inside just as quickly, making its every movement feel unpredictable and wrong.
And then, the blades appeared.
Two massive weapons extended from its hands—curved like scythes but refined like katanas. They glowed faintly white, with frosty, cracked patterns snaking along their length as if frozen by some spiritual toxin. Around the blades, faint white filaments spun and twisted, like ghostly strings waiting to slice anything they touched. The air around them grew colder, heavier.
Lucas's jaw clenched.
"Tch… another transformation… just like Rudeus."
But the face was the worst.
Beneath the hood, only a glimpse could be seen—but that was enough. No nose, no mouth, just a massive, grotesque eye slightly off to the side. It wasn't human—it was a giant orb of flesh and nerves, connected by black tendrils that twitched and pulsed with every movement. An all-seeing, cursed eye that radiated malice and hunger.
Lucas felt his skin crawl.
His Will flared unconsciously, every instinct screaming at him to stay alert.
The monster floated forward slightly, the black tendrils beneath it hissing like living smoke.
And with a low, unearthly sound, the real fight began.
Lucas's eyes narrowed, muscles tightening as the monster hovered before him. Its black tendrils writhed, and the twin frosted blades it held pulsed with that chilling energy.
Lucas clenched his fists.
"Fine. Let's end this here."
Violet electricity surged around him, sparking violently as his Wrath ignited. Both his hands crackled with raw power—and with a burst of light, two swords formed. Twin violet blades, forged from pure Wrath, humming with unstable energy. His Will surged alongside, flooding his body and tripling his strength, speed, and instincts.
Boom.
Lucas launched forward like a bolt of lightning, both swords slashing in an X. The monster reacted fast—its tendrils flared outward like black whips, parrying one sword and dodging the other with an unnatural twist of its torso.
The curved frost blades lashed out in response. Lucas barely tilted his head aside as one blade skimmed past, slicing a few strands of his hair. Sparks flew as his left sword collided with the second blade mid-air, the clash releasing a sharp shockwave that cracked the ground beneath their feet.
Without pause, Lucas spun low, slashing at the tendrils. The creature lifted itself higher, floating above the strike. It retaliated by firing thin, white energy strings from its blades like deadly threads.
Lucas crossed his swords just in time, the threads wrapping around his blades and crackling violently. He roared, Will surging through his arms, and snapped the threads apart with raw force.
The monster screeched. Its tendrils shot downward, stabbing the earth like spears—and then the ground beneath Lucas exploded upward as the tendrils erupted from below, aiming for his chest.
But Lucas's footwork was flawless.
He side-stepped, twisted mid-air, and with a snarl, hurled one of his violet swords like a spear.
Thunk!
The blade stabbed deep into the monster's right shoulder, making it lurch backward with a gurgling hiss. Its cursed eye glared, and it countered by spinning both frost blades in a cyclone, forcing Lucas back.
Breathing hard but steady, Lucas summoned another burst of Wrath. A new violet sword formed in his empty hand—shorter, sharper. His Will continued to pump through his veins, making every movement sharper, faster.
"You're strong," Lucas muttered. "But not enough."
He dashed again. This time, he feinted high but struck low, slashing at the tendrils. The monster blocked—but Lucas's second sword came in from the opposite angle, cutting clean through one of its floating tentacle strands. Black ichor splattered.
The monster roared, its body contorting. It swung both its frost blades in an X-cut, aiming to cleave Lucas in half. Lucas ducked, slid under the attack, and with a violent upward slash, tore through more of its tendrils.
Their battle blurred—swords clashing, energy crackling, tendrils snapping like whips. For every blow the monster landed, Lucas struck two in return. His Will-enhanced speed outpaced the monster's twisted reflexes, and his dual blades began carving through its defenses.
Finally, with a furious roar, Lucas leaped high, both swords crackling like thunder.
"End it—!"
He brought both blades down in a vertical cleave, slicing through the monster's cursed eye and splitting its head in two clean halves.
The creature's body froze—then shuddered violently. All its bones cracked and detached at once, the structure collapsing like broken sticks.
A moment later, the entire form disintegrated into fine ash, scattered by the wind.
Lucas exhaled, lowering his swords.
It was over.