Third-Person POV
Piera's blue eyes dimmed, darkening into something unrecognizable. Everything blurred, and all the warmth he'd known—the laughter, the love, the light—had been ripped away. What remained wasn't grief. It was rage, Not the kind born from sorrow. This was different. Colder. Sharper. Killing intent. He didn't want justice. He wanted blood. He wanted revenge.
"Fallen entity… give me your power," Piera said, barely hearing his voice over the roar in his head. The smoke twisted beside him. Its form shifted again and again, unsure of what it was or what it should be.
"I will lend you what I can," it said finally, his voice echoing. "But your Lumiero… it's still locked away. Dormant. Without access to it, I can't give you everything I have."
Piera clenched his fists, trembling. His breath was ragged, heart racing with unnatural fury. He didn't care. Couldn't care. "It won't take long, Just give me something. Anything. Any amount you can give". The smoke pulsed once, then settled into a more human shape. Pale, barely formed, and wreathed in flickering wisps of grey light.
A shadow drifted beside Piera, then slowly merged into his body. It was cold like ice crawling beneath my skin. "My name is Croti," the entity said within his mind. "fallen of hindering smoke. I will help you defeat this monster." I once served Krandar, the entity of ethereal light. Now, I serve you, for the safety of humanity, and to fulfill my oath to Krandar... until this world no longer needs me."
That's when Hao Jun turned.
He must've sensed the shift in the air—Croti's presence, or maybe just the sheer heat radiating off my hatred. "Still alive?" he asked, amused. "Tough little insect. It's quite crazy how you can survive against an entity being's first vestige."
Piera charged forward.
At least, He tried to.
The instant he moved, Hao Jun was already in front of him. He barely saw the blow—just a flicker of movement, and the next moment he was sent flying, crashing through what was left of the living room wall.
Blood poured from his mouth, but he didn't feel it. The pain didn't register anymore. All he saw was that grin.
Piera roared, pushing himself up again, lunging like a wild beast.
And again, He was struck down. This time, his body skidded across the yard, bouncing off the remains of a shattered tree before slamming into the ground. He groaned, trembling, his arms struggling to lift me even an inch.
"I don't think you understand your position," Hao Jun said, appearing beside me without a sound. "You're not the hero here. You're the object lesson. The opening act."
Piera's POV
He raised his foot and brought it down on my back. Hard. Every hit he landed shattered something inside me - ribs, resolve, maybe even hope.
Five minutes. That's all it lasted. Five minutes of being tossed, slammed, and shredded. I wasn't fighting anymore. I was surviving. At the end of it, I collapsed into the rubble, my body broken and trembling.
My family is gone. Their blood painted the floors I once danced on. Their heads— don't think about that—are gone. All I could do was lie there, broken and bleeding, as Hao Jun crouched beside me with a curious look in his eyes. "Hmm…" he muttered. "You've got potential, little one. Such hatred brewing already. Such darkness." He stood up, brushing imaginary dust off his cloak. He grabbed me by the collar, lifting my limp body like I weighed nothing. Then, with a casual flick, he threw me into the rubble of my own destroyed home. The world spun. My vision blurred. I could barely feel Croti as he felt non-existent. Before the darkness claimed me, I heard one final whisper from Hao Jun.
"Grow stronger. Don't worry, I won't tell the entity of the morbid insect, but I'll be waiting."
Then everything faded.
The only thing I could still feel—beyond the broken bones and shattered pride—was the emptiness. But even through the pain and the emptiness… one truth echoed louder than anything:
He had to die. Even if it destroyed me, even if I had to become a monster—he had to die.