JOSHUA:
Ola stood there, his body trembling slightly, but not from weakness—no, this was something else entirely. The dark energy coursing through him was unnatural, terrifying, yet he seemed to embrace it as if it had always been a part of him. His once-black eyes now glowed a deep, unnatural purple, and the wounds that had covered his body only moments ago sealed shut in an instant.
Then, he laughed.
It wasn't a normal laugh. It was hollow, jagged, laced with something unhinged. The very sound sent a shiver down my spine. This was not the brother I knew.
Ola took a single step forward, and the ground beneath him cracked under the force of his energy. Then, in a blur, he was gone. No, not gone—moved. His speed was unlike anything I had ever seen, so fast it might as well have been teleportation. One moment he was standing in front of me, and the next, he was inches from Kairin's grotesque form, grinning wide, his teeth sharp in the moonlight.
Kairin flinched. A being of destruction, a nightmare creature, was afraid.
With a guttural screech, the monster sent a barrage of black spikes shooting from the ground, all aimed at Ola. But he didn't just dodge—he moved between them with something beyond ease, as though he were dancing, effortlessly weaving through the death meant for him.
The air shifted. Kairin's mouth split open, releasing a sonic wave of darkness that distorted the very space around us. The pressure was suffocating, my bones vibrating from the sheer force.
But Ola? He simply raised a hand.
A twisting mass of shadows curled upward, forming a barrier that swallowed the attack whole, leaving him untouched.
"This...this power..." Kairin hissed, voice shaking.
Ola tilted his head, examining his own hand. "It feels... right."
And then he struck.
Ola leaped into the air, the shadows beneath him bending upward, forming into a wicked, black sword with a violet glow along its edges. As he fell toward Kairin, the shadows beneath the monster surged, wrapping around its limbs, immobilizing it. Kairin thrashed violently, but the bindings did not waver.
With a single, swift movement, Ola slashed downward as he landed past Kairin. A shallow cut split across the monster's chest, black blood oozing from the wound. It screamed, writhing in agony.
But Ola was not done.
Kairin attempted to lunge backward, seeking distance, but Ola gave it none. He advanced, his sword a blur, striking Kairin over and over again. Each slice carved deep, sending black ichor spraying into the air. Kairin screeched in pain, its body shredded with over a hundred precise cuts. It staggered, falling to one knee, its monstrous form trembling in agony.
Then, it roared. But this wasn't just pain—it was a call.
The air trembled as the ground rumbled beneath us. A chorus of howls, screeches, and roars echoed from every direction. My stomach dropped.
From the shadows, from the ruins, from every darkened alley and broken street, they came.
Hundreds of mutated beasts surged toward us, eyes glowing with unnatural rage.
I tried to move, to pick up my blades, but my body refused. I had nothing left to give.
Ola, however, remained unfazed. He stood there, silent, watching the horde approach.
Then, his aura erupted.
A massive surge of purplish-black energy exploded from him, a force so raw and terrifying that the very air vibrated with power. The shadows beneath him expanded outward in a swirling mass, forming an ominous circle on the ground.
From within that darkness, they rose.
Four beings emerged, their bodies black as the void, but as they fully formed, they shifted—taking Ola's very appearance. Each one wielded a sword of the same eerie darkness, their glowing purple eyes mirroring his own.
With a flick of his finger, the clones moved.
One darted east, another west, the third south, and the last north. They cut through the monsters like death itself, swift, precise, merciless.
Ola moved among them, his blade carving through flesh, bone, and darkness alike. The sheer control he had over his newfound power was terrifying—like it had always been his.
Kairin, still kneeling, watched in horror. Even in its monstrous mind, it knew—this was no ordinary human. This was something worse.
But Kairin would not die cowering.
A guttural growl rumbled from the beast's throat. Its black blood bubbled, sizzling on the ground as dark tendrils of energy wrapped around its body. Its entire form began to shift, bones cracking and muscles twisting. Kairin's humanoid shape expanded, its limbs elongating into razor-sharp appendages. A second set of arms tore through its sides, and its faceless head split open, revealing a grotesque, gaping maw filled with endless rows of jagged teeth.
Its aura—already oppressive—became suffocating.
Ola's clones halted for a brief moment, sensing the immense power surging from Kairin's transformation. The mutated beasts, seemingly emboldened by their leader's change, attacked with renewed ferocity. The battlefield plunged into chaos.
Kairin moved first.
In a blur, it lunged at Ola, its elongated arms swiping with terrifying speed. Ola barely managed to block with his shadow-forged sword, but the impact sent shockwaves through the air, shattering the ground beneath them. Kairin pressed forward, its second set of arms shooting dark tendrils toward Ola, aiming to pierce him.
Ola twisted his body, narrowly avoiding the strike, then retaliated with a vicious counterattack. His sword slashed upward, carving through Kairin's chest. Black blood splattered, but the wound sealed almost instantly. Kairin was healing even faster now.
The beast roared, unleashing a torrent of dark energy in every direction. The sheer force of it sent Ola skidding back, his clones momentarily disrupted by the blast. Kairin used the opening to pounce, slamming its clawed fist into Ola's stomach with enough force to send him crashing through two buildings.
I felt my heart clench. Was that enough to put him down?
No.
From the rubble, Ola emerged, his body barely harmed. His grin returned—wider, more twisted. "This… is fun," he murmured, his voice dripping with an unnatural hunger.
Kairin let out another screech and charged once more. Their battle resumed with even greater intensity—blurs of movement, flashes of dark energy, and impacts so powerful they fractured the land beneath them. Each attack from Kairin was countered, each strike from Ola met with resilience. But as the battle dragged on, something became clear.
Ola was winning.
With a final move, he dashed forward, his body splitting into multiple shadow images that surrounded Kairin from all angles. Before the beast could react, they struck as one. Dozens of slashes landed across Kairin's body in an instant. The beast shrieked, its form buckling under the sheer damage.
Then, Ola stood above it.
Kairin twitched, black blood pooling beneath it. And then… it stilled.
Dead.
Ola stood over its corpse, unmoving. The battlefield was silent. The shadows that had once raged with his power seemed to settle, as if satisfied.
Then he turned his head—toward me.
The smile he gave me wasn't one of relief, or victory.
It was twisted, chilling.
That was when I knew. The person standing before me was not my brother anymore.
Before I could react, he vanished in a blur, reappearing right in front of me. My body was too weak to move. My back rested against the ruined wall, my breath shallow.
Ola raised his palm slightly. From within the shadows, a sword formed—long, sharp, terrifying.
And he pointed it at me.
"Ola, it's me. Wake up. Wake up now, Ola!"
I screamed. Immediately ,something shifted in Ola's expression. His entire body trembled as the darkness around him flickered, then… vanished. His glowing purple eyes faded back to black.
And then, his lips curled into a soft, genuine smile.
"Joshua…" he whispered, before collapsing to the ground, unconscious.
I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding, my heart pounding in my chest.
Ola had won.
But at what cost?