Escaping from the village had drained Rem almost completely.
The three ran across the dark grasslands beneath a sky that had begun twisting into a violent storm. Heavy clouds gathered overhead, swirling unnaturally, while the air itself carried a rotten stench that only grew stronger the farther they moved.
Rem's breathing had become uneven. Every step felt heavier than the last.
"That person… or whatever that thing was… isn't even trying to chase us," he said between breaths.
Vyvian glanced back toward the distant horizon where the village had once stood. Nothing remained there now except faint smoke and pale light bleeding into the clouds.
"Isn't that better for us?" he asked quietly.
Faye immediately shook her head.
"No, it really isn't," she replied, her voice tense. "That thing erased an entire village instantly. If it wanted to catch us, it probably could without any effort."
Rem nodded grimly. "Exactly."
The atmosphere around them felt wrong. Even the wind no longer sounded natural. It carried whispers that didn't belong to anything human.
"We should keep moving," Rem said. "As far away from this place as possible."
The moment he said that,
a figure appeared ahead of them.
No footsteps.
No sound.
One second there was nothing, and the next, the hooded entity stood directly in their path.
The glowing blue light beneath the hood pulsed softly like a heartbeat.
The three immediately stopped.
Their instincts screamed at them not to move.
"I want to ask you something," the entity said calmly.
Its voice overlapped strangely, sounding both masculine and feminine at once, as though two different people were speaking through the same mouth.
"There is no point in running. Just answer me… and you might live."
The storm around them rumbled softly.
Rem clenched his fists, but he already knew fighting now was impossible. His Qi reserves were nearly empty.
Vyvian stepped slightly forward despite the pressure weighing on the air.
"…What question?" he asked.
The glowing figure tilted its head.
"You three have likely awakened your soul creatures already. You can transform."
Its voice echoed unnaturally.
"But do you truly believe your powers are necessary?"
Silence followed.
Rem frowned slightly. "…What does that even mean?"
"I have no idea," Faye whispered back.
Vyvian kept his eyes fixed on the entity.
"We don't understand what you're asking," he said carefully. "And why are you doing all this?"
The figure stood motionless.
"Why…?" it repeated softly.
Then suddenly—
A man dropped from the sky.
BOOM.
The ground cracked beneath the impact as the newcomer landed perfectly between them and the glowing entity.
Pink hair swayed gently in the wind.
Diamond earrings glimmered faintly beneath the cloudy sky.
Dan slowly straightened himself.
"Dan?" Rem said in shock. "Why are you here?"
Dan didn't look away from the entity.
"Don't talk to this lunatic," he said calmly. "I was ordered to eliminate him."
Faye blinked. "…Ordered?"
Vyvian narrowed his eyes. "Take him down? What exactly do you do?"
Dan adjusted his glasses slightly.
"I work as a royal messenger for Prythos. I handle connections between royal territories."
Then his expression hardened.
"And you…"
He pointed toward the hooded figure.
"Rakshasa. You'll fight me. Not them."
The entity remained silent.
"So his name is Rakshasa…" Vyvian muttered.
"That's a weird name," Faye added quietly.
Dan didn't look back.
"You three should leave. Now."
Rem immediately understood the seriousness in his tone.
"Move," he whispered.
The three retreated quickly, creating as much distance as possible while the storm above intensified.
Even from far away, the pressure radiating from the battlefield felt suffocating.
Faye looked back nervously.
"They're both fighting without transformations…"
Vyvian nodded slowly.
"That Rakshasa guy… his attacks aren't natural. He's using abilities without transforming."
Rem's expression darkened.
"…That shouldn't even be possible."
Far ahead, the battle began.
"Baseless."
Rakshasa raised a hand.
A blinding blue beam erupted forward instantly, vaporizing the earth in its path. Rocks disappeared completely upon contact.
Dan dodged to the side smoothly.
"You'll need to do better than that, my friend."
"I'm not your friend," Rakshasa replied coldly. "You know exactly what is happening."
The two dashed forward simultaneously.
Their fists collided.
The impact shattered the surrounding ground before both leaped backward.
"Enough talking nonsense, Dan."
The blue glow beneath Rakshasa's hood intensified.
Then he spoke again.
"Release restraints… EVOLVE."
The ragged cloak tore away.
The three watching from afar froze.
Sharp glowing blue streaks covered Rakshasa's chest, back, and face like cracks spreading across his body. The light pulsed violently beneath his skin.
Dan laughed mockingly.
"Pulling off some trick?"
He lunged forward and threw a kick directly at Rakshasa's head—
But a hand suddenly emerged from Rakshasa's back.
It caught Dan's leg effortlessly.
Dan's eyes widened slightly before he was thrown across the battlefield.
Another arm emerged.
Then another.
Four arms now extended from Rakshasa's body unnaturally.
"…Convenient," Dan muttered while flicking one of his earrings casually.
Rakshasa disappeared.
Then reappeared directly in front of Dan.
All four hands grabbed him instantly.
Dan resisted, muscles straining as he pushed back—
But Rakshasa's body suddenly expanded.
Larger...then larger again.
Three times his original size.
Then five.
His massive form crushed Dan straight into the ground.
The impact shook the hills themselves.
Far away, Faye stared in horror.
"What kind of powers are those…?"
Rem shook his head slowly.
"I don't even know what kind of monster that thing is."
Back on the battlefield, Dan suddenly burst upward from the crater and kicked Rakshasa directly in the face.
The impact echoed loudly.
Dan followed instantly with incredible speed, appearing above Rakshasa before he could recover.
Another kick landed.
Then punches.
A rapid barrage hammered into Rakshasa's chest, forcing the giant backward.
Dan landed gracefully and inhaled deeply, taking a precise martial stance.
Rakshasa's skin stretched unnaturally.
Then he screamed.
Blue light gathered around his fist before he slammed it into the ground.
An implosion erupted outward.
Dan leaped high into the air just before the attack consumed everything beneath him.
Midair, he twisted and descended with another devastating kick aimed directly at Rakshasa's head.
This time the strike landed so quickly Rakshasa barely reacted.
Dan followed with another barrage of punches that drove the massive creature backward across the battlefield.
Rakshasa slowly steadied himself.
"With every passing second… I continue growing."
His distorted voice echoed heavily.
"If you do not reveal your true self soon, Dan… you will not keep up."
Dan's eyes narrowed.
"You're insane."
He dashed forward again and struck Rakshasa's neck with a sharp chop.
But Rakshasa didn't even flinch.
One of the arms growing from his back grabbed Dan and hurled him away violently.
Then, an eye opened on Rakshasa's stomach.
Everyone watching froze.
"What the hell…" Faye whispered.
Dan immediately rushed forward again. He grabbed Rakshasa's neck with both hands and snapped it instantly.
CRACK.
Rakshasa screamed...then smiled.
"…Is that supposed to impress me?"
Something began moving beneath his skin.
Then his body split apart.
Flesh ripped open.
Bones twisted outward.
Everything collapsed inward toward the eye in his stomach.
The flesh became a black, muddy substance that spread across the battlefield like living decay.
The ground itself started rotting beneath it.
Far away, Rem covered his nose slightly.
"What the hell even is that thing…?"
Faye looked pale.
"It smells rotten… I'm gonna throw up…"
Even Vyvian stood frozen.
The battlefield no longer looked real.
Dan visibly grimaced in disgust.
"…What are you?"
The singular eye rose upward into the air, carried by the mass of flesh beneath it.
Teeth formed around the eye protectively.
The muddy flesh stretched higher and higher until the creature resembled some grotesque living tree.
At the center of it, a massive heart-like organ pulsed visibly.
Rakshasa spoke again, though his voice no longer sounded remotely human.
"Nothing can stop me now."
A massive arm shot toward Dan instantly.
Dan barely dodged.
The arm suddenly glowed white
And exploded.
The blast tore apart the surrounding earth.
Then more arms emerged.
Again and again and again.
The battlefield transformed into a nightmare of rotting flesh, explosions, and decaying ground.
Even the air itself looked corrupted.
Far from the battlefield, Vyvian, Faye, and Rem collapsed to one knee under the pressure of Rakshasa's aura alone.
The storm overhead roared violently.
And deep within that horrifying battlefield.
The question remained.
Could such a horror even be defeated?