The street cracked under the weight of Kai's scream—then shattered under something even greater.
A roar split the battlefield.
The air itself trembled.
BOOM!
A flash of blue and silver ripped through the smoke. The ground cratered, the debris lifting in a perfect ring as Arnik exploded from the shadows—his right fist blazing with mutation energy, veins glowing white-hot beneath his skin. He rocketed forward, eyes blazing, and slammed his mutated arm straight into Satsujin's chest.
The impact was devastating.
"RRRAAAHHHH!!!"
Satsujin's body folded around the blow before he was launched backward like a missile. He tore through the street, through two ruined walls, and finally crashed into a pile of rubble that collapsed. Dust and flame swallowed him whole.
Kai blinked through the haze, barely able to breathe. "A–Arnik…"
Arnik turned, his chest heaving, smoke rising off his arm. His eyes widened when he saw Kai—pale, trembling, bleeding—and Rose lying still beside him.
Without a word, Arnik sprinted over, grabbed Kai, and threw his arm around his shoulder. "I got you—"
Kai shoved him away. "NO, NOT ME—ROSE!"
He dropped to his knees beside her.
Markus arrived just then, boots slamming into the ground, eyes wide and burning with shock. His gaze fell on Rose's limp form—and everything inside him froze.
Her blood mixed with ash, pooling beneath her armor. Her lips trembled faintly. She tried to look up, but her eyes—those fierce, proud eyes—were dulling, her pupils unfocused.
Kai pressed his hand against her stomach, trying to close the wound. "Hold on, Rose. Please… hold on…" His voice cracked, desperate, shaking.
Arnik's breath caught in his throat. Markus's fists clenched until blood dripped from his palms. The sight of her broken body… it burned into them both.
Satsujin rose from the rubble, his armor cracked, his cloak torn—but his crimson eyes still glowed. He met Kai's eyes.
Markus's grip on his blade trembled with rage. Arnik's mutation flared again, steam rising from his arm. Both men stepped forward—no words, only intent.
Satsujin realized it.
He was outmatched.
Up above.
Aika screamed.
Her body gave out; her knees hit the ground. The glowing runes of her gravity field flickered, then shattered into nothing. "I… I can't—!" she choked, coughing up blood. Her staff fell from her trembling hands as her vision blurred. The ships she'd been holding began to fall again, slowly at first… then all at once.
Warships fell like meteors. Not one. Not two. Dozens. Massive 500-meter hulls screamed through the sky, tearing through the atmosphere with dead engines and no control. The sound alone shook the ground—deep, violent, like the world itself was splitting open.
"MOVE—!!"
There was nowhere to go. The Angel Squad collapsed inward instead, instinct taking over, bodies pressing together as the shadows swallowed the light. They huddled around Arnik. Not because he told them to—but because something in them knew.
Arnik's head snapped up—and he screamed.
Not words. Just raw sound.
Blue energy erupted from him, unstable and violent, ripping outward like lightning clawing its way free. His aura flared wildly, cracking the ground beneath his feet. His arms trembled—then split. Thin lines of blood tore open along his skin, running down to his hands as the power burned through him.
"AHHHHH—!!"
He forced it together anyway.
A shield.
A sphere of trembling blue energy snapped into existence around them. It flickered violently, layers forming over each other, barely holding shape. Arnik's eyes ignited, glowing outward like flames, blue light spilling from them as if it couldn't stay contained.
He pushed harder.
His arms bled more.
The shield thickened.
IMPACT.
The first warship slammed into the ground. The shockwave crushed against the barrier, bending it inward, the surface rippling like it might shatter at any second. Another hit followed. And another.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Each collision heavier than the last. Each one closer. The world outside dissolved into fire and screaming metal, warships tearing apart on impact, their massive hulls skidding and crushing everything in their path. The barrier shrieked under the pressure, cracks of light spreading across it.
Arnik roared, forcing more power out, his entire body shaking. Blood dripped from his fingers. His vision blurred—but his eyes still burned, still glowing, refusing to dim.
He would not let it break.
Another impact slammed into the shield. The light warped. The ground buckled.
And—
it stopped.
The crashes slowed. The shaking faded. The light dimmed. Arnik's aura flickered once… twice… then vanished. The barrier shattered outward like glass.
He dropped to one knee, gasping, arms trembling, blood still running down them, his body barely holding itself together.
Around them—
ruin.
Warships lay everywhere. Massive 500-meter hulls scattered across the land, some split in half, others buried deep into the ground, still burning, still smoking. Fires spread across the wreckage, thick black smoke rising into the sky.
It looked like the end of everything.
A sound cut through it.
Low. Mechanical.
From the nearest wreck, metal shifted. Panels tore open from the inside. Something forced its way out.
SCREEEEEEEECH—
A Demon Machine crawled into the open. Another followed. Then more.
Dozens.
They poured out from the warships, bodies twisting and unfolding, hitting the ground with violent, unnatural movement. Their screeches filled the air, sharp and wrong, echoing across the battlefield.
More kept coming.
An army.
Atop one of the largest wrecks—
Satsujin stood.
Balanced on the jagged edge, looking down at the destruction like it meant nothing. Slowly, he raised his arm—and screamed.
"DESTROY THE HERO!!"
His voice cut through everything.
"DESTROY THEM ALL!!"
Every machine turned toward Arnik.
And charged.
Hundreds swarmed them.
Rose was bleeding out.
Kai was on his knees beside her, hands shaking as he kept forcing what little magic he had left into her body, his breathing uneven as his vision blurred from exhaustion.
"Come on… come on…" he muttered over and over, his voice breaking.
Nothing was working.
Markus stood in front of them, chest rising and falling hard as sweat dripped down his face, his eyes constantly moving—left, right, behind—tracking every incoming threat.
They were completely surrounded.
The demons charged without slowing, without fear, without hesitation, throwing themselves forward like animals that didn't care if they died.
"Arnik…!" Markus shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos. "What do we do?!"
Arnik didn't answer.
He was staring at Rose.
At the blood pooling beneath her.
At how still she was becoming.
His fingers twitched slightly.
"I can't…" he said under his breath. "We can't take this many…"
His breathing started to shake.
This is it.
This is how it ends.
They all die—and I stand here again doing nothing.
"Why… why is this happening…" his voice cracked. "This can't be happening…"
His hands slowly tightened.
"No."
His head lifted.
"No."
His fists clenched so hard his knuckles cracked.
"It doesn't matter how many there are…"
His voice steadied.
"I am Arnik Handerfall."
Energy began building in his arms.
"Captain of the Angel Squad."
His fists ignited with bright blue energy, thick and dense, wrapping tightly around his hands and forearms. It compressed inward as it formed, layer after layer stacking over itself until it looked almost solid, hugging tight against his skin as the pressure built inside his muscles.
The energy forced through his arms, veins rising sharply beneath the surface, his fingers twitching slightly as the power surged through him.
Electricity snapped outward from his arms, sharp and constant, crawling up across his shoulders and down his spine, reacting to every movement he made. Each flare struck the ground and nearby debris, leaving thin, blackened cracks where it hit.
His eyes burned bright, locked forward, focused.
"MARKUS!" Arnik shouted, a grin breaking through. "I almost lost hope for a second."
Markus let out a breath through his nose. "…Yeah. Sorry about that."
He stepped back and slammed his back into Arnik's.
The contact grounded both of them.
Markus could feel it clearly now.
Arnik's power wasn't stabilizing.
It was climbing fast.
Arnik bent slightly at the knees as his legs lit up, golden electricity surging downward and wrapping tightly around his thighs and calves. The energy layered over itself just like his arms, thick bands tightening around his muscles and locking into place as his stance pressed deeper into the ground.
The pavement beneath his feet cracked outward in sharp lines, spreading further as the pressure continued to build.
His entire body was coated in blue plasma, dense and compressed, pulled tight against his frame rather than flaring outward. It shifted slightly with every breath, every movement, pulsing in sync with his heartbeat as it fed more energy back into him.
His arms swelled with power, veins fully raised now as the energy forced through them at a pace his body struggled to contain.
His fingers flexed once, and electricity burst outward in multiple directions, striking the ground, nearby rubble, and anything that got too close.
His breathing slowed, not calm, but controlled, locked in.
Faster.
I need to be faster.
Faster than anything here.
His stance lowered slightly, every muscle aligning as his entire body prepared itself, ready to launch forward at any moment.
Markus stood still for a second, then his eyes lifted and locked straight onto Satsujin, everything else fading from his focus as the noise of the battlefield and the swarm around them disappeared from his mind completely.
His hand hovered over the katana as his breathing steadied and his grip slowly tightened.
"…Blood Wolf," he muttered, his voice low and controlled. "Maximum release."
It hit immediately.
His entire body locked for a split second as the energy surged out from deep inside him, forcing its way through muscle and bone before bursting outward from his core. Red energy wrapped around his torso first, then spread across his shoulders and down his arms, forming in thick, uneven layers that stacked over each other rather than settling cleanly.
His chest rose sharply as the pressure increased, his muscles tightening harder as veins bulged along his arms and neck under the strain.
The blade began to move, slowly sliding out of the sheath, the motion heavy and deliberate.
Red energy leaked from the opening as the blade inched forward, clinging to the metal and stretching slightly before snapping back and reforming around it.
Markus's eyes strained as thin cracks formed beneath them, small at first before spreading slightly outward, blood running down his face in slow lines from the edges.
The whites of his eyes darkened as something deeper pushed forward.
His grip tightened harder.
"…More."
The blade moved further.
The energy thickened.
The pressure around him increased again, pressing outward from his body.
"…More…"
His voice grew rough.
His teeth clenched.
"MORE!"
His body shook slightly under the strain as the red layers around him tightened again, pulling closer to his frame, becoming denser.
"BLOOD WOLF—GIVE ME YOUR POWER!!"
Markus drew his katana slowly. The blade resisted, dragging against his grip as the edge bit into his palm. Blood welled instantly, thick and dark, running down the steel instead of dripping away.
It didn't fall.
It clung.
Then it started moving.
The blood slid along the blade, spreading across it, soaking into the metal as the entire weapon began to glow a deep, violent crimson. The energy didn't just sit on the surface—it pulsed, beating in time with his heart.
It climbed.
From the blade, into his hand.
Up his arm.
Markus's muscles tightened as the energy forced its way through him, veins swelling, turning dark as the crimson power pushed through them. His skin cracked in thin lines, and from those fractures, red mist began to leak out, rolling off his body in slow waves.
His armor reacted.
The damaged plates shifted, splitting apart as something new formed over them. Blood pulled from his body, from the wound in his palm, from every open cut, stretching outward before hardening. It layered over him piece by piece, jagged and uneven, forming a brutal, feral shell that pulsed and flexed with every movement.
Arnik moved first, his foot hitting the ground and breaking it as he launched forward into the swarm. His fist drove straight through a Demon Machine's core and he was already past it, stepping again and striking again, each hit clean, each movement controlled. Electricity snapped around him, catching anything too close as he pushed through multiple targets without slowing, crushing cores one after another, his speed turning him into a constant streak tearing through the field.
Markus moved with him, launching forward as the ground cracked beneath his step, his blade already in motion. "Blood Wolf Art… Release." One swing—and everything in front of him split. Machines dropped in halves before they even hit the ground. He stepped again, dragging the blade across his arm, the cut opening as blood poured and then lifted, snapping back to the blade and coating it, thickening it. With a flick of his hand, blood shot forward, forming blades that pierced through the swarm and tore straight through multiple targets.
They crossed paths without stopping, Arnik driving forward through another cluster while Markus cut across the side, finishing what was left. Their movements lined up naturally, one creating openings, the other clearing them. No wasted motion, no hesitation.
The swarm kept coming.
They kept cutting them down.
Satsujin stood at a distance, watching.
His eyes moved between them, tracking every motion, every strike. The swarm wasn't slowing them—it was collapsing under them, cut down faster than it could even surround them.
Too fast.
Too controlled.
No openings.
His grip tightened slightly.
…This isn't something I win by staying.
The shadows at his feet began to rise, thin strands creeping up his legs, gathering around his body as he shifted his stance backward.
He wasn't hesitating.
He was leaving.
His form started to sink, the darkness pulling at him, beginning to swallow his outline—
Pressure hit.
Sharp.
Immediate.
His head snapped up—
Arnik was already in front of him.
Close.
Too close.
Satsujin reacted instantly, blade snapping up just as Arnik's strike came down. The impact slammed into him, metal grinding as the force pushed straight through his guard.
His arms bent.
His stance broke.
The ground beneath him shattered as the hit carried through his entire body, stopping his escape completely.
Then he was launched.
His body tore backward through the air, control slipping for a split second as he was sent flying across the battlefield.
He twisted mid-air, forcing his body to stabilize—
Movement.
From the side.
A sharp pull—
Then impact.
Something drove into his arm, deep, and held—
Then it spread.
Heat surged through his limb instantly, not on the surface—inside. His muscles locked, veins darkening as something forced its way through them, spreading fast and tearing through his control.
"—GRAAAHH!!"
The scream ripped out of him as his body slammed into the ground, rolling hard before he forced himself up on one knee. His arm shook violently, fingers twitching as the burning spread deeper, eating through his control.
His shadows flickered.
Unstable.
His breathing came heavier now, uneven as he forced it steady, his eyes lifting—
They were already there.
Arnik stood ahead of him, energy snapping around his body, stance locked in.
Markus off to the side, blade low, blood still moving along it, ready.
They had cut him off completely.
No angle.
No space.
Satsujin's jaw tightened.
…So I don't get a clean exit.
His hand flexed once—
Then the shadows surged again.
This time violently.
They snapped up around him, thicker, faster, forcing themselves outward as he ripped his body backward into them. The ground beneath him darkened as the shadows swallowed his form, dragging him down and away before either of them could close the distance again.
"DON'T LET HIM ESCAPE!" Arnik roared.
He blasted forward, the ground caving beneath his step. His punch tore through 10 machines at once, a trail of energy following behind him. Each strike sent out a shockwave that vaporized metal and shattered the street. Craters formed with every hit, sparks flying as the battlefield became a storm of blue light and destruction.
Markus drew his katana slowly. The blade resisted—blood leaking from his palm where the edge bit into him.
The weapon began to glow.
Crimson energy bled from the blade, crawling up his arm and wrapping around his torso like living chains. It seeped into his veins, bursting from his skin in crimson mist. His armor morphed—blood and energy weaving together into a feral, jagged shell that pulsed with each heartbeat.
"Blood Wolf Art…" he growled, voice guttural.
And then he moved.
It looked like he vanished.
In a blur of crimson flashes, Markus cut through the machines faster than the eye could follow. Dozens were bisected in an instant, their corpses hitting the ground before their heads even realized they'd been severed.
He reappeared behind a pile of burning wreckage, blade dripping with molten blood. "Quick Draw—Blood Wolf Art!"
He sheathed the katana with a sharp click. The moment it locked—SLASH!
A wave of crimson energy erupted outward, cutting down everything in a thirty-meter radius. Machines exploded, bodies split in perfect, clean halves.
Satsujin stumbled backward, his cloak shredded, his mask cracked. He tried to retreat into shadow—
But Markus was already there.
He conjured a dagger made entirely of blood, his aura snarling like a beast. With a snarl, he leapt into the air and hurled it.
"Blood Wolf Art—BLOOD KNIFE!"
The knife spun like a streak of red lightning and struck Satsujin square in the arm.
"GRAAAHH!!"
Smoke erupted from the wound as the blood burned him from the inside out. Black veins crawled across his body—the crimson toxin eating at his flesh.
He staggered, panting. His shadows flickered erratically.
Markus snarled, stepping forward. "You're not escaping again!"
But Satsujin, bleeding and shaking, vanished into the dark in a burst of shadow smoke.
Markus's blade dropped slightly, his aura shaking with fury. "DAMN IT!" He drove his sword into the ground, the shock splitting the cracked pavement apart.
Arnik clenched his fists, mutation still burning across his arms. "Next time," he said, his voice trembling. "Next time, he dies."
Kai knelt beside Rose, shaking, his face streaked with dirt and tears. "Please, Rose… stay with me…"
Her hand twitched weakly toward his cheek, her touch faint but warm.
And then it went still.
Kai's breath came in broken gasps, his hand trembling as he pressed against the wound.
But no matter how hard he tried—no matter how much he poured of himself—
the light wouldn't come.
Rose's blood kept spilling through his fingers.
"Rose—please, heal! Just heal!" he begged, voice cracking. His magic had run dry; his body was shaking from exhaustion. "C'mon… please…"
Rose's hand rose weakly, trembling, her glove half torn. She touched his face—so softly it made him freeze.
Her eyes were half-lidded, the color fading.
"I'm sorry…" she whispered, her voice barely a breath. "I… I couldn't stay with you forever…"
"Don't say that," Kai said quickly, his throat closing. "You're going to be fine—I'll save you—I swear I will—"
"Kai…" She coughed, blood running from her lips, her voice breaking between sobs. "Hold me…"
He dropped his weapon and pulled her close, as close as he could, his heart pounding in his chest.
Her armor was cracked, her skin burning with fever beneath the broken plates.
His own suit had sealed his wounds, but hers—hers was torn beyond repair.
"Rose, please—no… what about our child?" he choked, tears spilling freely now. "We're parents—we can't—I can't lose you…"
She smiled faintly, tears sliding down her cheeks. "Shh… Kai…"
Her words trembled. "Just hold me… one last time…"
He pressed his forehead against hers. Their lips met—shaking, desperate, full of pain and love.
Her blood stained his hands, yet he didn't care. All that mattered was her warmth, slipping away with every breath.
"Kai… I don't wanna die…" she whispered weakly. "I wanted… to marry you… I really wanted to be your wife… More than anything, I wanted to have so—"
She coughed violently, blood splattering against his shoulder. "—so many children with you… Kai…"
"Don't talk," he pleaded, his voice breaking. "Save your strength."
But she shook her head softly, her eyes unfocused yet full of devotion.
Kai's trembling hand glowed faintly. With the last of his magic, a delicate silver ring formed in his palm—shimmering faintly with their combined energy. He slipped it onto her finger, tears streaming down his face.
"Rose…" his voice cracked, "…I promise we'll be together forever. For in sickness and in health…"
He swallowed hard, his lips trembling. "…for better or worse… I'll never let go."
Her lips quivered into a faint smile. "Until death… do us part…"
She closed her eyes, her breathing slowing. Kai held her close, their foreheads touching, as the world fell silent around them.
And then—she exhaled.
A single, soft breath.
Her hand slipped from his face.
Her body went still.
"I… love you…" she whispered—
and her eyes dimmed completely.
"ROSE!" Kai's voice broke as he shook her, holding her limp body to his chest. "ROSE!! Please—wake up! Wake up!!"
He screamed until his throat tore. "I LOVE YOU!!!"
His voice echoed through the ruined city, raw and full of agony.
Arnik stood frozen behind him—his heart thundering, his eyes wide.
He had seen death before. Too much of it.
But this…
Seeing Kai cry—seeing Rose gone—
something inside him snapped.
"AAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
His roar shook the battlefield.
Blue-white light erupted from every vein in his body.
Mutation energy flooded outward in an explosive wave—
cracks spread beneath his feet—
and in an instant, Arnik launched himself into the sky, a comet of blinding light.
He hit the apex—
then dove.
The air screamed around him as he fell, his fists burning, energy spiraling from his body like a collapsing star.
Arnik roared, his body surging with power beyond control. The air around him warped, the ground splitting beneath his feet as his energy exploded outward.
He slammed into the ground with a force that split the city open.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The explosion ripped through the ruins—vaporizing the nearest hundred demon machines in an instant. A blinding shockwave erupted outward, leveling entire blocks, tearing through towers and bridges alike. The light washed over the battlefield like a cleansing flame—pure, merciless, divine.
When the smoke cleared, Arnik stood at the heart of a massive crater—steam rising off his shoulders, veins glowing like molten lines of fire. His eyes burned white, wide with fury and grief. Every demon machine within sight had been reduced to ash and twisted slag.
Not one moved.
And in the hollow silence that followed… only Kai's broken sobs could be heard.
The sky itself was breaking apart.
Massive warships—black silhouettes still burning from Aika's final spell—plummeted like dying beasts. Their shattered hulls screamed through the air, raining fragments of molten metal and crumbling stone upon the ruined city.
Kai didn't look up. He didn't move. He just held Rose—motionless in his arms, her blood staining his uniform.
Arnik saw it. His instincts flared like wildfire. Mutation light burst from his hands, veins glowing brighter as he thrust both palms against the ground.
WHOOOOOM!!!
The earth itself obeyed. A radiant barrier surged upward, golden light expanding in every direction as falling debris and flame met his power head-on. The air cracked and bent under the sheer force, dust and lightning swirling around him like a storm born from anguish.
A dome of blue energy erupted around them—his mutation forming a shield of living light. The impact hit like meteors, thousands of tons of rubble crashing down across its surface. Each hit shook the earth, fire and smoke pressing down against the glowing barrier. But it held.
Inside, silence.
Markus stood beside them, staring at Rose's body through the shimmering light. His hands trembled. He pressed one blood-slicked palm to the barrier and whispered, voice breaking,
"…She's… gone…"
His breath hitched. He looked away.
Arnik turned toward Kai, his own body shaking—his eyes red, veins dimming as the mutation faded. "Kai… I'm—"
Kai's head snapped up. His eyes were empty, wet, trembling.
"Why…" His voice was low. "…what took you so long?"
"Kai, listen—"
But Kai's expression twisted. He laid Rose down carefully on the ground, brushing the hair from her face, and then turned—his whole body trembling with grief.
"WHY!?" he shouted, stumbling to his feet. "WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG!?"
Arnik didn't move.
Kai's voice broke into a scream. "I THOUGHT WE WERE A TEAM!"
He took a step forward, then another—
and drove his fist straight into Arnik's jaw.
CRACK!
The shield flickered from the impact as Arnik staggered back, eyes wide, too stunned to react.
"If you'd just been here a second sooner—" Kai's voice cracked, choking between sobs. "A SECOND, DAMN IT!"
He hit him again, weaker this time. "SHE'D STILL BE ALIVE!"
His voice broke completely. "SHE'D STILL BE HERE!!"
He collapsed to his knees, shaking uncontrollably.
Arnik stood there—blood at the corner of his lip, breathing hard—but he didn't fight back. He couldn't. He only looked down at Kai, eyes filled with regret and guilt that words could never fix.
"…I'm sorry," he whispered, barely audible.
Kai didn't respond, his once sharp brown eyes, now full of hatred.
Outside the barrier, the fires roared. Inside, the only sound that remained was the quiet, uneven breathing of three broken men—and the silence where Rose's heartbeat used to be.
Markus's face snapped hard—empty, hollowed by grief but burning like hot iron. Kai's eyes were the same: glossy, unblinking, a quiet storm coiling behind the pupils. For a breath they stood like statues in the crater's light, two shadows cut from the same rage.
No pleading. No bargaining. The thought came to Markus and Kai, sharp and ugly as a blade:
No matter who stands in my way—no matter what it costs—I'll kill him.
I'll become the monster.