CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: The Crowned Hunger
The scent of blood drifted faintly through the stale ruin air .. sharp, coppery, three miles east.
Leylin paused.
His head tilted slightly, nostrils flaring as if the motion itself confused him.
"…Blood?"
The word came out quiet, testing.
He took a step toward the exit..
The ruin shook.
Jason screamed.
Not in pain.
In release.
Dark molten veins ignited beneath Jason's skin, splitting flesh like fragile clay. Bones stretched, cracking as his body swelled, plates of molten rock knitting over muscle. Fire bled from his heels, pooling across the stone floor in glowing rivers.
The Belial bloodline had awakened.
A titan of magma and fury replaced the man ...towering, radiant, monstrous.
Jason breathed once, and the air warped.
Power flooded him.
For the first time, he felt invincible.
Leylin turned.
Slowly.
His expression wasn't alarmed.
It was puzzled.
He studied the titan the way one might study an unfamiliar animal.
"…You changed."
His voice held no awe.
Only observation.
Jason roared and lunged.
The molten fist descended ... a strike meant to erase him from existence.
Leylin lifted a hand.
Not to block.
Just to touch.
The fist stopped.
Not against his palm.
Before it.
As if reality itself had refused to let it pass.
Leylin blinked.
"…Why did you stop?"
He stepped closer, peering at the trembling arm suspended inches from his face.
"…Are you afraid?"
Jason roared louder, forcing strength into the limb. Molten veins flared. The air screamed from the heat.
It didn't move.
Leylin reached out and gently wrapped his fingers around the titan's wrist.
He squeezed.Not hard.Just enough.
The chitinous magma armor cracked with a soft sound, like thin ice breaking underfoot.
Jason choked...Leylin's brows knit slightly.
"…You're fragile."
He lifted.
The massive titan rose off the ground as easily as lifting a child, molten feet kicking helplessly above the stone. Leylin held him there, arm extended, studying him with quiet fascination.
Jason clawed at his wrist, panic replacing fury.
No effect.
Leylin tilted his head again.
"I thought you would be heavier."
He paused, as if listening to something only he could hear.
"…Your heartbeat is fast."
Jason tried to speak, but only a strangled rasp escaped.
Leylin leaned closer, eyes narrowing.
"…Are you dying?"
The titan gathered everything he had left and swung a desperate punch.
It never landed.The air itself struck first.
An invisible force folded into Jason's chest.
A dull, concussive sound echoed through the ruin as the molten titan was driven backward into the wall ...no contact, no motion from Leylin, only pressure.
Stone exploded.
Jason slid down, choking.
Leylin watched, intrigued.
"…I didn't touch you."
He flexed his fingers slowly.
"…Was that me?"
Silence fell.
Jason tried to rise.
Leylin stepped forward and placed a hand around his throat.
Not squeezing.Just holding.Jason froze.
Something deeper than fear entered his eyes ... realization.
Leylin looked into them, searching.
"…You're not enough."
No anger.No contempt.
Just conclusion.
The hunger inside him stirred.
This time he didn't resist.
"…I'm sorry."
The words were soft.
Almost sincere.
His fingers tightened.
Darkness poured from his palm .. not violently, not hungrily, but with quiet inevitability. The molten titan convulsed once, then stilled as the shadow swallowed him piece by piece, leaving no flame, no ash, no sound.
Leylin released empty air.
He stood there for a moment, staring at his hand.
"…It stopped moving."
A faint frown touched his face.
"…I wanted to ask more questions."
The ruin creaked around him.
Leylin lifted his gaze toward the distant forest, sensing the world beyond, vast and full and still not enough.
"…There must be something stronger."
Shadows gathered at his feet.
This time, they followed willingly.
Leylin crouched slightly, testing the motion like someone learning how to move in a new body.
Then he leapt.The ruin shattered behind him.
The hunt began.