The sky of Jottunheim pulsed once more.
Its crimson was thicker than before, as if the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for something to be born… or to die.
In the middle of the cracked land, filled with old blood and the shadows of monsters, Kafka stood.
Alone.
But not truly alone.
Behind him, a disheveled middle-aged man leaned lazily against a towering black stone that resembled a giant gravestone.
Eldric yawned.
"Just start already," he said lazily. "I'm getting hungry. I can't wait to eat this dragon meat."
Kafka didn't respond.
His eyes were fixed on the two figures in front of him.
Two entities radiating an overwhelming aura of death.
Vorzeth.
Belphegorion.
Their presence poisoned the air. The ground around them blackened, as if their existence was a disease to the world.
Vorzeth smiled.
His wings moved slowly… as if devouring something from within reality itself.
"Ahh… a child…"
Belphegorion didn't even open his eyes.
And yet,
The space around Kafka… slowed.
Heavy.
As if the air had turned into invisible mud.
Kafka exhaled.
Slowly.
Blood began to move.
Flowing out from his pores… then circling around him like a living crimson mist.
Kafka stepped forward.
And in an instant—
The ground exploded.
Kafka vanished from where he stood.
He appeared right in front of Vorzeth.
KYOKUSHIN KARATE + BLOOD MAGIC — DEMON CORE BREAKER
A straight right punch.
No hesitation.
Blood wrapped around his arm like molten steel.
"That little tricks will not gonna effective little prince," Eldric Yawned from afar.
Vorzeth's abdomen trembled.
But,
It didn't shatter.
Vorzeth laughed.
"Not… deep… enough…"
CRACK.
His hand grabbed Kafka's arm.
Hard.
The bone shattered instantly.
"Shit!" Kafka shouted in agony.
Without hesitation,
Kafka tore off his own arm and grabbed the severed piece with his other hand as he spun backward to evade.
Blood burst out.
But before the pain could even reach his brain even more,
He threw the arm.
His regeneration shifted.
His body collapsed.
flowed,
followed the thrown arm,
and reformed in mid-air.
Above Vorzeth's head.
Eldric raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
Kafka twisted his body,
TAEKWONDO + BLOOD MAGIC — IMPERFECT 1080° SPINNING BLOOD KICK
His body spun like a crimson comet,
One rotation.
Two.
Three,
The kick fell like a meteor.
BOOOOM.
Vorzeth's head slammed into the ground.
Cracked.
But not destroyed.
What is that weird move again? I' never taught him that...
"Well, that will works." Eldric nodded.
Kafka nearly landed,
Without his left leg.
Destroyed by the force of his own rotation.
But before he even hit the ground,
It regenerated.
Fast.
Brutal.
Unnatural.
"HAHAHAHA!" Eldric burst out laughing. "Now you're finally fighting like a Vaelorian!"
Well, in reality it's not. Vaelorian doesn't fight like this. This is only Eldric crazy-regenerative methods to fight. There is no Vaelorian out there that have regeneration as fast as Eldric and Kafka.
Kafka vanished.
He erased the distance.
In a single blink.
He was already in front of Vorzeth.
But not with a punch.
Not with a kick.
He… stabbed his own arm into Vorzeth's body.
His arm was crushed,
yet it pierced through.
At the same time, Vorzeth swung his golden axe and split Kafka's head apart.
CRASH.
His skull shattered.
His brain was destroyed.
But at that exact moment,
His blood exploded inside Vorzeth's body like a parasite.
BLOOD INVASION — IMPROVISED
Vorzeth flinched.
Something was eating him from within.
Kafka laughed,
Even with half his face gone.
"If the outside is tough…"
he whispered,
"…then attack from the inside."
BOOOOM.
His body exploded.
But it wasn't death,
It was movement.
He reappeared behind Vorzeth.
Fully restored.
Kafka prepared to attack again,
But Belphegorion moved.
Or rather,
He forced the world to moved.
Invisible hands pressed Kafka from all directions.
The air vanished.
His lungs emptied.
And yet,
Kafka moved forward.
He thrust a blood spear.
LAVARATIS SPEAR — FIRST FORM (IMPERFECT)
The spear shot forward,
Piercing the pressure.
Piercing space.
And striking Belphegorion's chest.
"Good, finally using the technique." Eldric nodded again as he watches.
But,
It stopped.
As if time itself around the tip refused to move.
Belphegorion whispered.
Kafka smiled.
His mouth full of blood.
"Damn it."
He inhaled,
Even though there was no air.
And exploded.
His body shattered—
Turning into fragments of flesh and blood.
But every fragment,
Attacked.
From every direction.
MMA + BLOOD FRAGMENT ASSAULT
Punches.
Kicks.
Pierces.
Bites.
"And... Yeah that weird moves again, but I love to see itworked." Eldric smiled.
Every piece of his body became a weapon.
"Lavaratis Spear Kafka's style," Kafka shouted as he pierced his own blood blade into his chest.
SWOOSH!
From Kafka's chest formed a blood spear that burst to Belphegorion.
Belphegorion was finally pushed back.
For the first time.
Eldric grinned.
"That's disgusting. Hahaha."
He nodded in satisfaction.
"Good."
Vorzeth fly towards Eldric at that moment, but simply got kick-slashed and fly all the way back to Kafka's direction.
I can't kill you just now, my little prince still need more lesson.
"Come on, your enemies is right there... I'm too old for this, hahaha." Eldric laughed.
While dodging attacks from both Vorzeth and Belphegorion, Kafka finally created distance.
A bow of blood formed.
Kafka ripped out his own veins from his arm.
Using them as the bowstring.
Pulling,
Until his arm tore apart.
Snapped.
"Cruxavari Meteor!" Kafka grinned.
The arrow was released.
But it wasn't just an arrow,
It was a rain of death.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Each arrow.
Filled with condensed blood blades.
All fired at once.
Belphegorion and Vorzeth was pushed,
Slightly.
Very slightly.
But enough to make Eldric laugh.
"HAHAHAHA! That's it! That's what I was waiting for!"
Time lost its meaning.
Kafka died.
Once.
Ten times.
A hundred times.
His body was destroyed.
Crushed.
Erased.
But every time,
He returned.
Faster.
More brutal.
More… insane.
Hundreds of weapons, axes, spears, and all that golden treasure could no longer hold Kafka back as he continued to push forward.
Vorzeth finally fell into his base form.
His angelic body cracked.
Shattered.
Kafka stood above him.
Panting.
Half his body gone.
But his eyes,
Still alive.
Still killing.
"Interesting…" Vorzeth whispered.
Then,
His body mutated.
Turning into a massive floating head.
Its skin hanging loose.
Its eyes empty.
And from its mouth,
Small dragon heads emerged.
One.
Two.
Dozens.
They writhed.
Hissed.
Staring at Kafka.
Belphegorion also changed.
His body merged with space.
A massive lump of flesh,
Without limbs.
Disgusting.
Perfectly embodying sloth.
The invisible hands…
Grew stronger.
Vorzeth moved first,
Firing golden lasers from his mouth.
Kafka dodged quickly,
Charging forward despite his body being torn apart by the lasers.
Damn it… if I take more of those, my stamina will run out before I can even reach him…
"Fine then," Kafka shifted his stance.
"That weird stance again?" Eldric narrowed his eyes.
BOXING — WEAVE AND DASH
Kafka advanced while dodging each laser with boxing movements.
His footwork,
Combined with consistency.
Finally brought him face-to-face with the Sin of Gluttony.
CRIMSON BOXING COMBO
Kafka unleashed a barrage of attacks.
Jab.
Hook.
Cross.
Uppercut.
Attacking while defending against dozens of dragon heads lunging at him.
As if denying him even a moment to think,
Belphegorion's invisible hands grabbed all of Kafka's limbs.
Tore them apart.
Vorzeth immediately followed,
Burning Kafka with his golden lasers.
The small dragons caught what remained of Kafka's head.
Ready to destroy it again before he could regenerate.
"Ah… is that all?" Eldric looked slightly disappointed.
Kafka detonated the remains of his own head.
Blinding Vorzeth.
From a single tooth that flew not far from the explosion,
Kafka regenerated instantly.
Not giving Belphegorion a chance.
"Hey, fat one. eat this!"
HEAVENLY DEMON BLOOD SWORD ART — LAVARATIS SPEAR + SANGUIS WHIP
A flexible blade like a whip bound Belphegorion body.
And became the momentum Kafka used to pull himself toward him.
He shot forward,
Breaking the speed of sound.
CRASH!
Using the momentum.
Kafka pierced through Belphegorion's body with his blood spear,
Leaving a massive hole.
"Hahaha, excellent, little prince!" Eldric looked thrilled.
But clearly,
Kafka wasn't the only one with regeneration.
Slowly,
Belphegorion's wound closed.
"A small… wound…" his voice sounded disgusting.
Even with Kafka's ability to weaken regeneration
It was still incredibly fast.
At the same time,
Vorzeth began moving again.
The pressure increased around hundred times over.
Kafka,
was destroyed.
In one second.
He rose again.
Destroyed again.
Rose again.
Again.
Again.
Again and again.
Nearly a thousand times.
Each death more painful.
Each rebirth faster.
But,
Still not enough.
After nearly twelve hours of fighting,
Fatigue finally took over Kafka's body.
He dropped to his knees.
Half his body existed.
Half did not.
His regeneration slowed.
His eyes dimmed.
"…Shit…"
He tried to stand.
Failed.
One of the dragon heads swallowed him.
Darkness.
Destruction.
Silence.
And when his consciousness returned,
Someone was already standing in front of him.
Eating a piece of dragon thigh he had somehow cooked during the long battle.
Eldric exhaled.
"Yeah… that's enough."
He glanced at Kafka.
"If I let this continue, I might end up starving while waiting for your fight to finish."
Kafka tried to laugh.
Failed.
"…I almost…"
Eldric cut him off.
"Almost died?"
He snorted.
"Congratulations. That means you learned something."
He stepped forward.
His crimson aura exploded.
Unlike Kafka,
This was absolute.
Domination.
Terror.
Deadly beauty.
Vorzeth and Belphegorion,
Froze.
Eldric glanced slightly at Kafka.
A faint smile.
"You did well, little prince. Good job."
Then,
"Now… I'll clean this mess."
In a single step—
The world turned red again.
Kafka fell to the ground.
His body finally stopped moving.
But this time,
Not because he died.
But because of exhaustion.
He looked at the crimson sky.
Blurred.
But one thing was clear,
He had changed.
He was no longer a boy who ran.
He had become something…
Even death had begun to recognize.
In the distance,
Eldric's voice.
Laughter.
And the screams of the two sins,
Blended into one.
A symphony of destruction.
And in the middle of it—
Kafka smiled faintly.
Still… not enough…
Still far…
But for the first time,
He felt,
He was walking in the right direction.
~To Be Continued~