Balrock's eyes widened, breath catching in his throat. He tried to speak—but Nova's grip only tightened.
Even in stillness, he could feel it. The heat. The hate. The promise of death.
Balrock gagged, coughing up blood.
Nova lifted him off the ground by the throat like a broken doll, his body trembling with barely restrained savagery.
And then—
CRACK!!
He slammed Balrock into the ground.
BOOM!!
Again.
BOOM!!
And again.
Each impact split the earth more violently than the last.
"P-Please… spare me!" Balrock begged, voice trembling, death looming closer with every breath.
Kan Sha materialized before him—ghostly, flickering like a spirit from beyond the veil.
"Are you… death?" Balrock whispered, eyes wide with dread. "Have you come to take me to my final resting place?"
Kan Sha let out a jagged, maniacal laugh.
"Hahaha! Resting place? Seriously?" His eyes glowed with malice. "Where you're going, there's no rest. Scum like you don't get peace—just the taste of your own blood choking you as you die. Consider it your last meal."
Balrock screamed in panic, thrashing helplessly as Nova continued slamming him into the ground like a ragdoll.
[RESTORATION GENESIS]
A surge of radiant light engulfed Balrock as his mangled body began to mend. He laughed through the blood on his lips, manic confidence flashing across his face.
"Is that it? This is all you've got? And here I was worried you might actually kill me."
Nova let out a guttural howl, his gaze boring into Balrock like a blade to the soul.
[MAD DOG SYSTEM: ERROR ERROR ERROR]
NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED: DIMENSIONAL RUPTURE — ACTIVATED
A mirror shimmered into existence beside Nova—reflecting Balrock perfectly, even though he wasn't standing in front of it.
Balrock glanced at the strange reflection and sneered.
"Haha... What is that supposed to be? A gift? Sorry, mutt. I have higher standards."
Without a word, Nova drove his fist into the mirror.
SHATTER.
The glass exploded.
At that exact moment, Balrock screamed in agony. His body convulsed violently. Organs ruptured. Skin split open. Blood poured out in thick pools, staining the ground.
He coughed hard, trying desperately to activate his ability again.
[RESTORATION GENESIS]
...Nothing.
His wounds remained. The pain didn't fade.
"Wait—why… why am I not healing?!" Balrock shrieked, panic rising in his voice.
> [DIMENSIONAL RUPTURE: Creates a mirror that reflects and transfers damage to whoever appears within it. Damage delivered this way becomes permanent—irrevocable. It is now weaved into your reality.]
Balrock's body was destroyed—shattered beyond recognition. His soul clung to existence by a thread, flickering like a dying ember.
Nova stared down at him. The man's broken, pitiful expression didn't stir even a flicker of pity.
If anything, it stirred something darker.
Something primal.
Something cruel.
Born from instinct, not reason—his mind still clouded by madness—Nova acted.
[ELUSIVE EYE]
Balrock's consciousness was yanked into a world of illusion. Inside, he endured every horror he had inflicted upon Nova, Nix, and Nina.
His fingers were severed. One by one.
He was whipped. Cut. Stabbed—mercilessly.
He was forced to gnaw on his own leg—just as he had made Mina devour her own tail.
Every twisted crime, every vile act he had committed—he relived them all.
Again.
And again.
And again.
In the real world, only two minutes passed.
But in Balrock's mind, three hundred years of agony dragged on.
When the illusion finally broke, his body spasmed. His eyes rolled back. Blood-tinged froth bubbled from his lips.
His heart gave out.
The flood of trauma shattered it like brittle glass.
Nova let the lifeless husk fall to the ground without a word.
Then he howled.
It wasn't a cry of victory.
It was rage. Pure, feral rage.
He lunged at the corpse—instinct fully taking over—and began to rip into it. Clawing. Biting. Devouring.
Like a starving beast.
That was when Kan Sha's voice boomed in his head.
"THAT'S ENOUGH, NOVA!!!"
"As much as I'd love to watch you tear that bastard apart, if you keep this up—we'll lose our minds completely."
"Remember her, kid. Remember Nix."
The name hit like a thunderclap.
Nova froze mid-motion. The fog in his head didn't clear entirely, but the image of Nix flickered through the madness like a candle in the dark.
He stopped.
Stopped clawing.
Stopped biting.
Kan Sha took control, seizing the reins of Nova's body—and knocked him out cold.
Nova collapsed. His monstrous form dissolved.
Human once more, he lay unconscious as the pocket dimension shattered around him, fading like a nightmare at dawn.
Balrock's mangled corpse lay beside him—twisted and unrecognizable.
Nova lay in silence.
Soaked in the blood of his enemy.
Mina stepped into the ballroom, sticking close to the wall as her eyes darted around the ruined space.
She'd been hiding—watching from the shadows. She hadn't seen everything, but the aftermath was enough.
The pocket dimension had vanished.
In its place: Balrock's mangled corpse—and Nova, unconscious, lying in a pool of blood.
Her breath caught.
"Nova…?" she whispered, frozen in disbelief.
She had heard the battle as it unfolded. That a beast tore through the mansion. Something inhuman had unleashed hell.
But this… was this really him?
Was it really Nova who did all this?
She didn't have time to think.
She couldn't let anyone else see him like this—soaked in Balrock's blood, lying beside the body of a noble.
No hesitation. No questions.
She grabbed his arm and started dragging him out of the ballroom, step by step, careful not to make a sound.
Every second felt like forever.
She reached the nearest bathroom, kicked the door shut, and locked it behind her. Her hands moved on instinct—scrubbing away the blood trail, washing his body clean. She changed his clothes, swapped out the bloodied rags for something plain and unnoticeable.
It wasn't perfect. But it would have to do.
She pulled him into the slaves' quarters and laid him down gently on a pile of blankets, tucking him in like he was just sleeping off a fever.
Then she ran.
Her feet pounded against the floor as she sprinted through the halls, heart racing.
She burst into Nix's room without knocking, gasping for breath.
"Nix!" she cried. "It's Nova—he's back and he's alive! I saw him. He was covered in blood, and Balrock's body… it was right there beside him!"
Nix's eyes lit up the moment she heard Nova was alive. She hadn't seen him in three days. Each hour had gnawed at her with worry.
But then Mina's words echoed in her mind—"He was covered in blood… and Balrock was dead beside him."
Her heart dropped.
No way, she thought. Nova couldn't have killed Balrock. He was too powerful.
She turned to Mina, voice soft and trembling.
"Are you sure it was him?"
Mina nodded quickly, ears twitching with each movement.
"Yes. I'm sure."
Nix hesitated only a second before whispering,
"Take me to him."
Mina led her down the hallway, back to the slaves' quarters.
As soon as Nix saw him, her breath caught in her throat. Her heart skipped a beat.
There he was—unconscious, wrapped in blankets, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. His hair was messy, his skin pale, but it was him.
Or… it looked like him.
Her eyes narrowed as she stepped closer.
"Wait… this can't be," she muttered, kneeling beside him.
She grabbed his hand.
"His finger... it's still there," she whispered, stunned. "But it looks just like him."
She stared at his sleeping face, torn between relief and confusion.
"What's going on…?"
Mina gently tugged Nix's hand.
"Let's wait until he wakes up," she whispered. "Then we can ask him everything. For now… we should keep quiet."
Nix hesitated but gave a small nod.
"Alright…"
The two slipped quietly out of the room, carefully closing the door behind them.
As they rushed back toward Nix's quarters, Nix asked, voice hushed but urgent,
"Is Balrock really dead?"
Mina nodded without hesitation, her mouse ears bouncing with each step.
"Yes! He's really gone. We won't have to suffer his punishments anymore."
Nix let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. Relief washed over her—brief and fleeting.
But as she reached the door to her room, her hand hovered over her belly. Her expression shifted, twisting into something grim.
She stared down, eyes filled with a storm of emotion.
"…You didn't do anything," she muttered, voice shaking. "You had nothing to do with your father's actions."
Her fingers trembled slightly.
"But… I just… I just wish…"
She stopped herself, biting her lip hard.
A long silence followed.
"…Ahh. It's best if I don't say it."
Nix returned to her room with Mina, doing her best to appear calm—making sure not to draw any suspicion.
Once inside, she crawled under the covers, pretending to rest. Meanwhile, Mina took off running toward the ballroom.
When she arrived, she spotted Iris trembling in the corner, not far from Balrock's mangled corpse. The once loud and overbearing woman was now pale, wide-eyed, and completely frozen in shock.
Mina narrowed her eyes.
"Was she here the whole time? I didn't even notice her..." she muttered under her breath. "She's usually so loud and assertive... mm, whatever. Doesn't look like she'll be talking anytime soon."
Then, without missing a beat, Mina turned and sprinted down the hallway.
"HELP! HELP! Master Balrock has been killed!" she screamed, voice echoing through the marble corridors as she alerted the staff and guards.
Of course, she left out any mention of Nova—or what really happened in that ballroom.