The wind shifted.
An intense, unearthly heat sliced through the fog clinging to the fractured ridge. Something had changed...
No, Something awakened.
Verrick's breathing became uneven as he withdrew, blood leaking from his mouth. His eyes were no longer filled with the self-satisfied look of an instructor who had been through many battles, but with the wild, desperate glint of a cornered animal.
"I gave you a chance, Nclai."
His voice cracked, bitter. "You should've broken like the rest."
His hand twitched.
Rings of black mana carved themselves into the air around him, runes older than the modern spell matrix. Symbols that trembled reality.
"Verrick," Nclai muttered, steady but strained, "that spell's forbidden."
The instructor's face contorted, pain and hate wrestling for dominance.
"I won't be remembered as the one who lost to a mutt."
Sssszzhhh...
His flesh twisted. His veins pulsed black.
CRACK!
Bones shifted under his skin. Mana flared.
His body stretched unnaturally tall, limbs elongated with jagged armor forming like obsidian scales. His face, once human, now bared fangs beneath a charred mask.
The ground wilted under his feet.
Nclai's breath slowed. His hands curled. The blood around him pulsed in sync with his heart.
Too fast. Too much. This wasn't normal.
Suddenly...
...
System Warning!!!
Threat Detected, Forbidden Power Surge
Survival Rate, 0.13%
Emergency Mode,Active
Unlocking CRIMSON SOVEREIGN – 1% power access (Temporary)
Initiating system override...
...
Nclai blinked.
The world slowed.
His thoughts slipped into a void, cold and red, like falling into sleep, but not sleep.
His body stood. Moved.
But he wasn't piloting anymore.
...
Crimson Sovereign – 1%
The blood around Nclai roared to life.
Fwoooosh!
It whipped into the air, forming a spiraling array, symbols in an ancient tongue no one alive could read.
Even the wind bent.
Even time paused.
The crimson sea behind him rippled once, then lashed forward.
BOOM!
Verrick barely had time to raise his monstrous hand.
The blood curved, sharp, alive, and cut through the black armor.
Clang! Clack!
His blade snapped.
His forearm twisted in the wrong direction.
The Sovereign did not hesitate.
Nclai's body walked calmly, each step sending ripples across the battlefield. His eyes were dark. Endless. As if staring back from a throne carved in silence.
Verrick howled and lunged, slamming his claw down.
But Nclai didn't move.
The blood beneath his feet rippled.
Ssshk!
A spike of solid crimson shot up through Verrick's chest. Clean. Precise.
The scream stopped mid-throat.
Gurgle.
The man fell to one knee, disbelief written across his half-mangled face.
Nclai's voice came next, flat, ancient, not entirely his.
Judgment complete.
...
Then everything stopped.
The red light faded. The blood fell. Nclai's knees buckled...
Thud.
Silence.
The body of Verrick slumped forward. Unmoving. Breathless.
Above them, the clouds cracked.
And rain began to fall.
...