AGHHHHHHHHHHH!

  A wicked scream left my throat as my past and present fused together. A tidal wave of agony crashed my mind. My vision blurred, twisting in a red haze as my mana—once trolled –erupted into a violent, colossal crimson storm.

  DEATH

  I khis feeling well. I had died before. I know what it feels like for the soul to be torn apart from the body, my breath stolen, my life crushed beh deaths feet.

  And now, it was back. My old friend, welio his cold embrace.

  My eyes burned as blood streamed from my eyes. My hands trembled –but not with fear. No. Something inside me wanted out. Something corrupted.

  A/N: ^^Ryn's True Mana^^

  G!

  Before I could think, my body moved on its own. Instino—something deeper—took over, stopping Schutz’s massive bde just inches from Elnora. Sparks exploded as metal screamed against my mana. My arms buckled the weight of his attack, but I refused to break.

  My vision sharpened, and a voio, A WILL—surged up from the abyss of my soul.

  PROTECT THEM.

  Not just Elnora. All Of Them.

  MY SQUADMATES! MY PARTY!

  “I WON’T ALLOW IT!”

  A force detonated from my core, a bst of chaos, unfiltered maed outward like a shock wave. BOOM! The dungeons walls cracked as Schutz was sent flying, his massive frame skidding across the stone floor, carvirenches in his wake.

  I don’t care if my pets exposed.

  I don’t care if they find out who I really am.

  I WON’T LET THEM DIE.

  NOT.

  AGAIN.

  My mana flooded my body, igniting every fiber of my body. My mana-sword materialized in my hand—a jagged bde, it’s edges unstable, seething with raw energy.

  For a moment, a different shape flickered within my vision—a rifle. Cold steel. My past life’s on. My old self reached through time whispering to me.

  A sharp pain burhrough my chest—phantom pain. The memory of a bullet, the strong reminder of my st breath.

  I exhaled and accepted it.

  DEATH.

  My panion. My shadow. My unshackled power.

  A dark, glowing sigil—a reaper’s mark—etched itself into my right hand. My thoughts blurred into a single, violent and.

  A/N: ^^The Reaper Sigil^^

  KILL.

  KILL.

  KILL.

  Schutz growled, smming his broadsword into the stoo halt his momentum. Dust and debris swirled him as he straightened, his breath ragged.

  Then, he ughed.

  “How mirthful!” He tore his bde from the ground, standing tall, unshaken. But there was something now—somethiirely new. Eained.

  He gazed upon me, upon the sheer, suffog wave of mana I released that was slowly suffog the dungeon.

  His fiightened around his broadsword.

  “W-what are you truly? You ’t be human.”

  The dungeon rumbled under our coiling force. The air itself felt heavier. Cracks webbed along the walls; the dungeon struggled to pick their new master.

  His helmet shined as he exhaled, raising his broadsword.

  I vanished.

  And in the instant—I on him.

  I grasped his helmet and MA.

  The force sent him plummeting through the dungeon, crashing through hundreds of floors.

  BOOOOOMM!

  The stone shattered beh him as I yelled. The impact sending trembles through the dungeon. A thick, choking cloud of dust rose into the dungeon. For a moment, silence.

  Then—he emerged.

  “The gall..” he muttered, rolling his shoulders, his bones popping bato pce.

  He spat blood to the side and chuckled.

  FINE.

  Theered the words.

  “Auge um Auge”

  BOOM!

  A maelstrom of power exploded from his body. His mana spiraled out of trol, its raw iy matg mihe dungeon shook, the stone crag, the air screaming uhe weight of our mana.

  Above, I could sense Elnora somehow moving in the mana weaving healing magic, trying to revive the others.

  Down here, it was just death.

  A battlefield.

  A chessboard.

  Where only one could leave alive.

  Schutz ripped off his helmet and tossed it aside, the metal g against the stone. His eyes—blood-red, just like mine.

  A/N: ^^Schutz's Appearance^^

  Not a demon. Not a beast. But a human.

  We locked eyes, two monsters in human skin, our bodies coiled like a spring-loaded bdes.

  No words.

  Just uanding.

  Slowly, we stepped back, swords in hand, cirg like wolfs. Murder burned in azes.

  Then—

  FLASH!

  We cshed, swords meeting in a violent expression of sparks. BOOM! A shockwave cracked the floor below us. Strike. Parry. ter. Lunge. A symphony of battle rang through the dungeon as we exged merciless blows.

  Schutz’s grin split wide opened as our bdes locked. His ughter rumbled like a war drum.

  “I HAVENT FOUGHT A FOE LIKE YOU IN A MILLENNIA!”

  Another csh.

  Another explosion of force.

  I felt the weight of his sword through my bones.

  They ached.

  His voice rose again, wild and uned.

  “TELL ME YOUR NAME!”

  “Ryn.” I muttered, my eyes not leaving him.

  His eyes burned brighter.

  “HAHAHAHAH! MAY THESE HALLS ETCH OUR BATTLE IN HISTORY, RYN!”

  We rushed in again. Bdes a blur, mana-steel singing, our mana screaming. The air hummed with our power, the duremblih our feet.

  “OCHS”

  Schutz mana coiled around his bde like a raging serpent. His sword struck—precisely-hitting my rotator cuff.

  AGH!

  Pain fred, but I didn’t stop.

  I lunged forward, head butting him. A siing CRACK! Echoed as his head snapped back.

  My mana ignited, surging into my bde.

  “KATZBALGER”

  Wind roared around my bde, an unstoppable tempest of sshes.

  Strike.

  Strike.

  STRIKE.

  My sword bit into his joints, tearing through ligaments. Blood sprayed, but Schutz only gritted his teeth and chuckled.

  He refused to fall.

  So, did I.

  Our bdes crashed again.

  Again.

  AGAIN.

  We cut.

  We bled.

  Each blow a hair’s breadth from death.

  “AGHHHHHHHHH.”

  I screamed.

  “AGHHHHHHHHH.”

  He screamed back.

  Pain being meaningless. A battle of sheer will.

  My mind fractured—vision fshing.

  Old rades.

  Fallen brothers.

  My new friends.

  Yes—MY FRIENDS.

  The people I refused to lose.

  My hand shook from agony.

  But pared to the hell I had ehe abuse, the betrayal, the hatred of the world…

  THIS PAIN IS NOTHING!

  I roared, driving my bde against Schutz’s.

  “THE PAIN I’VE FELT OT BE PARED TO THIS!”

  Schutz’s grin widened, blood dripping from his lips.

  “HAHAHA YES! SHOW ME YOUR TENACITY!”

  And so, we fought.

  Not as men.

  But as monsters.

  We made it to chapter 10! Wooohoo! Thank you, all for the support. Man that ending was something huh? Did I leave you guys on a cliffhanger or what? Anywho, I got some amazing things cooking up for the st 10 chapters of this arc. So stay tuned!! - With Love, ForcerRay