The sky was black.
Not night — black.
Miasma's poison had swallowed half the city. Buildings melted under acidic fog. The air itself felt infected.
At the center of the devastation—
Sebastian stood alone.
Bleeding.
Breathing heavily.
Across from him, Miasma no longer looked human.
Its chest was open, ribs peeled back like broken gates.
Inside pulsed a dark core — a living nucleus of compressed poison, beating like a corrupted heart.
"Witness evolution," Miasma said calmly.
"One hundred years of refinement."
Sebastian wiped blood from his mouth.
"So this is your true form."
The core pulsed once.
The poison thickened.
Sebastian charged.
Their clash shattered the ground.
Sebastian's strike cracked Miasma's shoulder — but poison exploded outward in response, drilling into his side.
He staggered.
His breathing grew unstable.
The toxin was entering his bloodstream.
Miasma tilted its head.
"You are strong… but you are still flesh."
Sebastian dropped to one knee.
Far away, inside WHU—
Alarms screamed.
Asher watched the live feed.
Sebastian kneeling.
Alone.
Something inside Asher snapped.
The room trembled.
Glass cracked.
Air pressure spiked violently.
Julia stepped back.
"Asher… don't…"
But he was already moving.
"I'm done watching."
The wall behind him imploded outward.
In a blink—
Asher launched himself into the poisoned battlefield.
He landed hard.
The toxin hit him instantly.
Burning lungs. Blurred vision.
His skin felt like it was dissolving.
Miasma slowly turned.
"So the heir arrives."
Sebastian's eyes widened.
"Asher?! What are you doing here?!"
Asher stepped forward despite the agony.
"You said I wasn't ready."
His breathing steadied.
The air around him warped.
Invisible compression formed in a sphere.
The poison around him… slowed.
Then twisted.
Then compressed.
Miasma's core flickered.
"That is impossible."
Asher clenched his fists.
"Your poison spreads."
He stepped forward.
"Mine crushes."
The pressure field intensified.
The toxic fog began collapsing inward, forced into dense spirals.
Sebastian realized immediately.
"You're not pushing it away… you're suffocating it."
Miasma attacked first.
Blades of hardened toxin shot toward Asher.
Sebastian intercepted, shattering them mid-air.
"Together!" Sebastian shouted.
Asher nodded.
Sebastian charged again — faster than before.
Miasma countered—
But this time the poison lagged.
Asher increased pressure precisely where Sebastian needed space.
A corridor opened through the toxin.
Sebastian moved through it like a bullet.
Impact.
His fist smashed into Miasma's ribs.
CRACK.
The core glowed violently.
Poison detonated outward.
Sebastian was thrown back.
Asher dropped to one knee.
The pressure field trembled.
The toxin began drilling through it.
Miasma rose into the air, core fully exposed.
"You children think unity equals power?"
The core expanded.
A catastrophic surge built.
Sebastian stood again despite blood pouring from his side.
"Asher!" he shouted.
"On my mark!"
Asher forced himself upright.
His vision blurred.
The pressure around him reached a level that bent light itself.
Gravity felt heavier.
The ground sank beneath them.
"Now!" Sebastian roared.
Sebastian launched upward toward the exposed core.
Miasma unleashed a massive wave of poison to intercept.
Asher screamed —
And compressed everything.
The entire wave condensed mid-air, collapsing into a dense sphere.
For one second—
The battlefield went silent.
Sebastian broke through the compressed mass.
His fist struck the core directly.
Asher pushed his ability beyond its limit.
Maximum compression.
The core fractured.
CRACK.
A fissure spread across its surface.
Miasma screamed — a sound like metal tearing.
"No—!"
Sebastian struck again.
Asher crushed harder.
The core imploded.
A shockwave erupted outward — but instead of spreading…
It collapsed inward under Asher's pressure.
The poison suffocated itself.
The sky cleared.
The black fog evaporated.
Miasma fell to the ground.
Its body disintegrating.
It looked at them one last time.
"So this is… evolution…"
"Two wills… aligned…"
Its form crumbled into dust.
Silence fell over the ruined city.
Sebastian stood swaying.
Asher collapsed forward.
Sebastian caught him.
"You reckless idiot," Sebastian muttered.
Asher gave a weak smile.
"You looked like you needed help."
Sebastian exhaled slowly.
"…I did."
High above the clouds—
A figure watched.
The Lord.
His voice carried through the wind.
"The heir has awakened."
A faint smile formed in the darkness.
"Now the real war begins."