Satre and I soared through the clouds atop Kyoko, the wind whistling in our ears as we followed the trail Sanguine had traced—one that led us closer to Shina. It had been a week since Satre awakened, and we had spent each day pushing ourselves to the edge through relentless training, trying to come to terms with the chaos that had consumed our lives.
I had unlocked a new ability—Magic Creation—and Satre had discovered a power tied directly to her pride. During one of our sparring sessions, she had proclaimed, "I should have the most magic power in this fight—my pride," and in a flash, with a single slash, she siphoned half my magic and added it to her own. It was jarring… yet impressive.
But despite our progress, a shadow loomed over us. Shina was still missing, and her absence gnawed at me more with each passing day. That helpless, suffocating dread refused to release its grip.
Sanguine—our silent ghost, peerless in infiltration and tracking—had discovered a lead: a location known only as the Death Tundra Raguel, a barren and frozen no-man's-land feared even by the wildest magical beasts.
As we descended above the tundra, the cold bit at my face. The wind howled like it mourned for something lost, and the vast, snow-blanketed landscape mocked my inner turmoil with its stillness. Below, the frozen ocean stretched endlessly, its placid surface reflecting my rising fury.
My eyes, now glowing a dark, dangerous purple, mirrored the storm building within me. The very sea beneath us hissed, sizzling and evaporating under the weight of my magic.
A soft hand touched my shoulder. Satre.
Her presence brought me back from the edge. I flinched at her touch, and the ocean calmed. But the fury still simmered beneath the surface—patient, waiting.
My hands clenched into fists so tight my knuckles turned white. Blood dripped from my palms, staining the snow below. Unable to bear it, Satre wrapped her arms around me, releasing a pink magic that seeped into my skin and mind, soothing the fire that threatened to consume me.
I exhaled. My focus returned.
Beneath us, the ocean had receded. What remained was a dry seabed, glittering with unearthed relics and ancient treasures that had been hidden beneath the waves. I sneered, smacking my lips in frustration, and turned my gaze toward the horizon.
A town came into view—blanketed in thick snow, its architecture resembling an old Russian village, long abandoned and left to freeze. Spirits here controlled the weather. Life had long since fled.
As we approached, I pulled my hood over my head, cloaking our magic signatures. We dove deep into the tundra's heart, where a small, magical engraving had been etched into a hill. Dismounting, Kyoko shrank down and padded behind us.
Sanguine emerged from the shadows ahead. "This way, my lord," he said, his voice a whisper, gesturing to a path down the mountainside. "I have tracked their magic power here."
I nodded. Satre followed silently, tension thick in the air. Our boots crunched softly on the snow-covered path as we descended.
Then—the ground rumbled violently, twice.
Before I could react, the world split. A spatial rift tore through the air, and in a blink, Satre, Kyoko, and Sanguine were sealed away—trapped in a separate dimension crafted from space magic. I was alone.
"Satre, no!" I shouted, reaching out, powerless as she vanished behind a shimmering veil of magic.
Panic swelled, quickly overtaken by fury.
A slow, mocking applause echoed from the shadows, followed by a surge of magic so immense it made the entire chamber tremble.
Terror lanced through me—but it only fed the fire.
I rushed forward, eyes glowing purple so dark they bordered on black. A roar erupted from my throat—not human, not mine. A monster's cry.
From the darkness stepped a grotesque figure—a towering woman with a pig-like face twisted in contempt. She spat at the ground and sneered as I shot toward her at supersonic speed.
"You naive little shit," she growled.
She slammed her palm into my stomach.
All the air left my lungs. My body flew backward, slamming into a wooden wall with a sickening crack. I slumped to the floor, breathless and broken.
"Shiro… please don't do this… for me," came a frail voice.
Shina.
My heart seized. Her voice was pained but alive—a fragile spark amid the storm.
I wasn't ready to die. Not now. Not with her still in danger. Not with Satre still trapped.
The pig-faced woman smirked and turned to Shina.
"Oh, you're awake. Perfect timing. Something like destruction is unneeded, yes?" Her grotesque smile widened. "He was ready to give up. How about another dose of reality?"
She snapped her fingers.
Shina exploded.
Her body was torn apart in a blinding flash of light, a moment so savage and sudden that my mind refused to believe it. But the image played on a loop in my thoughts—Shina's final scream, the light, the silence after.
I had lost Yura. I had lost my parents. My brother.
Now Shina too?
Because I failed to protect them?
"I'll kill you," I whispered.
The words came out guttural, inhuman. "I'LL KILL YOU EVEN IF I HAVE TO GIVE UP EVERYTHING. I'LL KILL YOU!"
My eyes burned purple. The whites turned pitch black. Magic exploded from my core, tearing apart the ground, shredding what remained of the chamber.
The woman stood still, unfazed.
Then she vanished—teleporting so fast it was as though she'd disappeared into light itself. But I didn't care. All that mattered was that I killed her.
I roared again, pure rage.
My dagger clashed with the claws that now extended from her hands—strike after strike, a fury of clangs as steel met claw in a thunderous exchange. Ten minutes of relentless combat, and still she parried every blow effortlessly, her grin mocking me.
My rage made me sloppy. Predictable. I knew it, but I couldn't stop. I didn't want to stop.
But then—something shifted.
I stepped back, breathing deep.
I needed to think.
But the beast inside wouldn't let me. It howled, pounding at the walls of my mind.
And I realized I couldn't hold it back anymore.
If I was going to kill her—I had to become what she feared.
My vision turned crimson. Thought dissolved. I ceased to be a person.
I became vengeance.
Two massive, dark purple dragon wings burst from my back. Twin horn stumps jutted from my skull, crowned by floating purple flames. My form twisted, becoming something ancient—something other.
I looked at her—and all I could think was:
I'm going to rip you apart with my bare hands.