Sekke froze in his restraints, his pulse hammering in his ears. The air around him grew thick—almost suffocating—as Lisa leaned closer, her crimson eyes gleaming with unfiltered madness.
"You're trembling," she whispered, lips curling into a sick grin. "Don't tell me you're scared of lovely old me?"
"Lovely my ass!" Sekke snapped, anger flashing in his eyes.
He gritted his teeth. "You're not real," he muttered, forcing a smirk. "Just some cheap trick from that woman's nightmare magic."
Lisa tilted her head, her hair falling over one eye. "Maybe I'm not real… or maybe I am. Hmm, what to do? How to tell whether I'm real or not?" she mused playfully.
Then, as if struck by an idea, her expression brightened. "I know what to do!"
Clapping her hands, the world around them began to crumble. Sekke's eyes widened as the surroundings shifted—streets, houses, and familiar scents taking shape.
He recognized the place.
"Sekke…" called a soft, familiar voice.
"Secre…" he breathed, staring at the girl standing before him.
"Oh my, is she the new girl you're with~?" Lisa teased, snapping her fingers. Time froze instantly.
She turned to Sekke, about to taunt him further—only to stop as he glared back, fury blazing in his eyes.
"What the hell?! You're messing with my head, and even after all that, you can't replicate Secre properly?!" he shouted. "Where's her cuteness?! Forget that—what's with the outfit?! At least have some respect!"
Lisa blinked, momentarily dumbfounded. Before she could respond, Sekke began struggling violently against his restraints.
"I don't f*cking care whether you're real or not…" he growled, muscles bulging as he poured his strength into breaking free.
"Stop that, darling~ it's useless—you can't—WTF?!"
Ignoring her, Sekke's sheer will began to overpower the bindings. Cracks spiderwebbed across them.
"You don't know how long I've waited to get a hold of you," he hissed, straining harder.
CLANG!The first restraint shattered.
"To grab your neck with my hands!"
CLANG!The second restraint broke.
"To hold you in the air and choke the hell out of you!"
CLANG!The third restraint splintered apart.
"And when you're done struggling… to crush that neck with my hands."
CLANG!The final restraint burst open.
"And since it's my dream…" Sekke's grin turned feral. "I can do this over and over again!!!"
Mana erupted from his body like a storm, the world trembling under its pressure.
"Y-you shouldn't be able to—" Lisa stammered, backing away.
"Bitch, please!!!" Sekke barked, stepping forward. "Getting into the head of the Dark Lord and thinking you can manipulate it? How foolish of you!"
The landscape warped again—familiar streets disintegrating into a vast, barren wasteland like the one he was fighting in earlier.
"And now," Sekke said, smiling darkly, "to fulfill my long-time wish of hearing your screams…"
"Wai—"
Before she could finish, Sekke appeared in front of her in an instant, his hand closing around her throat.
"Don't break too easily~" he said calmly as she struggled in his grip.
--------------------
Meanwhile, in the real world—
The captains of the Soul Superiors stared in disbelief at the human lying before them.
"...Is this bastard smiling?" Xander asked.
"He is," Xena replied flatly.
Their eyes turned toward Ariel, the spellcaster, whose face twisted in frustration.
"Why you little—making a joke out of me?!"
Her hands glowed with a darker hue this time, magic flaring dangerously.
[Nightmare Magic: Nightmare Death]
The spell shot from her palms and sank into Sekke's head. The smile on his face vanished.
"HAHAHA! I was going easy on you, but you made me do this!" Ariel screamed. "My previous spell just shows what you fear the most. But this one? This one shows you everything you fear—and it breaks your mind and soul for good!"
--------------------
Back in Sekke's head:
The barren wasteland was now crawling with an army of Lisas—each looking identical to the other.
Except this time, they were the ones terrified.
"HAHAHAHA!!!!!!! LISA YOU F*CKING BITCH!!!!! DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!!!!!! IT'S ALL YOU CAN KILL LISA FEST!!!!!!!!" Sekke howled in ecstasy, with a sword in one hand and his other hand transformed into a minigun. His emotions surged beyond control — rage, mania, exhilaration — until his body in the real world began to change.
------------------
Back in reality
Sekke's sacred gears pulsed violently, an ominous black-and-purple aura leaking out."What the hell are you doing, my other half?!" Vritra's voice echoed in alarm. Even he could feel the storm of emotions brewing inside Sekke.
The captains instinctively backed away, their instincts screaming danger.
"Ariel, stop that spell!" shouted Merrick."What?! No! His mind and soul are breaking — just a little more!" she yelled back.
"Stop. The spell." Albert's calm voice cut through the tension. Ariel froze, glaring at him in disbelief before reluctantly lifting the magic.
And that… was their biggest mistake...
Sekke's eyes snapped open — pitch black with glowing violet irises. His body trembled, the air itself vibrating from the raw power flooding through him.
A deep rumble filled the battlefield.His sacred gears flared with blinding purple light, draconic aura crawling across his skin like armor.
The ground cracked beneath him.The restraining swords and tendrils shattered.The entire sky darkened — as if the world itself feared him.
Then came the voice, ancient and thunderous.
A dragon's roar echoed from deep within him, shaking every corner of the land.
Vritra's tone was almost reverent.
The air warped around Sekke as obsidian-black armor, veined with molten purple lines, enveloped his body.
The captains could barely stand, their knees trembling under the crushing pressure.
"WHO DARED WAKE ME UP FROM MY DREAM!!!" Sekke roared, his voice no longer human — but fused with Vritra's.
The tendrils binding him disintegrated. The ground split open. His aura consumed the land like a storm of wrath and destruction.
Sekke — now clad in his Asura Balance Breaker — looked down at the Soul Superiors, eyes burning with fury.
"Now…" he said, his voice rumbling like thunder.
"Time to crush these bugs."