The silence lingered, suffocating, oppressive.Dan remained motionless for a few seconds, fists clenched, breath ragged. His face, frozen, no longer betrayed whether he would collapse in pain or scream in rage.Then suddenly, his body began to tremble.
Dan (in a hoarse voice, choked with anger): … Kyo.His eyes ignited with a reddish, orange glow.
A stifling heat rose around him, causing the air to flicker as if under the effect of an invisible blaze.
Wendy (worried, stepping back slightly): Dan…?
Without replying, he inhaled deeply, and with a low rumble, two wings of flames violently burst from his back.
Their blazing feathers spread wide, illuminating the falling night with an infernal brightness.
Sakolomé and Wendy felt the burning heat lick their faces, forcing even Kujin to look away.
Dan (in a rumbling voice, almost inhuman): … Three years. Three years… And all this time, he dared…His words lost in the crackling fire.
The ground beneath his feet began to crack, blackened by heat.Without waiting or warning, he took a step forward, then another, advancing towards the direction of the Masutā village.
His blazing wings beat slowly, menacingly, each beat sending showers of sparks into the night air.His shoulders trembled, not with fear, but with a rage ready to overflow.
Dan (grinding his teeth): … I'm going to reduce him to ashes.
He continued his march, relentless, flames dancing around him as if hell itself accompanied him.
Wendy felt her heart race, the heat emanating from Dan forcing her to step back despite herself.
Her broken voice trembled with anxiety:
Wendy (panicked, addressing Sakolomé): Master… what should we do?!
Kujin and Yui exchanged a nervous look before also fixing their gaze on Sakolomé, fear in their eyes.
Kujin (in a low but panicked voice): If he keeps going like this… he'll attract the whole village on us!
We're going to get slaughtered…But Sakolomé, strangely calm, let a mysterious smile appear on his face.
His fluctuating aura stabilized, his appearance returning to normal.
Sakolomé (in a confident voice): Do not tremble. Kyo's story ends tonight. As for Dan… leave him to me
.At the same moment, Dan tore through the air, his wings of flame slicing through the dark night. He landed abruptly in front of the imposing village gate.
The flames surrounding him illuminated the entrance as if hell itself had opened.The sentinels on the ramparts, surprised, yelled the alarm:
Sentinel 1: An intruder!! Stop him!
Sentinel 2: Shoot! Quickly!
Volleys of arrows and spears rained down on him, but as soon as they brushed against his fiery aura, they instantly burned, reduced to ashes before reaching him.
Dan extended a hand toward them, his icy gaze contrasting with the incandescent fury around him. His voice cracked, cold and relentless:
Dan: … Disappear.A gust of flames surged immediately. The sentinels' bodies burst into flames at once, their screams tearing through the night.
They burned in a sudden agony, reduced to dust before their bones hit the ground.Dan then lowered his eyes toward the massive barrier sealing the entrance. His arm rose, and a gigantic sword of fire, forged of pure mana, materialized in his hand.He brandished it without hesitation, and with a brutal movement, struck his blade down toward the barrier.
A titanic wave of flames crashed against the protective wall, engulfing it in a hellish roar. Pulverized in an incandescent chaos.
The explosion echoed through the entire valley, a thunder and fire reverberation.
In the village, the frightened inhabitants emerged from their homes.
The sky lit up red, and up above, they saw Dan suspended in the air, his blazing wings casting apocalyptic flashes on the roofs.
Villager 1 (terrified): Who... who is that?!
Villager 2 (retreating, scared): Is it... a demon?
Villager 3 (horrified): No... no, it's impossible... a mutant...?
Terrified murmurs rose among the crowd, while Dan's fiery shadow drew over the entire village like the herald of divine punishment.
The villagers' questions and screams burst from all sides, nearly drowning out the crackling of the flames.
Dan, his gaze incandescent, slowly raised his hand: a simple impulse, and the entire village would have been reduced to a blaze.But suddenly, a firm grip closed on his wrist.
Sakolomé (in a calm yet authoritarian voice): Calm down, Dan... Our target is Kyo. Not these innocents.Dan turned his head, surprised by this intervention.
The flames on his wings flickered momentarily as he met Sakolomé's calm but uncompromising gaze.
Sakolomé (gravely): I won't let you massacre a whole village for one man. If you want revenge... target only him.Dan lowered his head, teeth clenched, his fist still trembling with contained rage.
Dan (in an icy voice): Then... leave me Kyo. He's mine, and mine alone.Sakolomé nodded.
Sakolomé: Do with him what you will.At that moment, Dan abruptly raised his head. Among the panicked crowd, his gaze fixed on a figure slipping hurriedly toward a house. Kyo, the clan chief, pale as a corpse, had just disappeared behind a door.
Dan (rage rumbling): … I saw him!!!He dashed like lightning. The villagers screamed and scattered in panic, getting out of his fiery path. With a flap of his wings, Dan crossed the courtyard and launched himself into the building where Kyo had taken refuge.
The wood cracked under the impact, smoke and flames already invading the entrance. Dan advanced with slow but relentless steps down the hallway.
A little further, Kyo turned around, fear distorting his face.
Kyo (trembling, retreating against the wall): Who... who are you?! What are you doing in my village?! What do you want from me?!Dan's gaze hardened, his voice resounding like a sentence.
Dan: What I want? … I want to tear your head off.Kyo's eyes widened.Kyo (gasping in fear): What?! But... we don't even know each other!!Then, in a desperate reflex, he snapped his fingers.
A brutal crack resounded. The side wall exploded in a crash of stone and dust. Two massive figures surged out, roaring, their eyes glowing with an unhealthy light.Dan jumped back, narrowly avoiding a misshapen arm that struck where he had been a second earlier.
Dan (surprised, eyes wide): What...?!Before him, two monstrous creatures, immense, stood. Their cracked skin oozed black fluids, their deformed limbs seemed forged to kill. Mutants... but at a terrifying level, far beyond ordinary abominations.Kyo, taking advantage of the opening, retreated further into the house's depths.
Dan (seething): Damn... he's going to escape!!!His flames redoubled, setting the corridor ablaze as if hell had opened between him and the monsters.The two mutants roared, their massive forms lunging at Dan with predator speed.
The ground shook under their deformed steps, their claws gleaming with a toxic aura. Dan prepared to fight back, his flaming wings spreading to their full extent. But before he could unleash his rage, a wave of pure light tore through the air.A translucent dome, vibrating with red mana, abruptly closed around the two abominations, imprisoning them as if in a living cage. Their furious blows echoed against the barrier, but none could break it.
Dan widened his eyes, surprised:
Dan (looking around): Who...?He turned and saw Sakolomé, serene, one hand extended toward the dome, the other resting calmly behind his back. His face was serious, but his eyes shone with unwavering certainty.
Sakolomé: You'd better chase Kyo. If you stay here dealing with them, he'll get away. I'll handle the mutants. You... go deal with him.A breath of relief mixed with gratitude passed through Dan.
He nodded firmly.Dan: Thank you, master!Without waiting, he launched himself into the depths of the house, his flames lighting the corridors.The dome then began to shake.
The two monsters howled, their claws and teeth tearing at the barrier which bent under their rage.
Sakolomé slowly lowered his hand, and the mana prison dissipated like a veil. The creatures, freed, immediately lunged at him, the air saturated with a foul odor.
But Sakolomé did not flinch. His body relaxed, and he stepped forward confidently.The first mutant, a titanic mass with a disproportionately large arm, swung his fist at him with colossal strength.
The blow cut the air like an iron hammer. Sakolomé simply tilted his head, dodging by a few centimeters.
His elbow rose instantly and struck the monster's deformed jaw.
The impact was sharp, precise, so powerful that the mutant toppled backward, crushing part of the wall in his fall.The second appeared behind him, sharp claws targeting Sakolomé's neck. But he pivoted with lightning speed. His hand grabbed the monstrous wrist before it touched his skin.
A twist, a dull crack: the mutant's arm dislocated like a twig. A guttural howl filled the room.Sakolomé gave him no respite. His knee drove into the swollen abdomen, pushing him into the ground in a cloud of dust.
The first mutant, still standing, charged again, his eyes glowing with fury. His arms swelled, veins pulsing with a blackish liquid, ready to crush Sakolomé with a fatal blow.
But Sakolomé made a fluid movement: he stepped back slightly, then thrust his right fist forward.The impact was such that a shockwave crossed the house. The mutant's chest hollowed, his ribs cracking like dry wood, and his body was thrown through two partitions, disappearing in a cloud of debris.
Sakolomé released the second who struggled to get up, his dislocated arm hanging limply. He raised a hand above him.
Sakolomé (cold voice): You are strong for mutants, but not enough. This fight is over.
He stepped forward, his eyes glowing with an inner light. The two mutants, wounded but still driven by wild rage, suddenly felt a huge weight crush them.
Their bodies froze, unable to move. It was not mere physical strength: it was authority, absolute domination over their existence.They struggled, screamed, but their cries vanished in the imposing silence reigning around Sakolomé.He extended his hand, his fingers slowly closing as if to capture an invisible essence.
Sakolomé: I don't know where this Kyo found mutants of this kind... but he will never have any again.A burst of mana of a blinding red shot from his palm.
The two creatures were pierced by this red light. Their flesh first disintegrated, then their bones, then everything that defined their form. But the dissolution did not stop there. Their soul, being, concept itself, the notion of what they were, broke. The claws, the teeth, the monstrosity—all was erased like an illusion never born.
Only silence remained, a perfect void, as if they had never set foot on this earth.Sakolomé lowered his hand, his expression impassive. He breathed slowly, and his eyes turned toward the corridor where Dan had disappeared.
Sakolomé (murmuring to himself): Kyo… your reign is coming to an end.The house still vibrated with echoes of the fight. The cracked walls let through the reddish light of Dan's flames in the distance. But for Sakolomé, everything was clear: he had opened the path, and now nothing could stop the final confrontation.