"Twins, don't kill them," Balak growled, his voice like rolling thunder across the fractured sky. He raised one massive hand and gave a flick of his fingers.
In an instant, the Twin Blade Berserkers shot forward like unleashed arrows, long jagged swords gleaming with malice. Their movements were fluid, almost ethereal—each step a mirror of the other, each swing a perfect echo. They didn't speak, but the silent fury of their blades said more than enough.
"Tch..." Asuma gritted his teeth, lifting his sword just in time to block a ferocious overhead slash. Sparks flew as steel clashed against steel.
Amira met the second twin mid-charge, her spear spinning in a tight arc that caught the sword's edge and pushed the attacker back with a burst of magical force.
Recovering quickly, Asuma's eyes flashed. He concentrated for a moment—his sword bursting into flame.
"Arc Slash!" he shouted, swinging his blade wide. A crescent-shaped wave of burning energy erupted from the sword, forcing the twins into a defensive retreat as it scorched the ground between them.
But they didn't stay on the backfoot for long.
Recovering with inhuman speed, the twins darted forward again—this time moving even faster, their strikes coming in a synchronized barrage that blurred into a storm of steel. One attacked high while the other struck low, their blades weaving together like threads in a deadly tapestry.
"These two," Amira said between gritted teeth, narrowly dodging a swipe, "it's like they're fighting as one."
"They're twins in one soul," Asuma replied, deflecting a strike and pivoting around the second blade with quick footwork. "But even a perfect pattern—can be unraveled."
With that, Asuma shifted tactics.
Instead of engaging the nearest twin with just his sword, he slid a dagger from his belt and parried an unexpected upward slash with it. Using the close range, he twisted his body and slammed his elbow into the twin's side, knocking him off balance.
Amira seized the opening instantly.
She launched herself toward the second twin with a sudden burst of speed. A sly grin curled on her lips.
"Lightning Magic: Flash Step!"
In a blink, she vanished—and reappeared right in front of the twin just as he raised his blade.
Before he could react, her spear punched straight into his chest with brutal precision, the crack of bone and armor splitting echoed through the shattered dimension. The blow tore a hole clean through him.
With a sharp exhale, she pivoted and delivered a spinning kick to his torso, launching him into the side of a floating, broken building with a sickening crash. The fractured debris rained down like shards of glass.
The remaining twin stood frozen, staring at the still, broken body of his brother sprawled against the shattered wall. A sharp silence fell over the red-tinted realm as he slowly stumbled forward, collapsing to his knees.
"Brother..." he whispered, voice trembling beneath his breath.
He scooped his sibling into his arms, cradling the lifeless body with shaking hands. Crimson spilled through his fingers, soaking his arms and robes, but still he clung to him—desperate, frantic—trying to stuff the torn flesh back into his brother's gaping chest as if he could repair what had already been lost.
Asuma lowered his blade slightly, the sight stirring something in him. A dull ache pulsed behind his sternum. What if this was me... and Anami...? The image crept unbidden into his thoughts—Anami's blood on his hands, her life draining away as he held her...
He clenched his jaw.
"Don't," Amira said coldly, her voice cutting through the moment like a blade. "Don't let sympathy cloud your mind. They butchered a woman and pinned her like a trophy to a hospital wall. That wasn't war—it was cruelty."
Her words snapped him back, grounding him in the present. The mercy he might've felt turned to steel in his veins.
A few paces away, Balak showed no sign of grief.
His tall, hulking frame stood still as iron. His long, crimson hair floated unnaturally around him, and his burning red eyes narrowed not in anger—but in glee. The corners of his mouth curved upward in a cruel grin.
"Tch... useless sentimentality," he muttered. Then, louder—commanding, violent: "Devour him!"
The twin didn't move.
"Devour him and become Kian!" Balak bellowed, voice echoing with a wicked magic that pulsed through the warped air.
Then came the horror.
The kneeling twin twitched... then began to move. Slow at first—trembling, reluctant—as he brought his hand to his brother's body... then to his mouth.
Asuma's eyes widened. "No... he's not..."
With a guttural sound, the twin ripped open his brother's chest cavity, pulling the organs free and shoving them into his mouth—chewing, swallowing, sobbing. His hands trembled but did not stop, like a starving beast consuming its kin.
Amira recoiled. "What the hell is he doing!?"
She wasn't the only one horrified. Even the twisted space around them seemed to shudder.
The twin's mask fell off, revealing the face beneath—no longer human. His skin was ashen and streaked with pulsing, cursed runes that writhed like living veins. His eyes were pools of darkness, empty and endless. Black smoke bled from his pores, swirling into his long hair until it looked as though his very essence was dissolving into shadow.
Then... he stood.
The blood on his face steamed, evaporating into mist. The ground beneath him cracked from the weight of his awakening power.
"That aura..." Amira whispered. "His star rank... it just jumped. He's at 4-Star now."
Asuma gripped his sword tighter. "That's not a man anymore..."
"No," Amira said grimly. "That's a demon."
Balak's laughter rolled like thunder across the shattered dimension.
"Good job, twin," he bellowed. "Now you are Kian—the first step in our ascension. Master Kulmar will be proud!"
The newly formed Kian raised his head toward Asuma and Amira, his mouth still dripping with blood and viscera.
He didn't speak.
He only roared.
And the sky cracked in response.
"Amira, brace yourself," Asuma warned, gripping his sword as his senses screamed in alarm. "That thing... its aura—something about it feels wrong."
Before the last syllable left his lips, Kian vanished from sight—reappearing a breath later, mere inches from Asuma.
With a flash of cursed steel, Kian's shadow-forged blade came crashing down.
Asuma barely raised his sword in time, steel clashing against shadow with a deafening ring. But the force behind the strike was monstrous—like being hit by an avalanche.
His guard shattered under the impact as he was flung backward, crashing through a floating fragment of a ruined building. Stone and debris rained around him as he skidded to a halt, coughing from the dust.
"Asuma!" Amira cried out.
But she had no time to check on him.
Kian turned to her with blinding speed, swinging his shadow blade in brutal arcs. Amira gritted her teeth, parrying his onslaught with her spear. Each strike carried such ferocity that it sent shockwaves through the broken ground, fracturing the floating platforms beneath them.
"Damn it, he's not just fast—he hits like a wrecking beast!" she hissed, struggling to hold her ground.
Summoning her magic, Amira unleashed a burst of lightning energy—"Thunder Veil: Shock Pulse!"
A crackling sphere erupted around her, surging outward in a bright electric wave. The blast forced Kian back a few meters, his shadowy form twitching under the electric assault.
But the respite was brief.
With a twisted grin, Kian melted into the ground—and from Amira's shadow, multiple dark tendrils erupted, snaking up her legs and latching onto her arms. The cursed hands gripped her tightly, rooting her in place.
"What—?! My shadow—" Amira struggled, but the grip was relentless, draining her strength with each second.
Kian surged forward, blade aimed directly for her throat.
But before it could reach her—
Clang!
A stream of flame arced through the air as Asuma emerged from the debris, intercepting the strike mid-swing. Sparks flew as their blades collided once more, but this time Asuma's eyes burned with focused fury.
He twisted his blade, channeling fire along the edge—"Crimson Arc!"
A wave of flame burst forth, sweeping under Kian's feet and igniting the ground beneath him. The heat cracked the stones and warped the air.
Kian leapt backward, barely evading the brunt of the blast.
The battlefield stood still for a moment.
Asuma stepped forward, his blade crackling with fire, and Kian faced him from across the scorched platform. The air between them shimmered with tension. Neither moved. Both waited for the other to make the first move.
Two blades. Two wills. One inevitable clash.