"K..K...Kill"
The words were spat out in a cold, evil-laced voice—one so chilling it could steal the heartbeat from anyone who heard it.
The air turned heavy, thick with malevolence. A suffocating aura blanketed the battlefield, as if the very embodiment of chaos had descended.
Even from a distance, Sol could feel it—this monstrous, terrifying energy pressing down on him like an invisible weight. It clawed at his body, forcing his knees to buckle.
But he refused to fall. He clenched his fists, his teeth gritted and muscles trembling.
In the heart of the battlefield, the creature floated mid-air. Its limbs were stretched wide, as if embracing the dark power surging through it.
Its face tilted toward the sky, a twisted look of ecstasy etched across it as though it was savoring the destruction to come.
Then, cutting through the sunlight, a shadow shattered the scene. A black streak tore across the sky.
It was Jaz.
With lightning-fast speed, she shot through the air, her eyes blazing with fury, her body coiled in raw, unrestrained rage.
A scream ripped from her throat as she descended like a meteor of vengeance.
—BAAAMMM!
A thunderous explosion rocked the battlefield the moment she collided with the creature. A massive pillar of water erupted into the sky, the impact churning the ocean into chaos.
But the shockwave didn't stop there—it surged outward like a roaring beast, sweeping across everything in its path.
Sol braced himself. The force slammed into him like a tidal wall, threatening to send him flying. But he refused.
With sheer willpower, he rooted himself in place, his body engulfed in his aura. The swirling energy wrapped around him like armour, anchoring him against the tide of destruction.
-THWAACK!
With a thunderous impact, the creature was sent hurling through the misty veil of the watery explosion. It crashed and skidded violently again, across the ocean surface. Finding its landing, the creature rose again.
Water dripped from its twisted form, but this time, there was no expression, no rage and..no pain. Its faceless head slightly tilted... as if its attention is somewhere else..somewhere far beyond the battlefield.
But Jaz appeared before it once again.
Her muscle tensed, her body cloaked in a dense, darker aura that pulsed with the fury. Her rage burned out of control, with no sign of stopping.
She threw a full raged punch aimed straight at the creature core. Just inches away from impact –
A strange, wicked grin curled onto the creature's empty face. In a very fraction of time, the creature slowly lifted its arm.
An unknown force stumbled over Jaz's raged self. Even with her extraordinary strength and controllable rage, her beastly instincts screamed at that moment.
A long, thin skeletal hand moved. Its bony fingers twitching ever so slightly. With the single flick of it, a thunderous force erupted.
The shockwave struck with the brutal precision. Jaz was sent flying backward. Her body violently thrown across the water's surface before crashing into the frozen ground with a sharp echoing thud.
But the force didn't stop there. It expanded outward - relentless and unforgiving.
The ocean convulsed. The icy terrain trembled beneath its pressure. Even the air grew heavy, thick with unnatural pressure.
Sol gritted his teeth as the atmosphere compressed around him, forcing him to brace against the ground with all his strength.
Then the same wave of overwhelming force slammed into him. He was ripped from his stance, dragged backward across the shattered battlefield. His body tumbled, crashing and skidding as if struck by something unseen and unstoppable.
-BAM!
After the devastating crash, Sol's body finally came to stop, skidding across the icy terrain before slumping motionless.
Dark bruises bloomed across all over his body. Pain pulsed through every nerve. His limbs trembled, his dark black eyes barely opened, his breath came in ragged bursts.
"Ha...ha...hah!!..."
That was all he could hear - his own broken breathing echoing in the silence of his mind as everything else had faded. Just the pounding of his heart beat and the emptiness creeping into his thoughts.
He tried to move. But the moment he did, a sharp jolt of pain pierced though his body. Every attempt of his to lift a limb was met with agony, forcing him to stay still.
Darkness began to creep in from the edges of his vision. But then....
A dark manly shadow loomed over him. It stumbled forward, but Sol's vision flickered - blurring in and out. But he could feel the presence.
Something...familiar and yet cold.
Ca..captain..? His thoughts, scattered and sluggish.
N-no..Its-
Through cracked lips, he forced the words out.
"Vi-vice captain.."
Suddenly...the darkness that had been creeping into Sol's vision paused and slowly began to recede.
His breath slightly steadied.
The world snapped back into focus, blinding lights gave way to shape, to form, to colour.
And there standing above him was Alex.
"Hahahaha!! Good work...kid."
A wide grin stretched across his face, bringing a strange and unexpected sense of relief. Despite the chaos around them, Alex's emerald eyes gleamed with teasing light.
His coat was in tatters, one arm clearly injured as bruises swelling over it and a slow trickle of red blood running down. But none of that dimmed the playfulness in his smile.
"Man!! Seriously, breaking out of this annoying seal took forever." He scratched the back of his head with his uninjured hand, and chuckles.
"Only if that idiot Jack was here." He sighed, exaggerating his frustration. "I still wonder how the hell he managed to break it in seconds..."
The atmosphere around them shifted. The crushing pressure and the suffocating feeling began to lift.
A strange sense of relief spread across Sol's body.
The sharp pain suddenly faded, the bruises coating his body began to dissolve. The burning aches in his limbs vanished. His ragged breath grew calm and steady.
His strength slowly surging through him. Sol blinked, confused as warmth spread across his body. It felt like a miracle. Then ....
His gaze fell to his hand, where a necklace rested lightly against his skin. It wasn't his of course. And yet Its presence felt gentle.
The relic glowed faintly with a warm golden light and pulsing softly with a rhythm.
Sol kept staring at it, his breath held and his eyes wide.
What...is this?