The moment Ravihiro's three rings manifested, the air around them grew thick, suffocating— as if an unseen force was pressing against their souls.
The battlefield twisted.
The sky— turned black.
The blood-soaked ground— began to boil.
The corpses— twitched.
And then—
Everything turned silent.
𝘕𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥.
𝘕𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥.
Just Ravihiro.
Standing at the center of this nightmare, his mask splitting into an unearthly grin. His eyes— gleaming like two burning pits of hellfire.
And then, his voice echoed— deep, distorted, inhuman.
"𝘞𝘩𝘺... 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦?"
His body twitched violently, a sudden burst of energy shaking the earth beneath them.
Rumina, Haruno, Kalki, Huo, Tang, and the Sect Leader all took a step back instinctively.
The fear in their eyes was real.
This wasn't Ravihiro.
This was something else.
A being that had crawled out of a realm beyond reason.
A nightmare.
"𝙒𝙝𝙮…"
His voice warped further, the deep growl sounding like multiple voices speaking at once.
"𝙄 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚… 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙚… 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚…?"
Suddenly—
𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥.
𝙎𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂!
𝙁𝙇𝘼𝙎𝙃!
𝘛𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 across the battlefield, slicing through debris, stone, and air itself.
𝙏𝙝𝙪𝙙.
Huo Tang stumbled back, clutching his arm— blood trickling down from a wound he didn't even see happen.
𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙡.
The others barely had time to react.
Ravihiro reappeared, standing directly in front of the Sect Leader, his face inches away.
The Sect Leader's.
For the first time in years, he felt—
Pure, raw, Bloodlust
But he was getting excited
Then—
𝙎𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜.
A blade of blood stopped inches from his throat.
"𝘔𝘮𝘮… 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐?"
Ravihiro's head tilted eerily, his smile growing wider.
But then—
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥.
"𝙀𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝."
𝙍𝙪𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖.
𝘽𝙊𝙊𝙈!
She exploded forward, grabbing Ravihiro's neck with one hand.
He barely had time to react before she slammed him into the ground, shaking the battlefield.
𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔!
A crater formed beneath them.
But Ravihiro didn't struggle.
He laughed.
"𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶…"
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘱, wrapping around Rumina's throat.
𝘚𝘘𝘜𝘌𝘌𝘡𝘌.
Her breath hitched.
Her eyes widened.
His grip— was crushing.
And for the first time—
Rumina saw it.
His face was changing.
His mask was merging into his skin.
His body was— mutating.
This wasn't a battle anymore.
This was a— possession.
And Ravihiro…
Was losing.
𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮.
And then—
He whispered.
"𝘛𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦."
𝘼 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙚𝙧𝙖 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙪𝙣.