The crimson sky cracked open, sending a bolt of dark lightning into the center of the circle where Jin stood.
He convulsed, arching backward as the prayer beads at his feet broke into dust.
The fragments swirled upward, caught in a vortex of energy that engulfed him.
"Jin!" Rui lunged forward, but an invisible force kept her back.
Her chaos energy erupted, pink-gold flames scorching the barrier between them.
Jin's eyes opened wide, blazing with crimson light. His skin cracked, revealing glowing red veins beneath.
He fell to his knees, his fingers digging into the scorched earth as something inside him fought to break free.
"Stay back!" he said through gritted teeth.
The air around him distorted, and reality itself bent as the Rageborn Behemoth separated from its human vessel.
Jin's shadow stretched and twisted unnaturally, separating from his body like thick black tar.
Outside the barrier, Zou pounded his fists against the crimson wall.
"We have to get in there!"
