**Chapter Eight: The Nuclear Monster – The First Catastrophe**
The sky over the shattered city still suffocated with the dust of battle. The smell of blood and gunpowder was choking the breath, and the remains of dead monsters scattered like miserable autumn leaves. Ethan stood in the rubble of a collapsed building, his eyes glowing with stubbornness, scanning the horizon for the next danger. Beside him, Iris was trembling, her blood-stained hands pressed to her chest as if trying to prevent her heart from exploding.
"You've never risked your life before..." Ethan whispered hoarsely, a wind charged with radioactive energy whipping his face. "But today won't be the same."
Iris looked at him, her eyes wide, a mixture of fear and excitement shining through them. "Are you sure this place is safe?"
A chuckle escaped Ethan's chest, like the sound of stone crunching beneath his feet. "Nothing here is safe, sister. But it's the perfect place to level up."
Iris had risen from C to A level after the nuclear blast that rocked the academy, but she was like a child holding a heavy sword with a trembling hand. Ethan noticed how she wasted her energy on random attacks, how she consumed her strength in pointless entertainment, and how she retreated when faced with stronger monsters.
"Economy, Iris..." he said, gripping her shoulder firmly. "Otherwise, you'll become just another corpse in this shattered world."
But the advice wasn't enough. Just as Iris decided to test her strength, one of the nearby nuclear bases exploded in a strange explosion, unlike any ordinary nuclear blast. A violet shockwave swept across the area, as if the sky itself had been torn apart. The ground trembled beneath their feet, and a deafening roar erupted, as if from the depths of hell.
And then...
**The Dragon**
A massive creature, black as night, enveloped in a demonic violet aura. His red eyes stared at them like two flames of pure hatred. This wasn't an ordinary monster, but a S-level catastrophe, an entity not supposed to exist in this world.
"Run!" Ethan screamed, but at the same moment he realized escape was impossible.
The dragon charged with lightning speed, a swift swipe of its claws nearly cutting Ethan in half. Dark black blood sprayed through the air as Ethan rolled on the ground, a deep gash oozing from his arm. Iris tried to block the next attack, but the dragon whipped her with its tail, sending her crashing into a distant wall.
"No...!" Ethan growled, slowly rising, every muscle in his body aflame with pain.
But the dragon didn't give him time to recover. It opened its wide mouth, and a ball of nuclear energy began to form in its throat, charged with a power that threatened to annihilate everything around it. Ethan felt the heat sear through his skin before the attack even took off.
**Explosion.**
The wave of destruction toppled the surrounding buildings, trapping Ethan in the eye of the storm. He felt his skin burning, his clothes ripped to shreds, and blood oozing from dozens of wounds that covered his body. But one thing remained unbroken...
**His will.**
"Enough..." he whispered as he rose from the rubble, his eyes glowing with a deep red light.
His own aura began to spread, a crimson-red energy like an erupting volcano. He tore off the remaining clothes, revealing a taut body riddled with old and new scars. Then he gathered all his remaining strength into a fist, until it looked like a blazing sun.
"This... is your end."
And he took off.
His speed was blazing, like lightning slicing through the sky on a stormy night. He struck the dragon with his charged fist, directly in its chest. Flesh burned, bones shattered, and the violet aura began to fade. The dragon screamed in pain, but Ethan didn't stop. Blow after blow, until its gigantic body was torn to pieces.
But...
**It wasn't enough.**
Suddenly, the dragon's body began to turn to ash, not because of Ethan's attack, but because of something else. Something much more terrifying.
Ethan stood in shock as he watched his body **change**. He felt as if fire was burning through his veins, as if something inside him was awakening after a long slumber. Then... **the mark** appeared.
A strange symbol over his left eye, glowing a suspiciously golden color. At that moment, he knew the truth.
"This... isn't the power of the beast..." he whispered, his voice broken. "This... is a **curse**."
But before he could process what had happened, he felt a hand pierce his chest from behind. A shocked glance down... to find **his sister's hand** pierced through his flesh, its claws grasping his beating heart.
"Er... Reese?"
But the eyes he faced weren't Iris's. They were yellow eyes, filled with greed and treachery.
"Sorry, brother..." she whispered in a voice that wasn't hers. "But your heart... was the price they demanded of me."
And she ripped his heart from his body.
Ethan fell to his knees, blood soaking the floor beneath him. The world began to slump, but the last thing he saw was the **real monster**...
wearing his sister's face.
**End of Chapter Eight.**
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