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Chapter Ten: Ashes of the Catastrophe and Shadows of Power
A scream tears through the stillness of the sky...
Ethan, his eyes blazing with sparks of rage and years of pain, roars:
"Second Form!"
In a flash, the sky around him blazes a deep red, like the world's final bleed. His spear responds, pulsing with a celestial red glow that contrasts with the shades of blue aura he's grown accustomed to, as if a new power has been breathed into his bones.
Then... the celestial energy pours down.
Mighty. Terrific.
It ripples toward the attack launched by the Catastrophe, colliding with it in the heart of the storm. A collision unlike anything this world has known. An aura that shakes the earth, that awakens even the ruins.
But Ethan isn't content with just fighting.
He rises. Above the ruin. Above the rage.
In a flash, he halts his attack, grips his spear tightly as if it were the last thing he possesses,
Then... he throws it.
A spear that isn't just thrown, but fired like an oath.
It penetrates, it pierces, it tears, and it ends.
The attack is split in two, the catastrophe crumbles, it falls, it fades away.
Before it disappears, the catastrophe mutters words heavier than mountains:
"I knew... I'm just a catastrophe, sealed as everything is... This end of mine... is only the beginning of his end..."
Then... he fades away like ashes in the wind.
But all is not over.
Ethan, despite the victory, didn't come without a price.
His wounded hand, still bleeding.
He looks at the red cloak... the cloak his sister gave him, his first gift... his first love.
And now... in tatters.
He begins searching through the rubble for its remains.
But what he finds... is not a cloak.
Rather, something... strange.
A child.
Hidden. Under the cloak.
Suddenly, he lunges at Ethan with a magical attack!
Ethan dodges him with the usual warrior's agility, grabs him by the collar, and focuses his gaze.
"How old are you?"
The child answers, with frightening firmness:
"Eight. And I know who you are. You're from that strange organization... that's trying to put me down."
Ethan backs away, shocked:
"What?! Who are you talking about?!"
A spark.
A look.
A flash.
When their eyes meet, something happens... like an internal explosion.
Suddenly, Ethan's blood drips to the ground, and from him materializes "The Old Man"... that mysterious sage who only appears at crucial moments.
He touches the child's head and announces the truth, as if tearing apart the membrane of time:
"You... you two, bearers of legendary powers. This child... is no ordinary child. He was born only one day before the Catastrophe. His true age... is the same as his apparent body. But... he is the reincarnation of the former Power Lord, a small body containing his immortal essence."
Then he continues, his tone as if reshaping the truth:
"A zombie, despite his weak will, seized this child's jewel, and brought the old Lord back to life... through him."
The child opens his eyes... but now... different.
Friendly.
Compassionate.
He reaches out to treat Ethan's injury, straightens his clothes, then smiles, saying,
"I felt it... the power of the Brak."
Before he can explain further, a woman's voice... not coming from the child's mouth, but from within him... whispers in Ethan's ear:
"This... is only a small part of the true power..."
The child collapses from exhaustion, a heavy sleep seizing him, as if his body is exhausted from summoning magic.
Ethan carries him in his arm, as if he carries destiny.
Then he travels through a "flagship" portal to his sister... the injured one.
He carries her too.
The child in one arm, the sister in another.
Two souls, each with a different burden.
Then, in a dreamlike scene, he acquires a huge transport truck.
He drives, his eyes ablaze, toward the city of "Merrena."
During the journey, he asks the child to hide his sister from view.
But suddenly, she wakes up... with strange eyes, a form Ethan has never seen before.
It's as if she's following steps... that aren't hers.
Ethan understands...
He whispers:
"This...isn't just my sister...they're tampering with her essence..."
As all this plays out in his head, signs appear...of a new gem,
hidden in a chemistry lab.
And...the chapter ends.
But the breath...doesn't end.
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