Chapter 6
The deeper they ventured into the Dead World, the darker the skies became. The air grew heavier, charged with an almost electric pulse.
Kael could feel it pressing on his skin, crawling along his veins. It was the same sensation he'd felt when he first arrived here — but now it was stronger.
They reached an open clearing surrounded by twisted, blackened trees.
Nyx slowed, her crimson eyes narrowing. "Something's here."
Before Kael could respond, the ground cracked.
A figure emerged from the earth — tall, towering, and draped in jagged crimson armor. Slime dripped from its joints, making its movements disturbingly fluid despite the bulk of the plates. Its helmet had no visor, only a vertical slit that glowed faintly red.
The Crimson Knight.
Kael's instincts screamed danger.
"That thing's… not normal," he muttered.
Nyx's hand went to her blade. "It's not just 'not normal.' That's a Calamity-tier."
The knight's head tilted toward them. Without warning, it moved — fast. Faster than anything that size should move. The slime coating its armor let it glide over the ground in a blur, its greatsword carving the air where Kael had stood a second earlier.
The impact cracked the earth.
Kael rolled, barely avoiding the follow-up strike. "Nyx! This one's yours!"
Nyx blocked a slash with a resounding clang, but even she staggered. "It's… strong," she gritted out.
The knight pressed forward, each strike heavier than the last. Kael tried to flank it, but the monster's movements were too quick, too sharp — it was reading them both like an open book.
In that moment, Kael's chest burned. Not from exhaustion, but from something else… something rising inside him.
The air around him shimmered. Threads of light — no, not light, energy — began to coil toward him. They seeped into his skin, flooding his veins with a strange, overwhelming force.
Cosmic energy.
He didn't know how he was doing it, only that he could. The more he breathed, the more the power built, compressing in his core until it begged for release.
Nyx caught the knight's blade with her own, locking it in place for a heartbeat. "Now, Kael!" she shouted.
He raised his hand without thinking — and the energy erupted.
A blinding beam of condensed cosmic power shot forward, the air screaming in its wake. It slammed into the Crimson Knight's chest, punching through the armor like it was paper. The monster staggered, the glow in its helmet flickering violently before it let out a metallic shriek.
Then, it exploded into fragments of armor and dissolving slime.
The clearing fell silent.
Kael stood there, chest heaving, the last traces of cosmic light fading from his fingertips. "...What the hell was that?"
Nyx sheathed her blade slowly, her gaze fixed on him. "That," she said, her tone unreadable, "was the first step to becoming something far more dangerous than me."
Kael swallowed, unsure whether to feel proud… or afraid.