Chapter 36 — The Shift in the Battlefield
Heat coiled through the ruined battlefield as the Revenant advanced—slow, deliberate, violet fissures pulsing across its molten-black skin. Alicia stepped forward without hesitation, armor spirit flaring in a blaze of molten orange. Shin moved beside her, boots digging into fractured stone, blade spirit humming with a sharp metallic whine.
The Revenant's gaze flicked between them—two fighters still standing, two heartbeats determined to block its path toward the unconscious body behind them.
Alicia struck first.
Her armor condensed, plates aligning with a harsh grind of metal. She launched herself forward, shoulder crashing into the creature's chest, spikes erupting from her gauntlets as she activated Packbreaker Shell mid-impact.
A spiked dome burst outward, forcing the Revenant's torso back with a violent jolt.
The creature staggered a single step.
Alicia landed, slid back, braced again.
Shin vanished.
Voidstride Step blurred his outline into streaks of heat-distorted air as he reappeared at the Revenant's flank, sword arcing toward its temple. The Revenant's head snapped back—barely avoiding the slash—its instincts correcting mid-motion. Shin twisted, feinting left. Three phantom afterimages shot outward as he initiated Mirage Flow, circling the creature in overlapping projections.
The Revenant swung at the wrong one.
Shin kicked off the real angle—
Lightning Kick—
his heel slamming into the Revenant's jaw with a cracking shock that sent it sliding across the rubble.
Alicia was already charging again.
"Shin—left!"
He moved exactly as she called.
They attacked together, Shin carving shallow cuts across the Revenant's ribs, Alicia ramming shoulder-first into its sternum, spikes from her barrier shredding molten skin. Violet blood hissed on contact with the ground.
For a second—
just a second—
they were pushing it back.
The Revenant's body jerked under their combined assault, its footing disrupted as Shin's follow-up kick hammered its knee sideways.
Alicia saw the opening.
She threw up Packbreaker Shell again—
a dome of spikes locking the Revenant in a narrow space.
Shin darted around the perimeter, slicing and kicking from shifting angles, every move sharp and desperate.
The Revenant reeled, its eyes flickering.
Then—
It roared.
A deep, vibrating sound that boiled the air around them.
The dome cracked.
Alicia's eyes widened. "Shin—!"
A violet surge burst outward. The barrier shattered like glass struck by a hammer. Shards of broken force scattered in molten light.
Alicia didn't dodge in time.
The Revenant lunged at her with terrifying speed, claws slamming into her armor—
cracking it.
Fracturing it.
Until the final blow struck her chest and the last pieces of her armor spirit disintegrated into fading embers.
Alicia's eyes fluttered—then closed.
Her body flew backward, crashing into the ground with a hard, echoing thud.
"ALICIA!"
Shin stopped moving.
For a single heartbeat, he stared at her limp form—
then at Vaibhav, unconscious and bleeding under the fractured cliff.
Something in him snapped differently than Vaibhav's rage.
Calmer.
Sharper.
More dangerous.
He turned toward the Revenant with a slow, growing smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Oi," he said quietly.
The Revenant paused, claws wet with violet blood, head tilting in predatory curiosity.
Shin pointed a finger at it.
"You big pig… or elephant… or giraffe… or whatever ugly zoo escapee you are…"
His voice dropped lower, colder.
"You're going to die now."
A breath.
"Because there's no one left to see my true power."
He opened his hand.
His last remaining sword-type beast spirit flickered—then dissolved into particles of crimson light, fading into his Sea of Consciousness.
The Revenant's head jerked a tiny fraction.
It recognized danger.
Shin rolled his shoulders, muscles tightening, boots cracking the stone beneath him as he moved. The air around him changed—less wild, more controlled—like a storm tightening its spiral before striking.
He dashed forward.
Not with Voidstride.
Not with Mirage Flow.
Just raw speed—
a blur crossing the battlefield in a single breath.
He leapt.
The Revenant opened its mouth, preparing a roar that vibrated the ground itself—
Shin's hand flashed.
Three objects glinted in the harsh red light:
Polonium-210
A silvery-gray metal, soft and deceptively ordinary—until the faint blue glow at its edge pulsed with deadly radiation.
Plutonium-239
Once bright silver, now oxidized into a dull, sickly yellow. Heavy. Unstable. A silent killer.
Strontium-90
A pale ceramic-like compound, chalky white, impossible to mistake.
The Revenant's roar cut short—
its throat widening in instinctive confusion.
Shin's eyes narrowed.
"Bon appétit."
He threw all three straight into its open maw—
at point-blank range.
The Revenant staggered for a moment, its jaw clenched as the foreign metals dissolved inside its throat. Violet cracks flared brighter—like something inside was reacting, resisting, burning.
Shin didn't wait.
He shot forward, boots cracking the ground, slipping instantly into Voidstride Step.
Three afterimages appeared, darting around the Revenant like circling wolves.
The creature swung.
It tore through two illusions—but Shin had already pivoted behind it. His heel shot forward—
Lightning Kick.
The strike connected with the Revenant's spine, the shock snapping through its torso. The force pushed the creature forward, stumbling briefly from the internal instability.
But even weakened, even confused, the Revenant adapted.
It twisted violently mid-stumble, claws slicing in an arc so fast Shin barely redirected with Mirage Flow, illusions peeling away like skins of light.
The real Shin reappeared to the right—breathing harder now.
His lip bled.
Sweat rolled down his forehead.
One sleeve of his shirt was torn from the last counter.
He still smiled.
"Come on, zombie… I'm still standing."
The Revenant snarled, thick saliva sizzling where it hit the ground. It lunged—faster this time, rage overtaking calculation. Shin ducked under its swipe, sliding across the ground, launching another Lightning Kick into its ribs.
Bones cracked. Violet blood sprayed.
But the Revenant didn't fall.
It grabbed Shin mid-slide.
Its claws clamped around Shin's forearm with crushing force—the pressure sharp enough to bruise instantly, tearing skin. Shin hissed, drove a knee into its chest, but the creature heaved—
and hurled him.
He slammed into the shattered ground, rolling across dust and broken stone until he skidded to a stop.
His lungs burned. His arm throbbed. Vision blurred slightly around the edges.
Still—
he pushed himself up.
"I said… I'm not done."
The Revenant landed before him, towering, molten cracks brightening as its body processed the radioactive metals now tearing into its insides. Its movements were less fluid—shaking, jittering—but still lethal, still impossibly strong.
It raised its arm.
Shin braced.
The attack crashed down like a falling mountain.
Shin blocked with both arms—
and was launched backward.
He hit the scorched ground hard. Pain detonated through his ribs. One of his elbows gave slightly, numb from the force. His breathing hitched, shallow and strained.
He forced himself onto his knees.
The Revenant advanced again, ignoring its internal corrosion, its entire frame trembling with a violent instinct:
Kill the last fighter standing.
Then kill the one who had hurt it most.
Then devour everything.
Shin spat blood and pushed himself upright.
"Heh… you're persistent…"
The creature crouched low—
readying for a kill pounce.
Shin shifted into stance again, unstable but unyielding. His left arm hung heavy. His right tightened into a trembling fist.
A moment of stillness hung between them.
Then—
The Revenant lunged.
Shin tried to sidestep—
but his injuries slowed him half a breath too long.
The Revenant's claws slammed into his stomach and shoulder, flinging him across the battlefield like a broken spear. His body hit the ground, bounced once, then rolled until finally stopping near a cracked ledge.
He didn't get up.
His eyes strained open, breath trembling, arms refusing to respond.
The Revenant straightened, hunched like a predator spotting wounded prey.
Slowly…
It turned its head.
Not toward Shin.
But toward the place where Vaibhav's body had been lying.
The exact spot.
Empty.
Only dust and fragments of broken stone remained.
The Revenant froze mid-step.
Its nostrils flared.
It inhaled sharply, sensing something it could not see.
Something that was no longer where it should be.
Shin felt a cold ripple run down his spine as he watched the beast pivot.
Even half-conscious, he managed a weak grin.
"Oh… what happened to you… are you scared…?"
The Revenant ignored him completely and faced the empty space where Vaibhav's unconscious body had vanished.
It took one slow step toward that spot.
Then another.
The air thickened.
Heat shifted.
Something unseen stirred.
And deep inside the Revenant's molten core, an instinct screamed—
Danger.
Shin's eyes widened despite the pain. He didn't know what was coming.
But the Revenant did.
It braced, claws spreading, muscles locking—
as if preparing for something that terrified even it.
But whatever it sensed—
was already too late.
The Revenant turned fully—
back toward the place Vaibhav's body "was."
The battlefield fell silent for one breath.
Just one.
A breath before everything would change.
And the Revenant, for the first time since its birth—
hesitated.