The air cracked with tension.
Arin's chest heaved. His fists were clenched, knuckles white, Astra energy flickering weakly around him like unstable embers. The dark fog around the battlefield pulsed with a strange rhythm, as if breathing with the devil in front of him.
That thing… That monster smiled like pain was a song he enjoyed humming.
Two black horns curled back from its forehead. Its skin was midnight grey with veins glowing crimson beneath it. A jagged grin carved across its face — wide, sharp, and full of hunger.
"Still alive, Kalink's little toy?" it sneered, licking its lips. Its voice slithered like poison.
Arin gritted his teeth. I'm not Kalink. I'm me.
He burst forward.
Astra burned in his legs, Echoform coursing through his veins. He ducked under a sweeping claw strike, spun, and launched a roundhouse kick — one he'd drilled a thousand times with Om Sai.
CRACK!
The air boomed as his kick connected. The devil barely tilted its head.
Before Arin could pull his leg back, a counterpunch drove into his ribs like a cannonball.
THUD!
He coughed blood mid-air before skidding across the rocky ground.
"Pathetic," the devil yawned. "Kalink chose a weakling."
Arin wiped blood from his mouth, forcing himself up, breath ragged. "Shut… up…"
He rushed again.
Punch. Dodge. Elbow. Parry.
Om Sai's teachings flowed through him — economical strikes, calculated misdirection, sudden bursts of speed.
He landed a solid elbow under the devil's chin.
Nothing. Not even a flinch.
A dark blur.
CRACK!
A knee slammed into Arin's gut. Pain exploded through his body. His feet lifted off the ground again before he was smashed face-first into the dirt.
Perin yelped from the riverbank, fur puffed in panic. Vayushri stepped forward unconsciously, hands trembling, water energy swirling defensively around her — fear in her spiritual eyes.
Arin pushed himself up again, every breath burning like shattered glass in his lungs.
His arms trembled. The side of his mouth dripped red. His vision danced at the edges with white static.
But he stood.
Because Vayushri was watching with fear. Because Perin cried out, desperate. Because that monster said Kalink — and Arin refused to be someone else's puppet.
"Heh," the devil tilted its head mockingly. "Still crawling, little insect? What's driving you—pride? Anger? Fear? Or something else?"
Arin spat blood on the ground.
"I don't care… what you think…" His voice was rough, unstable. "I promised… I'd protect those who walk beside me."
A dry laugh echoed.
"Protect?" The devil's grin widened. "Then let us test that promise."
With a flick of its clawed hand—
FWOOOSH!
A blast of corrupted energy shot not at Arin… —but toward Vayushri.
"NO!" Arin roared.
He sprinted.
Too slow.
At the last moment, Perin leaped in panic toward Arin, pushing him forward. Arin lunged ahead with desperate speed, but—
He was still an instant too late.
THWACK!
Vayushri didn't run. She didn't shield herself with water. She instead dove forward—
—to block it with her own body.
BOOOOOOM!
The explosion sent her flying into the dirt, rolling violently. Blood splattered across the glowing lake's shore.
"Vayushri!!!" Arin's voice cracked apart in horror.
She coughed, weakly turning to him with trembling, tearful eyes.
"...I-I told you not to fight him," she whispered shakily. "You'll… you'll die... please run..."
Arin froze.
Something in him snapped.
Not physically.
Not mentally.
Something deep.
Something he had held back all this time — fear, confusion, grief, rage, helplessness — all of it began melting together.
The devil laughed, delighted. "Yes. Yes. Show me your despair. Break. That's when your flesh becomes sweetest."
Vayushri's tear fell.
It hit Arin's blood-stained hand.
The moment that drop touched his skin—
—the battlefield fell silent inside his mind.
Inside him, a single thought formed.
Not words. Not reason. Just an overwhelming need.
"Protect."
His breathing deepened.
His heartbeat slowed.
Something ancient awakened like a beast unchained.
His Echoform began to flare wildly, mixing with something darker beneath his skin… something that felt like the abyss breathing.
Perin, sensing the shift, backed away in fear — fur standing, whimpering low.
The devil's smile faltered for the first time.
Arin slowly raised his gaze.
His irises flickered — from calm… to trembling… to an unstable crimson glow forming like cracks across his eyes.
A slow grin spread across Arin's blood-smeared face.
And in that moment—
something inside him broke.
The air changed.
Not violently — not with a roar or burst of energy — but with something worse: A silent weight pressing onto the battlefield like an invisible hand.
The devil stopped laughing.
Its smile froze mid-curvature, eyes narrowing in wary interest.
"…Oh?"
It tilted its head slowly, observing Arin with sharper attention — not as prey, but as a puzzle.
Arin stood unnaturally still, shoulders rising and falling in slow, chilling breaths. His eyes remained half-lidded, glowing dark-crimson like dying coals desperately clinging to life.
Something… was wrong.
Something new.
A low hum vibrated through the ground — not sound, not echo, but reactive energy trembling in response to Arin's shifting presence.
"This aura…" the devil muttered. Its grinning jaw slackened. "It's not Echo. Not Astra. It's…"
The fog around them stirred toward Arin, not away.
"—raw consumption?"
A twitch went through Arin's fingers — like a broken puppet remembering movement.
The beast's instincts screamed.
"Interesting," the devil whispered, voice deeper now — serious. "So you were hiding teeth…" It cracked its neck slowly. "Let's see them bite."
Arin's next movement wasn't a step.
It was a jagged lurch, like he'd been yanked forward by rage itself.
The devil barely blinked before Arin vanished from his spot—
CRACK!
A wild fist slammed into the devil's jaw. The impact wasn't perfectly aimed — sloppy, raw — but filled with monstrous force. The devil flew back several meters, landing on its feet but skidding deep clawed trenches in the earth.
Arin staggered forward again, breathing harsh, head tilted downward, blood dripping from his chin — not smiling, not screaming, just… breaking.
"Hah…" the devil grinned again, blood trickling from its lip. "So you can hit that hard. Good."
Arin rushed again — punches flying faster, each loaded with unfiltered rage, each lacking balance or technique, like he didn't care if his bones shattered in the process.
BAM! CRACK! THUD!
The devil blocked, parried, occasionally dodging — not out of fear, but focus now. This wasn't the playful predator anymore.
This was a warrior assessing a threat.
Arin kept hitting even as skin on his knuckles tore open. His breathing turned ragged, unstable, as though every strike was drawn from pain instead of will.
He didn't speak. Didn't scream.
He fought like someone who was drowning under the need to destroy.
The devil's expression hardened.
He's not fully awakened… but this feral mode… if refined… he could—
A brutal knee connected with Arin's ribs — CRACK! He spat blood mid-air—
—but twisted unnaturally and came back down swinging, eyes manic.
The devil laughed sharply, yet there was a slight tremor.
"Good... GOOD! Show me more, child of rage!"
But as Arin lunged again—
His movements staggered.
For a moment, he faltered.
Pain broke through madness — his body trembling under the cost of his own brutality. Wounds reopened. Bones screamed. Blood loss peaked.
The devil's grin slowly returned — dangerous and slow.
"It's burning you alive from inside, isn't it?"
Arin's breaths hitched.
He dropped to one knee.
Still glaring.
Still shaking.
Still ready to rise.
The devil approached slowly, step by step.
Vayushri cried out faintly, tears fresh.
Perin growled weakly behind her.
And Arin… still fought to stand.
Not for victory.
But because someone behind him still believed he would.
The world blurred.
Arin's vision wavered like cracked glass—red, black, fading. His knees buckled again, one arm hanging limp, ribs shattered, blood dripping from his chin like a broken faucet. Every breath was a punishment. Every heartbeat a dying drum.
The devil stood a few meters away, brushing imaginary dust off his shoulder, amused.
"Already falling apart?" the horned creature chuckled, tilting his head mockingly. "Hmph. I expected more from Mother's selected prey."
Perin trembled beside Vayushri, fur on edge, tail low. A soft, eerie pulse of light flickered around him, but it was unstable—like something was trying to awaken but didn't know how.
Vayushri's voice shook. "A-Arin… we should run."
Arin didn't answer. He couldn't. His body wouldn't even let him straighten up. Everything hurt. Bones screamed. Muscles tore. Skin burned. His blood felt heavier than the ground he stood on.
The devil strolled casually toward him, each footstep echoing like a countdown.
"One hit away, little human. One more~" he teased, lifting his hand mockingly, palm open as if patting a child's head. "Shall I crush your skull? Or break your spine first? Hm, decisions…"
Arin's fingers dug weakly into the dirt. He tried to rise. His body refused.
"Stop… talking…" he wheezed.
The devil smirked cruelly. "Oh? You still care about talking? How adorable."
Vayushri stepped forward instinctively—only to freeze as the devil's eyes darted toward her like knives. Her legs gave out, fear choking her breath.
Perin growled gently, eyes beginning to flicker with strange ancient symbols… but still too weak to act.
The devil sighed dramatically, cracking his neck. "Well then. Time to end this little disappoint—"
The world suddenly… paused.
Not stopped. Paused.
Like everything inhaled and held its breath.
A shiver crawled through the air, cold and poisonous. Arin felt it—not outside… but inside. Like something ancient cracked open in his chest.
Blood dripped once more. Time moved slowly again.
Then—
he laughed.
Not Arin. Not the devil. Not anyone in the forest.
A laugh… inside his head.
Soft. Mocking. Entertained. Like a murderer smiling at the moment the victim realizes they cannot escape.
"So noisy… getting beaten like a dog again, aren't you… Arin?"
Arin's eyes widened, breath freezing. That voice—mocking, sharp, echoing like a curse.
The devil clicked his tongue. "What's this? You've started hallucinating? Or are you crying now?"
"Tch tch tch… You called me once, remember?" the voice purred softly. "Begged, even. 'Give me power.' What a pathetic line. But still… entertaining~."
Arin's heartbeat spiked.
"I don't remember calling you…" he whispered in thought.
"Maybe you don't." The voice sounded smug. "But your rage did. Your hatred did. And now… you're being beaten by an overgrown goat."
The devil raised his hand higher, smiling in preparation for the final strike.
"So…" The voice practically smiled. "Shall we make this more exciting?"
A faint glow crept under Arin's skin. His breathing turned heavier… darker.
Vayushri's eyes widened. "A-Arin… what is this… your energy is—changing?"
Even the devil paused mid-attack, sensing something shift.
"Stand up, boy…" the voice whispered, amused. "Let me see how much chaos you can handle before you break."
Arin's lips parted.
He wasn't fully conscious. He wasn't fully gone. He was standing at the edge of something terrifying.
The devil chuckled, unaware of what he was truly waking up. "Trying to stand again? Fine. Wake up… just so I can knock you down harder."
Arin slowly, shakily pushed himself off the ground… blood still dripping… but eyes beginning to darken with something unhinged.
In the back of his skull— Kalink's voice hummed,
"Dance for me... Arin." And the rampage was about to begin.