Meanwhile, a few minutes earlier, before Ken's legs failed, before Lucian warped the battlefield, before the creature even showed its real power.
The whip lashed at him again.
A full storm of whips. Fourteen angles. Fourteen metal serpents screaming toward him.
Ash exhaled and lowered his stance.
Electricity crawled across his arm, sliding into the blade like it belonged there. The sword's etched lines lit up with soft white arcs,
calm, cold, hungry.
The whips reached him.
Ash vanished.
He reappeared behind the whip-wielder in a blink, the ground beneath him cracked from the force of his acceleration. The sword's tip rested against the man's spine.
A pulse of lightning dropped into the core of the blade, then into the man. A white flash erupted, not loud, not explosive,
just final. The electricity didn't burn him. It hollowed him out.
The man twitched once and collapsed with smoke leaking from his teeth, his heart and nervous system erased in a single strike.
Ash didn't spare him a glance. He turned back to look at the giant.
The giant stood a few meters away, feet planted wide like a living boulder. His eyes— He didn't have pupils. Just colorless glass orbs staring straight at Ash, reflecting nothing, feeling nothing.
Ash narrowed his gaze. Something was wrong.
No pupils. No reaction to electricity. No real… life behind the stare.
Like a puppet carved from flesh.
The giant stepped forward. The stone under his foot cracked in a radial pattern.
Ash raised his sword. He blocked the punch with the flat of his sword, sparks bursting as metal met stone-solid flesh. The shockwave pushed him back several meters, shoes leaving long skid marks across the ruined floor.
Electricity crackled instinctively around his arm.
Ash snapped his fingers.
A bolt shot from his palm, white and sharp—
and disappeared into the giant's chest like water soaking into dust.
No effect. Again. The giant didn't even flinch.
"Fantastic," Ash muttered. "A battery-proof refrigerator."
The brute charged. The air trembled with each step.
Ash blurred out of the way, reappearing to the side with a hiss of electricity ripping across the floor. His sword slashed across the giant's ribs,
a full-force cut enhanced by lightning.
The giant stomped, the ground buckling under the force. A section of the platform shattered, sending debris flying like bullets. Ash darted between the fragments, lightning coiling around his ankles and propelling him upward.
From the air, he swung the blade downward.
A crescent arc of electricity tore toward the brute and slammed into him.
The brute raised his arm to block the descending strike. Ash's sword collided with the thick forearm, and for a moment, Ash felt the resistance—like his blade was biting into stone rather than flesh.
Then the giant grabbed the blade with his bare hand. Ash's eyes widened. The giant squeezed. The sword vibrated violently, steel groaning under the impossible grip.
"Let go," Ash said—
Electricity exploded along the blade, traveling straight into the giant's arm. Ash pushed more—enough voltage to drop a tank.
The giant stood there, unmoving.
Immune.
Then he lifted his other fist and punched Ash in the chest.
The shock sent Ash flying backward like a ragdoll. He hit the ground hard, sliding across broken stone until he managed to dig the sword into the floor to stop himself.
He coughed once, breath shaky.
"Alright," he muttered. "We're doing this the annoying way."
The giant charged again. Ash got up, electricity exploding off his back as he surged forward to meet him head-on. Sword blazing. Lightning screaming.
For a second, everything slowed down. The whip-wielder lay somewhere behind Ash, his body still twitching from the electro strike that had burned through his chest and left smoke curling out of him.
Ash barely dodged the first swing—it was less like a punch and more like a falling boulder. The ground cracked where the fist hit. Dust exploded upward. Ash jumped back and dragged electricity across the floor with his steps, leaving thin blue lines that pulsed like veins through the earth.
The giant followed without pause, swinging again. Ash ducked, slid under the arm, and slashed upward at the ribs. The blade cut in, sparks lighting up the wound, but the giant didn't even flinch.
That made Ash's stomach twist a little.
"Okay," Ash muttered under his breath, "that's creepy."
The giant grabbed a chunk of concrete and hurled it at him like a shot put. Ash ran toward it instead of away, planted a foot on the rock mid-air, and launched himself over it. Electricity burst around him as he flipped over the giant's head, landing behind him.
He slashed at the back of the giant's knees—hard. The blade dug in, lightning trailing behind it.
This time the giant dropped one leg.
Finally.
Ash didn't get time to be relieved. The giant spun around with surprising speed, swinging a forearm the size of a tree trunk. It caught Ash mid-move and sent him flying.
Pain shot up his spine. Everything inside him rattled. He pushed himself up and spat out blood.
The giant was already coming.
Ash stomped his foot on the ground and electricity blasted outward in a ring, pushing himself upright faster. He sprinted forward again, sword angled low, sparks dancing around the blade as if they were alive.
The giant threw another punch. This one Ash didn't dodge.
He caught it.
His feet cracked into the ground as he skidded backward from the force, but he held on. Electricity surged through his palms, crawling into the giant's arm like tiny glowing worms. The giant's skin started to glow faintly blue where Ash's electricity sank into it.
And still…
No reaction.
Ash's jaw clenched.
He twisted the giant's arm just enough to make a gap, then swung his sword upward and carved across the chest—this time aiming to pierce deep.
But the giant slammed its forehead into Ash's face before the blow landed full power.
Ash staggered back, vision exploding into stars. His nose felt like it cracked. Warm blood ran down his mouth.
He wiped it with the back of his hand and smiled through the pain.
"You're getting annoying."
This thing wasn't just strong—it was freakishly resistant to electricity. Even his biggest hits barely slowed it down. And that blank stare made everything worse.
Ash raised the sword again, letting it hum with more electricity. Instead of keeping it contained, he let it leak out until the blade became a bright, unstable streak of blue-white.
The giant charged again.
Ash dropped the sword point-first into the ground.
Electricity exploded outward like a shockwave.
The giant froze for the first time—not in pain, but in hesitation. Like it didn't understand what Ash was doing.
Ash used that second.
He kicked the sword's hilt.
The blade rocketed upward, slicing through the air like a thrown spear. Ash jumped right after it, catching the sword mid-air and flipping over the giant.
He sliced down its spine as he fell.
The electricity carved a burning blue line from the top of its neck to its lower back. This time the giant stumbled and fell forward onto one knee, arms shaking.
Ash landed behind it, breathing hard, chest rising and falling rapidly.
The giant slowly pushed itself upright. That cut wasn't enough. And Ash could feel it—his ribs hurt, his head was pounding, and the electricity burned through his veins like his body wasn't keeping up with him anymore.
He didn't have infinite time left.
The giant lifted its head, pale eyes staring blankly forward. Its jaw hung loosely, like it was trying to speak but didn't remember how.
Ash narrowed his eyes.
"No pupils… maybe no brain up there either."
The giant lunged. Ash didn't dodge this time. He charged straight at it. Right before impact, he dropped into a slide. The giant's fist sailed over him, missing by inches. Ash dragged the sword upward while sliding, cutting deep into the giant's chest.
Electricity surged into the open wound.
This time, Ash didn't let it spread normally. He controlled it—forced it into a single concentrated spike, a lightning bolt trapped inside the giant's body.
The giant seized up, body locking.
Ash slammed his foot into the ground and used the momentum to jump upward, grabbing the giant's arm and climbing it like a rope. He reached the giant's shoulder, crouched there for half a second—
Then stabbed the sword straight down into the giant's neck.
Lightning tore through its body like a river bursting out of a dam.
Blue light shot out of its wounds. Its skin cracked. Its muscles twitched so hard Ash almost lost grip.
The giant grabbed him blindly and hurled him backward. Ash flew through the air, hit the ground, rolled, and groaned as every bone in his back lit up with pain.
He forced himself up again.
Across the battlefield, the giant was staggering, electricity tearing it apart from inside. But it wasn't dead.
It was still moving.
Ash wiped blood from his forehead. His hair stood on end from all the electricity he'd forced into himself.
One more push.
The giant roared—a hollow, eerie sound like someone trying to scream underwater.
It charged again.
Ash steadied his breathing.
He let the electricity gather one more time, calling every last spark from the ground, from the air, from his own heart. Blue light swirled around him in a growing sphere. His sword hummed like it was going to split apart.
The giant raised its arm.
Ash moved.
The world blurred as he ran straight at the creature. At the last second, he jumped—high, higher than he ever had—electricity exploding under his feet.
He landed on the giant's forearm, sprinting across it like it was a bridge.
The giant tried to swat him off, but Ash was already there—
He reached its face.
Grabbed its jaw.
And shoved the sword through its skull.
Lightning didn't just surge this time.
It erupted.
A column of blue light shot upward, lighting the entire battlefield like a second sun. The ground cracked from the force. The giant shook violently, arms flailing, body convulsing.
Then it finally collapsed.
Ash dropped with it, landing on his knees beside the falling body, panting hard, vision shaking.
The giant hit the ground and didn't move again.
Ash sat there for a moment, breathing like he'd run miles. His hands trembled from overuse of his power. His ribs ached. His head felt foggy. And blood trickled down the side of his face.
But the giant didn't move.
It was done.
He pushed himself to his feet, groaning as his ribs complained. Electricity flickered along his fingertips—weak, unfocused, more like muscle memory than intention. He needed to contact the Hero Association. Needed backup. Needed answers. Needed someone smarter to look at those blank eyes and tell him what the hell these things were.
Ash tapped the side of his comm. Static.
He tried again. More static.
He frowned. "Don't do this to me now…"
He adjusted the signal, turning his wrist slightly, trying to find a stronger connection. The city towers weren't far. There should've been a relay point close enough—
That's when he felt it.
DREAD
Heavy, cold dread. The kind that slides under your skin without touching you. The kind that doesn't feel like fear of dying, but fear of something older than dying. Something that looks at you the way someone looks at a bug on their shoe.
Ash froze.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. A chill crept slowly down his spine, like an invisible hand tracing its way toward his heart.
Someone was watching him.
No—something.
He didn't even breathe for a second. His instincts screamed at him. His vision sharpened. The world felt narrower, darker, like all the sounds were being sucked away.
Ash slowly turned his head left.
Nothing.
Right.
Nothing.
Behind him.
Only rubble.
He swallowed. His throat felt dry.
Then he felt it again—this pressure, like a weight on his skull. Something staring down at him from higher up.
His eyes lifted. And he saw it. At the top of the broken statue's neck, where the head should have been, stood a silhouette.
A lone figure.
Perfectly still.
Ash couldn't see much through the distance and the faint smoke drifting across the air. The details were swallowed by shadow.
He only knew one thing. The moment he saw it, the dread inside him tightened. His breath caught in his throat.
It felt primordial. Like something pulled out of the beginning of the world and dropped into this battlefield.
Ash tightened his grip on his sword without meaning to. His hands were shaking slightly, and he didn't know if it was from exhaustion…
or from the thing on the statue's neck.
He narrowed his eyes, trying to focus—trying to see it more clearly.
But the figure didn't become clearer.
It only became darker.
Like the shadows wrapped around it when he tried to understand it. Like it rejected being seen.