"Die," Malakor whispered.
He dropped his hand. The thousand shadow spears hanging in the air snapped forward.
Zoran tried to move. He tried to flare his aura. But his body was too slow, too broken from the physical and mental beatdown.
Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.
The sound was wet and sickening. Three spears pierced Zoran's shoulder. Another punched through his thigh. A fifth grazed his temple, sending him spinning into the black crystal floor.
Zoran hit the ground hard. He tried to push himself up, but his arms gave out. The pool of blood beneath him grew rapidly. The pain was blinding... and then, suddenly, it was gone.
The darkness took him. Zoran Kai fell unconscious.
Malakor watched the boy fall. He sighed, disappointed. "Fragile," he muttered. "Avelon would be embarrassed."
Malakor turned back to Queen Eliana. "Now, my dear. Let us finish—"
Thump.
A heavy heartbeat echoed through the room. It didn't sound like a heart; it sounded like a war drum.
Malakor paused. He looked back at the body on the floor.
Zoran was standing up.
He didn't struggle to rise. He didn't wheeze. He stood up with a fluid, unnatural motion, like a puppet being pulled by invisible strings. The spears in his shoulder and thigh were still there, but "Zoran" reached up and ripped them out, tossing them aside as if they were annoying twigs.
Red steam began to hiss from the wounds. The flesh knitted itself back together—not with divine light, but with angry, cauterizing heat.
The figure rolled his neck. Crack.
He looked at his hands, flexing the fingers. Then, he looked up at Malakor. The eyes were no longer gold. They were a deep, swirling crimson, devoid of pupils.
A twisted grin spread across his face—arrogant, cruel, and completely fearless.
"Finally," the entity spoke. It was Zoran's voice, but the cadence was wrong. It was deeper, rougher. "The kid went to sleep. About time. He drives that body like a grandma driving a cart."
Malakor narrowed his eyes behind the cracked mask. "What are you?"
"Me?" The entity laughed, pointing a thumb at his chest. "I'm the insurance policy."
This was Rage. Not an emotion, but a **sentient being. **
Rage looked at the Stariron sword lying on the ground. He kicked it away. "Garbage steel," he scoffed.
He raised his hand. The red lightning of the Celestial Heart didn't arc wildly this time. It condensed, compressing into a solid, vibrating blade of pure crimson energy extending from his knuckles.
"You broke the kid's ribs," Rage tutted, walking casually toward the God of Shadows. "You messed up his pretty face. Do you have any idea how annoying it is to fix that?"
"Another parlor trick?" Malakor raised his hand. "Die."
He launched a Void Blast—a sphere of erasure meant to atomize matter.
Rage didn't dodge. He didn't block. He snapped his fingers.
King's Aura: Crush.
Instead of expanding the aura as a shield, Rage condensed the golden gravity around the void blast. The sphere of magic imploded in mid-air, crushed into a harmless spark before it could reach him.
Malakor stiffened. "That... is Royal suppression."
"That is how you use it, idiot," Rage sneered.
Rage vanished.
He didn't use Flowing Steps. He used raw, explosive propulsion. The floor where he had been standing disintegrated into powder. He appeared instantly before Malakor.
Celestial Instinct: Predator.
"I know where you're going before you do," Rage whispered in Malakor's ear.
Rage grabbed Malakor's face—fingers digging into the porcelain mask.
SMASH.
Rage drove Malakor's head into the dais stairs. The stone exploded. Malakor roared, blasting telekinetic force outward, but Rage flipped backward, landing gracefully on the railing.
"The kid uses Instinct to dodge," Rage mocked, examining his energy blade. "I use it to hunt. He uses Aura to protect. I use it to crush. You see the difference, false god? He wants to survive. I want to hurt you."
Malakor stood up, his robes torn, his mask heavily damaged. For the first time, Malakor looked furious. He summoned a massive avatar of shadow behind him—a giant with a thousand arms.
Rage yawned. "Boring."
He charged again. He severed shadow-limbs with his red energy blade, laughing maniacally. He slid under a massive strike, uppercut Malakor into the air, and slammed him down onto the throne platform.
The Edict of Solmir—the iron pendant—slipped from Malakor's hand and skittered across the floor.
Rage landed on Malakor's chest, pinning him down. He raised his energy blade to decapitate him.
"Wait!" Malakor gasped.
Rage stopped. His grin faltered. He twitched.
"Tch," Rage hissed, looking at his own hand. The crimson skin was fading back to normal. "Time's up? Already? I just started having fun."
Rage looked at the Edict pendant lying nearby. Then he looked down at Malakor.
"I'd love to kill you," Rage growled. "But the brat needs a win. And he needs his battery."
Rage stood up and kicked Malakor in the ribs—hard enough to crack them. He snatched up the Edict of Solmir.
"Wake up, kid," Rage muttered, clutching the gem to his chest. "I got you the keys to the car. Try not to crash it."
Rage's eyes rolled back. The crimson light vanished. Zoran's body slumped forward, catching himself on his knees.
He gasped, air flooding his lungs. The pain returned—the ribs, the headache—but it was distant now. Zoran looked at his hand. He was holding the Edict. It dissolved into his skin like liquid gold, flooding his mind with the Royal Solmir Arts.
Zoran stood up. His eyes were gold again—but deep, calm, and ancient.
Don't celebrate yet, kid, a rough voice echoed in his skull.
Zoran stumbled. "Get out of my head."
Can't, Rage drawled in his mind. I'm part of the furniture now. And look, you're holding the sword wrong again. Loosen the grip, or you'll shatter your wrist when you block.
Across the room, Malakor stumbled to his feet. The Executive looked broken, his mask shattered to reveal a face that was less human and more like a void of swirling gray mist.
"No..." Malakor's voice was a grinding, distorted static. "I... I refined it. I brought order..."
"You brought nothing but pain," Zoran said.
Malakor began to shake. "I will not go back to the dark. I will BECOME it."
Malakor screamed. He slammed his hands into his own chest, tearing open his ribcage. But instead of blood, pure, unstable Void Essence erupted. The shadows in the room screamed as they were sucked into his body.
Oh, look at that, Rage commented dryly. He's doing the Forbidden Void Consumption. It's going to turn him into a monster. Ugly one, too.
Malakor's body warped. His limbs elongated into jagged claws. His skin hardened into obsidian scales. The intelligence faded from his eyes, replaced by a singular, hungry white light.
Malakor was gone. There was only the Void Beast.
He's trading his brain for muscle, Rage noted. He's faster than me now. Stronger than a Tier IV beast. If you try to tank a hit, you'll die. So... don't be stupid.
The Beast roared—a sound that shattered the remaining windows. It charged.
The speed was blinding. One moment it was on the dais; the next, a massive claw was inches from Zoran's face.
Duck left! Rage shouted.
Zoran dropped to his knees instantly. The claw sheared the air above him.
Stab upward! Now!
Zoran thrust his Stariron sword up. The blade bit into the Beast's forearm, drawing black blood.
The Beast shrieked and spun, swinging a massive tail made of bone and shadow.
Roll back! He's telegraphing the tail whip! Honestly, are you blind?
Zoran rolled backward, the tail smashing the floor where he had just been.
"He's strong," Zoran gasped. Every strike from the creature cracked the foundation of the tower.
He's juiced up on void magic, Rage agreed. But look at him, kid. He's drooling. He's a sledgehammer. You're a scalpel. Now stop dancing and use the Royal Arts I unlocked for you. The third rune. The gold one.
The Beast charged again, mouth gaping wide to bite Zoran in half.
Zoran stood his ground. He closed his eyes for a split second, visualizing the knowledge the Edict had given him.
Royal Art: Solmir's Chains.
Zoran slammed his hand onto the floor. Golden light erupted from the ground. Chains made of pure Aether shot up, wrapping around the Beast's ankles, wrists, and throat.
The Beast roared, thrashing against the bindings. The sheer strength of the monster cracked the golden links.
He's breaking them! Rage yelled. Finish him before he snaps the leash! Use the sword, you idiot!
"I know!" Zoran gritted his teeth.
He channeled everything he had left. His Aura, his Instinct, and even a sliver of Rage's red lightning poured into the Stariron sword. The blade hummed, extending into a six-foot beam of blinding energy.
The Beast snapped the chains. It lunged at Zoran.
Zoran didn't dodge. He stepped forward.
Aim for the core, Rage whispered. Right where his heart used to be.
Zoran slashed.
Royal Art: King's Severance.
A vertical beam of golden light bisected the room.
For a second, time seemed to freeze. The Beast passed through Zoran, landing behind him.
Zoran stood still, his sword lowered. The golden light on the blade faded, leaving the metal smoking.
Behind him, the Beast tried to roar, but no sound came out. A thin line of gold appeared down the center of the monster's body.
Clean cut, Rage muttered approvingly. Maybe you're not hopeless after all.
The Void Beast split in two. The two halves collapsed to the floor and dissolved instantly into black ash.
The room fell silent.
Zoran fell to his knees, the exhaustion hitting him like a physical blow.
Good nap, Rage yawned in his mind. Wake me up when there's something worth killing. Oh, and kid? Go save your mom.
The presence in his mind receded.
Zoran looked up. The lightning cage had deactivated. Queen Eliana was lying on the dais, still and pale.
"Mother!"
Zoran scrambled up the steps. He reached her side, falling to his knees, gathering her into his arms. She was cold.
"Mom?" Zoran whispered. "It's me. It's Zoran. We did it."
Eliana didn't move.
Panic, cold and sharp, pierced Zoran's chest. He placed a hand over her heart.
It was beating. Faintly. Threadbare. But beating.
"Vorn!" Zoran screamed toward the door, his voice cracking. "VORN!"