The battlefield had cleared. The sky was calm, yet the black and white aura swirling around Jinyoung trembled with restless energy.
He closed his eyes. I need control.
The Duality inside him—Abyss and Death—still pulsed violently, threatening to devour everything around him.
A whisper echoed in the depths of his mind.
"You're not ready… but you must be."
Jinyoung's eyes snapped open. Darkness and light collided inside his skull, forcing him to his knees. Then a presence solidified—massive, ancient, absolute.
Yogaroth.
The Monarch of Death. His essence seeped into Jinyoung's consciousness like liquid shadow, folding around every thought. His voice was both everywhere and nowhere:
"Child… you carry my legacy now. But it is raw. Untamed. Dangerous."
"I… I want control," Jinyoung muttered, his voice shaking. "I don't want to hurt anyone… I can't."
"You won't. But you must understand what you are."
In that moment, Jinyoung was no longer in the battlefield. He was in an endless void of shifting black and white, the abyss stretching infinitely, pulsating with the energy of death itself.
From the darkness, shapes emerged—soldiers of shadow and bone, beasts formed from nothingness, the core of Yogaroth's army. They were silent, awaiting a command.
"They are yours," Yogaroth's voice rumbled. "But remember—they obey only because I will them to obey you. If your mind falters… they will devour you first."
Jinyoung's hands glowed. He reached out. The soldiers trembled and solidified into a formation around him.
This… is my army now, he thought. My allies. My strength.
He could feel their power—the weight of thousands of battles, thousands of deaths, the sheer force of evolution and fear condensed into obedient entities.
"You will not only wield me," Yogaroth said, appearing as a shifting figure behind him, skeletal yet regal, "you will learn from me. The abyss does not give power freely. It tests, tempers, and perfects."
Jinyoung exhaled, forcing the aura around him to shrink, to calm. Slowly, carefully, the chaos inside him folded into a controlled swirl. Every soldier, every beast, every shadow became extensions of his will, responding without hesitation.
"Good," Yogaroth said. "Now your allies must understand the gravity of what they face. Teach them… or let them learn through death."
Haru, Riyomi, and Riku approached cautiously, sensing the army without fully understanding its nature.
Haru's eyes widened as he realized the magnitude. "That… that's Yogaroth's legion?"
"They obey me," Jinyoung said, his voice steady now, but only because I control myself.
Riyomi clenched her fists. "Then we train. We need to match even a fraction of that power."
"Yes," Jinyoung agreed. If the Monarch comes, we cannot falter. If we falter… they will all die.
The army stood behind him, silent, patient, yet ready to act. The hunters knew one thing: the power of Death itself now fought alongside them, but it demanded respect, focus, and absolute control.
And deep inside, in the silent void of his mind, Yogaroth's shadow lingered, watching, waiting, a reminder of what he truly was—and what he could become.
Soon, Jinyoung thought, they will come. The Monarchs are aware. And when they do… we will be ready.