Chapter 36 – The Art of Unyielding Brutality-2
The cavern groaned like a wounded beast.
Lava veins pulsed through cracks in the obsidian floor, bleeding molten light into the suffocating dark. Each pulse echoed with the Revenant's breath — a rhythm of death that swallowed everything.
Shin spat blood into the dust, his grin gone. His eyes, once mischievous and taunting, now burned with something colder — something absolute.
> "Enough jokes."
Even his voice changed. The playfulness dissolved, replaced by silence sharp enough to cut through the roaring heat. His aura condensed; the air stopped moving, trapped by his killing intent.
He lowered his stance, one hand loosely gripping the hilt of his weapon — a flame baton hiding a blade so thin it reflected no light.
> "Serious Combat Style," he murmured, his tone almost reverent.
"The Art of Unyielding Brutality."
A tremor cracked the ground beneath his feet. The air warped.
When Shin vanished, he didn't just move — the world lost track of him.
The Revenant jerked its head, eyes widening as a blur of white flame and steel exploded from below.
The first strike came from nowhere — a rising slash that severed one of its claws cleanly off. The second came before its roar could form, splitting its shoulder open.
A sound like thunder and breaking glass filled the air — pressure waves from Shin's movements distorting the cavern's walls.
> "Fast…" Vaibhav's thoughts stuttered as he barely tracked the afterimages. "No — that's not speed. That's intent shaping space."
Every step Shin took carried a purpose so sharp it sliced through Qi itself. His movements were stripped of humor, deception, or rhythm — just raw, merciless precision. The contrast from his previous fighting style was terrifying.
He landed beside the Revenant's leg, his expression devoid of emotion.
A twist of his wrist, a flare of Qi — the Revenant's knee joint erupted, molten blood spilling like a geyser.
It swung its tail in fury — a mountain of living magma slicing through the air. Shin ducked, the wave of heat melting strands of his hair. He didn't retreat; he stepped in, under the beast's reach, slammed his knee into its abdomen, and followed with an elbow that caved in its ribs.
The resulting shockwave blew the lava pool behind him apart.
> Vaibhav shouted, "Shin! Don't get too close—!"
The warning came too late. The Revenant roared, a distorted shriek that bent the air. A shock pulse rippled out, slamming Shin against a stone pillar. The surface shattered like glass; shards embedded into his back.
He fell to one knee, coughing blood — and smiled through it.
> "Not bad… you've got lungs."
His blade twitched once, a subtle motion — and the pillar behind him exploded. The debris tore through the Revenant's flank.
He blurred forward again, blood still dripping from his mouth.
> "You want unyielding? Fine. Let's play."
Their battle became rhythm — brutality made art.
The Revenant struck with claws wreathed in molten Qi.
Shin met every attack head-on, no feints, no distractions — only retaliation.
Each impact cracked the cavern walls, sending glowing fragments of rock cascading like falling stars. The oppressive heat should've burned his lungs, but Shin's will burned hotter.
He ducked under a claw, spun, and his blade carved upward — slicing through flesh and lava alike. The Revenant staggered back, bellowing. Shin didn't let up. He leapt, used its shoulder as a foothold, and spun midair, driving his heel into its temple.
A boom erupted. The Revenant's head snapped sideways, a spray of molten blood splattering the walls.
Shin landed with both feet on its chest, using the recoil to thrust himself backward before its arm could catch him.
He landed beside Vaibhav, panting heavily.
> Vaibhav: "So that's your real face…"
Shin (wiping blood): "Don't blink."
The Revenant stomped forward, the earth trembling beneath its weight.
Its body regenerated — flesh knitting, molten blood solidifying into armor-like scales.
Shin sighed. "Persistent bastard."
Then his gaze sharpened — a scientist's curiosity hidden behind a killer's calm.
> "Let's see how your body handles a little science."
He ripped open a pouch strapped to his wrist watch — three metallic vials gleaming with ominous colors.
Vaibhav's eyes widened. "You're not seriously—"
> Shin smirked, "Oh, I'm very serious."
He flicked his wrist — three droplets of liquid metal arced through the air, each one rotating and humming with dangerous energy.
Polonium-210 — glowing blue like ghost fire, its radiation distorting the air.
Plutonium-239 — dull gray at first, then shimmering yellow as it oxidized.
Strontium-90 — a soft silver-white that turned pale gold mid-flight.
They collided midair, fusing into a trembling sphere of molten instability.
> Shin whispered, "And you thought chemistry was useless."
He kicked a shard of broken rock — the sphere followed the trajectory perfectly, like a guided star, and plunged straight into the Revenant's gaping maw.
The beast roared, flames bursting from its throat as the compounds reacted, blue light spiraling through its body.
> Shin (grinning through blood): "Swallow this, you oversized candle."
Then the countdown began.
Inside the Revenant's body, radiation met magma.
Atoms screamed. Qi twisted. The air became poison.
The creature convulsed, clawing at its own chest as blue fire tore through its veins. The smell of burnt Qi and corroding essence filled the cavern — a stench of decay and madness.
Shin staggered back, his body trembling from exhaustion.
> "Just need to hold it… long enough for it to eat itself alive."
The Revenant lunged, its movements wild, chaotic. It struck the floor, sending waves of molten rock outward. Shin barely managed to dodge, his boots melting against the heat.
Vaibhav dashed in from the side, intercepting the next blow with his forearm, his blade countering the beast's other claw.
The impact sent him flying backward — bones cracking. He landed hard, coughing blood.
> "Damn it… my Qi's draining too fast…"
Shin leaped over a collapsing ridge, rolling across the scorched ground to grab Vaibhav by the collar, dragging him aside as the Revenant's tail sliced through where they stood.
The tail tore through the ground, cutting a molten trench into the floor.
> Vaibhav: "We're… we're not going to make it."
Shin: "Don't talk like that. You sound like the last act of a tragedy play."
> Vaibhav (weak smile): "Maybe we are one."
The Revenant's scream rattled the entire chamber.
Its throat glowed bright blue — the metals were reaching critical reaction. But instead of slowing, it grew even more feral.
Chunks of its molten flesh fell, splattering into bubbling pools of acid-like lava. Its body was dying, yet somehow its power spiked higher.
Shin's eyes narrowed.
He could feel it — the instability. The energy was beyond what this cavern could contain.
The ceiling began to crack.
He looked at Vaibhav, who struggled to his feet, body shaking but eyes defiant.
> Shin: "Still alive?"
Vaibhav (smirking): "Barely. But if I die, you're paying for my funeral."
> Shin: "With what money? I spent it all on radioactive metals."
"Don't worry, That inverted eye monster will pay for our funeral."
They both laughed — a dry, hopeless laugh amidst chaos.
Then the Revenant charged.
It didn't walk — it erased distance.
Shin's instincts screamed; he pushed Vaibhav aside and raised his blade just in time.
The Revenant's claw met his weapon.
The impact cracked his bones — the shock traveling through his arms and spine. Blood spurted from his mouth.
Still, he didn't falter.
He twisted his wrist, redirected the blow, and with his other hand formed a Qi seal mid-motion — a condensed flame rune that detonated upon contact. The explosion tore off half the Revenant's chest.
Shin was thrown across the cavern, crashing through a wall of cooled magma. His vision blurred; he felt something wet in his lungs — blood or something worse.
He tried to stand. His right arm trembled violently, refusing to move. His left leg was twisted unnaturally.
> Shin (hoarse): "Still… not enough…"
He dragged himself up, leaning on his weapon like a cane.
> "Come on… You're a scientist, a fighter, a fool — pick one and move!"
His aura flared again, faint but resolute — a faint, pulsing crimson that burned away the surrounding heat.
The Revenant's eyes glowed brighter now, veins of blue light spiderwebbing across its body.
The radiation was tearing it apart — but in its agony, it became even more monstrous.
Alicia, standing at the edge of the battlefield, screamed their names, her tears catching the reflection of lava.
> "Shin! Vaibhav! Stop — you'll die!"
Shin didn't look back.
> "Yeah… probably."
He took one last breath, steadied his broken stance, and whispered:
> "But we're not done yet."
The Revenant leapt — a wall of molten flesh and light. Shin met it head-on.
Their collision collapsed the cavern roof. Lava cascaded like rain; stone and fire became one.
Every strike sounded like thunder, every motion a testament of defiance.
Vaibhav, half-conscious, could only watch as Shin's silhouette flickered in the storm of molten destruction — alone, unwavering, and unyielding.
And then—
A pulse of light expanded from within the Revenant's chest.
The blue glow intensified, swallowing its shape, the air, everything.
Shin stopped mid-swing, realization dawning in his eyes.
> "Oh… so that's how it is."
He looked at the radiant monster — now a ticking bomb of energy ready to implode.
> "Guess… I ran out of time."
The cavern began to collapse.
The Revenant's roar turned into a howl of distortion.
Shin smiled one last time — the old grin returning, faint but real.
> "Vyuk… Don't die before me, yeah?"
The screen of molten light swallowed everything.