When the rain of light ceased, and the smoke and dust slowly dispersed.
Brain lay motionless in the center of the shallow pit his body had created, like a discarded, worn-out doll. His entire body was charred black, and his breath was incredibly faint, like a flickering candle in the wind, ready to extinguish at any moment.
Beneath him was a large, shocking pool of dark red blood.
The skull staff had also lost its luster, lying askew not far away. The soul flame at its head was so dim it was just a tiny, pea-sized quietgreen glow, emitting a faint, almost weeping moan.
Ezreal's footsteps were silent as he slowly walked to the center of the wreckage.
Three powerful Summoned Beasts stood behind him like guardian demon gods, encircling their master.
The Evil Wolf's crimson eyes still held their ferocity, and a low growl rumbled in its throat.
The flames on the Treant's crown burned quietly, and its vines slowly writhed on the scorched earth around it.
The Blue Buff's single eye held its energy, radiating a heavy sense of oppression, silently rotating and scanning the entire scene.
Brain lay on the cold, charred ground, his eyes unfocused and hollow, staring at the half-collapsed ceiling. Within them was an intense, unyielding reluctance and... a disbelief regarding the cause of his defeat.
He parted his lips, which were covered in bloody scabs, but only a 'ho... ho...' sound of air escaped his throat. He seemed to want to say something – a curse? A question?
Perhaps even he didn't know.
Ezreal's golden pupils calmly gazed down at his former formidable enemy, devoid of any joy of victory. There was only a cold, calm scrutiny, as if looking at an item that needed to be dealt with.
He slowly raised his right hand, and a brilliant, dangerous pure white light began to condense and compress at his fingertips. The surrounding air slightly warped due to this high-density magic power.
This was the finishing blow, one that would completely annihilate this dark husk and the remaining soul within it.
However—
Just as that fatal light was about to be unleashed!
A change... occurred again!
Brain, seemingly dead on the ground, suddenly began to twitch violently!
The amplitude was so great that it even caused his entire skeleton to emit a grating 'click-clack' sound!
It completely exceeded the limits of a severely injured body's possible reactions!
'Ho... ho ho...' A strange sound, not human, like an old bellows being violently pulled, squeezed from deep within his throat. Dry blood foam mixed with viscous saliva overflowed from the corners of his mouth, and the originally dim light in his eyes completely vanished, replaced by a pure, heart-stopping surge of darkness!
Immediately after!
The sole remaining black rune on his face, which had been dim and almost gone due to his severe injuries, suddenly erupted with a dazzling, ominous pitch-black light, as if experiencing a final burst of vitality!
'Uh ah ah ah—!!!'
A roar, completely inhuman, filled with extreme pain, savagery, and madness, suddenly erupted from Brain's mouth!
His originally unfocused, despairing eyes were instantly replaced by a solidified, hellish, magma-like crimson!
An evil aura, even more terrifying, purer, more chaotic, and filled with endless destructive desire than Brain's full power, erupted like a volcano suppressed for ten thousand years, from his shattered body... with a deafening roar!
Boom—!!!
A furious wave of dark energy exploded outwards from Brain, pushing back Ezreal and the Summoned Beasts several steps!
Brain on the ground... no!
The entity now occupying this body suddenly sprang up from the ground in an extremely bizarre posture, defying human anatomy!
He was hunched over, head down, his long, gray-white hair falling messily, obscuring most of his face.
But through the gaps in his hair, those crimson, blood-red pupils, burning with madness and destructive flames, locked onto Ezreal with a soul-shaking malice!
'Ho ho ho... ho ho ho ho...'
A low, hoarse, metallic-rubbing laugh squeezed from his throat, filled with twisted pleasure and... liberation!
He slowly, very stiffly... raised his head.
Brain's face was now contorted into a completely unfamiliar, savage, and deranged... demon-like smile!
'Finally... finally... free...'
He stuck out his tongue and licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, his movements carrying an inhuman greed and cruelty.
Then, he suddenly spread his arms wide, threw his head back, and let out a deafening, soul-shattering roar:
'Hahahahaha—!!!!'
'Zero... has arrived!!!'
The terrifying sound wave, mixed with violent dark magic power, swept through the entire control room like a hurricane!
Ezreal's pupils contracted sharply, his golden eyes reflecting the figure that had risen from the pool of blood, demon-like, radiating an aura even more terrifying than Brain's.
He took a deep breath and clenched his fists.
Brain had fallen... but an even more terrifying monster... had awakened!
Zero's crimson pupils slowly rotated, sweeping over Ezreal and the three Summoned Beasts behind him. There was no rationality in that gaze, only pure, naked destructive desire!
'Brain, that good-for-nothing...' Zero's voice was hoarse and grating, like two rusty iron plates rubbing together, 'actually lost to a brat like you...'
He slowly, step by step, moved forward.
With each step, the charred rock beneath his feet hissed as if corroded by strong acid, leaving a smoking footprint.
'But, it doesn't matter...' Zero's smile grew more ferocious, 'His body... his power... now, they are all mine!'
He suddenly clenched his fists!
Om—!!!
Even more violent dark magic power surged from his body!
The charred wounds on his body healed and twisted at a visible rate under the surging, living-like, viscous darkness!
Broken bones forcibly reconnected and deformed within the darkness!
His aura ascended wildly, like a rocket!
It instantly surpassed Brain's peak, and was still continuously rising!
A suffocating, almost tangible pressure of destruction, like a heavy mountain, pressed down heavily on Ezreal and all the Summoned Beasts' hearts!
'And you...' Zero's crimson pupils locked onto Ezreal, a cruel arc forming at the corner of his mouth, 'and these little bugs...'
'Will all become... my first offering... after regaining my freedom!'
The monster that had awakened inside Brain—'Zero'—its aura... was even more terrifying than Brain's before!
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