The street below the rooftop was stained with drifting fragments of ghosts.
They were not bodies.
Not anymore.
Only shattered pieces of fading light—remains of souls that had been torn apart and consumed.
At the center of it all stood Arin.
My friend.
Or at least… the person who used to be.
His shoulders were hunched, his breathing uneven even though ghosts shouldn't breathe. Dark energy crawled across his arms like veins made of smoke.
He lifted another fading ghost fragment and absorbed it into his chest.
The fragment screamed as it vanished.
I felt the sound inside my skull.
Not in my ears.
Inside my mind.
"Arin…" I whispered.
His head slowly tilted upward.
Our eyes met.
For a moment, something human flickered there.
Then it disappeared.
A twisted smile spread across his face.
"Rive."
My name came out broken.
Like something learning how to speak again.
Vikram stepped forward beside me.
His voice was low.
"That's not your friend anymore."
Arin laughed.
The sound was hollow.
"You're wrong," he said softly. "I remember everything."
His glowing eyes locked onto me.
"I remember how weak we were."
The air around him darkened.
"I remember dying."
His fingers curled slowly.
"And I remember the moment I realized something."
More energy twisted around his body.
"Power… comes from devouring."
The temperature of the ghost city seemed to drop.
"Arin," I said quietly.
"You don't have to do this."
His smile widened.
"But I do."
He raised his hand.
"You're strong, Rive."
"Stronger than the others."
A pulse of energy spread through the street.
"Which means if I devour you…"
His voice dropped into a whisper.
"I'll become unstoppable."
Something inside my chest broke.
Not fear.
Something worse.
Understanding.
Vikram moved first.
His hand slammed against the rooftop floor.
The concrete beneath him cracked open as glowing fractures spread outward like lightning trapped in stone.
Wind exploded upward.
"Nature Authority," Vikram muttered.
The entire rooftop trembled.
Dust and shattered metal lifted into the air.
Vikram's eyes glowed faintly.
"Stamina Destruction."
The ground below Arin erupted.
Stone pillars burst from the street, attempting to crush him from every direction.
The attack hit with terrifying force.
The entire road shattered.
But when the dust cleared—
Arin was still standing.
His body was cracked.
Dark energy leaked from the wounds.
And then—
The cracks slowly healed.
He smiled.
"Interesting."
Vikram's expression hardened.
"Damn it."
Arin looked up at us again.
"You're strong too," he said.
"But not strong enough."
In the next instant—
He vanished.
The rooftop exploded.
Vikram barely pulled me aside as Arin slammed into the ground where we had been standing.
The impact cracked the entire building.
The sound echoed across the dead city.
Vikram launched another attack instantly.
Wind spiraled violently around his arm as he struck Arin with a blast of compressed force.
The shockwave shattered nearby antennas and tore pieces of the rooftop into the sky.
But Arin didn't fall.
He grabbed Vikram by the throat.
The movement was fast.
Too fast.
Dark energy surged through his hand as he lifted Vikram into the air.
"You're exhausting," Arin said quietly.
Vikram struggled.
The energy around his body flickered.
His power was fading.
Arin tightened his grip.
Then—
Something inside me snapped.
A cold pressure spread through my chest.
My hands began to tremble.
Every memory of Arin crashed through my mind.
The two of us laughing.
Running through the streets.
Talking about the future.
A future that no longer existed.
I stepped forward slowly.
Arin looked at me.
His smile returned.
"There you are."
"You should have run."
My voice came out quieter than I expected.
"No."
The energy around me shifted.
Something deep inside my soul began to awaken.
"I'm done running."
Arin's eyes narrowed.
"Good."
He threw Vikram aside like broken glass.
Vikram slammed against the rooftop wall, barely conscious.
Arin turned toward me fully now.
Dark power surrounded him like a storm.
"Come closer, Rive."
His voice was hungry.
"Let me grow stronger."
I stared at him.
At what he had become.
And something inside my chest hardened.
"You want to kill me," I said slowly.
"Because of power."
Arin smiled.
"Yes."
The wind stopped.
The entire ghost city seemed to hold its breath.
I raised my head.
"If a friend wants to kill me for power…"
My voice became colder.
"…then I don't need that friend."
The energy inside me erupted.
Not one power.
Not two.
Many.
Wind twisted violently around the rooftop.
Fragments of the ground lifted into the air.
And deep inside my mind—
Something opened.
A vision.
A glimpse of the next moment.
The future.
Arin's expression finally changed.
For the first time—
He looked uncertain.
"…What are you?"
I stepped forward slowly.
The power around me grew darker.
"I don't know yet."
The rooftop cracked beneath my feet.
"But you wanted power."
The air trembled.
"So come and take it."
Arin's smile slowly returned.
And then—
The battle truly began.