The sound of Vermiliya's agony ripped through the air, high-pitched and raw. It was a scream that crawled under the skin, making the blood run cold.
Ayelen and Arnold stood frozen for a fraction of a second, their jaws tightening until their teeth groaned under the pressure. The air was thick with the copper scent of blood and the suffocating pressure of an enemy they couldn't afford to underestimate.
"Go and watch her," Ayelen said, his voice dropping into a low, dangerous growl. "I will take care of this."
Arnold hesitated, his eyes darting between the writhing Vermiliya and the monster before them. "But you can't defeat him alone. He's too much for one person."
Ayelen didn't look back. Instead, a slow, dark smirk pulled at the corner of his lips, though there was no humor in his eyes. "I have an idea."
In one fluid, violent motion, Ayelen unleashed his own Shen Kao. The sheer force of the activation collided with Arnold's existing field. There was a sickening crack as Arnold's Shen Kao shattered under the superior pressure of Ayelen's energy.
It happened in a heartbeat. For a millisecond, a vacuum existed. Arnold's defense was gone, and Ayelen's was still surging into existence. In that tiny gap of time, Ayelen lunged.
He reached out and clamped his hand over Galsen's face, his fingers digging into the flesh like iron talons. He channeled every ounce of his energy into his fists. With a roar that sounded more like a beast than a man, Ayelen buried his fist into Galsen's face.
Then again. And again.
By the time Ayelen's Shen Kao fully formed, Galsen's head was snapping back with the force of a piston. Ayelen didn't stop. Even when the glowing energy in his hands flickered and died, exhausted by the output, he kept swinging. He smashed his knuckles into the creature's face over and over, the sound of breaking bone echoing through the silent clearing.
Galsen let out one final, haunting scream—a sound of pure, supernatural terror—before his body went limp. He was dead, but Ayelen's eyes were blank, glazed over with a terrifying, mindless rage. He continued to strike the corpse, his hands becoming a mask of red.
"Ayelen! Stop!"
Arnold rushed forward, grabbing Ayelen from behind and pinning his arms. Ayelen thrashed in his grip, his breath coming in ragged, feral gasps. He had gone completely berserk. For a long, tense moment, the only sound was the heavy thud of Ayelen's heart and his labored breathing.
Slowly, the light returned to his eyes. The murderous tension left his muscles, and his Shen Kao dissipated into the mist. Everything suddenly felt lighter, the oppressive weight of Galsen's presence finally lifting from the world.
But the relief was short-lived.
"Vermiliya..." Arnold whispered.
She was pale, her skin turning a sickly translucent shade. The toxin was still pumping through her veins, a dark poison that refused to stop. Her eyes were rolling back into her head as she drifted toward unconsciousness.
Ayelen didn't hesitate. His body began to shimmer, then suddenly, he disintegrated. He broke apart into trillions of microscopic particles, a cloud of shimmering dust that swirled toward the dying girl. The particles entered her pores, moving through her bloodstream and deep into her organs.
Within her body, Ayelen rearranged himself, pulling his physical form back together from the inside out.
As he stepped away from her, Vermiliya's color returned. The dark veins retreated, and her breathing steadied. She was stable.
Arnold stood back, his eyes wide with disbelief. "What... what was that?"
Ayelen wiped a smear of blood from his cheek, his voice steady again. "When I broke apart, every particle was a Nyloxin cell. I used them to repair her cells one by one. Since we both contain Nyloxin, I could force the toxin out of her system and wipe it clean."
Vermiliya's eyelashes fluttered. She groaned softly, her eyes finally opening to see Ayelen and Arnold standing over her. The memory of the pain was still fresh, and as soon as she realized how close they were, she scrambled backward, putting distance between them.
Arnold watched her, a playful, lopsided grin forming on his face despite the carnage around them. "You know, you should really say thanks to your friend. He's a real genius." He paused, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "Oh, wait. My mistake. Is it... boyfriend?"
The effect was instant. Vermiliya's face turned a deep, burning crimson. Beside her, Ayelen looked away, his ears turning red as he stared intensely at a nearby tree.
In that moment, a memory flashed through Vermiliya's mind.
She remembered the feeling of Ayelen lifting her, his arms strong and protective as he carried her through the chaos. At that first sight, something had shifted inside her. She had felt a spark—the beginning of a crush she didn't want to admit to.
But the darkness of her past was a heavy shroud. The trauma inflicted by her father had left a scar so deep that she had convinced herself that men were nothing but monsters. To her, a "good man" simply didn't exist. When Arnold, a total stranger, had helped her, she felt her resolve wavering. But the trauma was a cold, familiar weight, dragging her back into the shadows of her own mind before she could reach for the light.
Slap!
The sound of her hand hitting Arnold's back snapped everyone back to reality.
"He is just a friend!" she barked, her face still red but her expression fierce. "Don't think too far ahead!"
The small moment of levity died quickly as they looked around. The air grew heavy again. They had forgotten something—or rather, someone.
Flauge was still lying on the ground, completely unconscious. Arnold sighed and moved over, hoisting the man onto his back. "Right. We still need to find that key."
Ayelen looked at the limp form of Flauge. "What if he dies while he's asleep? He hasn't moved an inch."
Arnold shook his head as they began to walk. "Don't worry about him. He's a god. He won't die unless the God of Moderator and the God of Destroyer both agree to it, or if he decides to end it himself. For now, focus on the good news. Galsen is dead."
Arnold stepped over a fallen branch, his voice full of grim satisfaction. "He was the strongest Nylomite. With him gone, things should get easier."
Ayelen stopped in his tracks. His heart skipped a beat. "What did you just say?"
Arnold blinked, confused by the sudden shift in Ayelen's tone. "I said he was the strongest Nylomite..."
"EVERYONE HIDE!" Ayelen screamed, his voice cracking with pure terror.
Slash!
The sound was like a butcher's knife through raw meat. Before Ayelen could even reach for his power, a blur of movement tore through the air. A new creature, faster than anything they had ever seen, appeared from the shadows.
Ayelen gasped, his eyes wide as he looked down. A jagged, dark blade had sliced clean across his belly, blood is about to splash but ayelen covered it by his hand
CHAPTER 21 ENDS