Violet stood atop the rooftop, looking down at the ruin below.
Possessed villagers crawled through the streets like corpses pulled by invisible strings—tripping over one another, stepping on fallen bodies without a hint of awareness.
"Tck…" Violet clicked her tongue, eyes cold. "Disgusting."
Behind her, Lysa stood frozen, hands trembling around her bow.
Violet noticed movement.
Assassins.
Several figures leapt between rooftops, closing in fast.
"Lysa," Violet said without turning. "Go for the kill."
Lysa flinched.
"Y–Yes!"
She raised her bow, breath shaking, and loosed an arrow.
One assassin twisted mid-air, barely avoiding it.
"Hahaha! Captain—looks like you're drained out already!"
He sprang forward—
Violet dodged.
The assassin's eyes widened just before a chain smashed into his face.
CRACK!
His body flew backward, tumbling lifelessly off the roof.
More came—two from the left, one from behind.
Violet spun, chains snapping through the air, forcing them back.
But another group dropped onto the rooftop behind her.
Straight toward Lysa.
Lysa's breath hitched.
They were too close.
Too many.
Swords glinted as they advanced.
She stepped back instinctively, drawing another arrow—but her hands shook.
H-How am I supposed to hit so many directions at once…?
An assassin lunged.
Lysa's eyes widened.
An assassin's sword was only inches away from her—
SLAM!
A shockwave blasted the assassin away, his body flying off the rooftop.
"D-Drexx!" Lysa shouted, relief flooding her face.
"I'm really sorry," Drexx said, rubbing the back of his head with a crooked grin. "Guess I slept a little too long."
Lysa blinked—then smiled.
"It's not just Drexx, Captain," she said.
Another presence stepped forward.
Captain Lucus emerged from the shadows, his cloak torn, faint bloodstains visible beneath the fabric.
He smiled calmly at Lysa.
"You did well," he said.
"But—Captain, you're hurt," Lysa said quickly.
Lucus nodded. "Y-Yeah. But I'm fine now."
"Good," Violet said, turning toward him. "Because I need your help."
Lucus straightened instantly.
"I've heavily injured the Monk," Violet continued. "But he escaped. Two students are chasing him."
Her eyes hardened.
"If the Monk recovers his power… everything is doomed."
Lucus's expression sharpened. "Understood."
"Yes, ma'am," he said firmly.
Violet turned. "Drexx—you're with me."
Drexx nodded without hesitation.
Lucus stepped toward the edge of the rooftop, closing his eyes.
He could feel it.
That twisted presence.
"I won't let the kids die," he said quietly.
Violet met his gaze. "See that you don't."
Lucus vanished.
The rooftop fell silent for a split second.
The hunt had begun.
"Only my chains can free the possessed villagers," Violet said, eyes fixed on the chaos below.
"I'll detach the chains from my arms and legs. You'll use them to bind the villagers."
Drexx stiffened. "Y–Yes, but… I don't know how to use them."
Violet glanced at him. "Don't worry. I'll teach you."
She turned.
"Lysa."
Lysa didn't answer.
Her eyes were locked on the village skyline—on the tallest building rising above the rest.
She narrowed her gaze.
Then she looked at Drexx.
"Can you get me up there?" Lysa asked.
Drexx blinked. "W–What?"
"Just do as she says," Violet ordered calmly.
She handed Lysa a spear—not too large, balanced, deadly.
"Take this," Violet said. "Use it only if necessary."
Lysa's fingers tightened around the weapon.
It was the same spear Miss Violet had used on the Monk.
"…I won't waste it," Lysa said quietly.
Drexx grabbed Lysa around the waist.
In a single leap, they soared from rooftop to rooftop, wind rushing past as buildings blurred beneath them.
They landed hard atop the highest roof.
"Don't fall," Drexx said quickly.
Before Lysa could reply, he jumped away, disappearing into the chaos below.
Lysa stood alone above the village.
High above the possessed.
Bow on her back. Spear in hand.
She took a steady breath.
Steel collided.
Duke's sword slammed against the glaive—
CRACK!
The blade snapped in half.
Duke froze.
Shock flooded his face as the broken steel fell from his hand and clattered onto the rooftop.
The Monk's grin stretched wider.
"Your sword was already dying," he said calmly. "From the very first strike."
His eyes gleamed.
"You poured too much Kendra into it. It couldn't contain that power."
Duke's breath hitched.
Panic flickered in his eyes.
"So," the Monk continued, tightening his grip on the glaive, "what will you do now?"
Before he could react—
CLAAANG!
The Monk's glaive screeched as it blocked the strike.
Samaira stood before him, her own glaive locked against his.
"What do you think you're doing?" the Monk asked, smirking.
"Duke—move!" Samaira shouted.
Duke took the opening.
He lunged forward with his fist—
THUD!
The Monk twisted and drove a brutal back kick into Duke's chest.
Duke was sent crashing into the rooftop, skidding across stone.
Samaira gritted her teeth and shoved forward, forcing the Monk back a step.
"Oh?" the Monk chuckled. "That's good strength—for a woman."
His smile widened.
"Too bad… I'm starting to get my power back."
Dark blue Kendra energy surged around his glaive, crackling violently.
Samaira clicked her tongue. "Tck."
Duke struggled to rise, panic tightening his chest.
He's regaining his power… this is bad.
The Monk charged.
Samaira met him head-on.
CLANG—CLASH—CRACK!
Their glaives collided again and again, shockwaves rippling through the air.
They were evenly matched.
For now.
The Monk laughed, eyes gleaming.
"Good. You're keeping up with me."
Samaira felt it.
Every strike was heavier.
Every clash more violent.
He's getting stronger.
Duke watched from the ground, fists clenched.
I can't jump in now… I'd only get in the way.
Monk's eyes narrowed, cold and sharp.
"Why are you not using Kendra energy?" he demanded, stepping closer. "Don't tell me you don't know how to use it."
Dark blue energy crackled along his glaive, twisting like smoke in the night. The weapon glowed ominously, pulsing with raw, violent power.
Samaira tightened her grip, her arms trembling, but she planted her feet firmly. She raised her glaive to block.
CLANG!
The impact shook the air. Samaira's arms burned under the force, and before she could recover, the Monk twisted sharply, sending her crashing into a wall.
CRASH!
Wood splintered, stone dust rained down, and a sharp taste of blood filled her mouth. She coughed violently, clutching her chest. Blood trickled from the corner of her lips.
Her vision blurred for a moment. He was… already back to full power.
The Monk's grin widened, cruel and knowing. "Good… good strength—but it won't be enough."
The Monk's glaive pulsed with a dark blue light. He shifted his stance, bracing to launch a Kendra Slash at Samaira. "Now... you die," he sneered.
Before he could swing, Duke lunged.
The Monk sensed the movement and whipped the heavy blade around in a deadly arc.
Duke barely ducked the steel, the wind of the blade whistling over his head. Seizing the opening, Duke reached out and clamped his hands onto the shaft of the glaive.
"What are you doing, brat?!" the Monk hissed, trying to wrench the weapon away.
"I'm not letting go," Duke growled.
The Monk snarled and drove a brutal knee into Duke's gut. The air left Duke's lungs in a sickening gasp, and he nearly retched, but his grip remained like iron.
"This isn't a game," the Monk muttered, his dark blue Kendra flared dangerously as he began to physically overpower Duke, pressing him down toward the dirt.
"I will kill you in the most brutal way imaginable."
Duke looked up, staring straight into the Monk's eyes.
He didn't flinch. Instead, he screamed—a raw, primal sound that tore through the air.
Green, howling Kendra erupted from Duke's body.
"W-what is this?!" the Monk gasped, his confidence shattering.
The two energies clashed, but it wasn't a contest for long.
Duke's green wind began to swallow the blue light, turning the Monk's power invisible by comparison. With a roar, Duke surged forward, driving the Monk backward step by step towards the wall.
Duke drove him back, pinning him to the wall and burying him into the masonry with relentless, bone-crushing pressure.
The wind howled.
CRACK—CRACK—CRACK!
The stone wall behind the Monk began to fracture.
"AH—STOP—!" the Monk screamed, struggling.
But it was useless.
Duke kept pushing.
Relentless.
Unstoppable.
"I—I'LL KILL YOU!" the Monk shrieked—
—but his voice was breaking.
He was helpless.
Duke kept pushing.
The wall behind the Monk was on the verge of collapse cracks racing outward like spiderwebs.
Then—
Duke stopped.
The wind vanished.
The pressure disappeared so suddenly that the Monk staggered forward in confusion.
"Huh—?"
Duke's eyes sharpened.
Green Kendra condensed around his fist, the air screaming as it compressed tighter and tighter.
Then—
BOOM!
Duke drove his punch straight into the Monk's face.
A green shockwave exploded on impact.
The sound was deafening.
The wall behind them didn't just crack—
It detonated.
Stone and wood burst apart as the Monk was launched backward like a cannonball, smashing straight through the wall and vanishing into the house beyond.
The entire building shuddered.
Dust and debris rained into the street below.
Duke stood where he was, fist still extended, green wind tearing violently around his arm.
Slowly, he exhaled.
"…Stay down," he muttered.
Duke dropped to one knee, gasping.
"Ah… uff… ah… aah…"
Samaira came running, her eyes wide with worry.
"Duke! Are you okay?" she shouted, reaching for him.
"I… I can feel it… I'm at my limit," Duke rasped, struggling to stay upright.
"Ufff…"
At least it's over now," Samaira said, her eyes scanning the distance. The complex of houses was a twisted ruin—walls crumbled, wood splintered, and in the middle of it all, the Monk lay, his face completely distorted from the impact.
"Wait… check him first," Duke said, still crouched on one knee, his voice firm despite the exhaustion
Meanwhile
Dan Fisher ran through the empty streets of the village, breath ragged.
Damn it… I haven't fully recovered yet.
His boots slammed against stone as he turned a corner—
Something flashed.
A double-pointed spear shot toward his neck.
He twisted just in time.
SHRK!
The blade grazed his skin, drawing a thin line of blood.
"AHH—! You bastard! Are you trying to kill me?!" Dan snarled.
A figure stepped out from the shadows.
Derius.
He spun the double-pointed spear effortlessly in his hands, eyes cold.
"Hey, trash," Derius said flatly. "Where do you think you're running?"
Dan raised his sword just as Derius lunged.
CLANG!
Steel met steel.
But the spear didn't stop.
One end was blocked—
the other came snapping toward Dan's face.
"Tch—!"
Dan barely leaned back in time, the blade slicing past his cheek.
He stumbled.
How—? I crushed this brat earlier!
Why is he moving like this?!
Derius pressed forward without mercy.
From a distance, he thrust.
The spear pierced straight through Dan's shoulder.
"AAAGH—!!"
Derius didn't stop.
He stepped in and slammed his foot into Dan's chest—
BOOM!
Dan was hurled backward, crashing through a wall in a shower of stone and dust.
Rubble collapsed around him.
Derius lowered his spear, eyes locked on the wreckage.
"Run again," he said coldly. "I dare you."
"You bastard—TEMPE—!"
Dan tried to channel his Kendra—
Too late.
Derius stepped in and drove his spear straight through Dan's palm.
SHRK!
"AAAAAHH—!!"
Dan screamed as the blade pinned his hand to the wall behind him.
Blood splattered across the stone.
Derius didn't stop.
He pushed the spear in deeper.
"AAAAHHH—STOP—!!"
Derius slammed his foot into Dan's face.
CRACK!
Dan's head snapped sideways as his body sagged, barely held upright by the spear embedded through his hand.
His sword clattered uselessly to the ground.
Derius leaned in close, voice cold and flat.
"No techniques," he said.
"No speeches."
He twisted the spear slightly.
Back with Dan and Derius:
"AHHH!" Dan screamed—then, impossibly, he smiled.
"You… you can't kill him," Dan spat, eyes blazing.
"What?!" Derius growled, swinging his fists at Dan's face.
Dan didn't flinch. He continued punching Derius, each strike fueled by raw determination.
"He… he's immortal!" Dan gasped
Back to Duke and Samaira:
"You've got to be kidding me…" Samaira muttered, collapsing to her knees.
"Why… why isn't he dying?" Her eyes widened as she watched the distance.
The Monk rose again, dark blue Kendra swirling around him.
Duke, utterly exhausted, gazed at the Monk. His chest heaved.
The Monk smiled, cruel and confident.
"Even your teacher couldn't kill me," he said, voice echoing. "And you think… you can?"
The air rippled as the Monk began to float into the air, Kendra energy pulsating around him.
He hovered in a chilling meditative stance, eyes gleaming, and growled, "Demonic Meditation!"his ultimate technique.
"It's over," Duke muttered, gritting his teeth, his fists clenching.