The spiraling winds conveyed rowdiness from silhouettes, which enlarged as the tempest approached. Indistinct voices began to amplify, muffled by the whipping sounds of the winds.
Deafened, XN could only rely on his sight. The moving shadows — tinted red in his vision — took form enough to identify humanoid morphologies, closely following the tempest.
"Tsk! Scavengers…"
XN exclaimed to himself with disgust.
Creatures could be fearsome in the wastelands, yet clans of scavengers were more troublesome — they were instinctively offensive due to their ecosystem. Though the approaching horde had yet to bare its fangs, their arrogance was expressed through uproar.
"I'm starting to think I should've stayed in bed."
Faithful to himself, XN let sarcasm slip.
"Something's off, though…"
Scavengers were common, but—
"Why aren't they running from the danger? Instead, they seem to follow it."
A grinding sound isolated itself from the cacophony. XN's focus — interrupted by the changing dynamics of the particles in the sand — gradually picked up the hint.
"That's it!"
"They must be using the velocity of the ironstone grit to enhance the growth of the sandstorm."
The subterfuge was exposed. It was now obvious — the sandstorm was scavenger-made.
From within the silhouettes, a fae-like voice pierced through.
"Oh… What do we have here?"
XN's eyes narrowed, brows knotting into a fierce squint as he scanned the tempest, curiously gazing toward the source of the voice.
"Don't get in the way, dumbass… Hahaha."
With the mockery lingering in the winds, XN's breathing deepened, his heart racing. The conflict wasn't confirmed, yet he felt threatened. A purple surge of energy sparked from his left arm, and the left side of his face bathed in stretches of nebular darkness, besieging his purple-lit pupil.
Behind the tempest, the noise steadily hushed. XN's silhouette vanished — blinded by the purple lights released from his arm and eye.
For a brief moment, silence dominated the battlefield. The winds remained violent and the grinding sound grew louder. XN scanned the environment again, his focus sharpening until he spotted the origin of the sound—at the core of the whirlwind.
In an instant, XN's body moved effortlessly towards the disaster. His features were cast into the shadow beneath his hair dancing in the wind, the darkness enhanced by the aura escaping from his left eye.
The horde, witnessing XN's insanity, murmured.
"Huh? What's wrong with him?"
"He must be suicidal!"
Among them, the screeching voice added calmly. His face remained relaxed behind improvised shades.
"Who cares? We just have to wait for the storm to kill him…"
His tone shifted from mockery to malice as he pursued.
"…and then those shining scraps will be ours."
XN held his food and journal tucked against his right side. His body was void of emotions, and his right eye dilated — void of life. Internally, he stood in complete obscurity as his body gradually slipped from his control.
From within, the intimidating tone of the entity encouraged him.
"Yes! Hand your body to me, and I'll prey on your predators."
Its terrifying purple aura — steadily escaping from XN's arm — bled into the atmosphere. The echoes of its voice intensified.
"I'll devour your enemies, and so shall my wrath be satisfied."
In his loneliness, XN bent to the entity's lead, suppressed by the overwhelming pressure within. His body advanced into the chaos, the aura parting the howling gales and sowing uncertainty among the scavengers.
"Err… aren't we going to do something?"
"Yeah! His scraps won't be of much help once the storm consumes him."
Little did they know the figure approaching was no longer XN—it was a predator.
The air grew unbreathable within the predator's perimeter as the radius expanded. Iron dust began to rust, slowing the storm's velocity and weakening its force.
"Eh? Something's off. Why is the storm… fading?"
From the horde, a voice traveled through the gusty noise to a green-haired scavenger.
"Vlad, the sky—"
Vlad, the screeching voice, choked as disbelief seized him.
"Wha—"
Behind him, his crew suffocated, gasping as though oxygen itself was stripped away. The predator's aura had reached them.
[Cough]
The scavengers, dismayed by the turn of events, became cautious, panic drawn on their faces.
"Vlad, what do we do?"
Looking at XN — face filtered by the haze — Vlad recoiled, horrified by the predator's fierce eyes. His crew couldn't remain passive under the crushing pressure of the aura. Rapidly, a debate surged from the horde.
"He… he can't be human."
"Who's he, anyway?"
Scavengers were opportunists, and when they were a clan, their leaders were often prideful. Vlad was a prideful one, who responded in disgust.
"Hein? Are you suggesting we fall back?!"
On his left, a scavenger with black hair and bold brows questioned him.
"What if BLOOM's after us, Vlad?"
"Not for this stupid cube, no. You saw how it got destroyed easily, didn't you?" — Vlad
Suddenly, pure darkness draped the environment — interrupting the argument. The sun glowed with a dark purple hue. The moment after, the battlefield was submerged in silence. The tempest vanished — along with the predator.
Vlad stood up, facing the horrified horde. A growing shadow stretched across the ground, sheltering him. His heart throbbed as adrenaline soaked his face. Slowly, he turned—only to find the hardpan left by lashing winds.
"Ha! I told y'all he was doomed."
He smiled with relief.
"Eh? Guys?"
Suddenly, the contentment was crushed. Screams of pain erupted. Bones cracked. Drops of blood splashed across Vlad's forehead as he spun back toward his men.
A quarter of his men lay mutilated—severed limbs scattered. Some had already succumbed. Those still standing were frozen in terror.
Realizing the threat, Vlad ordered a retreat. Teeth clenched in humiliation, he fled—but the predator would not yield.
"Where do y'all think you're going?"
The voice came from everywhere.
Dust clouds rose from frantic footsteps. In the mess, Vlad froze, as though mesmerized by the cold whisper brushing his left ear.
"Don't move."
He finally saw him.
At that moment, Vlad knew his life hung by a thread. He couldn't get his eyes off the predator. All he could do was listen to the sawing distress his evading mates cried out, while trepidation silently crept into his pale, cold body.
"Damn it! I can't even move. Is this… fear?"
"Nobody deserves this kind of power."
His jaws tightened, teeth trembling.
"What is he even doing in the wastelands?!"
His thoughts spiraled.
"…or could he be a—"
A soft squall interrupted him. A tremendous presence loomed — the predator. An ombre swooshed vertically through Vlad's ear. Blood spilled as teeth gnashed. The predator's face hovered a centimeter from his own, manic smile stretched wide.
"Hold it. Do not compare me to a mere Teras."
Vlad — still petrified — didn't expect the predator to be psychic. What could he think now? Sweat ran down his countenance like rapids while he tried to hush the voices inside.
The predator proceeded.
"Oh! You must be wondering how I knew you'd say that?"
"Well, I didn't. Your body language was just too loud."
The predator raised XN's left arm, index finger aimed at Vlad's shades. The ferrous components rusted instantly. The glasses fell off, exposing a petrified gaze.
The entity — now controlling XN — locked eyes with Vlad. With his left index pointing at Vlad's widened peepers, his lips moved, and a grave voice coldly traveled.
"I love your eyes."
Vlad felt so menaced that he didn't even notice the quietness besieging the land.
"I can't hear them. Did they succeed in escaping?"
"Are they… dead?"
His thoughts progressively deviated into audible words filled with frustration.
"I… I can't die here! This can't be real…"
Inside, XN could hear Vlad bargaining for his life. XN had known dread, disbelief, and neared death — just like Vlad now. Overpowered by the entity, XN stretched his right arm — from his groveling — into the void, struggling to reclaim his body.
The entity was amused.
A massive purple smile surfaced in the void, before XN. Meanwhile, Vlad's desperation turned to defiance.
"Otherwise, you would've died in the storm, crushed like all the other vermin!"
With each lamentation, an unhinged sneer constructed itself on the predator's visage.
"Beautiful! You amaze me !"
The entity spoke with a maddening beam clinging to its countenance. In its ecstasy, it grew more terrifying, silencing Vlad's delusion. From within, XN anticipated the imminent slaughter.
He braced himself — pulling his body to his feet — and walked towards the purple smile. Determination etched on his face.
His breaths were choked with words of encouragement. Then, an archway materialized with the vanishing smile.
The entity's ecstasy escalated to its peak the closer XN approached the archway.
He stretched his arm into the light.
"Almost there."
Then —
[Thud!]
The floor quaked, forcing XN to fall on his knees.
The door shattered.
The sound came from outside.
Through his fractured sight carved in the void where he was, XN saw it.
Vlad's head lay on the ground. His lifeless gaze hidden by his green hair.
His uncoordinated body collapsed moments later.
Silence returned. XN's body was disoriented as the purple aura receded into his left arm.
The entity fell back. XN regained control.
The sky was clear again, and the storm was gone.
In his left arm, XN held a cubic device — squeezed by grip pressure — bathed in blood. The entity's voice lingered.
"Beware of the price."
XN stood on the hardpan left by the sweeping chaos, watching the dust rise on the carnage. Vlad's corpse in front of him.
His heart thundered as the gore relentlessly replayed. He gasped, breaths choked and shallow, as if the world were tightening around his throat.
"Damn it! Not again…"
Consciousness faltered. Shadows swallowed his sight, narrowing to a pinhole before everything went black. Remnants of the entity's last words resurfaced, rising questions in XN.
"Is that what it meant?"
Far behind the monadnocks that lined the verges of the hardpan, a female loom had witnessed the whole scene. A faint light glimmered from her in the dark blue sky — the last thing XN saw before blacking out.
"Who are… you…?"