Krad didn't respond. His body flickered, then he was behind Mist.
A kick aimed straight for the ribs.
Mist twisted on instinct, his blade flashing up to block. The impact sent shockwaves through his bones, nearly buckling his knees. He gritted his teeth, feeling the raw power behind that single blow.
"Fog Screen!"
Thick gray fog erupted from his body, swallowing the entire battlefield in a dense, suffocating blanket. The world became nothing but shifting shadows and silence, Mist's presence vanished completely.
Krad stood motionless in the center of the fog, head tilted slightly. His expression remained eerily blank, those glowing silver eyes staring into nothing.
Then they brightened.
DING!
[ Moon Eater's Perception Activated ]
The world shifted in Krad's vision. Through the dense mist, he could see everything—not with his eyes, but with something deeper, something ancient. Heat signatures, movements, even the faint tremor of a heartbeat hidden in the fog.
Mist's silhouette shimmered fifteen feet to his left, concealed but not invisible.
Krad vanished.
Mist's instincts screamed at him a split second too late. He spun around, raising his longsword---
The fist slammed into his back.
CRACK!
Pain exploded through his spine. The air rushed from his lungs as he stumbled forward, barely keeping himself upright. His vision blurred for a moment, and he gasped, forcing oxygen back into his chest.
That wasn't just strength. That was overwhelming force.
But that wasn't what made his blood run cold.
It was the horns.
Two jagged, bone-like protrusions now jutted from Krad's skull, curved slightly backward and glowing with an eerie silver light. They pulsed with raw power, distorting the air around them like heat waves. The ground beneath Krad's feet cracked and scorched, small stones lifting slightly as if gravity itself was bending to his presence.
The Awakening was accelerating.
Mist's breath quickened, his mind racing. "This can't be…"
A memory surfaced, Kashima's voice, grave and warning.
"If the Bakunawa rises fully, its vessel will bear its horns. The horns are the source of its influence, its connection to this world. Destroy them, or the vessel becomes the beast itself."
Mist's jaw clenched. If this awakening continued unchecked, Krad wouldn't just be possessed... he'd become the Mighty Bakunawa, the Moon Eater of legend.
Krad's silver eyes locked onto him, cold and empty. No recognition flickered in those depths. No sign of struggle or reason, only the primal, ravenous force of the Moon Eater.
"Damn it," Mist hissed, tightening his grip on his longsword until his knuckles turned white. "I don't have a choice."
The mist around him began to ripple unnaturally, twisting and coiling like living serpents. The temperature plummeted. Frost formed on nearby leaves. His blade gleamed with a faint azure hue, threads of vapor snaking around its edges like ghostly ribbons.
In a heartbeat, he vanished... his presence completely erased, concealed within the thick mist that now blanketed the entire field.
But Krad didn't hesitate.
He saw through it all.
The Moon Eater's perception was absolute. Every shift in the fog, every heartbeat, every minuscule movement, nothing escaped those silver eyes.
Krad lunged forward with terrifying speed.
BOOM!
His fist shattered the ground where Mist had been standing a microsecond before, sending shards of stone and dirt exploding outward in a violent spray. But Mist was already behind him, sword raised high, azure energy crackling along the blade.
"Force Slash!"
The air whistled sharply as Mist's blade descended in a deadly arc, aimed directly at Krad's glowing left horn.
But then---
Krad caught it.
His hand shot up with impossible speed, gripping the blade mid-swing. Sparks erupted where flesh met steel, the force of Mist's strike clashing against the overwhelming strength of the Moon Eater. The ground beneath them cracked from the sheer pressure.
"Shit---" Mist tried to wrench his sword free, muscles straining.
Krad's silver gaze locked onto him, emotionless and cold.
Without warning, Krad twisted his body and hurled Mist like he weighed nothing.
CRASH!
Mist slammed into a massive boulder with bone-crushing force. The stone cracked down the middle from the impact. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he crumpled to the ground, coughing violently. His vision swam, darkness creeping at the edges.
Through the haze, he could still see it, the monstrous aura spiraling around Krad's form, growing more violent and chaotic with every passing second. The horns pulsed brighter, veins of crimson light crawling down Krad's neck and arms.
"I'm running out of time."
Mist forced himself to his feet, legs shaking. Blood dripped from his lip, and his ribs screamed in protest with every breath. But his hands steadied as he forced his breathing into a controlled rhythm.
"Fine," he spat, wiping blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. "If I have to go all out… then so be it."
The mist around him thickened dramatically, forming countless shifting silhouettes, phantom copies of himself that moved independently. His longsword pulsed with raw azure energy, the air around it vibrating with power.
"Thousand Slasher: Unleashed!"
Krad didn't flinch. His silver eyes gleamed even brighter, the horns on his head flaring with crimson light. The ground beneath his feet fractured into a spiderweb of cracks.
And in an instant---
They both vanished.
A storm of blades and fists erupted across the battlefield.
Mist's sword clashed against Krad's glowing forearm with a sound like thunder. But the blade didn't cut. It didn't even scratch. Sparks flew as steel met what felt like solid iron.
"What the hell?!" Mist muttered, pulling back in disbelief. His sword was perfectly sharp, forged from rare materials. But Krad's body had become impossibly hard.
Then he saw it.
The Moon Eater's mark blazed on Krad's arms like living crimson tattoos, pulsing with each heartbeat. The strange aura surrounding them twisted like smoke, warping the air and giving off a terrifying, primal presence.
Mist's mind raced. Kashima's warning echoed in his thoughts.
"If the Bakunawa's mark sears onto the vessel's arms, it will harden his body beyond mortal limits. But cut off the horns, and the beast's strength will crumble."
But Krad didn't give him time to strategize.
He moved faster than Mist's eyes could track. A brutal punch struck Mist's left side, ribs cracking on impact, sending him hurtling through multiple trees. Branches snapped like twigs as he crashed through them before slamming into the ground and tumbling across the dirt.
"Ugh…" Mist gasped, tasting blood. His side burned like fire. He couldn't take much more punishment like this.
Still, he forced himself up, every muscle screaming in protest. His trembling hand gripped his sword tightly.
"The beast isn't holding back anymore. If I don't end this now…" He swiped his hand through the air, summoning his slayer interface. Lines of glowing blue text flickered before his eyes.
[ System: Access Granted ]
[ User Limiter Status: Active ]
[ Warning: Disengaging limiter will reveal true level. Proceed? ]
Mist's fingers hovered over the confirmation. Cold sweat trickled down his neck. Revealing his true level would expose the one thing he'd kept hidden from everyone, his real power. But against the Moon Eater's Vessel?
He had no choice.
"Limiter Release."
An enormous surge of ash-gray light erupted from his body like a pillar reaching toward the sky. The ground beneath him quaked violently, cracks splintering outward in all directions like lightning. His mist no longer simply cloaked him—it roared, twisting into a violent storm laced with radiant energy. The sky above darkened ominously, as if the world itself recoiled from his presence.
[ User Level: Celestial (Maximum Level Reached) ]
Krad's silver eyes locked onto Mist. But for the first time since the awakening began… they showed hesitation.
Mist's lips curled into a fierce grin, blood still dripping from his mouth. "Time to end this."
He raised his longsword high. The mist spiraled violently toward its gleaming edge, converging into a single, concentrated point. The ash-gray energy pulsed with such intensity that the air itself seemed to scream, releasing a low, resonating hum that reverberated through the entire battlefield.
Then, Mist uttered the words that made the heavens tremble.
"Astral Slash."
The sky split apart.
A blinding arc of crimson-gray light surged from Mist's blade, tearing through the atmosphere like a meteor. Its sheer force caused the clouds to scatter violently, revealing the pale glow of a fractured sky. The mist followed in its wake, twisting and multiplying, creating countless afterimages of ethereal longswords that shimmered with deadly light.
Each phantom blade locked onto one target.
Krad's horns.
Krad roared, a sound that was both human and monstrous, his silver aura surging wildly as the crimson marks on his arms pulsed in violent defiance. He dashed forward with blinding speed, every step cracking the earth, aiming to crush Mist before the attack could reach him.
But Mist didn't move.
With a calm, piercing gaze that betrayed no fear, he brought down his sword.
The astral blades descended like falling stars.
They struck with the force of divine judgment. Blades of pure concentrated light rained upon Krad, crashing into his hardened body with explosive impacts. The horns resisted fiercely, their crimson glow flaring wildly in desperation, pushing back against the onslaught---
But then---
CRACK!
The sound echoed across the battlefield like breaking glass.
Krad stumbled backward, clutching his head as an agonized roar tore from his throat. His silver horns pulsed erratically, the glowing veins of the Moon Eater recoiling and flickering like dying embers. His monstrous strength began to wane, the crimson marks on his arms fading.
And then---
The horns shattered completely.
Fragments of glowing bone-like material scattered through the air, dissolving into silvery mist before they hit the ground.
Krad collapsed to his knees, breathing ragged and uneven. The silver glow in his eyes flickered weakly before slowly fading back to their original golden color. His body trembled, covered in sweat and dirt.
The Moon Eater's presence within him was no longer absolute.
Mist lowered his sword slowly, the ash-gray aura around him dissipating. His breathing was heavy, blood still trickling from various wounds. He watched Krad carefully, ready to strike again if needed.
But Krad just knelt there, staring down at his shaking hands in confusion.
"What… what happened…?" His voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper.
Mist didn't answer immediately. He simply walked over, stopping a few feet away.
"Welcome back, kid."