The blood-mist thickened, pulsing with tension as the ground trembled under the squad's feet. Zian and Mira stood back-to-back, weapons ready. Leon's knuckles bled, but his breathing was steady now — the specter of his past having faded with his roar of defiance.
Only Kaen remained perfectly still, eyes narrowed toward the darkened path ahead.
Then it came.
The trees warped. The sky cracked.
And from the shattered forest, a beast crawled out of the abyss — twenty feet tall, its body a fusion of flesh, metal, and broken armor forged in some divine era. Its head was a crown of horns, eyes like dying stars, and in its chest were faces — hundreds of them, all screaming in silence.
Mira's mouth went dry. "What… is that?"
Zian instinctively stepped forward, though her hands trembled. "That… thing… is divine."
Kaen's grin sharpened. "No. It's what's left after divinity dies. A failed vessel… a failed god."
The creature let out a distorted howl, and a gravitational wave blasted through the trees, sending Mira and Leon flying backward. Zian barely held her ground, her golden light flaring in self-defense.
Only Kaen stood unharmed.
"Get out of here," Zian growled, golden aura blazing as she formed twin lances of light.
Kaen didn't move. Instead, he extended his hand — and the shadows around his feet exploded outward in response. Tendrils of darkness coiled up his arms, and his eyes shimmered deeper crimson.
"Stay behind me, Kaen!" Mira shouted.
But Kaen just smiled.
"Why would I hide," he whispered, "from something lesser?"
The beast charged. The ground shattered.
Kaen moved.
With one effortless swipe, the shadow surrounding him uncoiled like a serpent, clashing with the beast's strike. Zian's eyes widened as the darkness held back the monstrous blow — not blocking it, but devouring it.
"What... are you?" Leon gasped from the ground.
Kaen's reply was quiet, but clear:
> "I'm the thing your god was afraid of becoming."
The air trembled.
The battle had truly begun.