CLASH.CLASH.CLASH.
The sound of blackened fists meeting sacred steel echoed like thunder. Rain struck the shattered ground, soaking blood, ash, and splintered bones into the dirt.
Azel's body was a wreck.
His arm shattered.
His ribs pierced.
His skin flayed in strips.
But his fists never stopped swinging.
Hakugo grinned beneath his rain-slick hood, parrying each blow with ease. His sword hummed with restrained holiness, cracking the ground with every lazy swipe.
"You've died by me a thousand times by now, boy."
Hakugo said, effortlessly dodging a desperate punch.
His blade sank into Azel's chest—again.
Squelch.
Azel jerked, eyes wide as the sword pierced through his lung, blood bubbling at his lips. But he didn't scream.
"If he takes us—if he captures us—I'll blow this entire region to ash, along with us."
Forbanna hissed from inside.
Azel spat blood, forcing himself forward on the blade.
"That won't happen."
He slammed his forehead into Hakugo's face. Once. Twice. A third time. Crack.
Hakugo barely blinked.
"Madness suits you. Each time your pain deepens, it carves you hollow. I can see it now. Soon, there won't be anything left of you."
Forbanna's voice was low, grim.
"He's right. You're drifting. This pain… it's dragging you under."
Azel didn't answer. He lunged again.
His hand caught Hakugo's jaw.
And then—he drove his skull across the rain-soaked grass, dragging him like a ragdoll, carving a bloody trench in the earth. The cursed flame flared in his palm.
With a roar, Azel flung him—the entire mountain ridge shook as Hakugo slammed beneath the cliff wall, stone crumbling around him.
Dust. Rain. Silence.
But no wound. Hakugo stood up slowly, brushing dirt off his robe, smiling like a man watching a child's tantrum.
Far away, under the trees, Anna stirred.
Her vision swam. Her wrists ached. Her breath caught in her throat. She sat beneath a gnarled, dying tree, silver cuffs burned onto her arms, and saw no one nearby.
"...What happened?"
And then the memory returned—Azel's scream, the slash of Hakugo's sword, his blood pooling beneath her. She remembered him dying for her.
Her lip trembled.
Tears flooded without warning. Hot. Relentless. She bit into her sleeve to keep from sobbing, but it was no use. The weight of guilt crushed her chest.
She pulled the emergency dagger hidden in her boot—her last option.
Her sole reason for surviving was gone. Now some crazy bastard wants her.
"Azel... I'd rather die here... than be ruined for eternity."
She whispered, pressing the blade to her neck, voice shaking.
But then—
BOOM.
The earth shook.
The sky cried out.
Her instincts screamed.
She stood, dagger forgotten.
"That sound..."
Her feet moved before her thoughts could catch up. Her instincts were screaming to follow the sound.
She ran, heart hammering, toward the chaos.
___________
The battlefield was hell.
Azel had lost a leg.
It lay severed beside him, steam rising from the flesh, but he dragged it back, pressed it against the stump—the cursed energy stitched it back together.
His arm was missing skin to the bone. One eye was swollen shut.
And still he fought.
Hakugo laughed.
"This is better than I imagined. Watching you fall apart piece by piece… and still crawl forward? A perfect subject. A perfect curse."
He raised his blade again.
"Show me more."
Azel stood again.
His body screamed in protest—bones grinding, flesh barely stitched together by cursed flame. The rain sizzled against his smoking skin. He raised one trembling hand, black fire dancing along his knuckles, and hurled it forward.
WHOOSH.
A swirling torrent of cursed flame roared toward Hakugo.
The priest lifted his arm lazily, allowing the fire to smash into his holy barrier. The ground cracked, flames spiraled into the sky—but Hakugo only staggered slightly, shaking the ash from his robes.
"Child's play."
But that moment was all Azel needed.
He leapt forward like a phantom, darkness propelling his bloodied body, and with all the strength left in him, he slammed his fist into Hakugo's face.
BOOOOOM.
The earth split and the air rippled.
A shockwave blew back the clouds as the ground shattered beneath their feet.
Hakugo was flung several steps back—just barely. A faint scratch stretched across his cheek.
He touched the mark, blinking in mock surprise.
Then—he laughed.
"Finally. A punch with some weight to it."
Azel staggered. His breaths were ragged. His legs nearly gave out.
"Forbanna—more."
He rasped inwardly.
"You'll burst. Your body's at its limit. Your mind is already in a verge of breaking."
His vision blurred. The agony didn't stop. Even as his flesh regenerated, the pain remained. Worse, it was changing him. A crooked smile crept to his face, twitching like something broken.
Hakugo narrowed his eyes.
"There it is... That little smile again. The mask is cracking. You're becoming what they always feared."
In a flash, Hakugo vanished and reappeared behind Azel.
WHAM.
He drove his boot into Azel's spine, sending him flying—again—into the same crater as before. The hole now yawned like a cave, scorched and smoking, echoing with the sounds of broken stone.
Azel tried to rise, but—
SLASH.
His hand fell to the side, severed cleanly.
Then—STAB.
The sword plunged through his chest, straight into his heart.
Blood spilled down his chin.
Still, Azel didn't die.
He glared upward, teeth grit, breath hitching.
"You're still not done? Tch... No matter. That's enough for today. I'll take you back to the cathedral. There, we'll learn what makes a monster tick."
He yanked the blade out.
But then—
FOOTSTEPS.
Soft at first. Then faster. Wet against the mud. Urgent.
Anna.
She was sprinting through the storm, cuffs shattered and eyes flooded with tears.
She burst past Hakugo without a second of fear and fell beside Azel, her hands cradling his face.
"You're alive...! You're alive... I don't care how. But-"
She kissed him, lips trembling, rain mixing with tears, unaware of the blood on her hands.
Hakugo only watched, amused.
"Touching. Truly. You should have been a nun. Would've saved everyone some trouble."
Anna pulled away, her eyes burning with hatred.
"I'd rather die than let your filthy hands touch me."
Azel stirred faintly, but his head lolled, body limp in her lap.
Anna rose, standing between him and Hakugo.
"I'll join the fight. But Azel... you need to retreat."
Lightning cracked overhead.
Rain fell harder.
And the black fire inside Azel still burned—low, flickering, but not gone.