"Good grief..."
Khalzheroth clicked his tongue, venom in his voice.
"That power of yours is such a hassle... tch."
His slit eyes glared at Code—standing meters ahead, in the very spot he had just died.
"Ah..." Code breathed, his lips curling into a confused smile.
He looked down.
A lifeless version of himself lay crumpled on the floor. Chest gored out. Arms severed.
'I'm alive…? I actually revived…!' he thought, chuckling breathlessly, palm running across his face in disbelief.
And then the words replayed in his head:
"You changed fate."
'Aidra… that bastard's involved.'
Code's smile faded, replaced by a hard, twitching glare.
"Fine."
He stepped forward. His hand lifted, taking a stance—an entirely new one. One built for war.
"I'll just keep dying and reviving until I kill this monster…" he growled.
Steam hissed between clenched teeth. Veins bulged across his temple and neck. His eyes—glowing crimson—locked on Khalzheroth like a predator cornered.
"And then… I'll come for you, Aidra."
A delighted shiver ran down Khalzheroth's back.
"That's the spirit!" he howled, arms stretched wide.
"You're just like us now! Get angry! Keep clawing! Let the rage devour you!"
Fwooooooooooo...
The air grew still. No words. No movement.
Only their eyes locked—fury versus sadism.
A pebble cracked loose from the ceiling.
Tap.
It hit the ground.
FWOOOSH!
Code vanished.
[FLOW PHASE: ENTERED]
Swoosh—CRACK—Splatter!
A geyser of blood erupted into the air. Code's decapitated head spun across the floor.
His corpse fell beside Khalzheroth with a dull thud.
---
BLARRRR!!
A blood-red river surged.
"Guh... arrgh...!" Code clawed at his chest, gasping, cold breath escaping like smoke.
"Back again..." he whispered, dragging his eyes to his second corpse.
He exhaled slowly.
"Try again."
FWOOOSH!
He disappeared—
Splurt! SPLASH!
A torso hit the ground. Cleanly severed.
---
"Argh… argh… argh…"
Third corpse.
FWOOOSH!
THUD. SPLAT.
Fourth.
Then fifth. Sixth. Seventh.
On and on.
A trail of death marking the floor.
By the time he stood over the thirty-fourth, blood caked his skin like war paint.
His breaths were shallow and ragged.
He wiped his mouth, peering through trembling fingers at Khalzheroth.
Khalzheroth stood still, smiling like he'd just watched a masterpiece unfold.
"You're not tired… are you?"
He cocked his head, amused.
"In fact…" he leaned forward. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Uh—" Code blinked.
Then he froze. He finally realized it...
He was… smiling.
A wide, twitching grin.
"I was smiling…?"
"Isn't that splendid?" Khalzheroth hissed.
"You're becoming like us... Gifted child."
Code chuckled.
Then again.
And again.
"Hahaha… hahahahahaha… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
His laughter echoed through the hollow chamber—mad, gleeful, unhinged.
Khalzheroth grinned wider, eyes glowing like daggers.
But then—
Suuuuuuuu...
Silence.
Code's laugh stopped.
He lifted his head, eyes narrowed. The glow had changed.
There was no rage, no pain in his eyes.
Only hunger. And bloodlust.
"You're getting closer," Khalzheroth said.
---
FWOOOSH!
Code vanished—this time, not in front of him.
"Ugh?!"
Khalzheroth's smirk twitched.
Bang! CRACK!
Code reappeared in front of him—eyes wide, fist raised.
CRUNCH!!!
His punch connected with Khalzheroth's jaw.
The entire room slowed. A faint, eerie crackling hummed beneath the silence.
Crack…
Khalzheroth's neck twitched.
CRACK!
His head twisted off. Launched.
"Die."
Code whispered, arm still extended.
SHWOOM!!
Khalzheroth's head crashed into the far wall, embedding deep with a meaty thud.
Dust settled, and silence filled the room.
Then Code noticed.
Something was wrong.
Khalzheroth's body still stood.
Upright. Unmoving. No collapse.
Then—
Splurt!
A soft, wet noise.
Pluuuuuuugh!
Blood exploded from Code's chest.
His eyes widened, as his body fell—halved clean down the center.
THUD.
***
Silence. Darkness.
"Puahh!"
"Arrgh… arrgh…" Code gasped, collapsing to his knees as air tore through his lungs. Sweat matted his black hair, which hung like a curtain over his face.
Through the strands, his bloodshot eyes locked onto the same impossible sight—
Khalzheroth. Untouched. Unbothered. Smiling.
No wounds. No signs of a struggle. No cracks in that infernal façade.
"Still alive?" Khalzheroth said, amused.
"You're not tired, are you?" His voice curled with mockery. "I'm enjoying your pitiful squirming. Keep going! It's hilarious!"
He burst into a cruel laugh, the sound echoing like broken glass.
"Struggle more! Fight harder! Die better!" he cackled, arms thrown wide like a twisted performer awaiting applause.
Twitch.
Code shifted his stance—left foot back, fist clenched, body low. His muscles trembled from exhaustion, but his eyes…
They were focused. Cold. Calculating.
Khalzheroth grinned wider. "Bring it on, child!!" His voice snarled through the air, laced with venom and anticipation.
But Code didn't move.
He only stared.
Veins pulsed. Breath slowed. Mind sharpened.
'No openings… His attacks—every one of them—it's not just speed. It's unnatural. I never even saw him move... but I died.'
Death after death flickered through Code's mind, like a reel of nightmares.
Heart crushed.
Head gone.
Organs torn.
Over and over.
Thirty-five times.
And yet—he realized something.
Khalzheroth never moved. Not once.
'Then how?'
Suddenly, Hina's words echoed in his mind.
"This entire structure—the walls, the floor, even the air—it's all anti-tenzen."
Code's eyes widened.
'Wait... that's right...'
Another memory followed.
"Tenzen and anti-tenzen don't mix well. One wrong move could trigger an explosion."
Click.
It connected.
Everything.
'He's not attacking me directly… he's using the environment. The room itself—no, the entire space—that's his weapon!'
Code slowly looked up, realization burning behind his eyes.
He finally understood.
"Oh? You're back?" Khalzheroth said, cocking his head. "I thought you'd finally given up—closing your eyes like a coward."
"I see…" Code whispered. His voice was low, sharp.
"Hm?" Khalzheroth blinked.
"That's it. The one thing I didn't pay attention to." Code took a slow step forward, and with each word, his voice grew louder.
"This room. This whole structure. It's filled with anti-tenzen... from top to bottom!"
The demon's grin faded into something darker.
"Good grief…" Khalzheroth sighed.
"Aren't you the sly one?"
He slowly raised his hand, palm facing Code. His fingers twitched ever so slightly.
"Fine. You've figured it out."
"Yes," he growled, eyes glowing like molten coals.
"This room, from the tiniest grain of dust to the stones beneath your feet… even the very air you breathe—"
"It's all mine."
"It's anti-tenzen."
The space trembled.
Code's heart thudded once. Loud. Unsteady.
"Spatial distortion," he muttered.
Khalzheroth's voice dropped, lower than a whisper—but it thundered inside Code's mind.
"I possess the power to manipulate anything, everything… and even nothing in my domain."
"The greatest power any demon has wielded since the days of the Void… and the Dreadveil."
His skin darkened. His eyes lit with crimson crescents.
"And with this power..."
"...anyone who enters my space..."
He stepped forward.
The air itself shrieked.
Code couldn't breathe.
"...never leaves...
alive."
***
TBC