The shift in the air was violent and fast
About a moment ago, Elias was on the ground, gasping raggedly as blood spilt from his cracked lips and opened wounds, his vision blurring into dark splotches. The next minute, an aura so dense, so suffocatingly heavy exploded out of his broken body that even the roaring flames nearby seemed to falter.
His Berserk made him become Vark. Again. It was so familiar, just like the last time. Although, it seemed like Elias had vanished from the surface of the earth and was replaced by Vark.
He saw the system floating over his face and waved his hand, almost trying to touch it.
"Huh? What is this?"
[Berserk Timer: 06:01]
System Notification:
[Berserk Meter: 100%]
[Warning: Full Host Override]
[Memory Bleed Surged: +2.5% > 2.6% > 2.7% > 3%]
System Notification:
[Vark Draven - Destroyer of the World - Personality Override: ACTIVE]
[Time Limit: 10 Minutes]
"Destroyer of the world? I like that name," he smirked.
His brother grunted as he struggled to sit up. He was sure that the person standing in front of him was now Vark. The same monster he knew.
'Was he going easy on me before? How did he suddenly become strong?'
The wind howled as if the dead themselves screamed in unison.
Ivy, on the other hand, stumbled backwards, arms covering her face, as the pressure thickened. She couldn't breathe. Not from fear, but from awe. The man who now stood where Elias once lay looked the same, but everything about him felt wrong. His grin wasn't Elias's cocky smirk.
It was different, yet familiar. The same one she saw when she was grabbed the other day. She touched her neck, panting hard.
The bones around Vark rattled on their own, and the corpses in nearby alleys twitched. The undead Vark summoned early.
His brother crawled back, pinning his body on the broken building.
"V...Vark?" he muttered, voice cracking.
Vark no, Elias, no, whatever that thing was now, tilted his head, the smirk deepening.
"Well, fuck me. You finally recognized me. I thought your brains rotted first. I only wanted to show you a bit of power... I haven't gone all out, have I?"
His voice was layered. There was a deep, sarcastic growl on Vark's face.
The air exploded as he moved.
He didn't dash. He appeared. His hand wrapped around his brother's neck and slammed him through a concrete pillar, shattering it like sugar glass.
Riven flinched, shielding her eyes from the debris. Vark didn't wait. He raised his arm, and bone-like spikes erupted from the ground, impaling everything within a 10-meter radius, except Ivy and Riven.
The legion of undead he summoned crawled from sewers, windows, and even the shadows themselves. Even the one that belonged to his brother obeyed his command.
System Notification:
[Undead Command Protocol: Initiated]
[Control Radius: 500 meters]
[Eligible Subjects: 1107]
He commanded them without a word.
They obeyed.
His brother exploded upward from the rubble, face twisted in disbelief and rage.
"You bastard! How did you become even more powerful? We should have killed you when we had the chance to!"
Vark just chuckled.
"You can't kill a nightmare, big bro. You can't even dream of it."
A curse mark spread across his brother's exposed chest—black and intricate. The man screamed, trying to claw it away.
System Notification:
[Cursed Mark of Dominion - Engraved]
[Subject Link: Successful]
[Duration: Permanent until overwritten]
He turned his head to the system that kept monitoring every of his movement.
"If you don't shut up, I'll rip you apart. What kind of floating box talks in my head?"
Riven's mouth hung open. Her scanners beeped wildly.
"What the hell are you... Elias?"
Vark turned, just slightly as if he heard what she said from where she was standing. After a short grin, he vanished again.
His eyes met his brother's who was still panting after the curse mark was engraved into his body.
"What did you do to me?"
"A little gift."
"What?"
[Berserk Timer: 00:00]
[Status: Host at Limit. System entering Dormant Recovery Mode.]
[Dormant Recovery Mode terminated as Personality Override is still Active]
Vark didn't even stare at the system. He doesn't understand it one bit.
"I don't have time to answer your question now. So, do me a favour and just die!"
Undead hurled themselves at Elias's brother under Vark's command. He batted them away, but they kept coming. And in between them, Vark stood there watching his brother destroy the undead, ripping them apart like they were pieces of paper. The ones with bones just shattered after a small kick.
Seeing that his brother was quickly destroying all of the undead, he decided to join the fight. It'll be easy to get rid of his brother that way. He stabbed through buildings just to slam his brother through them.
His brother was on one knee, spitting blood. The curse mark had spread down his left arm, weakening him. He roared and summoned a field of death energy to wipe out the undead, finally buying a moment to breathe.
But Vark was already above him.
Fangs bared.
Claws raised.
"I'll send you back to hell first. I'll join you later. Maybe."
Suddenly pain...
A sharp alarm was inside his head.
System Notification:
[Override Time Remaining: 00:00:09]
Vark flinched.
"What? Nine seconds what?"
He groaned, muscles locking up. The glow in his eyes flickered and he staggered.
His brother looked up, confused. He was bleeding but he was still alive.
System Notification:
[Override Terminating...]
[Reverting to Host: Elias]
He collapsed.
The undead dropped one after the other.
And just like that, the Destroyer of the world was gone.
Elias lay in a broken mess, twitching slightly.
His brother rose slowly, panting. He wore a huge grin on his face, trying to figure out what just happened. Where did his brother go? The deadly aura that surrounded him was gone. It was left with the weakling he was fighting with the first time.
"What the hell are you?" he whispered.
He stretched his hand and reached for a piece of iron rod, walking toward Elias.
"I don't even need to know who you are. I'll end you before that thing wakes up again."
He was only a step away when gunfire rang out.
Ivy.
"Back the fuck off!" she screamed, eyes cold, blood on her hands.
Riven stood beside her, dual blades in hand.
"Touch him again, and I'll gut you myself."
His brother snarled.
"You're his new woman, aren't you?" He asked, grunting. He knew he couldn't fight these two when he was this weak.
"I'll just have to come back. This time, I'll end his life and rip out his heart,"
He backed away, retreating into the shadows.
They rushed to Elias's side.
Ivy knelt beside him, brushing his hair back while tears dropped from her eyes.
"You're still breathing... stupid asshole. Why do you keep doing this?"
Riven looked at the smouldering wreckage and muttered, "That wasn't Elias. That was something else... someone worse."
"It doesn't matter if he's Elias or Vark... I still belong to him," she muttered.
The sky groaned, thunder rolling in.
But Elias was alive.
Barely.
[Status: Dormant Recovery Mode: Active]
[END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT]