BOOM!
Steel shattered silence, clashing against shadow in the heart of the ancient arena.
Cassian Lionheart moved like a tempest unleashed—his grandfather's sword style flowing with spectral grace and ruthless precision. Every strike crackled with raw mana, roaring like thunder across the fractured battlefield.
> "Lionheart Form: Seventh Fang—Heavenpiercer!"
He surged skyward, blade wreathed in scorching holy fire, cleaving through a storm of dark spears hurled by Pride.
The Demon General twisted midair, claws colliding with Cassian's blade—CLANG!—divine steel biting into infernal bone. The echo shattered the ruins, a death knell ringing clear.
> "Such reckless fire… for a fledgling lion," Pride sneered, fanglike grin twisting his cruel lips. "Blind rage is an appetizer for the true hunter."
Cassian's jaw tightened, muscles coiled like a spring ready to snap.
> "I won't let you take her."
Veins glowing molten gold, he spun midair, delivering a devastating slash—
> "Eighth Fang—Solar Rend!"
But Pride vanished, smoke-thin and elusive.
> "Too slow, cub."
A fist, blazing like a meteor's core, crashed into Cassian's ribs. Bones shattered beneath the crushing blow. Blood spatters flew as he slammed against a fractured pillar.
CRACK—!
Felicia's desperate cry tore through choking dust.
> "Cassian!!"
Staggering, broken, blinded, Cassian clutched his sword with trembling hands, lifting it in a final defiance against the creeping darkness.
> "You're not… taking anyone… demon."
Pride descended—an unstoppable shadow made flesh, tall, cruel, inevitable.
> "Honor flickers like a candle in a storm. Your light ends here."
He summoned a spear of swirling dark flame, hissing with venomous malice.
Cassian's legs buckled; his aura flickered—an ember fighting the night.
> "Grandfather… forgive me…"
The spear fell—
BOOOOM!
Darkness swallowed him whole.
---
🌑 The Dreaming Abyss
Silence.
Cassian drifted, weightless in a void without time or pain—swordless, lifeless.
Then, a voice—ancient, laced with power and cold amusement—cut through the void.
> "You burn with such fierce light... yet fall so easily."
He turned.
A figure emerged—neither man nor beast—cloaked in swirling smoke, eyes glowing crimson with ravenous hunger.
> "You crave strength… don't you?"
> "Let me borrow your body."
> "Let me show them what true terror means."
Cassian tried to speak, but no sound escaped.
The shadow's voice sharpened, colder, echoing his own buried fury.
> "I am you. The part you hide—the rage, the darkness, the power you refuse to claim."
> "I will shatter your enemies. Your shame. Your weakness."
> "In return..."
> "You rest."
The void cracked open—red light bleeding like fresh wounds across fractured glass.
> "Now…"
> "RISE."
---
🔥 Crimson Awakening
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM.
The arena trembled beneath a guttural roar.
Pride's eyes narrowed, watching as glowing crimson veins cracked the earth like a living heart.
Cassian's fingers tightened around the shattered sword's hilt.
Then—
WHOOOOM!
A volcanic surge of blood-red energy erupted from him, blasting debris aside and staggering Pride backward.
Slowly, Cassian rose.
His golden eyes deepened—now burning fierce crimson.
A dark, smoky aura crowned him like a burning halo.
Wounds wove shut as if stitched by infernal magic.
His face was calm—deadly—but his presence radiated something ancient, something terrifying.
> "…This aura…" Pride whispered, voice trembling.
Arrogance drained from his expression, replaced by raw, primal fear.
> "Impossible..."
> "That aura..."
> "Azareth... The Demon King."
Cassian's voice was low, hollow, merciless.
> "You dared hurt her."
> "You dared spill my blood."
He raised the broken blade—molten and alive with infernal fire.
> "Now, burn."
The sky shuddered as crimson flames roared to life.
Felicia gasped, shielding her eyes from the infernal blaze.
> "Cassian…?"
Cassian surged forward, each strike burning with unholy power. Pride struggled, his movements sluggish, dread bleeding into his eyes.
With a final, shattering blow—
> "Lionheart Form: Ninth Fang—Hell's Judgment!"
The blade cleaved through Pride's dark heart, scattering shadow and flame into oblivion.
Pride's scream echoed once—then silence swallowed it whole.
The Demon General collapsed, ashes scattering on the wind.
Cassian, utterly spent, sank to his knees.
The infernal aura flickered and dimmed.
He slumped forward, unconscious.
Felicia rushed to his side, breathless, eyes wide with awe and fear.
> "Cassian..."
Or was it truly him?