The battlefield lay in ruins. Smoldering embers clung to the air, remnants of a conflict that had begun with an overwhelming display of power. Jin-Woo stood at the center of the wreckage, his black coat billowing in the unsettling wind, his expression unreadable as he stared down Maliketh, the Black Blade.
The Beast Clergyman, once the harbinger of Destined Death, knelt on one knee, his colossal frame trembling. Deep, jagged slashes ran along his ebon fur, and his golden blade, once aflame with righteous destruction, flickered in and out like a candle losing its final breath.
Jin-Woo sighed.
This was... disappointing.
He had expected more from the guardian of Destined Death. This was Maliketh, the executioner of fate, a shadow to the very order of the Greater Will. And yet, before Jin-Woo, he had been reduced to nothing more than a desperate beast trying to claw at something beyond its reach.
Jin-Woo rolled his shoulders, his glowing purple eyes narrowing. He's too weak...
The fight had started as a challenge, a way to gauge his own strength against one of the strongest warriors in the Lands Between. But even with Maliketh's transformation.. his shift into the frenzied beast cloaked in death's fire, he had been unable to push Jin-Woo to his limits. The Monarch of Shadows barely had to exert himself.
Jin-Woo exhaled through his nose, then tilted his head slightly.
"Beru."
A distorted clicking sound echoed through the space behind him. A shadow twisted, then unraveled, revealing Beru.. his most loyal and terrifying general.
The former Ant King stood tall, his insectoid exoskeleton brimming with raw, undulating power. His mandibles clicked in an eerie rhythm, his four claws flexing as if testing the air. His glowing eyes locked onto Maliketh, an unsettling hunger glinting within them.
Beru bowed deeply.
"It would be this lowly one's greatest honor, my liege."
Jin-Woo merely lifted his chin.
"Show him what you can do."
The words barely left his lips before Beru moved.
A streak of black and purple blurred across the battlefield. Maliketh, despite his wounded state, instinctively swung his blade, the very essence of Destined Death roaring to life around him.
But Beru was faster.
Far faster.
With a single deft movement, Beru twisted mid-air, avoiding the deadly arc by the breadth of a whisper. His clawed hand lashed out, raking across Maliketh's side. A sickening crack filled the air as the beast staggered, his armor-like hide splitting open beneath Beru's monstrous strength.
Maliketh growled in pain, yet his resolve did not falter. He spun, aiming to counter with a downward slash. Fire and ruin blazed along the golden blade as he brought it down with all the weight of Destined Death.
But Beru simply grinned.
"Too slow!"
The Ant General vanished in a blur of movement.
The ground shattered where Maliketh's sword struck, but Beru was no longer there. The next moment, the monstrous insect appeared behind him, both claws crackling with shadow-infused energy.
With a screech, Beru plunged his claws deep into Maliketh's back.
Maliketh howled.
A shockwave of black and red erupted from the wound, the force of Destined Death attempting to lash out, to consume Beru in retaliation. Yet the Ant General only let out an amused chitter, his claws twisting deeper into the wound.
Jin-Woo watched impassively.
Beru was a force of nature.. an apex predator whose very existence was designed for battle. He didn't just overpower enemies; he dismantled them piece by piece, savoring the hunt.
Even now, Beru's movements were methodical. His strikes were not wasted. He dissected Maliketh in real-time, dodging his desperate swings with ease.
The Black Blade, who once stood as a nightmare to gods, was reduced to flailing in futility.
Jin-Woo crossed his arms.
Beru deserved his chance. This was his battle now.
Maliketh staggered, his breaths ragged. His golden blade flickered, barely holding together as cracks spiderwebbed along its surface. His once-mighty form had been torn apart, black blood dripping from deep gashes carved into his flesh.
Beru circled him, his clicking laughter echoing like a predator toying with wounded prey.
"A guardian of death reduced to this?" Beru mused mockingly, his mandibles twitching in delight. "Where is your power now, beast of the Greater Will?"
Maliketh growled. His pride would not allow him to bow.
His body trembled, muscles coiling. If he was to fall, then he would make his last strike count. With a final, desperate roar, he raised his blade, its golden fire erupting once more as he lunged at Beru.. one last attempt to take his enemy down with him.
But Beru simply shook his head.
"Pathetic."
His form blurred.
Before Maliketh could even bring his blade down, Beru was already behind him, his claws raised high.
Then.. A single, merciless slash.
The sound of rending flesh. The finality of a life ending.
Maliketh's body locked in place. For a moment, he stood frozen in time. Then, slowly.. inevitably, his form collapsed, a black and gold ruin upon the battlefield.
Silence.
Jin-Woo finally stepped forward, his boots crunching against the broken earth, an aura of an ever consuming darkness rose and within from his figure. He gazed down at Maliketh's unmoving form.
Beru turned, his head tilting with anticipation.
"My liege... shall this is yours now?"
Jin-Woo considered. Then.. slowly he nodded.
Beru's mandibles curled into something that resembled a smile.
Slowly, at that moment, the air thickened as if trembling for what is to come, as if paying reverence for that one word...
"ARISE"
A deep, guttural hum filled the air. The battlefield trembled as Maliketh's corpse shuddered. Then, inch by inch, a darkness began to writhe on maliketh lifeless body,it began to rise into pure shadow, as slowly its essence began flowing like liquid into Sung Jin Woo's shadow..
A new shadow would rise. One forged from the will of Destined Death itself.
Jin-Woo stared at the shadow behind him.. the transformation had taken place. He could feel the sheer power coalescing into his domain. Maliketh, the Black Blade, was now his to command.
He turned away, his thoughts already shifting forward.
This was just the beginning.
The beginning of his Rule.....
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