Pain. The two boys could feel it, seeping into every part of their being. It was as if their very souls were being shredded, torn apart by invisible forces that left them weak and breathless. The shackles that bound them to the walls of their prison were barely noticeable now, drowned out by the agony coursing through their bodies. But even in the depths of torment, Kai's mind raced—furiously trying to grasp what was happening to them.
"What the hell are you doing to us?!" Kai grunted, barely able to form coherent sentences through the pain. His body trembled uncontrollably, each breath a struggle against the weight of an overwhelming force trying to tear him apart from the inside.
Reina stood before them, her expression manic, eyes gleaming with a feverish excitement. She wasn't just enjoying their suffering—no, she was reveling in it. Every muscle in her body seemed to tremble with the thrill of what she was about to accomplish. Her voice was a haunting sing-song, her tone both sweet and unhinged.
"Oh, you want to know what's happening to you, handsome?" She giggled darkly, her voice dripping with delight. "In simple terms, you two possess Adolla Cores—four of them, to be precise. And I'm going to combine them into eight... to draw power directly from the Great Adolla herself."
She paused for effect, her laughter rising to a shrill, almost manic pitch. "And when that happens… I will fuse with her. Become one with her. The greatest power this world has ever known."
The words sent a chill through Kai's spine. He struggled against the chains, his vision blurred, but his anger flared with a wild, desperate energy.
"What kind of freaky kink shit are you on?!" Kai's voice cracked with disbelief and rage. "Who in their right mind wants to merge with that!?"
Reina cut him off with a deranged laugh that seemed to echo for miles. "You don't understand, do you? Don't you ever want something so powerful that you'd do anything to have it? To become it? It's soooo good… eheheheh."
Her maniacal laughter filled the room as she stepped closer, seemingly oblivious to their resistance, her hands outstretched as if welcoming the torment she was about to unleash.
Kai, his body wracked with pain, glared at her. His anger burning through the haze of agony, he spat out, "You're a sick freak… You don't even know if your body can handle it! You're a human—this could kill you!"
Kisuke, his voice strained but resolute, added, "Kai's right. You just found out about all of this—risking everything just for a chance to fuse with some goddamn spirit? It's not only stupid... it's reckless!"
But Reina was beyond reason. Her eyes sparkled with wild fervor as the Adolla orbs began to appear around them—swirling with energy, humming with a malevolent power. She grinned manically, her body trembling with excitement.
"YES! YESSSS! This is working! I can feel it!" She sighed in bliss, an almost perverse pleasure washing over her face as the orbs descended, spinning around her like satellites circling a dead star.
The air around them grew thick, oppressive—electric, charged with an overwhelming energy as the final phase of the process began. The circle beneath her began to glow with a crimson hue as the orbs merged into her form, becoming one.
KABOOM!
The room shattered in a violent burst of energy as Reina, now imbued with unimaginable power, exploded in a torrent of fiery light. The force of her release punched through the roof and into the sky, her power now uncontainable.
In the chaos, Kai and Kisuke barely managed to stay on their feet, each of them feeling their powers temporarily drained. The sudden loss left them feeling vulnerable—like they had just had the rug pulled out from under them.
"It... actually worked for her? No way..." Kai muttered, panic creeping into his voice.
Kisuke shook his head in disbelief. "This... this can't be real. We need to get out of here now!"
But it was already too late.
The red book, hovering in the air moments before, began to disintegrate into ash, its last remnants scattering like smoke in the wind. Panic set in as Kai and Kisuke realized they no longer had a lifeline, no means to track Reina's movements or undo the damage.
Without wasting another second, the two bolted from the shattered building, running into the wasteland beyond.
Hours Later...
A flash of crimson light tore through the sky. The air crackled, saturated with an unnatural heat that made the world feel like it was on the brink of collapse.
Out of the shifting haze of heat and smoke, a new presence emerged. At first, it was nothing but a dark silhouette, but as it drew closer, its form became clearer—a towering figure, encased in ashen-black demonic armor that seemed to absorb the very light around it. The armor was jagged, sharp-edged, and unnaturally smooth, as if forged in the depths of the earth's core. It exuded an aura so oppressive, so intense, that even the air seemed to bend and warp under its weight.
The figure's eyes were the most unsettling feature—blood-red, glowing like coals fresh from the fire, burning with an insatiable hunger. They were not the eyes of a man, but of something far older, far more dangerous. They seemed to pierce through the darkness with an ancient malice, like the gaze of a predator watching its prey from a great distance.
Its tail—thick, armored, and bristling with jagged spines—swung lazily from side to side, the movement so fluid, so terrifyingly calculated, that it was almost as if the tail itself was a weapon waiting for its moment to strike.
Each step it took sent a shudder through the earth, cracks splitting open in the ground beneath its feet. The figure's enormous form loomed over the terrain like a walking storm, its very presence distorting the atmosphere, thickening the air with heat and dread.
Then, as if sensing its prey, the creature took a deep breath—its chest expanding with a sound like the cracking of ancient bones. A wide, cruel grin spread across its face, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth, glinting in the dying light. It tilted its head slightly, as if savoring the moment before the hunt.
"Smells like bitch out here..." The voice that rumbled from its throat was low, deep, and thick with venom. It was not just a sound; it was a presence, a voice that seemed to vibrate through the very fabric of reality itself. Those who heard it couldn't help but feel their hearts tighten in fear, their limbs freezing as if gripped by invisible chains.
The demon's grin grew wider, its eyes burning brighter with sadistic pleasure. "Oh, I'll find you. I'll find you, little sparks."
With a swift, terrifying movement, the demon vanished. It wasn't a flash of light, but a flash of crimson-red lightning, leaving a trail of scorched earth in its wake. And as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, leaving only the haunting echo of its laugh in the air.