Elsa's eyes widened in absolute terror.
"It's here..."
"What is?!"
LUB-DUB!
LUB-DUB!
Drake's heart hammered against his ribs. His muscles seized—every fiber locked in place as if gravity itself had tripled.
*What... what is this crushing weight? I can't... I can't move at all!*
Through the swirling dust, two crimson reptilian eyes pierced the darkness—ancient, intelligent, and radiating pure malevolence. The very air thickened with each heartbeat, pressing down like the weight of a collapsing mountain.
Something utterly *wrong* stood behind him.
*What... is behind me?*
Elsa blinked through her blurred vision, struggling to focus. When she finally saw it—her soul nearly shattered.
"N-No... it can't be... Not here. Not in the capital kingdom..."
"WHAT IS IT, ELSA?!"
Her voice cracked like breaking glass:
"...It's a SOULWRETCH."
Drake's blood turned to ice.
*A Soulwretch?! Here?! But how is that even possible?!*
From the shadows, it emerged—a nightmare stitched together from the twisted remnants of corrupted Echoforms.
The creature defied description. A reptilian humanoid towered before them, its skin resembling blackened tortoise shell—cracked, armored, with molten veins pulsing beneath like lava flows. Its right arm had grotesquely fused into a massive arcane cannon, runes carved deep into the metal, hissing with residual heat and smoke. The left arm had mutated into a colossal, clawed paw—furred, gnarled, twitching with predatory hunger. Behind it, a short tail swayed like a pendulum, its tip forged into an axe blade that gleamed crimson in the dim light.
In its chest, a metallic heart pulsed like a reactor core—glowing red, humming with the sound of machinery forged in hell itself.
Those infernal eyes locked onto Drake with laser focus.
CLANK! ... CLANK! ... CLANK!
It advanced with deliberate, mechanical precision.
Drake's spine shuddered uncontrollably.
*Come on, Lorenzo. MOVE. If I don't act now, Elsa... she's going to die.*
He glanced at her—blood seeping from her torn waist, breath shallow and ragged, fingers trembling like autumn leaves.
*Why is this thing here? And why... does it feel like it's hunting us specifically?*
The monster stopped abruptly.
*Why did it stop?*
FWOOOOOSH!
The wind cleared the remaining dust, revealing the creature in all its horrific glory—a fusion of Echoform powers and absolute madness.
Drake's legs nearly buckled beneath him.
*What... what am I even looking at?*
*I haven't felt terror like this since... since my parents' accident. Why can't I move?!*
He gritted his teeth, fighting against the paralyzing fear.
"E... E... E... l... Saaa..."
The monster struggled, croaking and growling—trying to form words with a throat never meant for speech.
Drake's breath hitched.
*Is it trying to say her name?*
"Elsaaa... I found you..."
Its voice—raspy, warped—hissed like a serpent wrapped in pure hatred.
Drake jolted as if struck by lightning.
*It spoke. I'm not hallucinating. That thing just TALKED.*
*How does it know Elsa?!*
"What do you want from us?!" Drake shouted, his voice cracking with strain.
The Soulwretch's crimson gaze shifted to him with casual disdain.
"Us? Don't flatter yourself, boy." It hissed with venomous amusement. "I'm not here for you... only for her."
Drake's heart thundered like war drums.
"What business do you have with her, monster?!"
"HISSSSSSSS!"
"Don't tell me... you've already forgotten about me?" it spat, voice dripping with bitter mockery.
"You're making no sense."
"Tch." The creature's tongue flicked out like a snake tasting the air. "I don't blame you. I've... changed."
Drake stared, completely thrown off balance.
"It's me." The words came out like a death rattle. "HAVOC."
Drake's eyes widened in shock.
"Havoc?! You... you were supposed to be heading to prison! What the hell happened to you?!"
The creature's pupils narrowed to razor slits, fury bubbling up from its core.
"You beat us unconscious... tossed us in chains like animals... and now you have the audacity to ask me what happened?!"
"You blew up Bartholomew's shop! You tried to hurt Elsa!" Drake's voice rose to a roar. "You DESERVED every second of it!"
"Oh, I see," Havoc growled, his reptilian tongue flicking out again. "So we only acknowledge your grievances? What about what that ice witch did to me? She stripped me of my manhood... then stole my freedom! Isn't that enough to drive any man to madness?!"
Drake's eyes turned colder than arctic wind.
"You're no man. You're a twisted abomination—a mockery of what you once were. And you deserved all of it." His voice dropped to a lethal whisper. "You raped girls to death. You tried to do the same to Elsa."
His words cut through the air like a blade.
"And now you DARE to play the victim?"
CRRRRRRRK!
Havoc's claws raked across the stone floor, sending sparks flying in all directions.
"Aren't you feisty."
He took another step forward.
Drake clenched his fists, mind racing.
*Elsa... just hold on. I need time. I need to get the healing flask to her.*
Drake forced himself to sound casual. "Where's your partner? Bronn? You two are usually joined at the hip."
Havoc's entire body twitched violently.
"DON'T. Say his name."
*Good. He's rattled. Time to keep pushing.*
Drake subtly moved one hand behind his back.
"Why so sensitive? I didn't mean to offend. I just assumed you both escaped together."
"You little brat!" Havoc snarled, spittle flying from his jaws. "After what you did to him? He couldn't even walk straight!"
"Wasn't my fault you both fought like amateurs. After Elsa and I demolished you, prison was your only destination. So what happened? Did you abandon him like the coward you are?"
"RAAAAAARGH!!"
A bone-rattling roar erupted from Havoc's throat.
"If you *really* want to know?" His voice dropped to a sinister whisper. "...Bronn is DEAD."
Drake's blood turned to ice.
"Dead?! But... I made sure he was still breathing when we left!"
"Oh, he was very much alive," Havoc hissed with a sick grin spreading across his monstrous features. "When we were being transported to the dungeons..."
"...I killed him myself."
The words hit Drake like a physical blow.
"You WHAT?!"
"Had no choice," Havoc whispered, his grin widening impossibly. "I needed power. Real power. And he... he had to give it to me."
Drake's stomach lurched violently.
"You made a Soul Pact, didn't you?!"
Havoc's smirk grew predatory.
"Hah... clever little pest. That's not exactly common knowledge."
"Damn it..." Drake growled under his breath.
He glanced desperately at Elsa—she groaned weakly, blood still flowing freely from her wounds.
"EXTRACT: HEALING FLASK," he whispered under his breath.
FWOOSH—THUNK!
A dark spiral materialized in his palm. A sleek glass vial containing glowing blue liquid appeared instantly.
DING!
[SHADOW ARSENAL SYSTEM]
ONE BASIC HEALING FLASK SUCCESSFULLY EXTRACTED.
His system screen flickered briefly before vanishing.
*Good.*
Drake let out a silent breath of relief.
He locked eyes with Havoc.
"You murdered your own partner... just for power?"
"He **offered** himself to me," Havoc snarled with twisted pride. "In that moment, it was the only useful thing he could do."
Drake's jaw clenched so hard his teeth might crack.
Havoc's gaze drifted down to Elsa's broken form.
"She's still breathing? Tch. Tougher than she looks."
"Don't you DARE look at her with that sick expression."
"You're both so wonderfully dramatic," Havoc chuckled darkly. "But it won't matter soon. I'm stronger than both of you combined now. I'm practically **invincible**."
**POP!**
Drake quietly unsealed the flask behind his back.
He leaned toward Elsa's ear, whispering urgently—
"Open your mouth. Trust me."
She struggled but managed to part her lips slightly.
Havoc squinted suspiciously.
"...What are you doing back there?"
*Shit. He noticed.*
Drake casually brought his other hand forward while keeping the flask hidden.
Havoc tensed, ready to strike.
"Relax." Drake forced a smirk. "Just scratching an itch."
*Please buy that pathetic excuse.*
Havoc narrowed his eyes but seemed to accept it.
"Ever heard of basic manners?"
Drake fought every instinct screaming at him to act.
*I need to get this potion to Elsa... but how? He's watching too closely.*
*Think, think, THINK...*
"You mentioned Bronn died in the pact. But what exactly did he wager? His soul? His life force?"
Havoc raised a scaled eyebrow.
"...You're stalling."
*Crap. He's onto me.*
"Doesn't matter," Havoc grinned with genuine amusement. "Even if you are, you'll both be dead within minutes. So as a farewell gift—let me tell you the **whole** story."
*Yes! His ego's still his weakness.*
Drake slowly positioned the flask, ready to pour it down Elsa's throat the instant Havoc looked away.
Havoc took a deep, theatrical breath—
"It all began when I finally shattered my ice prison..."
His reptilian eyes gleamed with sadistic satisfaction, lost in the memory of his transformation.
"The pain was... exquisite."
Drake's heart hammered as he prepared to act.
*This is it. One chance. If I miss this opportunity...*
*Elsa will die.*
*And I'll be next.*
The metallic heart in Havoc's chest pulsed brighter, casting hellish shadows across the ruined street.
And as the monster began to relive his twisted rebirth—
Drake realized with crystal clarity:
Everything would be decided in the next few seconds.
Whether they lived or died.
Whether good triumphed or evil consumed everything.
Whether the bond between him and Elsa would be strong enough to overcome this nightmare.
The flask trembled in his hidden grip.
*Please... let this work.*
*Please...*
—TO BE CONTINUED—