The cave was silent.But not peaceful.
Shadows clung to the walls, twitching like restless serpents. Ragnar sat cross-legged on the stone floor, fragments of stolen Laws circling him shards of black glass humming with voices not his own.
Sweat streaked his face. Ash and dried blood clung to his skin. His chest rose and fell in ragged bursts.
[ SYSTEM WARNING: HOST BODY AT 42% STABILITY ]
[ RISK OF COLLAPSE INCREASING WITH EACH FUSION ]
Every fusion ripped at him. Flesh screamed. Bones threatened to splinter. The Abyssal Talons burned faintly across his arms, begging for release.
The shadow inside purred. Smooth. Poisonous.
"More. Faster. Stronger. Stop pretending you're in control. Let me drive. Show them the monster you are."
Ragnar's fists clenched until his forearms bulged. His voice cracked in the silence.
"If I lose control… if I break…"
The cave devoured the rest.
From the entrance, Selene's voice cut softly, cold as the night outside.
"That's the price of stealing, shadow-born. You burn faster than anyone else."
Ragnar's eyes snapped open crimson-black light bleeding from his gaze. "If you know so much, then tell me… what am I becoming?"
Selene stepped forward. Silver chains shimmered faintly around her wrists, veins beneath glowing molten-bright. The curse gnawed her from the inside, burning her lifespan away one breath at a time.
Her gaze didn't waver.
"A calamity. Just like the last one."
Ragnar's heartbeat stuttered. "The last one? What happened to him?"
Her silver eyes clouded with grief.
"He didn't survive. The shadow consumed him. His body became the enemy of every realm."
The shadow hissed with delight, pressing at the edge of Ragnar's mind.
A fitting destiny.
He shut his eyes. Power twisted like barbed wire through his veins. The shards pulsed in orbit, each one whispering temptation, each one promising strength and ruin. Sweat streamed down his jaw as he fought for balance on a knife's edge. One slip, and he would be next.
Selene crouched beside him, her silver chains scraping against stone, restless and alive. "You're not alone," she whispered. Pain laced her tone. "If you fall, I fall. And if I fall… you won't last either."
Ragnar didn't answer. His attention locked on the shards. On their voices. On their hunger.
[ SYSTEM ALERT: FOREIGN LAW IMPRINT DETECTED ]
[ WARNING: PERSONALITY CORRUPTION RISK AT 18% ]
Outside, the forest breathed. The Purge Unit was out there. Closing in. Waiting.
Ragnar rose slowly, his body trembling under the weight of stolen power. The Abyssal Talons crawled across his arms — molten shadow entwined with fire, hungry and devouring. Beside him, Selene's silver chains writhed her curse, her strength, her doom.
Tomorrow, the world would test them both.
And when it did, blood would be the price of power.