Ashen's breaths grew heavy, his chest expanding with every exhale as if it would burst. Blood poured from his wounds, mixing with the arena dust to form a dark red mud beneath him.
Every strike he landed, every punch, every Blood Chain he unleashed… came back to him. It was as if fate mocked him: "Kill yourself… or die slowly."
The distorted clone laughed, the echo of her laugh stabbing at his mind.
"You are nothing but a pale shadow… your power is just a chain… you won't survive, Ashen."
His fingers trembled, pain piercing every nerve. Yet amid the chaos, his eyes caught something else.
That coffin… massive, black, from which the clone had emerged.
Every nightmare has a source… and this is its source.
Even if I die here, I will break its chain first.
He wiped the blood from his mouth, his eyes igniting with a ferocity that hadn't been there before.
He growled:
"I won't waste my breath on you… my destiny lies there!"
And he charged.
The distorted clone stared at him for a moment before roaring like a starving beast, cutting across the arena behind him.
The ground shook with every step.
Ashen surged forward faster than the wind, his legs ablaze with the Blood Hawk of the Sky. The air tore around him with each dash, blood spraying from his wounds, yet he paid no mind.
Behind him, the clone chased, a Blood Chain striking like a deadly whip, wrapping around his leg to drag him.
But Ashen spun, his fist wrapped in the Blood Bear Fist smashing the chain, blood spraying like sparks, then tore it apart and continued forward.
The clone bellowed:
"You'll never reach it! That coffin… it is my birth, and it is your death!"
Ashen drew closer, his hand reaching for the stone lid of the coffin.
But before he could touch it, another Blood Chain pierced his shoulder. Pain flared through half his body, blood gushing like a fountain.
Even so, he bared his bloodied teeth:
"If this is your cage… I will break it over your head!"
He focused all his strength, his fist surrounded by the Blood Bear aura, then struck the coffin.
Boom!
The entire arena trembled.
The stone lid quivered, a small crack forming on its surface. Cold air, like the breath of the dead, seeped out.
The hanging coffins in the sky shook violently, and the drums around them pounded like madness, announcing that something had opened… something that should not be opened.
The clone screamed hysterically:
"Stay away! It's not yours!"
She lunged with all her strength, striking Ashen from the side, his bones cracking internally, blood gushing from his mouth like a fountain.
But instead of falling, he planted his feet, spun again toward the coffin, his second fist striking harder.
Crack!
The lid opened slightly, just a few centimeters, but what emerged was enough to fill the air with dread.
Black mist seeped out, smelling of rotting corpses, making Ashen's bones shiver despite his toughness.
Every strike he landed… made it open more.
I won't stop until I destroy it completely!
A new battle began.
The goal was no longer to kill the clone… but to break through her, again and again, until he reached that coffin.
The clone blocked him with everything she had:
Blood Chains wrapped around his neck, trying to choke him.
Crushing fists rained on his ribs.
Even the Crocodile aura covered her body, turning into a solid fortress before him.
But Ashen no longer fought with reason… he fought with madness.
His strikes fell like storms, each blow covering him more in blood, each piece of skin that fell, each wave of pain returned to him with equal force.
Yet he did not retreat.
He struck the coffin again. The lid opened wider, a crack the width of a hand.
A third strike. The lid moved an arm's length.
The black air began to pour out, mysterious whispers emerging from within, as if armies of the dead were murmuring his name.
"Ash… Ash…"
The clone was in hysteria, her eyes glowing like two embers of blood.
"You will not destroy it! You will not touch it again!"
But Ashen, bleeding from every pore of his body, roared:
"Even if I tear apart a thousand times… I will not let your cage stand!"
He charged again, his whole body a blood flame, his fists pounding the coffin repeatedly.
Every strike was an earthquake.
Every crack in the lid was a new opening toward the abyss.
And finally…
Craaaaaack!
The lid slid completely aside.
From inside… emerged a black skeleton, its bones soaked in blood, its cavities dripping eternal darkness.
The arena fell silent for a moment.
Even the drums stopped, as if holding their breath before what had risen.
Then… the distorted clone erupted into unprecedented madness.
"Do not touch it!"