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Chapter 6 - I’m Still Human…

The first thing I felt was the chains.

Not mine. Not the kind that come from my soul. No, these were heavier, rusted, dragging across the dirt as the thing walked forward. The Soul Reaver.

God, just looking at it made my stomach twist. Its skull was burning, empty sockets staring straight through me. Scales blacker than night, glowing like coals where the cracks ran deep. Every step shook the ground.

And all I could think was: why am I here? Why am I standing here, in front of that thing, with nothing but this cursed heart beating in my chest?

Kimbachi wasn't moving. He never moves unless he wants to. He just looked back at us, his eyes calm, like we weren't seconds away from dying. "This is your trial," he said, like it was some kind of lesson.

A trial. Right. Sure. Let's all die together in the name of training.

Tix laughed, cocky as always. Rob braced with his hammer. Lily raised her hands, light glowing already. Null whispered something I couldn't hear. Everyone was ready.

Except me.

I wasn't ready at all.

The Reaver roared, and the sound almost broke me on the spot. It was like the ground split open under my feet. Rob ran forward anyway, swinging his hammer. Brave. Stupid. It didn't matter.

The Reaver barely moved and still sent him flying into a tree.

Lily screamed his name, barely getting a shield up before a chain slammed into her. The shield cracked. My chest cracked with it.

Tix blinked in, blade flashing—worthless. The scales didn't even scratch. He cursed and vanished again.

Null tried, his shadows clinging to the Reaver like tar, but the damn thing just flexed and broke free. Like he was a child holding strings.

And me? I tried the Seal Brand. My chains lit up, burning red. For one second, I thought I had it—thought I actually mattered here. Then it ripped free, and the recoil hit me so hard I coughed blood.

I hit the ground. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't move.

Pathetic. That's all I was.

The fight kept going, but not for long. We were slowing down. The Reaver wasn't.

Rob was bleeding, hammer broken. Tix was panting, too slow to blink away anymore. Lily's hands shook so bad her light kept flickering. Null's voice cracked, the shadows falling apart.

We were all breaking.

And me? I couldn't even stand. I crawled through the dirt like a worm. My chest was on fire. My head was spinning. My soul was screaming.

Then I saw it—the chain flying toward Lily.

She froze. I froze too.

Rob couldn't get to her. Tix wasn't fast enough. Null was out cold.

She was going to die.

And I couldn't… move…

Then the voice came.

"They are weak."

The Asptrack pulsed. My chest felt like it was splitting open.

"They will fall."

I bit my tongue. Tasted blood.

"Only you remain."

Something inside me snapped.

I stood up.

I don't even remember deciding to. My body just moved. The chain hit me instead of Lily. It should've killed me. Shattered bones, torn flesh. But instead—my hand caught it.

Metal screamed. Sparks flew. The ground split under my feet.

But I was still standing.

Lily gasped behind me, voice breaking. "Nyx…?"

I turned my head. My vision was wrong. Black and red, veins crawling up my skin, glowing through the cracks. The whispers weren't whispers anymore—they were screaming.

And I didn't care.

For once in my useless life, I felt strong.

The Reaver swung the other chain. I caught that too. My arms should've torn off. Instead, I pulled. Hard. The beast staggered toward me.

"Get down!" I roared, though I don't even know if it was my voice anymore.

I slammed my head into its skull. Something cracked. Might've been me. Might've been it. Didn't matter.

It clawed at me. I hit back. My fist shattered its scales.

I grabbed one of its chains and ripped it clean off, swinging it around its neck and dragging the monster down.

I didn't stop. I couldn't stop.

I beat its head into the dirt, again and again, until fire sputtered out of its eyes. My hands were bleeding, bones cracking, but I didn't care.

"Die!" I screamed, fist smashing bone."Stay dead!" Another hit. More cracks."Don't—come—back!"

The whispers howled with me. My chest burned. The world shook.

And then—silence.

The Reaver was dead. Really dead. Its skull caved in, its fire gone. Its chains limp and broken.

And I was still hitting it. My fists slammed into nothing but ash. Blood—mine—splattered the ground. I couldn't stop.

When I finally froze, panting, I realized what I must've looked like.

Lily staring at me, her light shaking in her hands.Rob clutching his hammer, but not moving closer.Tix's grin gone, replaced by wide-eyed shock.Null half-conscious, whispering something like a prayer.

And Kimbachi… just watching. Quiet. Sharp.

I staggered back from the corpse, chest heaving, shadows crawling around my feet like hungry dogs. My eyes burned, the world painted in red.

No one said a word.

Then Lily whispered it, voice trembling. "Nyx… what are you?"

The question hit harder than the Reaver ever did.

Because I didn't know the answer.

The whispers didn't help. They only said one thing:

"Only you remain."

I wanted to scream. I wanted to tell them I was still me, still Nyx, still human.

But all I could do was collapse into the dirt.

And the darkness swallowed me whole.

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