The mountain didn't look like a mountain anymore. Just a messy pile of busted rocks, big and small, scattered everywhere like someone had kicked over a giant pile of building blocks. Dust hung in the air, lazy and gray, catching the light in a way that made everything look hazy and dreamlike. Some boulders were the size of cars, others no bigger than a fist, all of them jagged and sharp where they'd been torn apart by forces that shouldn't exist. A few smaller rocks still tumbled now and then, skittering down the slope with a dry, clattering sound that echoed in the strange stillness. The whole place smelled like crushed stone and heat, like the earth itself had just let out a long, tired sigh and given up.
Koby rushed toward Rowan, throwing a straight punch with all the force the entity could muster. Rowan dodged, using a U-turn motion that carried him past the strike, and landed two quick blows to Koby's chest.
Koby was pushed back by the impact but surged forward again, attacking Rowan with relentless fury. Rowan weaved low, slipping under Koby's guard, and struck his chest again—this time with a bit of air pressure added to the blows. Each hit knocked the air out of Koby's lungs, forcing him to gasp and cough up blood. Rowan was genuinely shocked that Koby was still on his feet. But it wasn't Koby moving anymore. It was something else.
"Koby, if you can hear me, stop this." Rowan's voice was strained, desperate. "Wherever you are in there, help me save you—or I'm going to have to kill you."
Koby wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and attacked again. Rowan weaved, preparing to strike Koby's chest once more—but this time, Koby was faster. He dodged the strikes, reading the paths of Rowan's movements with uncanny precision. He was able to read enough to launch a counterattack of his own, shocking Rowan with how quickly this possessed Koby was adapting mid-fight.
Rowan propelled himself upward, soaring a few feet into the air, and came down toward Koby with a devastating leg kick from above. But Koby countered, timing it perfectly. He dropped into a handstand, interlocking his leg with Rowan's, and shifted the older man off course. Rowan's strike missed, hitting the ground instead with a thunderous bang that shattered the stone beneath his feet.
Koby wasted no time. He came in faster—a blur of motion. Straight punch. Right cross. Weave. Uppercut. Weave. Left jab. Right hook. He unleashed the combo on Rowan as fast as he could manage, and Rowan could do nothing but block, taking damage from some of the hits. The force behind Koby's strikes had increased drastically. Rowan guessed it was because Koby was learning how to control his dark aura mid-fight, increasing the power of his punches. Rowan was again left in awe at how Koby's body contained this much aura without exploding.
He had misjudged Koby's potential greatly. If his pathways hadn't been torn, there was no telling just how much aura he could output.
But Koby weaved into his thoughts. Rowan saw him gathering dark aura in his palm, revolving it into a massive spiral of shadow energy. He immediately understood—Koby was trying to copy what Silas had done with his poison. But it was still a copy. Koby could hardly control the amount of aura entering that spiral, and then he started running toward Rowan.
Rowan's eyes creased with worry. That thing was going to blow in Koby's hand before he even reached him. He wanted to shout a warning, but it seemed Koby already knew. He stopped midway and threw the unstable spiral toward Rowan.
Rowan ran toward the spiral, knowing it was going to explode any moment—and that he and Koby were still in range. Just as he was a few inches away, the spiral detonated.
In that split second, Rowan's eyes turned white. White rune-like markings flickered across his head and arms as he flashed forward, crossing the explosion while gathering aura in a controlled spiral, turning it into a vortex of air. He appeared right before Koby.
"This is how that move is done." Rowan's voice was calm, almost gentle. He smiled—a rare, genuine expression—as he slammed the air spiral into Koby's chest.
"Wind Style: Spiral Rend!"
He used the spiral to push Koby while soaring through the air himself, running out of the range of the explosion, which covered a good fifty-foot-wide radius. While they were still in the air, having successfully moved outside the blast zone, Rowan soared higher using an air burst and then came down on Koby with an air-pressured kick, slamming him into the ground with a loud bang.
Koby lay in the crater that was made from the crash, a bloodied mass of torn flesh and broken bones. Rowan staggered toward him, his rune-like markings fading slowly. He was bleeding profusely from his mouth, eyes, and ears—a drawback from using his Saint Realm mode in that moment.
"There's no way you're surviving that," Rowan muttered, continuing to stagger toward where Koby lay.
But to his shock and utter horror, Koby—struggling badly—was getting up.
First on all fours, then standing on his two feet. Blood pooled from his entire body, streaming down his arms, his legs, his face. His body was a ruin. And yet he stood.
"How are you still standing?" Rowan's voice was barely a whisper. "What monster do you have inside that body?"
With a burst of air, Rowan moved toward Koby with another air spiral. As he landed it on Koby's chest, the world dissolved around him.
He found himself in the dark void of Koby's mind.
Turning around, Rowan took in the emptiness. It stretched in every direction—no floor, no ceiling, no walls. Just infinite, silent blackness. He looked down at himself and saw that all his injuries were gone. His clothes were as good as new. He was whole.
"Hello!" he shouted, his voice echoing into the void.
No answer. But then he heard sobs.
He turned toward the sound. Koby was on his knees in something that looked like black liquid, pooled up to his thighs. His shoulders shook with each choked cry. Rowan understood now. He had somehow made it into Koby's mind. It could have been due to his Saint Realm mode being partially awakened when he slammed Koby's body with Spiral Rend. He didn't fully understand it, but that was the only plausible explanation.
Running to Koby, wading through the dark liquid, Rowan held his shoulders.
"Koby, are you—" The words trailed off as he saw Koby's eyes.
His pupils were gone. His eyes were just black—a dark void. Nothing but darkness. And yet tears dropped from them.
"Make it stop." Koby's voice was exhausted, teary, broken. Then he started getting frantic, pulling at his brown hair like a madman. "Make it stop!!"
"Make what stop?!" Rowan tried to ask.
Koby kept saying the same thing, as if he didn't hear Rowan.
"Make it stop!!! Make it stop! Make it stop!! Make it stop!!!"
"Koby!" Rowan shouted, shaking him violently. "Snap out of it! What should stop?!"
"The visions." Koby's voice dropped to a low, trembling whisper. "The visions. They're too much. I don't want to see them dead. They're going to die because of me. I have to save them, but I can't save them. I won't save them. They can't be saved."
Rowan didn't understand. But he guessed it was the influence of the dark aura, the entity, the corruption.
"I don't understand a thing of what you're saying, Koby." Rowan's voice was steady, grounding. "But from the little I know about you, you want to save your friends. You want to protect them. That's why you feel you have to be the one to sacrifice all the time. And now you're feeling powerless, just sitting here."
He gripped Koby's shoulders tighter.
"I'm not going to stay here and tell you how everything's going to be alright. As a matter of fact, it's going to get a lot harder from here. You're out there rampaging around the mountain. You could easily hurt the people you're trying to protect. Is this worth it? I don't know whatever was promised to you, but it's still your body. You can stop this. You don't have to end up fighting alone. Your friends are waiting for you. Come out."
Rowan's rune marks appeared on him again. A small white light popped from Koby's dark eyes.
"They're waiting for me?" Koby asked.
"Yes. They all are. You're all going to be fine." Rowan's voice was soft, reassuring. "So let's go home."
He held Koby's hand. His runes shone brighter, illuminating the dark void. Koby's eyes still remained black—but now with really thin white pupils. He stood with Rowan holding him on the shoulder, giving a short, fragile smile.
Just then, the entity of the void appeared in its usual form—the wide crescent smile, the glowing points of light for eyes. It was smiling.
"That was really touching." The entity's voice was layered, ancient, dripping with mockery. It laughed—a diabolical sound that seemed to come from everywhere at once. "But you think that's all you need? I've been granted full access to this body. Once I master it, I will destroy all who stand in my way."
The entity emanated a presence that was chilling to the bones. Koby shivered in fear, but Rowan held his shoulders firm—reassuring him that all was going to be okay.
"Who are you?" Rowan's voice was cold. "Or should I be asking—what are you?"
He glared at the entity. If he was scared, he didn't show it. He stood face to face with this ancient darkness, unflinching.
"Who or what I am is irrelevant to you." The entity's smile widened. "But I see you're one who has been favored by the Old Supremes. I will make sure to kill you at least."
"Not while Koby still owns his body. And not while I'm here." Rowan's voice was steady. "You cannot do anything."
"Let's see about that." The entity's eyes glowed brighter. "Can you keep protecting Koby and this one that approaches?"
The entity pushed Rowan out of Koby's mind—back into the real world. Rowan awoke to see James approaching them.
In that moment of seeing James, Rowan lost his concentration, fearing for James's safety. He shouted, "Don't come over here, James!"
The entity smiled widely. "And that's just what I needed."
Koby drew his hand forward, punching into Rowan's chest.
Rowan realized it a little too late. He felt the sharp, excruciating pain in his chest. He looked down to see Koby's fist inside him, squishing his heart. He gagged up a mouthful of blood.
Rowan looked up to see Koby smiling—his eyes still black, tears falling out of them.
"Rowan! Koby!" James's yell came from across the rubble as he ran toward them, having seen Koby put his hand through Rowan's chest.
Rowan took a deep breath and gathered aura into his fist. His rune markings had completely disappeared. He turned the aura into a massive wind pressure and brought his fist down on Koby's body.
He hadn't meant to put all his might into that punch. But his body had moved on its own—to eliminate the threat. A huge boom sounded from the impact, shockwaves shattering the surrounding area and pushing James backward.