Unix sits on a wooden chair, chained in a dark place. He slowly opens his eyes, and the first thing he sees is the floor, which seems to be made of darkness. The entire place is like that, and the only things emitting light are the white trees scattered around.

  Unix looks around, terrified and scared. He sees no end to the place, nor a beginning as if the concept of beginning and end simply doesn't exist. He shakes, trying to break his chains, but it's no use. Suddenly, mouths begin forming around him, floating in the air and starting to speak. They mock and laugh at him:

  "You're so weak!"

  "Useless!"

  "Nothing but a troublemaker!"

  Unix is horrified and speaks to himself:

  (What is this place? Where exactly am I? I remember standing between Darker and the monster, then suddenly I blacked out and found myself here...)

  The voices and laughter grow louder. All the mouths melt into black sludge that sinks into the ground and disappears. Then, Unix hears a voice calling him:

  "Unix..."

  He looks around but finds nothing. The voice calls again:

  "Unix..."

  He searches, but still nothing. Then suddenly, the voice screams:

  "UNIX!!!"

  A furious, thunderous scream. This time, Unix pinpoints the source of the voice... it’s from beneath him! He looks down and sees his own face, covered in black matter, staring up at him through an opening in the ground. Unix begins to scream and struggle as if trying to jump out of the chair, but the chains hold him down.

  His other self starts climbing out of the hole, scaling Unix’s body. It stares at him with eyes radiating death. Then it gently places its palms on Unix’s cheeks and speaks calmly:

  “You’re weak, Unix… far too weak. There’s no way you’ll survive this. But... he can save you, or at least buy time until he arrives. Unix… let him take control.”

  Unix is sweating profusely. His heart beats so fast it feels like it will burst from his chest. He yells at the copy:

  “Damn you! Get away from me, you sick freak! I don’t understand a damn thing you’re saying! Who’s going to save me? Who’s coming?!”

  The copy grins wickedly and slowly brings its face closer to Unix’s. Then, suddenly, it licks his cheek. Unix recoils in terror. It then licks his ear and slips its tongue inside. Unix panics and screams:

  “Stop! That’s so disgusting! What the hell are you doing?!”

  The copy responds with a devious, evil grin:

  “You’ll know soon enough who he is…”

  And without warning, it vanishes leaving its saliva on Unix’s ear. Suddenly, pain shoots through Unix’s head. His perception of reality begins to distort, as if multiple lights are colliding at once. Everything seems to tremble. He starts screaming from the intense pain. He hears footsteps approaching. He lifts his head to see a figure made of darkness drawing closer. The closer it comes, the worse Unix’s head hurts, and the more reality warps.

  He hears two voices one of a grown man and the other of a child speaking together:

  “A visitor indeed… Unix Voldgaard... I suppose the demon found you this time instead of the angel.”

  The voices come from the dark figure now standing in front of Unix. It reaches out and touches Unix’s forehead. Suddenly, all the pain vanishes, and he loses the ability to feel anything. The figure speaks:

  “You’re weak, Unix… you can’t protect anyone… Let me protect them for you.”

  Everything turns white in Unix’s vision, as if reality is fading away. He opens his eyes and finds himself back in reality. Standing before the beast, he clenches his fist, bares his teeth, and his fury boils as if his veins are about to explode. The beast glares at Unix with equal anger. It raises its claw slowly into the air, then slashes down rapidly. Unix screams:

  “Didn’t you hear me?! I said stay away from us! I won’t let you hurt us!”

  Unix raises his palm and swings it through the air… the beast’s paw explodes, flesh flying everywhere, and blood splashes across Unix’s face. The beast stumbles back a few steps, glaring at the furious Unix. Unix speaks in a low voice:

  “You’ve really pushed us past the limit of our rage... you son of a bitch.”

  Suddenly, Unix lets out a loud gasp and raises his head to the sky. His eyes turn red... he lowers his head, facing the ground. The beast has healed its leg and leaps at Unix with its claw. But it hits nothing Unix is already above the beast’s head, looking down on it with disdain:

  “Do you really think you can just show up with your little army and take this child’s life? As if I’d let that happen… You’re nothing more than an insect in my path, and all I have to do is crush you.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Unix jumps off the beast and lands in front of Darker. He raises his hand, clenches his fist, and then snaps his fingers... the beast’s jaw explodes, as if a bomb had been planted inside. Darker, half-covered in rubble, looks at Unix in terror:

  (Wha… what is this?! He’s not the same person! He’s furious, arrogant, and proud! His spiritual energy has skyrocketed!)

  Unix looks at Darker from the corner of his eye. Darker’s eyes widen as he sees Unix’s once-blue eyes now glowing red like a demon’s. Unix extends his left hand toward Darker and snaps his fingers. A spiritual wave bursts forth, blowing the stones off of Darker.

  Unix then turns to the beast, places both hands beside his head, and snaps again the beast’s stomach and back explode. Unix starts waving his hands and snapping his fingers in rhythm, like conducting an orchestra… and with each snap, a part of the monster’s body detonates. He ends his symphony with a final clap the ground beneath the beast explodes, and it’s engulfed in flames.

  Unix lowers his arms and walks calmly toward the fire, his face cold, devoid of emotion. He stands before the flames, and within them, the monster burns alive. It stares at Unix, then suddenly jumps out, on fire, mouth wide open, lunging at Unix. But Unix’s voice echoes through the air, deep and thunderous:

  “Enough.”

  The monster freezes in midair, suspended. It struggles but can’t move. Unix raises his right hand, preparing to snap again. For the first time, the monster feels fear. It flails desperately, whimpering like a helpless creature. It watches Unix’s fingers slowly readying to snap. Terrified, it lets out a howl so loud it forces Darker to cover his ears.

  Unix pauses and looks behind him. The ground shakes beneath his feet. Footsteps approach from Darker’s direction. Suddenly, the walls behind Darker explode, and many smaller versions of the monster emerge. Debris falls toward Darker, and he shuts his eyes, thinking this is the end… but suddenly, he feels a gust of wind. He opens his eyes and finds himself far away from the horde Unix stands beside him.

  Darker is in shock, his mouth open, sweat pouring down his face:

  (How?! That fast?! He reached me, carried me, and moved me away?! Impossible!)

  Unix begins to move forward again, but something touches his leg. He looks down and finds Darker on his knees, clutching Unix’s leg, saying:

  "You can’t fool me... it’s impossible that you and unix are the same person! Who the hell are you? And why are you doing this?"

  unix violently shoves Darker’s hand off his leg and, with a face devoid of emotion, says:

  "What I’m doing is none of your business. Just sit here and watch. Don’t even think about interfering you’re weak."

  Darker mutters to himself:

  (What is this? A strange shift in his personality... from angry to arrogant all of a sudden?)

  unix walks toward the large crowd with complete confidence. Silence fills the area; the only sound is that of his bare feet stepping over the hard rock... Suddenly, he vanishes! No trace of him...

  A dog's howl erupts from the center of the pack. All the dogs turn to see that unix has ripped out one of their throats before anyone noticed!

  He stands in the middle of the group with glowing red eyes. The dogs bare their teeth and leap at him all at once, piling over him like a mountain.

  Darker shouts from afar:

  "unix!"

  Silence again... Suddenly, from within the mass of dogs, a blinding blue light flashes, followed by a snap of fingers and then a massive explosion!

  Dog limbs fly everywhere. The blast looks like a stunning piece of art: a mix of light blue, dark blue, and black in a mesmerizing harmony.

  From the cloud of dust, unix emerges with a murderous glare. He snaps his fingers again, triggering more explosions among the dogs, and says:

  "Pathetic... You summon your weaklings to protect you? Is this how you grow stronger? Relying on these little ones to bring you food?"

  He speaks to the large dog suspended in midair without even looking at it, as if he despises it.

  One of the smaller dogs jumps and bites the upper part of unix’s body, but he’s unfazed. He shreds the dog into pieces without a single drop of blood touching him.

  He raises his hand to strike but suddenly, it bursts with blood! Multiple wounds appear. He looks at his hand and says:

  "This body... can’t handle my spiritual energy anymore."

  His hand starts to tremble, then the wounds and blood vanish. He looks toward the sea and says:

  "I just wanted to have a little fun... I guess I’ll speed things up. I need to go anyway."

  He extends his hand toward the sea and clenches his fist...

  Far out at sea, Slasher rides a small metal boat, accompanied by a tall woman in a black cloak with purple-black hair. Behind them are two more boats, each with two men: one massive and the others average in build.

  Slasher yells:

  "Damn it! Can’t this piece of shit go any faster?! I hate spiritual engines so much!"

  Suddenly, the sea begins to ripple toward the harbor. Slasher looks in shock... Then, a powerful surge throws him into the boat, and all three boats accelerate rapidly toward the harbor, as if the sea itself is dragging them. The speed is so intense the woman nearly flies out, but she grips the boat tightly.

  Suddenly, the three boats stop. Slasher stands to see the harbor swarming with monsters. The woman says:

  "Slasher, the number of [byles] is huge... and don’t forget those underwater. Look at how they’re surrounding the port. We can’t pass with the boats!"

  Slasher looks for a few seconds, then turns and picks up his sword. He takes a small metallic capsule with strange engravings from his belt and inserts it into the hilt. The runes glow blue. Standing on the boat’s edge, his leg starts to burn as he turns his back to the woman:

  "Start the engines again, Rita. If there’s no path to cross... then I’ll make one!"

  Rita watches him for a moment, then her expression changes to one of trust. She shouts to the others:

  "Start the engines!"

  Slasher leaps from the boat with such force that he soars high into the air. Flames erupt from his feet, propelling him through the sky toward the harbor...

  Meanwhile, unix or whatever is controlling him from afar gazes toward the sea:

  (This will do for now...)

  Then looks at the horde of monsters ahead:

  (In any case, I must go now... We’ll meet again soon, unix Foldguard. Until then, don’t die.)

  Suddenly, unix’s eyes return to their blue color. He’s shocked, unaware of what’s happening. He raises his hand in front of his face:

  "What happened... I can’t remember anything..."

  A violent thud interrupts him—it’s the large dog, crashing to the ground after hanging midair. unix begins to grasp the situation, his expression turning from shock to horror as he faces a mob of furious monsters. He backs away slowly...

  The large dog stands, glaring at unix with hatred. unix returns the look with fear, then turns to glance behind him at Darker, lying far away. Darker realizes:

  "His eye color... He’s back to normal."

  Darker shouts:

  "unix! Run!"

  The large dog roars, and at the sound of it, unix starts sprinting toward Darker, as if begging for help. The dogs charge after him. As he runs, he thinks:

  (What happened? What is all this destruction? Why can’t I remember anything? Why is everything falling apart?!)

  Suddenly, a dog leaps behind him, jaws wide above unix’s head... Darker watches in horror... unix is about to die, and no one can save him.

  Suddenly... a sword pierces the dog.

  It’s Iskandar his clothes torn, body covered in blood and wounds. Rage fills his face, and his eyes glow red, just like unix’s moments ago.

  He shouts:

  "Run, unix!"

  Behind unix, a squad of soldiers appears. Despite their injuries and shredded uniforms, their eyes glow red, and their faces burn with fury. They crash into the pack of dogs like two armies colliding. Darker whispers from afar:

  (You guys... How is this possible? Iskandar? On the frontlines again?)

  Without hesitation, unix starts to run while the men fight. Iskandar yells:

  "Did you really think my soldiers would fall that easily?! Not even in your dreams!"

  From behind the dog horde, the large dog reappears. With one swipe of its claws, it cuts a line of soldiers in half. But their courage doesn’t falter. Iskandar shouts:

  "Don’t retreat! If we’re going to die, we’ll die like men!"

  The dog swings again, slashing another line and striking Iskandar in his right side with a deep wound. But Iskandar doesn’t fall back. Instead, he hurls his sword into the dog’s eye and hits it. The beast screams in pain, shaking its head, dislodging the blade. It looks at Iskandar in fear.

  Suddenly, the dog’s belly swells, fills with air, then releases it in a devastating blast toward the soldiers. The ground explodes, and the men are thrown into the air. Darker and unix look on to see Iskandar midair, bones shattered, seemingly unconscious. The soldiers caught in the blast crash to the ground. From a distance, Darker watches his comrades being wiped out in a single attack.

  The massive dog approaches Iskandar, slowly opening its mouth... Darker yells:

  "Noooo!"

  unix raises his hand into the air and shouts:

  "Stop!"

  The dog opens its jaws wide...

  Suddenly, a bright light appears in the sky.

  It illuminates the entire sky.

  The dog stops trying to eat Iskandar.

  Everyone soldiers and monsters alike looks up at the sky.

  It’s a blazing mass in the air… and apparently, someone is inside it.

  It’s Slasher.

  He looks at the horde of monsters, especially the giant dog.

  He takes a combat stance with his sword and dives downward at terrifying speed, as if the air itself is melting around him.

  The closer he gets, the hotter the area becomes.

  Everyone senses the danger.

  The soldiers begin to retreat.

  The giant dog tries to flee, but it's too late...

  Slasher pierces through the giant dog's body, then strikes the ground causing a massive fiery explosion.

  The smaller dogs melt in the blast.

  The giant dog’s skin is torn from its body.

  Even the soldiers far from the explosion’s center are blown away by its force, including Yonex and Darker.

  From within the flames…

  Slasher emerges, placing his sword behind his head, and says:

  "Hello mother fuckers...The star of the show has arrived… let’s have some fun!."