9: On the Brink of Darkness

  The sky was covered in a leaden shroud, and the light of the sun had turned into a dim sadness. The earth trembled as if it sensed the coming storm; the branches of the trees whispered warnings of the approaching chaos. Beneath his bck cloak, V walked silently. His steps were heavy but resolute. In his eyes burned an undying fire, a dark determination intertwined with the whispers echoing from the depths of his soul.

  He was not alone.

  Behind him, the Eternals had assembled. Ten of them. Each a legend, a symbol of power. Their leader, Ajak, stood tall, exuding both reassurance and caution. Sersi’s eyes were filled with worry as she kept them locked on V. Kingo, usually brimming with jokes, carried an unusual, grave silence. Druig’s face was expressionless, but his gaze continuously weighed V. Ikaris matched his steps with V’s, stealing sidelong gnces at him.

  “Are you ready?” asked Ajak, her voice soft as the wind yet sharp as a bde.

  V bowed his head slightly. “I am. For them…” His eyes shifted to the vast forest ahead. “…and for myself.”

  He could feel his power now. The tension in his muscles rivaled the might of an Asgardian. With a punch, he could shatter the stones of a mountain; with a single leap, he could kiss the sky. Yet his true strength y in the shadows. He no longer merely maniputed them; he had become a part of them. As he walked the line between light and dark, the shadows became gateways for him. With a single thought, he could vanish, only to be reborn within the depths of darkness.

  His summons had also grown stronger. Shadow emerged like a massive panther from the void, silent and deadly. In its eyes glimmered a consciousness beyond that of a mere beast. Griffon had been reborn with the wrath of the skies, its feathers crackling with lightning, heralding a tempest. V moved in perfect harmony with each of them.

  But the darkness inside him… it no longer merely granted strength. It whispered, it beckoned, it guided. As he encountered more Deviants, the energy they emitted deepened his own shadows, pulling him inward. It was as if with every sin creature, more darkness was woven into his soul. Yet this darkness did not weaken him; it nourished him.

  The Deviants’ stronghold y hidden within a vast underground cave system, surrounded by millennia-old bones. The walls bore the scars of ancient battles; the ground was saturated with the stench of dried blood and mold. As they neared the entrance, V came to an abrupt halt. His eyes narrowed.

  “They’re expecting us,” he said. “The scent has changed. The darkness is thicker.”

  Ajak nodded solemnly. “Then silence is no longer a luxury.”

  Suddenly, the sky split with a lightning strike. Griffon appeared behind V like a bolt from the heavens. Shadow, too, emerged, seemingly born from the earth itself. The Eternals took their positions. Ikaris soared into the air, scanning the surroundings with his glowing gaze.

  The assault had begun.

  The first wave consisted of forty Deviants. Each one grotesquely mutated, with broken jaws, rows of jagged teeth, and eyes that glinted with primal hunger. They charged with growls that tore through the air.

  V vanished in an instant.

  He slipped into the shadows and reappeared behind a Deviant. His cane staff fshed, and the creature’s head was severed cleanly from its body. At the same moment, Griffon rained down lightning from above while Shadow swept through the ranks like a phantom, its cws dealing silent death.

  “Save some for us!” Kingo shouted, bsting two Deviants into oblivion with a burst of light.

  Thena fought like a graceful angel of death. Her light-formed bde plunged into the head of a giant Deviant without hesitation, her gaze icy and unflinching.

  Druig crippled the minds of the Deviants, turning them against one another. “V’s darkness… it’s pulling them towards him,” he murmured, eyes locked onto V.

  With every kill, V moved faster, his form becoming a blur. When he ripped out a Deviant’s heart, his hands were cloaked in dark mist. His eyes gleamed with a feral light. From within, a voice rose:

  “More… more power…”

  Shadow growled uneasily. It could sense the shift within its master. V was aware, yet he could not stop. The more he killed, the deeper the darkness rooted itself within him. His breath grew heavier, his pupils darkened, and his heartbeat thundered in his ears.

  Then, a roar erupted from deep within the cave. A tremor shook the ground, rattling the very bones beneath their feet.

  The Deviant Lord had arrived.

  It was a monstrous creature, standing over five meters tall. Its body was sheathed in bck scales, each limb a patchwork of grotesque mutations. In its eyes burned a savage hunger and a primitive fury.

  V surged forward, but Ajak blocked his path. “No! This fight is not yours, not yet.”

  But V did not listen.

  Gilgamesh was the first to engage, hammering the beast’s chest with powerful blows. The Deviant Lord staggered but retaliated with a vicious swipe of its tail, sending Gilgamesh crashing to the ground. V tried to advance, but Shadow held him back. His vision dimmed.

  “GILGAMESH!” Sersi screamed, tears welling in her eyes.

  The Deviant Lord plunged its cw into Gilgamesh’s chest, lifting him effortlessly into the air. A radiant stream of energy burst from Gilgamesh’s body, feeding the monster. As it absorbed the energy, it began to evolve. Its bones cracked and reshaped, its frame expanded, dark wings sprouted from its back. With a feral shriek, it vanished into the darkness.

  Time seemed to freeze.

  V trembled under the weight of the power rising within him. His gaze remained fixed in the direction the Deviant had fled, but his mind was clouded by the burgeoning darkness. The pressure in his chest grew heavier, and the voice within was no longer a whisper—it was a roar.

  “Push past your limits. Break your chains. Seize what holds you back!”

  V fell to his knees. His eyes turned completely bck. Dark veins emerged across his neck. Shadow whined, Griffon backed away in fear. The Eternals instinctively stepped back, armed.

  “Calm yourself!” Ajak commanded. “It is not yet your time!”

  But V no longer heard her. He had surrendered to the voice from the depths of his soul. His transition to the third level exploded in a burst of dark energy across the sky. A bck aura cloaked his body, muscles tensed, and his pupils disappeared. When he stepped forward, the very ground cracked beneath him.

  “Fall back!” shouted Ikaris.

  But it was too te.

  V vanished like a wraith… and when he reappeared, his companions stood directly in his path.