We reached the very rift, where the earth groaned under the weight of the mountains. The air here didn’t just burn—it vibrated with heat.

  “Riza, stay here. Not one step forward,” I ordered, pointing at a safe ledge fifty meters behind.

  She didn’t argue. She saw the crimson haze ahead begin to thicken. From the ground itself, tearing through the rocks, it began to rise.

  It.

  A huge demon—well over a hundred meters tall—wove itself out of liquid flame and black obsidian. Its body shone so brightly it blotted out the sun for a moment, and every breath it took created a violent storm of scorching sand.

  The giant opened its mouth, about to drop its roar on the world—or a flood of lava.

  But I wasn’t going to listen to his monologue.

  I simply raised my hand. A snap.

  The dry sound of my fingers vanished in the roar of the storm, but the effect was deafening. The flaming titan’s enormous head just slid off its shoulders, cut clean by a blade-thin edge of compressed space. The body collapsed after it, shaking the mountain so hard that stones rained down like hail. The crash of it falling sounded like a thousand cannons firing at once.

  But in that same instant, something inside me cracked.

  A sharp, burning pain stabbed through my chest. I dropped to one knee, clutching my heart. Gasping, I felt a cold snake of fear crawl through my soul, deep down.

  The seal.

  The very seal Mira put on my power so I wouldn’t lose control—had developed a crack.

  My vision swam. My heart hammered against my ribs like a mad bird in a cage.

  Ugh… thank god it passed, I thought, teeth clenched. Just a little more, one more bit of extra power—and it would’ve shattered completely. And then…

  “Zenhald!”

  A small whirlwind rushed across the sand.

  Riza ran to me, her face pale with terror. She didn’t look at the dead giant. She looked only at me.

  “Are you okay? Why… why is there sweat on your face? And your heart… I can hear it beating! Were you scared?”

  She held out her small hands, not daring to touch me, like I could fall apart from her touch.

  I forced myself to lift my head and squeeze out a smile. Sweat really was running into my eyes, and my hands were still trembling slightly from mana recoil.

  “Yeah,” I breathed, trying to keep my voice even. “Just overdid it. Put too much into one snap. Guess I’m getting old.”

  I reached out and patted her head, feeling the softness of her hair. That touch helped me ground myself—pull control back over the leaking energy.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “It’s fine, Riza. Really.”

  She puffed up, folding her arms on her chest, and looked at me with her strictest stare.

  “No, it’s not fine! You look like you almost fell with that demon! Don’t do that again!”

  I laughed quietly despite the pain in my chest.

  “I’ll try.”

  But inside, the voice spoke again.

  You’re playing with fire, Zenhald. Mira’s seal isn’t eternal. Every “snap” brings the moment closer—when you stop being a boy and become a Monster again. And she… what will she do when instead of your face she sees her death?

  I stood up, leaning on Riza’s shoulder.

  “Let’s go. The second brother is down. One left.”

  “The last one. The main one.”

  All the way to the peak, Riza didn’t stop training. She walked, frowning in concentration, and above her head a tiny cloud kept forming, spilling a short mushroom-like rain. She tried with all her strength, and I saw her magic becoming more obedient.

  But my thoughts were on something else.

  Ahead, the mouth of a huge cave appeared. Power breathed from its depths—but it was strange. I scanned the space: the third brother was sharply different from the others. There was no fussy rage in him. No hunger for cheap spectacle.

  Only cold, concentrated strength.

  “He’s here,” I said quietly, gesturing for Riza to stay closer.

  Inside, the cave was empty. No guards. No traps. Only the hollow echo of our steps on smooth stone.

  We entered a wide hall. A throne rose in the center.

  And on it sat him.

  The third brother.

  He didn’t jump up. He didn’t start threatening. He just sat there, watching us with a heavy, studying look.

  “I know you,” he began, and his voice echoed along the vaults. “You killed two of my brothers. Ha… fools. They were always too confident. I knew you couldn’t be stopped.”

  He slowly stood. His aura was dense like lead.

  “It’s unusual for a demon—to surrender, isn’t it?” He gave a bitter smirk. “All that noise in the head… the order to ‘destroy everything living’… it finally went quiet. After that crushing defeat three centuries ago, everything changed. And then you appear. Congratulations on that power. If it weren’t for you and your sister, humans would’ve lost a long time ago.”

  He paused, and his gaze went colder.

  “But our decline didn’t start now. It started when they killed the last True King. He was so great that—though… it doesn’t matter. Died to some worthless humans. Stupid.”

  In the next second he vanished.

  The speed was unthinkable even for a Higher.

  Snap.

  Dozens of holes appeared in his body instantly. He crashed onto the stone, choking on blood, but a mad smile froze on his face.

  “You won… so easily…” he rasped.

  And then it hit me.

  Something in my chest snapped with a deafening ring. I dropped to one knee, grabbing my jacket over my heart.

  No.

  Not now.

  The demon—gathering the last crumbs of life—lunged at me again like a wounded beast. I snapped my fingers a second time, almost without looking. His body crumbled into fine gray sand, falling apart a couple meters before reaching me.

  But control was slipping.

  I felt Mira’s seal shatter to pieces.

  Rage—ancient, primal, black—covered me completely.

  “Zen! What’s wrong?! Zenhald!” Riza’s voice sounded like it came from under a thick layer of water.

  For one endless second, the darkness won.

  My eyes flared blood-red, and an uncontrolled lightning discharge burst out of my body.

  “Get back!” I snarled—but it was too late.

  The electric arc struck Riza in the chest, throwing her into the wall of the hall. Watching her body fly, I felt a kind of horror that made me literally bite into what was left of my will.

  The darkness retreated. Pulled back inside. Leaving only ash and shaking.

  “Riza!” I threw myself at her, forgetting the pain in my heart. “I’m sorry… Riza, forgive me!”

  I pressed my hands to her shoulders, pouring healing magic into her. Her skin was burned, her clothes smoked—but she was alive.

  Her eyes opened.

  She slowly got up, swaying, and I froze—expecting to see that same horror in her gaze that everyone else had.

  Expecting her to call me a monster.

  But Riza stepped forward and hugged me hard, burying her face in my jacket.

  “I… I thought you were about to die,” she whispered, shaking all over. “I was so scared for you, Zenhald…”

  I froze, not daring to hug her back with my still-sparking hands. I was ready for screams. For running. For hatred.

  But not for this.

  She wasn’t scared of my true nature.

  She was scared of losing me.

  In the empty hall of dead kings, a small monster was hugging a big one—and the silence didn’t feel hostile anymore.