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Like Hong Feng, Hin Wu had transformed with the power of Dark Frenzy and by all accounts, she seemed several tiers above where he had been on the ‘beasting out’ scale. The [Odds were Against Me] for sure and I welcomed the surge of Frenzy that came with it.

I could sense the Dark Frenzy in her growing stronger. I backed up slowly as Hin Wu began circling us, perhaps still summoning her Qi to strike.

“How do we fight this?” Fia asked, pressing her shoulder to mine.

“You remember that reaper beast?” I said. “Back when we first met?”

“Which one?”

Shit… I forgot we had fought two of them.

“The big one,” I said. “We fight her like that. I don’t know how strong she is, but this looks the equivalent of an awakened S-Class spirit beast at least. Keep your distance and attack her with ranged techniques. I’ll take her head on to keep her focused on me.”

“Can you withstand those flames?”

I cycled my Frenzy and engaged [Steel Skin]. “We’ll soon find out.”

Fia looked at me shocked. “Max… perhaps we should—”

“There’s no running from this,” I said. “We need to kill her as much as she wants to kill us. I’ll use my forms again so don’t be alarmed. What you saw before was an uncontrolled version, but I’ll be in control this time.”

“I’ve never fought anything like this,” Fia said. “Her Qi seems strange now.”

“It’s demonic,” I said and then gave her a grin as I shouldered my Phalanx Glaive. “But don’t worry. She’s just a big damn monster now. And killing big monsters is my specialty.”

I sensed the Dark Frenzy within Hin Wu growing to a peak.

“Go now, Fia!” I shouted. “Take to the air!”

No sooner had I said that did Hin Wu rear back and then breathe out a heavy stream of thick red flames. The flames spread outwards like a fan, too wide to dodge. I crossed my Axe and Glaive in front of me like a shield instead, channeled my Frenzy into [Steel Skin].

I purposely didn’t activate my forms yet, trying to test just how powerful Hin Wu had become. I was reminded once again of my fight with Hong Feng down in that tunnel as my weapons turned cherry-red from the assault. My skin began to burn and char even through my [Steel Skin] technique.

Hot damn!

The words came to my mind like a blaring understatement. I dug deep to channel [Mark of the Demon] to heighten the strength of my techniques ten-fold. My skin healed as it shifted to a deep red color and to my relief, the searing of her flames no longer charred my skin.

Although it did still hurt like hell.

But that was just fine with me.

More fuel to drive my Frenzied Flame.

Hin Wu’s assault continued unabated, the stream of fire intensifying as she tried to cook me alive. I’d need more than just one [Mark] to defeat her. I took a half second to consider which one I should employ next. I hadn’t really seen how fast Hin Wu could move in this form, but it seemed similar to the Perytons Kelsey and I hunted out in the wild. For those, added speed was useful to avoid their quick beak attacks, but with flaming breath like this I might not be able to dodge out of her range anyway.

I made a decision.

With the damage Hin Wu was dishing out, it’d probably only be a matter of time before she wore me down from jumping all over the place. The best tactic was to go full offense, tank the hits, and take her out as soon as possible.

My inner demon grinned.

Pure Berserker style.

I channeled [Mark of the Giant] and my height increased to its full form, nearly 11 feet tall. I pressed against the surging flames, breaking into a run. The pain was excruciating but I forced my mind to ignore it as I focused on a singular goal.

I had to reach that bitch and hit her as hard as possible.

I pushed through the last few feet with a layer of [Steel Lightning] and leapt into the air. The flames themselves hid my presence and when I emerged from the streaming jet of fire just above her head the surprise and shock that resonated through her soul was priceless.

“[Lightning Three Log Chop]!”

I brought both weapons slamming down upon her beak with a satisfying crunch and immediately the flames ceased as I knocked her head straight into the ground. Her entire body fell to one side as her wings spasmed with what looked like palsy.

But the fiery blaze about her body remained.

I became faintly aware that Fia was screaming my name and I looked to the sky to see her trembling with fear.

“Thank the heavens you’re alive!” she said. “I thought she had killed you.”

I cultivated the fear in her heart and used it as my strength, restoring the Frenzy I had just burned. “Don’t worry, I’m fine! Attack her now while she’s stunned!”

I readied both my weapons and leaned into a set of heavy attack forms, performing leaping lightning-charged strikes aimed at her head and body. My weapons passed through the flames and connected with something solid beneath and Hin Wu jerked with pain with each strike. Beams of radiant light descended from behind me, piercing through the flames as well.

We kept it up, wailing on her uncontested.

Then suddenly Hin Wu stirred, her body unfurling in an explosion of flames that knocked me off my feet and threw me on my ass some 50 feet away. She raised her beak to the sky and let loose a screech so loud that I thought my eardrums might burst. As I covered my ears, I could see the areas where I had cleaved her were now dripping flames, like ignited tar.

She was bleeding.

Hin Wu began flapping her massive wings to take to the sky, no doubt trying to gain some distance from me. She belched a stream of flames into the air, aimed at Fia, but she performed an aerial [Flash Step] to avoid it completely and then retaliated with another volley of golden beams.

I raised an arm to shield myself from the gust of hot air from Hin Wu’s wings. She was nearly airborne. I had to move. If she got into the sky, I wouldn’t be able to protect Fia anymore.

I almost wished I had used [Mark of the Beast] now instead to reach her, but strength had its own advantages when it came to movement. Bending my knees into a deep squat, I launched myself forward in an almighty leap, swinging my weapons forward for added momentum. I sailed through the air like a cannonball and just managed to land on Hin Wu’s back as she took to the air. With a yell, I sunk my axe deep into her fiery flesh and then held on for dear life. The flames around her body engulfed me like I was standing on the sun and I screamed in agony as the intensity began eating through even my [Demon]-enhanced [Steel Skin] technique.

“Max!” Fia cried. “What are you doing? Max!”

I channeled the extreme pain into new Frenzy, utilizing [Steel Lightning] to stave off some of the damage and [Death’s Door] to bypass the blood that was now boiling in my veins. I was burning Frenzy like crazy.

I couldn’t keep this up for long.

Hin Wu bucked and screeched, flapping about in a fervor as she tried to remove the axe in her back. She turned her head to start pecking at me and I raised my Glaive at the last moment in a parry. She breathed more fire next, and I clung to my axe handle as the flames engulfed me.

“Keep hitting her!” I shouted to Fia and she eventually snapped out of the shock of seeing me being burned alive to keep up her assault.

Clinging to my axe for leverage, I finally went on the offensive, letting loose with huge downward chops using my Phalanx Glaive, hacking into her spine again and again. The pain I elicited was enough to keep me going and then finally I sensed the emotions I was aiming to produce the most.

Fear…

As I kept it up her terror grew, perhaps realizing she wasn’t going to survive this fight.

“Damn you, Bull Man!” she finally screamed. “Why did fate have to curse me with you! I should have never come here!”

“Just shut up and die!” Fia screamed and launched her jian blades straight for Hin Wu’s head. They pierced her beak and skull and then like a fire being extinguished, suddenly the flames on her body began to belch thick black smoke. She fell backwards out of the sky and I tore my axe free to leap clear. I landed in a roll as her massive body came crashing to the ground behind me with an almighty thoom!

Thick smoke filled the air, along with silence.

I surveyed the damage to my body as Hin Wu began to flop and flounder on the ground, her massive body shrinking and collapsing into black smoke as she took on her human form once again. I was surprised to see my skin still intact, but my Dantian had paid the price. I was near running on empty now; my [Steel Lightning] and [Steel Skin] techniques combined had worked together to keep me alive, but it came at a hefty price.

Releasing my [Marks], I reverted to my normal form to conserve what Frenzy I had left.

I then limped towards Hin Wu as Fia touched down on the ground next to me.

“Max are you, alright?” Fia said, studying me with a mixture of concern and disbelief.

“I will be once she’s dead,” I said and stowed my Glaive while readying my axe for a killing blow.

As I got closer to Hin Wu, I could see the wounds I had inflicted as well as those by Fia. Her side was split open and half her face was filled with puncture wounds from Fia’s Blades. Surprisingly, she was still somewhat conscious, her remaining crimson eye darting back and forth in a mixture of fear and disbelief.

I stood over her, brandishing my axe.

“You…” she croaked, blood and smoke foaming from her mouth as she tried to speak. “…it was you…all along…”

I didn’t know what she was talking about and didn’t really care. “I’ll do you the mercy of a swift death, Hin Wu. A thank you for sparing me all these months, as misguided as it was. No hard feelings, huh?”

She choked out a laugh, grinning at me. “So… strong. The legends… be true. Berserker…”

“Turn away, Fia,” I said and raised my axe.

When she did, I quickly let it fall.

* * *

“Is she dead?” Fia asked with her back still to me.

I glanced over my shoulder at my handiwork and nodded. “It’s done. We’ll be safe now.”

Fia then rushed to examine my body. “You don’t look hurt at all. How… how is that possible?”

“Berserkers are built tough,” I said with a grin as I took her under my arm. “But what about you?”

She rubbed her side gingerly. “A few bruised ribs perhaps, but I’ll survive.”

I smiled and together we began to limp away towards the lake. “Come on, we need to clean up this mess in case anyone comes venturing out here.”

“What about your clan?” Fia asked. “Won’t they come after you once they find her missing?”

I shrugged. “People go missing out in the wild all the time. And I have a pretty good idea how she made it out here past the guard post unseen to sneak up on us.”

I recalled the tunnel back at the old HQ. Burned down as the building was, the tunnels would still be accessible. To those who knew they existed anyway. We got about thirty feet away when something suddenly twitched in the back of my mind.

A sense of something else came with it.

Dark Frenzy.

“Wait,” I said, coming to a stop. “It’s not over yet, Fia.”

“What?”

I turned back to see Hin Wu’s dead body twitching. Her limbs then began to twist and jerk as bones popped and sinew snapped.

“Max, what’s happening!” Fia screamed with horror. “Max!”

Boss fight stage three, I thought with chagrin. How could I forget?

Just like Hong Feng, Hin Wu was about to transform yet again. Her dead body becoming a husk for I’xol’ukz to inhabit.

“Stay back, Fia,” I said as one of Hin Wu’s legs began to elongate. “She’s about to turn into something else. Something you probably shouldn’t…”

See…

I said the last word inside my head as the Shuras from the sword came to my mind.

“stare not into void of the unknown, for terrors that can break even the minds of Soul Emperors, within the void doth freely roam.”

Hin Wu’s corpse was about to transform into the living embodiment of I’xol’ukz, a dark god from beyond the stars. Something no mortal eye should see. And although Fia had spiritual strength, she was no Soul Emperor. I had no idea what seeing something like that would do to her psyche. I recalled the stories from Jim about his men falling instantly into madness.

I couldn’t risk that happening to her.

I looked at Fia. Her eyes were already wide with terror, hands atop her head, finger raking her scalp as she began to scream.

Not good...

I could sense the Dark Frenzy growing stronger, I’xol’ukz’s presence intensifying—and the fear inside Fia grew with it.

I stowed my weapons as a new thought occurred.

I’xol’ukz was a spirit, just like my Flame.

Perhaps if I were in the spiritual realm, I could see him and stop him before he entered Hin Wu’s core and caused her to transform in the real world. It would mean leaving Fia alone with that monster if it did still manage to transform, but that was a risk I was going to have to take.

“Watch over me, Fia,” I said. “I need to meditate quickly.”

“What?” She looked at me like I was crazy. “Right now?!”

But I didn’t have time to explain as I closed my eyes and looked inside.

The world went dark and like I’d done a thousand times before, I arrived in the place with my own mind, accompanied by the Struggler and the Demon. But I quickly sensed a new presence as well.

Dark Frenzy.

I entered the Struggler and girded my Flame with [Soul Shield] as I sought out the source of the putrid energy. I traversed through the darkness of my inner soul and in the distance faintly I saw a dark purple glow. The Dark Frenzy intensified as I neared it and when I got close enough, I saw that the light was emanating from a foot-long tear in the darkness.

Like a crack in the wall of reality itself.

Thin, eye-filled tentacles writhed from within it, trying to push through.

There you are…

This had to be it—the breach in reality that was allowing I’xol’ukz to enter the physical world—the spiritual side of Hin Wu’s demonic core.

I charged at the tentacles, summoning my [Spectral Weapons], the Glaive and Axe forming in my hands. I cleaved into the tentacles and a horrid shriek filled my soul. I felt the pressure against my Flame increase but the [Soul Shield] technique held firm.

“That trick isn’t going to work anymore, you piece of shit,” I said.

Dark words entered my mind.

~Cursed Flame, thou hast strengthened thy form. But I shall snuff thee and thy spawn all the same~

“Yeah, that ain’t happening,” I said with [Struggler’s Resolve], choking up on my axe for a critical strike. “Not today. I’ll be sending you back to the hell you came from, I’xol’ukz. Both here and beyond.”

Something like laughter filled the air within my spirit.

~I am eternal and I am thy demise. Thy petty threats are but ash in the wind~

“Yeah, we’ll see, bitch…”

I raised my axe, summoning my Frenzy.

“[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!”

Blue lightning shot down from the blackened sky and struck my axe as I brought it down on the tentacles squirming through the crack. It hit like a bomb going off and I had a sudden flashback to when I had destroyed the minor gate back in the bunker. I was pushed back on my feet by the blast of dark energy and then, like a candle being extinguished, the presence of Dark Frenzy was gone.

I’xol’ukz was gone.

I reopened my eyes to the real world to find Fia still standing next to me.

The presence of Dark Frenzy had ceased in the real world also.

It had worked.

I had destroyed Hin Wu’s core from the other side.

“How long was I gone for?” I asked.

Fia looked at me oddly. “Gone for? You only just closed your eyes.”

I nodded. Mere seconds had passed in the real world, time again compressing in the spiritual realm. I looked back at Hin Wu’s body. It was still and lifeless again.

“What just happened?” Fia said. “I don’t sense that demonic Qi anymore.”

“Quite a bit,” I said. “But to understand it all, I’ll have to explain some more things to you. Things that might literally break your mind.”

Fia stared at me like I was some Saint or Devil again. “This day has already been the strangest in my life. But whatever you have to tell me, I’m prepared for it.”

Her faith and trust in me, gave me the confidence to continue.

“Alright,” I said. “As the woman I love, I want no more secrets between us. Have a seat. I’m going to tell you everything.”

* * *

I started with the basics again, explaining exactly what the definition of a Berserker was by writing out the Yee characters in the sand and explaining the eternal struggle that was the path of the Frenzied Flame. The constant balance that had to be maintained between the raw power of the Demon and the humanity of the Struggler.

“Now I understand why you kept this all a secret,” Fia said once I had explained it all. “Even from me, but what is this path exactly, Max? I saw you transform. Normally body transformation is only associated with demonic cultivation. Is it the same?”

“I honestly don’t know,” I said. “But I know I’m not like Hin Wu. In fact, true demons despise what I am.”

“What do you mean?”

I then explained the effects of the Bloodmoon and how it could turn me into an uncontrolled demon like what she had seen before.

“When that happens to me, the demons in the night attack me. They call me the Cursed Flame. I still don’t understand it all, but there is some deeper mystery as to the origins of the Frenzied Flame and the demons that come from the Bloodmoon.”

Fia paled a little. “I admit, it terrified me to see you like that. It’s something I’m going to have to adjust to.”

My heart sank a little. “I understand…”

She then placed her hand atop mine, perhaps sensing my mood. “I will though. Now that I know it’s truly you. What happens to you when you become like that? Under the Bloodmoon?”

“It’s like I’m becoming something else, but I’m learning to control it,” I said. “It’s not something I would ever plan to do lightly. The one time I did succumb fully, I ended up lost hundreds of miles out in the wild.”

Her mouth opened with disbelief then. “What? Hundreds of miles?”

“That’s where things get a bit more interesting,” I said. “I was saved by a group of Terran who had survived out in the wild. They lived underground in a bunker, for years…over a decade, since the attack.”

Fia’s eyes grew wide with disbelief. “Is this true?”

I nodded. “It’s another reason for me to keep it all a secret. If the empire ever found out I’m sure they’d try to exterminate them. They possess the true knowledge of who we were as a people, our history. Everything the Yee tried to erase.”

“Max, I had no idea,” Fia said and then her eyes softened. “I wonder how much of our original culture was lost when the Yee integrated us. I suppose we’ll never really know.”

I paused a moment to consider that. I guess her family were indeed victims as well.

“That’s why protecting them is so important to me,” I said. “If we lose who we were, then everything I’m fighting for would be for nothing.”

Fia nodded again empathetically. “I understand. What are they like? Your people?”

I smiled as I told her and over an hour flew by as I filled her in on the details.

Threja’s sword, the barrier, Kelsey, Jim and his old Earth ideals.

She was completely rapt by then, but finally I told her about the real threat they faced in the wild. The threat to us all really.

“Its name is I’xol’ukz,” I said. “Xi Xha helped me research exactly what it is, but I believe it’s what is influencing this entire planet. The dark effect of the Bloodmoon itself. It’s what creates both the spirit beasts and the demons. And I believe it intends to control even more.”

I explained as much as I knew about how the Dark Frenzy—or demonic Qi as she could sense it—worked and also how the barrier could only do so much to keep it and the demons at bay.

“Winter is coming. If I don’t do something to rid that bunker of the demons, they’ll all die.”

Fia let out an uneasy breath, seeming almost beside herself as she stared dead ahead of her in thought, digesting everything I’d just told her.

“I had no idea you were dealing with so much,” she said, looking up at me. “These things barely seem real. The stuff of legends or Deity Realm cultivators. What are you going to do, Max?”

I considered the question myself and then was filled with a sudden resolve.

“I need to get back there and destroy that gate,” I said. “It’s the only chance they’ll have to rid the bunker of the demons for good and survive the winter.”

“But what does that mean?” Fia asked. “Fighting more demons?”

“Lots of them,” I said. “And probably worse.” I still didn’t know what I would truly face at that gate, but after defeating Hin Wu and I’xol’ukz’s minor presence just now, I felt more than equipped. Or at least equipped enough to try. “I have you to thank for being finally able to make this step though, Fia.”

She blinked at me in surprise. “Me?”

“All this time, I couldn’t master my spiritual techniques because of an internal blockage in my spirit, but now I realized that it was because I couldn’t be truly honest with you about everything. About what I truly am. But now that I have, it’s unlocked something inside of me. I have the weapons I need to face I’xol’ukz head on now.” I took her hands in mine as we sat together on the beach. “Thank you for still trusting in me after everything you saw. For still loving me even after telling you all this. Now, you truly are the other half of my soul.”

Fia smiled back as she squeezed my hands. “I’ll be honest. You are far more complex than I ever realized and I thank you for sharing it all with me.” She then shook her head slowly. “I only wished you’d done it sooner. If I knew you were doing all this… I probably would have agreed to leave my family a long time ago.”

“What?”

“I told you that you reminded me of my father, didn’t I?”

I nodded. “Yeah, still not sure how I feel about that.”

She laughed. “I keep telling you it is positive. My father came from nothing and achieved greatness, and you truly are like him in that regard, but now so much more, I realize. You are doing things I never dreamed possible. Defy the Warden and my family? Reclaim your planet from the princess and the empire? Face a dark god? Before I did not know if you would ever achieve it all, but now that I know the true strength you possess, I have no doubt you will accomplish all of it. When I said fate had drawn us together, I had no idea just how lucky I was to have caught a falling star like you.”

The outpouring of her heart was matched only by the strength of admiration and love in her soul. For the first time, I had found someone I could share my very heart with, all my secrets and love in one.

“Thank you, Fia,” I said and then kissed her deeply as I held her close. “For your faith in me. For accepting me.”

Fia blushed uncontrollably with a smile.

“I don’t know if I really want to let you go,” she said. “But I know you have to.”

“I’ll be alright now,” I said, cupping her face in my palm. “Thanks to you.”

“You should get going then. If you have people to save, it’s what you should do first.”

I nodded. “But what about you? Will you be alright?”

She shrugged. “Hin Wu is dead and our duel is still months away. I’ll be fine.”

“But your injury…”

“A few days rest tops,” she said. “The only thing I need to do between now and then is attend a silly court appearance. And once they discover Hin Wu missing, who knows? Master Lo Feng might just drop everything against us.”

I furrowed my brow at that. “You’re going to court against Lo Feng?”

“My father is,” she said. “But don’t worry about it. These are trivial matters compared to what you need to take care of. Just promise you’ll return to me safely, okay?”

I nodded. “I will.”

“Go then,” she said, giving me a final kiss. “Go to save your people, Max. I’ll be waiting for you on your return.”