******
Xylen’s eyes locked onto Kaelrik’s blade as it descended upon him, resembling the sword of Pangu poised to cleave primordial chaos and divide heaven from earth.
In that moment, everything flashed before him—Lilith, himself, his detested and hateful half-siblings, his father, his thirst for vengeance, the already painted future, his promises, and everything else.
At last, his eyes ignited.
"Not today!"
He snarled, and in that instant, power surged into him from nowhere.
Without hesitation:
’Phantom Steps!’
He roared in his mind and then finally... time seemed to resume its normal pace.
In the following second—
Bang!
The blade crashed onto the spot where he had been lying just now, slicing into the ground like a scorching knife through butter.
However, Xylen had already vanished into a swirl of shadows, materializing behind Kaelrik while gasping for breath.
He had seen how the sword had effortlessly carved into the earth, and the mere thought of still being there and the sword landing on him... it was terrifying and hunting.
However, Xylen did not bother dwelling on it much because— time wasn’t by his side.
Once again...
Infernal Wound!
He thrust the rusthorn blade directly at Kaelrik’s back again, and immediately, the damage manifested...
-26 HP
-28 HP
-30 HP
The number climbed higher, steadily, the damage greater than before, thanks to the boost from Corrupted Power.
But Kaelrik, contrary to Xylen’s expectation, remained unfazed, his body healing nearly as fast as it deteriorated.
He turned to Xylen at an unhurried pace, that same cocky and arrogant smirk still plastered on his face.
"Like I told you before," he sneered, his voice heavily laced with contempt and disgust.
"If you think you can kit and chip away at my health point, relying on those two pathetic skills to finish me, you’re simply too delusional. I’ve already endured far worse than this."
Without pause, he lunged at Xylen again, and their weapons clashed.
Xylen once more deflected Kaelrik’s ferocious and unrelenting strikes, each impact sending powerful and bone-shattering tremors through his body.
He couldn’t rival Kaelrik’s monstrous strength, so every parry drained his stamina further.
Then...
Hsssssh!
Xylen suddenly hissed in pain, and upon looking down, he saw to his shock that a deep gash had already slashed across his chest.
In the next second:
-25 HP
Xylen coughed up blood, his knees buckling, and upon witnessing this, Kaelrik, in no rush to end him, drove a fist into his abdomen, launching him flying back through the air again.
-20 HP
Xylen crashed down, his vision blurring, his face pressed against the dirt.
With this, HP officially dropped into the single digits.
5 HP remaining.
Grinning wickedly, Kaelrik casually strolled toward him and planted his foot on Xylen’s back, pinning him in place.
"Look at you," he sneered. "Pathetic!"
...
"This..."
The already deathly-pale villagers watched in horror, some covering their mouths to suppress their cries.
Even the group of rebels, now dwindled to less than half their original numbers, faltered, their hope shattering like delicate glass.
The same was Lilith...
"My... my Lord!"
She shrieked, her voice raw with anguish and terror as she frantically struggled to reach Xylen, looking like someone who had completely lost their mind.
But just like before, the guards restrained her without trying to harm her.
No one could intervene, leaving Xylen at the mercy of his fate.
Seeing this, Kaelrik’s lips curled even further before he pressed his boot down harder, grinding Xylen into the dirt.
"Your little rebellion dies here with you," he chuckled, embodying the very essence of what demons were meant to be in the eyes of other races. Then, his sword lifted for the killing blow.
....
Xylen was currently feeling the weight of impending death on himself, his fingers twitching.
’Is... is this the end once more?’
The thought echoed in his mind, blood dripping from his mouth, and his body failing him.
He wished to rise and dodge, to fight for his life, but he was just simply too weak beyond words right now.
Xylen’s heart ached, and the haunting image of his past-life demise—dying like a stray dog, dishonored and forgotten flashed through his mind. And now, barely a few days into this new chance at life...
Although this world wasn’t real, and he would wake up in the real world, the consequences were real. Would he be able to endure the torment that awaited him if he was permanently banned from playing Fallen Realm Online in the future?
If he had achieved all his aims and fulfilled all his promises, perhaps, he wouldn’t mind much, but...
No.
He knew himself too well. He would end it all again.
And realizing this, hopelessness once again gripped Xylen like iron chains, dragging him into an abyss of despair.
But then, a single thought flickered through his mind...
’Why do I always have to lose?’
The question burned through his very being.
’In my past life, I was tormented, discarded, and constantly trampled upon. Everything I ever cared for was ripped from me before I was ultimately forced to commit suicide.’
’Why must I suffer the same fate in this one?’
His hollow heart thudded, then—
’No!’
A surge of defiance ignited in his chest.
His eyes, once dulled by resignation, slowly gleamed with newfound determination until finally—
"Like I’ve said twice already," his voice cut through the air, frigid and razor-sharp. "...You talk too much."
’Huh?’
Kaelrik faltered, completely caught off guard. But before he could react...
A shadow erupted beneath him and—
Vengeful Burst!
A wave of black energy exploded outward, directly blasting Kaelrik through the air like a rag doll, feeding him a dose of his own medicine.
He crashed violently, his body skidding across the dirt.
Coughing violently, he struggled to push himself up.
-30 HP
Meanwhile, Xylen stopped, staring at the blinking, red number in his view....
One.
This was the HP he had left after striking down the towering Demon.
But instead of fear, Xylen’s lips curled into a slow, chilling smirk, a twisted grin that embodied the very essence of the abyss itself.
This was all he needed.
Without hesitation, Xylen retrieved a small vial from his robe and downed its contents in one swift motion.
A second later, his eyes flashed and...
"Corrupted Power!"
His voice came out slow, deliberate.
At that moment, the sky over the village dimmed a bit, an eerie presence suddenly cloaking it like a thick fog.
Then, inch by inch, a dark, ominous energy began to swirl around Xylen.
His pitch-black eyes became two endless voids, consuming everything within their gaze, and his veins pulsed with something unnatural, something malevolent.
It felt as though his body was on the verge of breaking apart, but his strength had already skyrocketed, and right now, he felt as if he could obliterate the entire world.
His very form shifted, and this time, unlike earlier, when he had partially activated Corrupted, an aura of pure corruption engulfed him.
And watching from afar, Lilith, whose body had weakened from struggling against her restraints, smirked, her crimson eyes alight with wicked delight.
"Time to turn the tables around," she murmured under her breath, recalling the first time she had seen Xylen unleashing this very skill in the forest.
Before this moment, she had been convinced that all hope was lost, completely forgetting that Xylen still had something else up his sleeve, but now...
"Hehehe," she chuckled darkly.