Kael gritted his teeth, his jaw clenching so hard it felt as though it would crack.
The pain coursing through his battered body wasn’t what angered him the most.
No.
It was the humiliation.
Being beaten down so thoroughly by himself. Or rather, by this cheap imitation of himself.
Rage surged through his chest.
The shadow on the other hand didn’t waste the opening.
Without the slightest hesitation, it exploded forward once more, its silhouette blurring across the endless sea of blood.
Kael reacted instantly.
He rolled to his right.
The very next instant, the shadow’s foot came crashing down where his skull had been.
BOOM!
The crimson pool erupted beneath the impact. Blood splashed several metres into the air while concentric ripples spread endlessly across the otherwise motionless surface.
Kael used the momentum of his roll to scramble back onto his feet. Blood dripped from his broken nose as he wiped it away with the back of his hand, his eyes never leaving the creature standing before him.
It came again.
Its right shoulder rotated.
Its hips twisted.
A straight punch shot toward his face.
Kael moved only a fraction.
His head slipped to the outside of the punch, allowing the fist to whistle past his shoulder by mere centimetres.
At the same time, his left hand shot out.
His fingers wrapped tightly around the shadow’s wrist.
The texture beneath his palm felt strange. It wasn’t flesh.
Nor was it smoke.
It felt somewhere in between, solid enough to grip yet strangely fluid beneath his fingers.
He didn’t hesitate.
His right palm slammed into the shadow’s elbow joint.
THUD!
The arm bent awkwardly beneath the force.
It didn’t break.
But the structure of its stance collapsed.
Kael twisted his waist, forcing the shadow’s upper body downward before driving his knee upward with explosive force.
His knee smashed into its ribs.
A dull, hollow grunt escaped the shadow.
For the first time...
It staggered.
But only for an instant.
The shadow immediately dropped its centre of gravity, tore its wrist free from Kael’s grasp, then swept both legs across the blood-covered ground.
Kael had already expected it.
His feet left the surface in a single leap.
The sweeping kick passed harmlessly beneath him.
Yet the shadow had anticipated that as well.
The instant Kael became airborne, it spun.
Its waist rotated with terrifying speed before a backfist exploded toward him.
CRACK!
The strike slammed across Kael’s cheek.
His head snapped violently sideways as blood sprayed from his mouth.
He stumbled several steps after landing, boots skidding across the shallow blood.
But he didn’t fall.
Instead, he spat another mouthful of blood onto the crimson surface.
Frustration slowly crept across his face.
This thing...
It was reading him.
Every feint.
Every adjustment.
Every instinct.
It knew them all before he even completed them.
But as that thought surfaced another one quickly followed.
If it could read him...
Then he could read it as well.
Kael lowered his stance.
His breathing slowed.
His amber eyes narrowed until nothing remained within them except unwavering focus.
The shadow attacked again.
This time, it unleashed a relentless barrage.
Straight punches.
Hooks.
Palm strikes.
Elbows.
Each attack flowed seamlessly into the next without the slightest pause.
Kael met them head-on.
Forearm struck forearm.
Palm intercepted fist.
Elbow deflected elbow.
Every collision echoed through the silent realm like distant thunder, waves rippling endlessly across the sea of blood beneath their feet.
The shadow never stopped advancing.
Every blocked strike became another attack.
Every deflection transformed into another opening.
It refused to give Kael even a single breath to recover.
Only then did Kael understand.
It’s trying to overwhelm me. His expression darkened.
As much as he hated admitting it.. it was working.
Then...
Something cold wrapped around his ankle.
Kael’s pupils shrank.
He looked down.
A pale chain had emerged from beneath the blood.
It glowed faintly with an eerie crimson light as it coiled tightly around his left leg.
"What..."
His words never finished.
BANG!
The shadow’s fist buried itself into his ribs.
Pain exploded through his side.
Kael coughed violently as he stumbled backward.
The chain suddenly tightened.
Before he could even regain his footing...
Another chain emerged.
It wrapped itself around his right calf.
Then another.
His left wrist.
Then another.
Around his chest.
More and more spectral chains rose from the blood like grasping hands from the depths, winding themselves around every part of his body.
Kael immediately pulled against them.
The muscles in his arms bulged.
His entire body strained.
Yet the harder he struggled...
The tighter they became.
His movements grew slower.
He could barely lift his arms.
The shadow calmly walked toward him.
Its blood-red mouth stretched wider and wider until it resembled a grotesque smile splitting its featureless face apart.
Its voice echoed through the realm.
"You are weak."
"You deserve salvation."
The moment those words fell...
The countless voices erupted once again.
"SALVATION."
"KILL."
"KILL."
"KILL..."
The chanting became deafening.
Every word struck his mind like a hammer.
The shadow smiled even wider.
"I am stronger."
"I would replace you."
"Only then... can this wonderful body reach its true potential."
Silence followed.
Then...
Kael laughed.
A loud, genuine laugh echoed throughout the endless crimson world.
The shadow stopped smiling.
Its head tilted.
Kael slowly raised his head.
Blood still trickled from his nose, yet the corners of his lips curved upward.
"I understand now."
The laughter faded.
His voice became calm.
"So that’s your goal."
"You need me gone."
"You can’t exist while I do."
He looked directly into the shadow’s glowing eyes.
"You’re nothing but a cheap copy."
The shadow’s expression twisted violently.
"You..."
The countless voices exploded once again.
"KILL!"
"KILL!"
"KILL!"
Without another word, the shadow lunged.
Its fist shot straight toward Kael’s head with enough force to crush it apart.
Yet, Kael didn’t panic.
Instead...
He smiled.
His bound right hand gave a gentle tug.
The crimson chain wrapped around it offered no resistance whatsoever.
It simply fell apart.
As though it had never possessed the authority to bind him in the first place.
Kael slowly raised a single finger.
The incoming fist continued rushing toward him.
Closer.
Closer.
Until...
Tap.
His fingertip met the shadow’s fist.
There was no explosion.
No shockwave.
No impact.
"Stop."
The word left Kael’s mouth softly.
The effect was immediate.
The shadow froze completely.
Its fist remained pressed lightly against Kael’s fingertip, yet it could no longer move even a single millimetre.
Absolute stillness descended upon the blood realm.
The chains binding Kael loosened one after another before slipping from his body and dissolving into the crimson sea beneath him.
Kael slowly straightened his back.
His breathing became steady.
His eyes quietly swept across the frozen realm before settling upon the motionless shadow.
A faint smile appeared on his face.