Path of BlooDld

Silence.

For a few seconds only...

Nothing could be heard but heavy, ragged breathing.

Ashen was on his knees, his breath tearing through his chest, his body trembling as if something inside was revolting.

Raizen stood before him, his demonic eye still floating upward. The beam intensified. The giant fist behind him was poised to strike.

"Damn it, he left me no choice... Do I have to use that move?"

A heavy silence fell.

But suddenly—

The earth trembled.

As if something was moving… from deep beneath.

Ashen slowly raised his head.

His eyes... were no longer his.

A thick blackness devoured his pupils, and a dark red mist began to seep from his body.

Ashen screamed,

"Beast Ascension..."

The transformation had begun.

From his back exploded three bloody phantoms:

The head of a giant bear, the body of a misty panther, and the cracked shell of a crocodilian armor—

They fused and sank into him.

His skin began to tear.

Beneath it, a new layer—dark scales mixed with coarse fur, swollen limbs pulsing like living creatures.

His body ripped apart and reassembled.

In less than ten seconds, something else stood in Ashen's place...

A blood-drenched beast, breathing like a ghoul, standing two and a half meters tall.

Its forelimbs radiated raw, savage power.

Each step shook the earth.

Each breath melted the air.

> There were no more words.

No "fight," no "attack," no "technique."

All that remained…

Was a monster that crawled out of hell.

The wind howled through the barren forest.

The charred trees groaned softly.

The sky watched in silence, as if afraid to intervene.

Then—

The ground exploded.

It wasn't a human scream...

It was a roar that shattered eardrums,

burned lungs,

and forced hearts to skip a beat.

Ashen… was no longer Ashen.

What emerged from his blood, flesh, and bone—

was something with no name.

Leopard paws laced with spikes,

a bear's chest wrapped in red muscle,

a crocodilian hide as dark as steel,

a face so deformed no features could be identified,

and eyes—burning coals—sunken deep within split sockets.

It moved with one purpose:

To kill.

Raizen was waiting.

Every rune activated.

Every defense up.

Every trick ready.

But he wasn't waiting for this.

The beast didn't move—it detonated.

Its body pierced the distance like a demonic spear,

the air behind it splitting apart.

Raizen didn't see a thing.

Suddenly—

A hellish fist crashed into his chest.

CRAAACK!

His ribcage shattered,

blood sprayed like a fountain,

and his body slammed into a dead tree—

destroying it.

Then into the rock behind it—

shattering that too.

Raizen gasped,

bleeding from his mouth, nose, ears.

He tried to unleash a Bloodshock—

But the beast caught his hand.

And tore it off.

TSSSSSHHHHKKK!

Bone ripped apart.

Blood poured like a flood.

Raizen screamed like a child being butchered alive.

But the beast didn't stop...

It lifted the half-dead body,

and smashed it into the ground—

Once.

Twice.

Ten times.

Each slam shook the earth,

dust flying like a storm

burying everything nearby.

The forest itself began to crumble.

The mist turned to blood.

The trees caught fire from the heat of the aura.

Insects perished.

Rocks melted from pressure.

The air turned to ash.

And everything else… became the backdrop of a massacre.

Raizen, with one eye remaining,

gathered his last strength:

Sky Panther Rune + Demon Eye + a phantom clone at 75% power.

In an instant, all clones attacked the beast from three angles.

A blood beam from above,

a bloodshock from the front,

and the demon's fist from the side.

The combined force could level a mountain.

But the beast… didn't flinch.

It stepped into the storm.

It was struck.

It bled.

Its face was mangled.

Its stomach split open.

Several fingers torn off.

Then—

It healed. Right in front of his eyes.

Flesh regrew as if nothing happened,

its limbs reformed,

and its eyes…

grew darker.

Raizen tried to escape.

The air refused to obey.

His legs wouldn't move.

But he didn't escape.

The beast appeared in front of him,

grabbed his head,

then—

Slowly drove him into the ground.

The rocks resisted.

The skull screamed.

The brain began to die.

Then… it lifted him high.

And tore him in half.

The blood… was everywhere.

Not splashes—rivers.

The drops soaked everything.

The beast stood in the middle,

drenched in a heavy silence,

its chest rising and falling,

its mouth dripping blood.

The barren forest had become a crime scene.

And Raizen…

Whether anything remained of him—

was unknown.