Xin hit the ground hard.
The tentacle that slammed him earlier had cracked what little stability Raxton still had. Pieces of armor hung loosely from his shoulders and arms. Several plates had completely detached.
System lights flickered weakly.
Then died.
Raxton went silent.
Andy kept walking.
Slowly.
Casually.
Like he had all the time in the world.
Black Bloom spread behind him with every step. Roads darkened. Concrete cracked apart as black veins crawled through them. Dead bodies buried beneath rubble slowly disappeared as the Bloom consumed them.
Rion grabbed Xin by the shoulder.
"We move," Rion said.
Xin forced himself upright.
His entire body screamed.
"No," Xin answered.
Rion looked at him like he was insane.
"Look at him."
Xin did.
Andy looked even worse up close.
Not worse as in weaker.
Worse as in wrong.
Exposed muscles shifted constantly beneath his skin. Gray armor fused into flesh. Kaila's necklace fragments were partially embedded inside his chest armor.
Xin froze.
That necklace.
He knew it.
Andy noticed.
His glowing eyes moved downward.
"Oh," Andy said quietly.
His massive fingers touched the broken necklace fragments fused inside himself.
"She's still here."
Xin's fists shook.
"You monster."
Andy tilted his head.
Monster.
The word almost confused him.
"You left her," Andy said.
Xin's eyes widened.
"What."
Andy smiled.
"You came late."
Tentacles slowly rose behind him.
"She cried for you."
Xin charged.
Rion shouted.
"WAIT!"
Too late.
Xin punched Andy directly in the face.
Nothing happened.
Andy did not even move.
Andy looked down slowly.
Then back up.
"Your turn."
The hit landed.
Xin's entire body folded.
Andy punched him so hard the ground beneath Xin exploded instantly.
Xin flew.
One building.
Two.
Five.
Ten.
He smashed through skyscrapers continuously until the city itself seemed to end.
Finally he crashed into the side of a mountain.
The mountain cracked.
Xin fell.
He barely moved.
Blood poured from his head.
Broken bones.
Internal damage.
Everything hurt.
Far away.
Andy was already standing above him.
"How."
Xin stared.
Andy smiled.
"Fast."
Rion appeared.
Berzar.
The slash carved across Andy's chest.
Blood sprayed.
Andy looked down.
"Oh."
Rion attacked again.
Faster.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Hundreds of strikes.
Shockwaves shattered mountains nearby.
Buildings collapsed.
The ground itself split.
Rion pushed harder than ever before.
For a moment.
Andy stopped moving.
Then.
Every wound healed instantly.
Andy grabbed Rion's sword arm.
Crushed.
Bones snapped.
Rion screamed.
Andy threw him away.
Rion flew through multiple mountain peaks before disappearing.
Silence.
Xin's breathing became unstable.
No.
No.
Not again.
Not again.
Andy stood above him.
Black Bloom surrounded everything now.
"Do you know why I waited," Andy asked.
Xin didn't answer.
Andy crouched.
His massive body caused the earth beneath him to crack.
"Because I wanted you stronger."
Tentacles moved around them.
"I wanted revenge to taste better."
Suddenly.
Andy grabbed Xin by the throat.
Lifted him effortlessly.
"You killed my future."
Xin coughed blood.
"You killed Kaila."
Andy froze.
Silence.
For a second.
Something changed.
His grip loosened.
"Kaila."
The name came out differently.
Human.
Weak.
Then his body violently twitched.
Tentacles exploded outward.
"DON'T."
Andy screamed.
"USE."
His voice distorted.
"HER."
The Black Bloom around them exploded outward kilometers instantly.
Cities far away reported sudden outbreaks.
People screamed.
Andy dropped Xin.
Stepped backward.
His body shaking.
Xin stared.
Rion was right.
Andy was unstable.
Very unstable.
Suddenly alarms blasted through comm devices.
Tara.
"XIN."
Her voice cracked with panic.
"THE BLOOM IS EVERYWHERE."
Alaric came next.
"Retreat immediately. This is not a battle. This is extinction."
Andy slowly looked back up.
His expression returned.
Cold.
Wrong.
"I'm becoming a god," Andy whispered.
The ground behind him opened.
A gigantic organic structure emerged from underground.
Towers made from flesh.
Bones.
Black Bloom.
Machines.
Andy pointed toward it.
"My home."
He looked back at Xin.
"Next time."
His smile widened.
"I'll show you what's left of her."
Xin froze.
Andy turned.
The Bloom swallowed him.
And he vanished.
Leaving behind only destruction.
And silence.
Rion slowly crawled back from rubble.
Broken.
Xin barely stood.
The world around them was infected.
And for the first time.
Xin realized.
Zane was easier.