My blood ran cold.
Earlier that morning, I had been reading MHA reports.
Reports about a single person.
A person the Association couldn't fully classify.
Some called him a human.
Some called him a monster.
The reports called him something else.
Creature.
According to the files, he was half-human and half-monster.
And after an incident involving a girl named Lilly, he had become powerful enough to rival a Monster King.
At first, I thought the reports were exaggerating.
Now...
I wasn't so sure.
Standing before me was a boy around my age.
He looked completely human.
No claws.
No horns.
No fangs.
But somehow...
I knew.
This was him.
Creature stepped out of the smoke and flames.
His eyes met mine.
Then his expression changed.
His eyes widened.
Mine did too.
For a moment, it felt as if something inside us had recognized each other.
Something ancient.
Something neither of us fully understood.
"Just to be sure..." Creature said.
The right side of his body suddenly transformed.
Dark scales spread across his skin.
His arm became monstrous.
Then he looked directly at me and shouted:
"RAKHTARAHMBHA!"
The word echoed across the battlefield.
Before I could stop myself—
I shouted it back.
"RAKHTARAHMBHA!"
The moment the word left my mouth, I felt something move inside me.
The same presence that had spoken to me in the Prison Maze.
Creature's eyes narrowed.
"So..."
He smiled slightly.
"You found your new host."
I said nothing.
"Which blood did you use?" Creature asked.
"Fogo blood?"
Suddenly, a voice growled inside my head.
"What do you want with it?"
I froze.
Creature didn't.
"Nothing."
My eyes widened.
He heard it.
He could hear the voice.
"Bow down to me, baka!" the voice shouted.
Creature rolled his eyes.
"Baap ka naukar lagta hoon kya main?"
Even the voice seemed annoyed.
"Hey! Remember! The second name of power is Kaikunoo!"
Kaikunoo.
The name echoed through my mind.
Creature crossed his arms.
"Yeah."
A grin appeared on his face.
"And the first name is Creature."
Suddenly, the air around us changed.
The pressure became unbearable.
It wasn't physical.
It was something deeper.
I could feel it.
The thing inside me...
and the thing inside Creature...
were staring at each other.
Like two ancient enemies meeting again after centuries.
And neither of them looked happy.
*Hey guys, it the author here. I have a question for you. Who's fight do you wanna see next? Tell me in the comments!