Fear and Victory

Chapter 28: Fear and Victory

Amid the crumbling floor of the laboratory, surrounded by broken metal fragments and shattered glass, a towering figure rose. Magnus's transformation was complete. Every muscle, every vein seemed like the very creation of a monster. Powerful, invincible, dark... His eyes burned with a coldness that resembled that of a demon—void of any compassion. But as Luca watched Magnus’s transformation, the hatred he’d carried for years began to turn into pure rage. He could feel how each muscle, each vein made Magnus even more grotesque, even more alien.

Luca moved forward slowly, closing the gap between them. Magnus’s massive body moved like a wrecking ball, shaking the ground as it advanced. Luca took a step back, attempting to maneuver swiftly. After a few steps, he threw a vial filled with acidic chemicals at Magnus. The vial shattered on impact, the acid splattering over Magnus’s body. His skin sizzled as it soaked, but Magnus didn’t even flinch.

“What was that?” Magnus roared, his eyes blazing with fury.

Luca stepped back once more. “Just a little clue to your end,” he said.

For a moment, Magnus seemed to feel the effects of the liquid, but he was already in the process of healing so quickly that the damage faded almost instantly. A wild laugh erupted from his mouth as he searched Luca’s eyes, seeking something more—victory.

Luca scanned his surroundings. Explosions, rubble, the monstrous creature before him—everything screamed of how rotted time and space had become. But there was something else: Magnus’s immortality wasn’t limitless. He couldn’t replenish the lost energy in his soul to maintain his power, and every attack made the regeneration time longer and longer.

“I gave you one last chance,” Luca said, his hands trembling, yet his expression resolute. “But you still haven’t changed. You still want to grow the pain and the fear.”

Magnus looked at Luca with contempt, dismissing him entirely. “You’re just a child, Luca,” he sneered, pushing aside rubble as he charged forward. “And children always lose until they learn to grow.”

Ignoring the taunt, Luca launched his final assault. This time, he was prepared—strategic, calculating. He unleashed a barrage of cunning strikes, targeting Magnus’s weak points with precision. This battle wouldn’t be won with brute strength alone; it would be won with intellect and strategy.

Luca, calculating Magnus’s attacks, dodged once more, evading a wild strike that shattered the walls. The sound of destruction was deafening. Then, Luca leaped from the first-floor window, narrowly avoiding the chaos. Magnus, with his slow perception, looked up just as Luca disappeared. In his uncontrolled rage, Magnus had destroyed the building's foundation, and the 28-story structure was now collapsing on top of him. Magnus was buried in the wreckage. Luca felt the weight of victory for the second time, but this time, he knew better than to rejoice without seeing the lifeless body first.

Time passed. Luca waited, keeping his eyes trained on the rubble for any signs of movement. From his bag, he pulled out bandages and a stapler, preparing for any further battle. He bandaged his wounds, making sure he was ready if the fight wasn’t over yet. He stood, poised, waiting.

A tremor shook the ground, and a deafening noise followed. As Magnus launched himself from the rubble, Luca hurled a hydrogen bomb at him. With deadly accuracy, he attached explosives to the dagger his father had given him and stabbed it into Magnus's frozen chest. The moment Magnus broke free from the ice, the explosive detonated, creating a massive gash in his body.

Magnus screamed in agony. Each strike, each fall weakened him further. His body tried to heal at lightning speed, but Luca’s tactics had overwhelmed even his monstrous form. The explosive had torn through him, and now the acid found its mark. Luca, seizing the opportunity, hurled more acidic liquid at Magnus’s open wound. As the acid met his skin, a metallic stench filled the air. Everything happened so fast, Luca’s eyes could only follow the movement. Each step, each explosion echoed the devastation around them.

Magnus’s immense form began to crumble once again. His body, scarred and broken, was no longer functioning as it should. His veins had ceased their regenerative duties, and madness began to flare in his eyes. Luca pressed on, calculating each move with precision. Victory would not be granted without cost; one mistake could end it all. He attacked again with his sword, slashing at Magnus's chest, neck, relentlessly.

Magnus, now barely able to fight back, was struck down thirty times. His regenerative ability had slowed to the point of a mortal’s. At last, Magnus spoke, his voice filled with regret:

“You’re truly strong, son. I’ve underestimated you. I lost control of my body. In trying to bring my wife back, I lost myself. Take care of Camille... she’s not like us…”

His words hung in the air, a warning and a confession of regret. For a brief moment, Luca hesitated, a flicker of sympathy for the man who had once been his enemy. But as he looked into Magnus’s eyes, something shifted. Magnus’s gaze drifted away, and that’s when Luca struck.

With lightning speed, Luca severed Magnus's head from his body. The head rolled across the floor, and Luca saw the look of pain in Magnus’s eyes. He had won, but all he saw was a lifeless corpse. And in that moment, the emptiness inside him was undeniable.

The world seemed to quiet as Luca dealt the final blow. He realized, with a growing sense of dread, that victory meant nothing. It was just another fleeting shadow, like the lost lives around him. Then, an enormous explosion…

As Luca delivered the final blow, explosions erupted from every corner of the lab. A powerful shockwave tore through everything. Luca felt the tremor, but his face remained resolute. Magnus collapsed with one last scream. He was dead.

But before Luca could even savor the victory, something larger came—a massive shockwave, collapsing everything in its path. Luca was thrown to the ground along with debris. But the most important truth remained: Magnus was dead. Yet, that death could not fill the void or the rage inside Luca.