Chapter 6: enraged

I slowly raised the mask toward my face. The air thickened, heavy with a foul, rotting stench—the kind that clings to the memory of death. It was more than just a smell; it was the taste of every lost soul he had slaughtered, pressing on my tongue, crawling into my lungs.
As the mask neared my skin, I felt the coldness seep deeper—not just into my flesh, but into my bones. The closer it came, the more it seemed to radiate a crushing darkness, like staring into a void that has no end. My hands trembled slightly, yet the mask felt like it was drawing itself closer, eager to meet me.
When it finally pressed against my pale skin, it wasn’t the feel of carved material—it was the sensation of something alive. It clung to me instantly, sealing itself against my flesh like it had always belonged there.
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### *Lyra’s Narrative*
“I sure hope he doesn’t go out of control,” I muttered, my knuckles whitening around my staff. “Or I’ll have to use that spell my sister told me…”
I watched him, muscles tense, as the demon mask locked into place. To my left, Rose was ready, every muscle in her body taut. Her eyes were locked on him like a predator, yet her thumb crept toward her teeth—her telltale sign of preparing for that transformation.
“She’s about to do it again,” I whispered to myself.
For a moment my mind slipped back to the ancient pages of the books I had studied. The Tokugawa clan—beings of unspeakable power. The women could channel it; the men, only a rare few, could survive it. They had walked the earth in the same era as the demon lord… and the father of the masked one.
A low, animalistic growl snapped me out of my thoughts. He dropped to his knees, hands clawing into the dirt for balance. His movements were sluggish, strained, as though something inside him was fighting to take over. Then he fell back, fingers tearing at the mask—but it was no longer just a mask. It had fused with his face, becoming part of him.
“Is he becoming one with the mask?” I gasped aloud.
Rose’s grip on her blade was tight, her arms trembling. That sight unsettled me more than the masked one’s transformation. Why would someone with such raw power look… afraid?
And why… why did I feel a sliver of concern for him? I hated him. His father was the one who had taken my sister from me. My only sister. My only—
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### ★★
The screams returned.
They ripped through my skull, dragging me back.
Cold hands gripped my shoulders. “Lyra! Get out of here—NOW! Run!” cried the silver-haired woman. Her golden-silver eyes were wide with terror.
Tears poured down my face, dripping onto the dirt.
Seven dark figures stood ahead. Laughing.
One stepped forward, shouting: *“Let out the creature of chaos!”*
And then it appeared.
The **beast**.
It was a towering wall of shadow and fury, nearly ten feet tall. Broad shoulders, thick limbs, a humanoid shape—but wrong. Its body shifted constantly, a swirling storm of black mist and glowing embers, as if molten darkness had been trapped inside it.
Its crimson, slit-shaped eyes didn’t blink. They stared as though they had already seen how the world would end.
Every step rippled the air. The ground hissed and smoked under its weight.
A pair of jagged horns curled back from its skull like fractured obsidian. From its back flowed endless black smoke, twisting like a living cloak. Its vertical maw tore open, lined with serrated teeth, and glowing cracks pulsed along its throat like molten veins.
There were not one, but six of them. They moved too fast for the eye to follow, tearing through the village.
A splash of warmth hit my back.
I turned.
The beast was holding my mother by the neck.
It smiled.
Then threw her lifeless body aside.
Her eyes found mine. Faint smile.
“Run.”
Her eyes turned grey.
The beast advanced, feeding on my very soul—
And then light consumed everything.
It vanished.
I collapsed.
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### ★★★
Now.
The masked one’s beast… it looked like *that* beast.
Could it be the same? Could he—? No. It obeyed him.
A sharp twitch. Bones snapping.
His body was changing.
From his back, great wings burst forth—black, smooth, silky like midnight feathers. The mask had melted into his face completely, its expression now *his*. Horns extended, curling like blades. His eyes glowed blood-red. His claws lengthened into hooked weapons. His body stretched, growing taller, broader, heavier.
The beast roared. The sound was deep enough to shake my ribs. Birds exploded from the canopy.
Rose was sent flying through the air, shattering trees in her path.
And then—he was right in front of me.
Smiling.
The memory returned like a knife. The beast. My mother.
It was him.
Anger consumed me. I slammed my staff into the ground and a shimmering barrier erupted around me. His claws struck, the sound ringing like steel on glass. Sparks of magic shot outward. His claws sliced into the shield, jagged edges punching through.
With a sharp motion, I twisted my fingers and the trees around us bent and snapped, their branches like whips, striking him hard enough to send him skidding sideways.
He dug his claws into the earth, carving furrows in the ground. His head tilted unnaturally. His tongue flicked from his mouth in a snake-like lash.
I spoke a freezing incantation. Ice exploded from the ground, locking his legs and arms in place. Frost spread across his black wings.
I stepped forward, heart pounding, my staff glowing brighter.
Then—his finger twitched.
No… moved.
“Impossible,” I breathed, my voice trembling.
He was stronger than I’d imagined. Maybe stronger than me.
But I wasn’t finished.
The orb at my staff’s tip flickered with dangerous energy.
I couldn’t hold him much longer. But I had to.
I began chanting—summoning an ancient, forbidden magic.
A spell to call the dead.
The air thickened. The ground trembled.
And then—she was there.
My sister.
Her presence blazed like sunlight through storm clouds. She smirked at me, just like she used to, and the sky above erupted with white light.
The beast screamed. Its skin began to burn and peel away under the force of the magic. Its roar shook the forest for miles.
The masked one collapsed, unmoving.
I looked at my sister through tear-filled eyes.
She gave me one last smile… then vanished into nothing.
I fell to my knees, every drop of mana gone.
The beast staggered upright, laughing as it charged toward me.
I closed my eyes. Ready.
The claws stopped inches from my body.
Then I heard it—his voice.
“Lyra… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
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