Chapter 9: The Man Named Afzal

The government called it a briefing.Tosif called it a warning.Mustak called it unnecessary.They stood inside an underground operations room beneath the city’s central headquarters. Large digital screens displayed maps filled with red signals — far more than before.An officer pointed to the largest concentration.“Energy clusters are merging,” he said. “This isn’t random spawning anymore.”Mustak already knew that.He had felt it.Then the door at the back of the room opened.The air shifted.Not dramatically.But noticeably.A man walked in calmly, hands in his coat pockets.Black hair.Sharp eyes.Relaxed posture.But the silence in the room wasn’t respect.It was caution.“That’s him,” Tosif said quietly.“Who?” Mustak asked.The man stopped near the table and looked at the screens like he was bored.“Afzal.”Afzal didn’t look powerful.He didn’t radiate energy like Mustak did.He didn’t move like Tosif did.But something about him felt… controlled.Deliberately restrained.One of the officers cleared his throat.“Afzal is a Special Rank Destroyer.”The room remained quiet.Special Rank.That meant very few above him.Afzal’s eyes shifted slowly — and stopped on Mustak.He smiled faintly.“So,” Afzal said, voice smooth and calm, “you’re the new one.”Mustak didn’t look away.“Yes.”Afzal tilted his head slightly.“You smell different.”The room stiffened.Tosif stepped forward slightly.“That’s enough.”Afzal chuckled softly.“I didn’t mean it as an insult.”But his eyes never left Mustak.Later that day, Mustak found Afzal standing alone on the rooftop of the building.The city stretched below them — unaware of what moved beneath it.“You followed me,” Afzal said without turning.“I wanted to ask something,” Mustak replied.Afzal leaned on the railing.“About the seed?”Mustak froze.“You heard?”Afzal finally turned to face him.“I’ve heard that word before.”Silence settled between them.Afzal continued.“Years ago, there was another Destroyer who carried something similar.”“What happened to him?” Mustak asked.Afzal’s smile disappeared.“He stopped being human.”Wind moved across the rooftop.Afzal stepped closer.“Power that grows too fast always demands a price,” he said. “Tell me… when you fight… do you feel anger that isn’t yours?”Mustak didn’t answer.That was answer enough.Afzal nodded slowly.“I thought so.”Suddenly —A violent tremor shook the city.Sirens began blaring below.Red warning lights flashed across nearby buildings.Afzal looked toward the eastern skyline.“There it is.”Mustak felt it too.A massive surge of energy.Stronger than anything before.Not scattered.Focused.Afzal stepped away from the railing.“Let’s see what you’re really made of.”They arrived at the site within minutes.An entire block had collapsed inward.The air distorted above the crater like heat rising from asphalt.And at the center —Something was forming.Not crawling.Not rising slowly.Manifesting.A tall figure made of dark, shifting mass.Its shape unstable.Its presence overwhelming.Even Mustak’s poison energy reacted defensively.Afzal’s eyes sharpened.“That’s not natural growth,” he said quietly. “Something fed it.”The creature opened glowing fractures across its body.Energy pulsed outward in violent waves.Nearby buildings cracked.Glass exploded.Mustak stepped forward instinctively.Afzal raised a hand.“Don’t rush.”But Mustak was already moving.He dashed into the crater.Purple energy erupted around him like flames.He struck first — a direct punch toward the creature’s chest.The impact sent a shockwave through the ground.Dust and debris flew into the air.For a moment —It looked like it worked.Then —The creature grabbed him.One massive hand wrapped around his torso and slammed him into the crater wall.Concrete shattered.Mustak felt the breath leave his lungs.The poison inside him surged violently.Anger.Rage.Not his.It wanted release.Before the creature could strike again —A blur cut through the air.Afzal.He appeared beside the creature in an instant.No visible energy.No dramatic aura.Just movement too fast to follow.He placed one hand against the creature’s side.And whispered something.The creature froze.Completely.For two seconds.Then its entire left side collapsed inward like crushed paper.Afzal stepped back calmly.Mustak stared.“That’s Special Rank,” Afzal said quietly.The creature roared and regenerated rapidly.Faster than before.Afzal’s expression changed slightly.“Interesting.”Mustak pushed himself up.Blood trickled from his forehead.But his eyes were steady.“I can hold it,” Mustak said.Afzal looked at him carefully.“Can you?”Mustak stepped forward again.The poison energy around him intensified.The purple glow deepened.Veins spread across his arms like cracks in glass.The ground beneath him began to decay slightly.Afzal watched closely.Not intervening.Observing.Mustak charged.This time he didn’t strike randomly.He aimed for the glowing fractures.Each punch injected concentrated poison directly into the unstable core.The creature’s regeneration slowed.It howled — not in pain.In resistance.Mustak felt something unlock inside him.A deeper layer of power.The poison didn’t just decay.It consumed.He drove his hand straight into the creature’s chest.Energy exploded outward.The sky above flickered violently.For a brief second —Everything went silent.Then —The creature disintegrated completely.No dust.No fragments.Gone.Mustak dropped to one knee.Breathing hard.The purple glow slowly faded.Afzal approached.He studied the empty crater.Then looked at Mustak.“You’re accelerating,” Afzal said quietly.Mustak looked up.“What does that mean?”Afzal’s eyes were no longer calm.“It means whatever planted that seed… planned for this.”A pause.“And when it fully awakens…”He didn’t finish the sentence.As emergency teams arrived, Afzal turned away.“Train harder,” he said without looking back. “Because next time…”His voice lowered slightly.“…I might not help.”Mustak watched him walk away.For the first time —He wasn’t sure whether Afzal was an ally.Or a future enemy.That night, the poison inside him pulsed again.Stronger.Warmer.Hungry.And in the darkness —A distant, ancient presence stirred.