'Enough!' Hunter roared, their connected minds trembling.

Leo froze, his steps faltering. Most of the bloodlust coursing through his three pillars withdrew, the insatiable hunger and want for blood following right after. It didn't feel much different from that one time when Lily dropped a bucket of ice-cold water on his head.

What? Leo grimaced, his right hand coming to rest on the hole in his shoulder. With Focused Bloodlust mostly gone, the flickering flame of pain reignited, turning into a fiery inferno. What did you do, Hunter? We need to end it fast!

'Refocus,' the beast hissed, and a sudden surge of Essence rushed into the open wound, lessening the pain. 'Can't win. Not like this. Look.'

Not even moving his hand away, now drenched in red, Leo followed Hunter's command, his gaze returning to the Voidlings in the distance. During Focused Bloodlust, he didn't notice it, but the two new additions to the battlefield were unidentifiable. The skill just wouldn't work on them...

Constructs. Leo frowned. It fucking created two living and breathing monsters to fight. I thought it just split like the guardian... Shit. Think it can create more?

Hunter growled, bringing forth a short memory of Shadow Claw's entry from Bestiary. It was barely a flash, a few lines of text, yet it was more than enough for Leo to understand.

Fuck... I thought that only meant a bit more Essence to play with, not unlimited power! How broken is this shit?

Yet, as this realization finally hit him, Leo had no idea how to deal with it. He had tried almost everything, and the Voidling matched him each time. Hell, even Phantom Erasure, fuelled by Focused Bloodlust, only made the beast more furious.

Well, it's covering the side I hit, so it wasn't all for nothing, Leo noted, watching the Shadow Claw hide behind its constructs. However, I'm not much better off. It bloody hurts...

He could, of course, try again. Submerge in Focused Bloodlust, push Reinforcement to its current limit, and even add Limit Break to the mix. A combination like this should make quick work of any other Voidling, but would it really be enough here?

Could Leo's full power defeat a beast capable of commanding the shadows of the entire island without breaking a sweat? Not to mention the tens of Shadow Tails hiding in the trees all around them?

And here I thought it would be a good match-up. Leo chuckled bitterly through the pain. Maybe if I didn't have a bloody hole in my shoulder, I could continue, but is it really worth the risk now? I can try again later. Heal up with Devour and come back with a better plan now that I kn...

'No,' Hunter growled, cutting him off. 'End it. Now.'

Leo narrowed his eyes. What? You just said we can't win. What's with the change of heart? And be quick. I doubt it will just let us stand here for much longer.

'Trust me?' Hunter asked out of nowhere, the demonic voice unusually quiet.

You're a part of me. We live together. We fight together. If I can't trust you, then can I even trust myself? Leo answered honestly, even if the question baffled him. Didn't he already prove that he wouldn't reject Hunter?

'Good. Follow me.'

Without another word between them, a sudden weight dropped into Leo's mind. It spread and spread, encompassing everything there was.

Feelings and desires not of his own assaulted his thoughts, finally painting a picture of what was happening.

The want to live and grow rushed through his head, followed by the desire to fight and become the strongest. All those feelings and more that he couldn't understand now drifted in Leo's head, barely distinguishable from his own.

Bloodlust came next, overflowing all three pillars like a tsunami. Yet, it didn't overwhelm Leo's mind, thus bringing forth the primal state of Focused Bloodlust. No, this time, it only fuelled the new and old feelings with renewed fire.

'Feel it?' Hunter's voice echoed through Leo's head without any barriers. For a moment, he even thought it wasn't the beast speaking but him.

I do, Leo whispered back. What's going on? We were connected before, but never like this.

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'Final step,' Hunter explained. 'Your turn.'

My turn... Leo trailed off as the beast's feelings once more drifted through his head, completely unguarded and free for him to read. Oh... That's what you mean.

In the past, when Leo and Hunter connected to fight together, they never truly became one. They only shared instincts, some thoughts, and the desire to fight fuelled by bloodlust channeled through the beast.

This time, however, Hunter did much more than that. He smashed their minds together, breaking all the barriers between them. Or at least all the walls the beast had created. Leo's own still remained, waiting to be crushed.

Final step. Fitting... For two to become one.

Taking a deep breath and just barely paying any attention to the Shadow Claw on the other side of the battlefield, Leo dove into his mind. He gathered everything that was his, even some stuff he didn't recognize but definitely belonged to him, and pushed at the last walls between him and Hunter.

The first charge didn't do much; the subconscious fear of fully opening himself to the creation of the Void absorbed the power behind the push. The next one followed a similar pattern; however, a few simple words echoed in his mind before Leo could try again.

'Trust me... Let it go.'

A soft phantom hand touched his consciousness, begging him to let go. Leo swallowed and nodded, the grip on what was his slackening. The barrage of emotions, thoughts, and much more rushed out, diving straight for the barricaded exit.

"Let it go," Leo muttered, crushing the walls that blocked the path. "We are one."

At once, everything that represented Leo and Hunter met for the first time. Thoughts connected, while emotions and desires, those hidden and obvious, bonded. All the secrets between the two sides of the same coin disappeared in a blink, washing away all the questions they ever had for each other.

I see... He mused with clarity that shouldn't be possible. Then let's do it.

With bloodlust still active, Leo reignited Reinforcement and added a full-powered Limit Break to the mix. And so, with a step, he was gone, almost flying through the destroyed clearing.

On the other side, the Shadow Claw reacted instantly, its tails once more piercing the ground.

Spikes burst from the earth, one after another. However, Leo's pace never wavered as he flipped above the obstacles or dodged to the sides. Somehow, long before each eruption, his senses screamed, warning him of the danger.

Before long, a mere few feet separated Leo from the Voidling. The Apex's tails came to defense, but it was all for naught as with Reinforcement's final burst, he pounced and snatched the limbs from mid-air.

"Check, Mate," Leo hissed, and the power of his soul responded, surging out. "Take Over."

Essence spilled out in waves, crashing against the Apex's skin. The beast howled, but unlike any other monster, it didn't give up. The connection to the Nest, the same that caused all of Leo's problems today, answered and dove for the power that tried to take over its host.

"I don't think so," Leo growled and, with all his strength, attacked the link.

Even bloodlust, once only managed by Hunter, presented itself freely, begging to be used in ways he hadn't before.

Crimson clashed against shadows while the primal consciousness of the Nest fought against the mind of a Prime. And what an uneven fight that was.

Maybe if Leo and Hunter hadn't taken the last step to synchronize, the Nest could have won. But this time, they simply overpowered the link within the Voidling, their mind, bloodlust, and Essence crushing it into pieces.

"It's done."

The Apex Shadow Claw howled for the last time before falling silent, its eyes turning into the vibrant color of Leo's own. They shifted to face him, the gaze searching, curious.

"Dismiss your minions," Leo commanded, and the Voidling bowed, the two constructs fading into mist. "Good. Now protect me."

As the beast moved to circle him, Leo collapsed to the ground, a gasp leaving his lips. "Shit!" he grimaced as all his skills, along with Limit Break, deactivated at once. Even bloodlust retreated despite now being fully under his command.

"My head!"

An ache unlike any other, shot through his skull, threatening to burst it like a melon. Not even Leo's newfound clarity could do anything to filter it out. And to make matters worse, Hunter's trick to stop the pain from his shoulder also disappeared.

"B... b-bring me a Voidling, dead or alive. F-fast!" Leo screamed, hoping the command reached the link to his new subordinate.

As time passed and Leo lay trembling on the ground, the answer to his prayers became obvious when three tiny corpses landed in front of his eyes. Without any thought, he pounced, sinking his claws into the soft flesh.

Thank the Void. Leo sighed as the ache and pain faded to a somewhat manageable level. His Essence reserves were still mostly empty, but at least now he could rise from the ground.

"We did it," Leo chuckled, his eyes drifting to the massive, six-legged Voidling standing guard a few feet away. "Holy shit, Hunter, we fucking did it."

However, instead of the usual victorious roar echoing through his mind, nothing answered Leo's call. The once-foreign thoughts, emotions, and desires were still there, now fully bonded with his mind, yet their previous owner was nowhere to be found.

"Hunter?" Leo called out, both outside and inside. "Come on, buddy, now is not the time to sleep! Wake up!"

Only there was no one to wake.

No. Leo shook his head, the ache forgotten. No, no, no.

Like a maniac, he dived back into his mind like he did a few minutes ago. Leo searched through every corner, every drifting thought, hoping to find any sign of the beast that had become his companion in the last few days.

Come on, Hunter! Where are you!?

Once more, nobody answered.

"Hunter," Leo muttered, falling to his knees. The final step. Trust me. Let it go... Was it a farewell? The last goodbye before I consumed you and became who I was meant to be? A fully fledged Akirian?

He shook his head, a lone bloody tear falling to the ground. I'm sorry… And thank you… for everything...

Minute after minute passed as Leo just kneeled there, staring into the vast Void ahead. His mind became blank, empty of thoughts, even as the System's notifications begged to be acknowledged.

Just another minute. Leo sighed, only for something to suddenly nudge his injured shoulder. "Shit! Wha..."

Bright violet eyes, tainted by a speck of crimson, met Leo's own. They gazed down at him, the former curiosity now replaced by warmth and understanding.

'Leo...'