Chapter Sixty: The Cold, Part Three
Caelum’s expression twisted with a mixture of fury and disbelief as he processed Sirius’s taunt. His hand clenched tightly, and for the first time, a shadow of uncertainty flickered across his face. His spectral soldiers were crumbling, reduced to mere particles by Sirius’s relentless assault, their bound forms disintegrating faster than he could summon them.
“This… this arrogant fool…” Caelum muttered under his breath, but the crack in his voice betrayed his frustration.
He tried to steady himself, puffing out his chest. “You think you can just count your way to victory, Sirius?” he snarled, attempting to mask his desperation with venomous bravado.
“Thyrex!” Caelum yelled, his voice rising in pitch, desperation creeping in.
“Thyrex, can you not hear me?” He turned to find Thyrex’s reaction even more visceral than expected.
Thyrex’s hands sparked with uncontrollable Hindo, the storm within him raging as his face contorted with barely contained fury. “Four moves?” he spat, his voice a harsh hiss. “You’re delusional, Sirius! You’ve seen nothing of my power!” He stepped forward, the winds around him intensifying, twisting into a wild vortex that lashed at the ground, gouging it with razor-sharp gusts.
Beneath his bravado, Thyrex felt an unmistakable pang of doubt. The weight of Sirius’s words settled into his chest like a stone, a cold realization gnawing at his mind. “Sirius isn’t bluffing.”
As he reflected on the situation, the memory of each devastating strike Sirius had unleashed came flooding back. It was as if Sirius had meticulously planned out his victory in merciless detail, and that thought sent a shiver down Thyrex’s spine.
Caelum, sensing Thyrex’s hesitation, clenched his teeth, his voice dropping to a low growl. “We… we need to put an end to this now, Thyrex.” His gaze sharpened, desperation bleeding into his tone. “If we don’t strike him down with everything we have, he’ll tear through us like paper.”
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Thyrex forced a twisted grin, though his eyes betrayed him, darting to the ground for a fraction of a second, a sign of the fear gnawing at him.
His aura shifted, the sensation of facing death a primal force that dug deep into the core of every living being, stripping away reason and reducing them to raw, unfiltered desperation. It pulsed within him, a silent scream reverberating through his mind and body, demanding one thing… survive. Every nerve, every muscle, every thought converged on that singular purpose, overpowering all else. It was a feeling as ancient as life itself, carved into the very essence of existence.
Logic crumbled under the weight of fear. In that moment, nothing was off-limits, no taboo too sacred, no boundary too far. All that mattered was survival, and every cell in his body ached for it, like a thirst that could never be quenched.
Thyrex whispered, “No sacrifice, no victory.”
Caelum moved closer to Thyrex, his brow furrowing in concern. “What did you say?” He could see Thyrex lifting his head from the ground, his expression strange and unsettling. “What the hell?”
Thyrex’s face resembled that of a man gone mad, his eyes wild and unhinged. Caelum, in the deepest depths of his being, knew he should dash backward, but before he could react, Thyrex grabbed Caelum, pulling him closer. “No sacrifice, no victory,” he declared with fervor.
In a flash, Thyrex lunged his hand into Caelum's chest, ripping out his heart. The moment was surreal, a brutal betrayal that seemed to freeze time. He consumed Caelum’s core, a terrible act that sent shockwaves through the battlefield.
Sirius stood in utter shock, grappling with the outcome. Powerful as Sirius was, he hadn’t had enough experience to anticipate such a turn. As he grasped the situation, he noticed Thyrex’s Toro changing, his Hindo now leaking red.
Thyrex’s body began to fizzle and shift, convulsing as a red aura engulfed him. Letting out a mighty roar, his Hindo transformed into a blood-red, crackling with blood-red sparks.
“Ah, come on!” Sirius exclaimed, frustration bubbling over. “Really? Is this how it’s going to go down? I should have known you’d throw a literal heart into the mix.”
Thyrex stood tall, eyes blazing with intensity, the remnants of his humanity giving way to something darker, more primal. The shadows around him writhed and twisted, merging with his aura as he embraced the surge of power flowing through him.
“You think that was enough to stop me?” Thyrex bellowed, his voice echoing with both pain and fury. “I’ll show you what true power feels like!”
With a fierce roar, he unleashed a torrent of Hindo, a wave of destructive energy rippling through the air toward Sirius. The ground quaked beneath them, in response to his wrath.
“Perfect, just what I needed!” Sirius quipped, rolling his eyes as he readied himself for the onslaught. “Let’s call this, Madness Hindo.” he taunted, a fierce grin breaking across his face. “Time to dance, big guy! Come on, then! Show me what you’ve got!”