Ancestral Lineage

Dennise stared in shock and raw fear as the EX-Class Veilwing's massive carcass collapsed, its titanic body torn apart by Apole's merciless assault. The once-proud beast—camouflage, wings, and all—had been butchered as if it were nothing more than prey. By a spirit beast. A mere spirit beast.

And not just butchered—annihilated. Without effort. Without resistance. Without even a drop of sweat spilled.

A chill sank into Dennise's bones, but almost instantly it was drowned out by a flood of molten fury. His lips curled back, baring his teeth as the realization coiled like a snake in his chest.

They weren't even fighting him.They weren't even acknowledging him.

This wasn't victory. This was mockery.

The illusions dissolved fully now, reality snapping back into place. His eyes darted across the Empire, searching for the carnage that should have been there. There was none. Not a single corpse. Not even wounded. The "casualties" were nothing but lies, painted over with illusions so perfectly woven he and his entire force had believed them.

The cybernetic beasts he had painstakingly deployed, those monstrous engines of war—they were gone. Not destroyed. Not scattered. Simply erased. Like they had never existed in the first place.

He had been played. From the very beginning.Every step. Every move. Every strike.Played like a child.

The only shred of victory they could claim was the first ambush on the outskirts of the empire, and even that, Dennise realized now, was tainted. For on that very day, another power had struck too. Someone else had moved, and even now, they had no idea who it was. Their plans had never been whole. Never been secure.

It all collapsed in his mind as a single name burned into him like fire.Trevor.

That smug expression. That cold gaze. Dennise could see it now, even without being in front of him, mocking him, laughing at him. The rage boiled so violently he wanted to rip his own hair out just to ease the pressure.

"AAAAHHHHH!" His roar split the air like a blade, filled with hatred so thick it seemed to grind against the world itself. His body convulsed, veins bulging, eyes snapping wide open as they glowed a metallic silver. His aura erupted in a violent storm, sharp and jagged, cutting the very air around him. The ground beneath him cracked, shards of stone rising and splitting into razor-edged fragments.

His cohorts staggered back in awe and terror, their own power paling under the suffocating weight of his release. To them, Dennise was no longer flesh and blood—he was a figure of metal, a walking calamity, vibrating with a resonance that made their bones ache and their lungs seize.

The sky above darkened as his metallic energy howled upward, a pillar of silver stabbing through the heavens.

"FACE ME YOURSELF, FUCKER!" Dennise bellowed, his voice jagged and metallic, as if the metal in his aura was grinding through his throat. His wrath carried across the barrier, a challenge that thundered like war drums.

He didn't care anymore. Illusions, beasts, mocking games. He wanted blood.Trevor's blood.

"Hello, big brother. To what do I owe this invitation," the voice sounded so close to his ears, that he failed to react in time.

BOOM!

Dennise's body was flung across the street, smashing through cars and concrete before he finally managed to stop himself. He snarled, metal surging over his arms like liquid armor until his hands morphed into monstrous claws. He slammed them into the ground, gouging deep trenches in the road as the earth cracked and shuddered under his weight.

"You bastard!" Dennise roared, fury twisting his voice as he shot forward like a cannonball toward the one responsible.

Trevor.

The white-haired vampire didn't even look at him. Instead, he calmly turned toward Dennise's cohorts. Shadows like smoke, threaded with crimson veins, uncoiled from Trevor's palm and wrapped around their bodies like serpents.

"I'll leave you for Ethan to deal with when he returns," Trevor said, voice smooth, almost gentlemanly—though his glowing red eyes made him look anything but. "Until then, take a nice nap."

The cohorts barely had time to blink before their bodies went limp, collapsing into unconsciousness as if drained of will.

At that exact moment, a metallic fist blurred forward, stopping just an inch from Trevor's face.

Trevor glanced at it with a frown. Then his body dissolved into a puff of white smoke, the punch tearing harmlessly through him. He reappeared a step away, brushing at his face with exaggerated concern.

"Not the face, you idiot!" Trevor barked, patting his cheek as if checking for scratches. His casual tone was so mocking that Dennise's rage only grew darker.

A vein throbbed at Dennise's temple as he stomped the ground with all his strength. The pavement erupted, and a massive metallic spike, taller than a streetlight, shot upward like a spear aimed directly for Trevor's gut.

Trevor's eyes widened as he sprang back just in time, the spike missing him by a hair's breadth. Cold sweat trickled down his temple as he glared at Dennise.

"Yo, bro! The fuck is wrong with you?!" Trevor shouted, his voice ringing through the ruined street as he jabbed a finger at the spike. "Are you trying to skewer my asshole or what?!"

He flipped Dennise the middle finger, his expression caught between outrage and amusement, only fueling his opponent's murderous intent.

Dennise's veins pulsed with rage as molten silver veins crawled over his skin, reinforcing his muscles and armor. The street buckled beneath him, every step leaving craters as if gravity itself bowed to his fury.

"I'll rip that smug face of yours apart!" he growled, his voice vibrating with raw hate. His metallic claws shimmered, splitting into razor-sharp talons that caught the light.

Trevor only grinned, fangs glinting as he tilted his head. "You talk too much, tin man. Let's see if you can actually back it up."

Dennise moved first. A stomp — and the ground answered his call. Pavement and steel from the wreckage liquefied, swirling into a storm of metallic shards that surged forward like a tidal wave of blades.

Trevor blurred into smoke, his body breaking apart into tendrils that slithered through the storm with impossible grace. The shards passed harmlessly through him, screeching against buildings as they sliced through concrete like butter.

"Nice light show," Trevor's voice whispered in Dennise's ear as he materialized behind him. A crimson slash carved through the air, forcing Dennise to twist and block with an armored forearm. The impact cracked the road and sent shockwaves rippling outward.

Dennise retaliated instantly. His arm split, unraveling into multiple metallic whips tipped with barbed edges, lashing out in every direction. Trevor leapt back, narrowly dodging as the whips ripped through cars, streetlights, and half a building in their fury.

"You've upgraded since last time," Trevor admitted, hands shoved casually into his pockets as if this was all amusing. His red eyes glowed brighter. "But you're too predictable."

"Predict this!" Dennise snarled. His whips merged again, forming a colossal hammer that he swung down with the weight of a collapsing skyscraper.

The ground shattered, the air trembled — but Trevor dissolved into smoke once again, reappearing above Dennise in a swirl of shadows. His boot slammed into Dennise's back, sending him crashing face-first into the crater he'd just made.

"Stay down, dog," Trevor mocked.

Dennise erupted from the rubble, veins glowing molten white-hot. His voice was a metallic snarl. "I'm not done yet!"

From his chest, spikes exploded outward, launching like missiles. They whistled through the air, locking onto Trevor with frightening precision. Trevor tried to disperse, but one grazed his side, tearing through his coat and drawing blood.

Trevor glanced at the wound, his smile faltering for the first time. "…Cute."

The air around him darkened. Smoke thickened, swirling violently as crimson veins of light tore through it. His aura pressed down on the entire street like a storm of shadows, and the glow in his eyes deepened into something far less human.

Dennise staggered, the weight of it pressing against his metal-clad body. But instead of fear, he grinned through clenched teeth. "Finally taking me serious, huh?"

Trevor's laugh was low and dangerous, echoing like a predator circling its prey. "You asked for it."

He vanished — faster than Dennise's eyes could follow.

A claw raked across Dennise's chest. Another strike caught his side. Blood sprayed as Trevor appeared and disappeared in flashes of crimson smoke, carving into him like a phantom.

Dennise roared, slamming his fists together. His entire body erupted into a fortress of metal, plates shifting into a jagged armored titan. Towering spikes jutted from his back and shoulders, glowing with searing heat.

"Come at me now, monster!"

Trevor's smile returned, sharper than ever. "Gladly."

The street lit up as shadow and steel collided, each strike leveling buildings and sending shockwaves that echoed across Anbord. Trevor's smoke claws clashed with Dennise's shifting metal arsenal, sparks and crimson flares lighting the night sky.

But for all Dennise's raw power, Trevor's movements were fluid, unpredictable — a dance of smoke and blood. Slowly, steadily, Dennise's armor cracked, dented, and tore under Trevor's relentless assault.