Becoming The Apocalypse Master With A Dual Cultivation Manual

A while later, the night had fully taken hold. The sky stretched above him in a black sheet without a single star. Kyle sat with one hand braced behind his head, staring upward while the thought of the Orb pressed at the back of his mind.

Curiosity gnawed at him, urging him to summon it and behold its form, but his body resisted the impulse with an instinctive dread. He did not force it, conceding to the warning.

Orion stirred first while Kyle remained absorbed in the sky. His eyes slid open with the same guarded edge he had carried into the fight, observing the clearing in slow measure.

Adela and Na-Ri still lay where exhaustion had claimed them, and they breathed evenly as their strength returned. The handsome youth's gaze moved to the figure by the charred stump of a tree, sitting back and looking at the sky.

"Oh, yes... Kyle."

Orion's stomach tightened as his eyes settled on him once again. He had seen the man's head cut cleanly from his shoulders, but there he sat as though he had suffered nothing more than a bruise. His head was whole once more, restored with the uncanny ease of something not entirely human.

Kyle lounged with his arms folded, posture almost mocking in its calmness, as if he had not been torn apart only hours before. The thought crept in unbidden, perhaps this was not even the first time such a thing had happened to him.

"Morning," Orion said quietly.

He squinted at the sky, then gave a short chuckle and corrected himself.

"Sorry. It's night."

Kyle tilted his head at the sound of his voice, a smirk curling when he saw the handsome youth finally awake.

"Well, look who has decided to rise. How are you feeling?"

"You should not even be breathing," Orion replied.

He tried for detachment, but curiosity pricked through his tone. "What in the hells kept you upright and put your head back on your shoulders?"

'Gods, I said I do not know. Perhaps he did not hear me before he passed out. I will need to offer a truth he can believe.'

"Maybe it's an attribute thing," Kyle said lightly, scratching the back of his neck. "I suppose it has something to do with my element. Who knows? I never bother reading the manuals."

Orion's brow furrowed.

"Then tell me your element."

Kyle's grin broadened.

"Why spoil the mystery? Think of me as a practical undead. Saves time explaining, Oil head."

Orion's lips thinned. He regarded the young man in silence, studying every twitch of expression. Kyle stared back without flinching, posture loose but his eyes deliberately steady. His words had carried sarcasm, but beneath it lay a refusal to part with anything further, because what truth could he offer that would not brand him a monster?

He could never reveal the Orb. Even if he tried, no one would believe him without seeing it, and he himself could not bring it forth to show. Holding them in suspense was safer than pressing the matter into the open.

"You're hiding something," Orion said finally.

"Or I am simply good entertainment," Kyle replied smoothly. "Either way, you are welcome."

The exchange might have turned sharper had Kyle not leaned back with a quiet chuckle, deliberately letting the tension drop.

"Tell me, are demons uglier than their mothers, or is that only an artistic exaggeration?"

For a second, Orion did not respond, then the corner of his mouth tugged into a grin.

"That depends, Kyle. Which of their mothers have you met?"

"Oh yes, enough to know the ugliness doesn't skip generations."

Orion burst into a short laugh and tapped his shoulder before lowering himself beside him without pressing further about how he had returned to life. Still, his gaze lingered on Kyle.

...He could stomach the jokes, even the evasions, but the image of Kyle's body reassembling refused to leave him.

Not even a demon, a dragon, nor a beast of the highest rank could have managed that feat so easily. And yet here the young man sat, smug, whole, and breathing as though nothing had happened.

Orion kept his doubts to himself. But the thought rooted deeper... what exactly was Kyle?

Minutes later, Na-Ri stirred. A groan slipped from her lips as she pushed herself upright, sluggish and shaky, her body betraying exhaustion even as she tried to square her shoulders.

Orion moved before the effort could drag her down, offering support, while Kyle watched from where he sat, unwilling to shift an inch.

"Easy there, princess," Orion said, steadying her with one hand.

She shot him a sharp look but did not refuse the help.

"Don't you dare call me such childish name. Your flirting skills are really bad, you know."

Orion smirked.

"I wouldn't dream of even flirting with you. I'm only here to catch you if you fall."

Her jaw tightened, yet some of the fight in her eyes dimmed. She exhaled slowly, shaking her head.

Looking at Kyle with a doubtful gaze, she said:

"You surprised me back there. I didn't think you'd last as long as you did."

'Oh, good, another one to snow away... Perhaps I should have just disappeared quietly as soon as I woke up.'

"Story of my life," Kyle replied. "People keep betting against me, and I keep cashing in."

Her gaze lingered with a sharper intent.

"So how did you survive? Don't tell me it's just luck." She asked the same question just as Orion, the handsome youth turned to him as if he hadn't received an answer yet.

Kyle tilted his head, his mouth twisting in mock thought.

Without hesitation he gave her the same answer he had given Orion.

"Honestly, it's my element."

Na-Ri's scowl thinned, and for a moment she looked almost reluctant to push further. She turned her face aside and muttered low enough to seem unwilling to be heard.

"You're insufferable."

She let the matter rest only because of what she already knew. His manual was unlike any other, and the existence of Dual Cores meant two separate elements. It was easier to believe that one of them carried a trait that allowed such an impossible recovery than to demand an explanation he would never give.

Kyle remained silent. His expression showed no interest in the subject, his attention drifting to a patch of ground as if he had already dismissed the conversation.

Even so, Na-Ri continued to watch him, her expression betraying the same unease Orion carried.

Adela's eyes opened at last. She blinked against the heaviness of sleep, then pressed her hands against the ground to rise. A rush of energy seemed to course through her body; colour returned to her cheeks and her eyes shone with an almost startling clarity.

Her gaze moved across the clearing and stopped cold at the demon's severed head. She froze where she sat, her body tensing as though struck. The sight pulled her breath short, and guilt crept quickly across her face.

"I was useless," she said with self-reproach. "You all fought, and I—"

Her thoughts did not even reach Kyle's impossible return. The memory of his head striking the ground might as well have been locked away.

"Stop there," Kyle cut in, almost relieved that at least one of them ignored his revival. He leaned forward, a sly smile tugging at his mouth as he studied her.

"You're alive. That's more than can be said for the demon. Which means you've already outdone it."

Adela blinked, faintly startled, then frowned. His words carried mockery, yet the tone beneath them was steadier, as though he was prodding her away from self-pity rather than feeding it.

A small nod escaped her, though she looked aside at once. Whatever support she had taken from his remark was smothered beneath the weight of her own shame.

The group later moved towards a low rise where the treeline thinned enough for pale light to touch the ground. For the first time since the fight, there was no immediate urge to flee.

The lull gave space for words. Orion recalled fragments of his earlier hunts, Na-Ri, after some resistance, spoke of her first kill, and Adela listened more than she contributed, her voice breaking in only with the occasional uncertain laugh.

Kyle, in contrast, revealed little. Each time their talk turned towards him, his replies came short, wrapped in sarcasm that gave nothing away.

"My life? Let's just say I had a bad day with others. A very long one." The remark drew a few hollow chuckles, and the subject was left alone.

When strength returned, they pushed further into the island. The forest offered only silence, stripped of beasts, trails, or any sign of life beyond their own.

Ruins surfaced here and there, half-buried under roots and moss. Idols lay toppled, their carvings eroded yet still strange in their design.

Na-Ri had once told Kyle this place belonged to a fallen past, where people had bowed to false gods and carved their likeness into stone. Perhaps such worship brought its own ruin.

Kyle kept his thoughts to himself. He marked the cracks where stone sank into soil and traced the faint shapes still cut into rock. He filed the details away, offering no word, nor question. Some discoveries were better held in silence.

By the time the sky became brighter, they reached a ruined building that still held its frame.

And without further debate, they settled inside, weariness dragging at Orion and Na-Ri most of all.

Naturally, they were well aware that the building was clear of any entity, so it was safe.

Kyle rested back against a fractured wall inside and shut his eyes for a moment. His mind turned inward, measuring what came next. Strength had to be gathered quickly. He needed to press forward, yet without giving away more than he intended. Death no longer unsettled him. It had already crossed blades with him, and he no longer cared for the cost.

What mattered was power, and how to claim it before anyone else realised what he was becoming.

But still, prevention was better than cure.

The quiet grew heavier, carrying them close to rest until Na-Ri turned on him with her eyes set.

"What happened to the demon's head? It looked crushed and carved apart," she asked with a doubtful tone.

Kyle opened his eyes with a faint smile. He was prepared to twist the truth again, or perhaps tell her plainly about the new skill.