The sky above Reazeal twisted with an unnatural force, the clouds churning into a mass of oppressive darkness, blotting out what little light remained. The air was thick with the palpable weight of dread, the ground beneath him cracked and shifting like it could collapse at any moment. His mind raced as the enormous, shifting form of the Beast—the true embodiment of darkness—towered before him, its eyes glowing with an eldritch hunger that seemed to pierce straight through his soul.
The power within him stirred once more, that dark, malevolent force he had always feared. It felt so close now, like it was just beneath the surface of his consciousness, waiting for him to give in. The Beast inside him howled, but this time, Reazeal didn't flinch. He couldn't afford to.
"You don't have to do this, Reazeal," Jackeal's voice came from behind him, calm and unwavering, cutting through the growing chaos. "You can still turn away. The darkness doesn't have to control you."
Reazeal turned slowly, meeting Jackeal's eyes, his own darkened with the weight of the decision that lay before him. He had spent so long fighting the Beast inside, fearing it as if it were a curse. But Jackeal's words echoed in his mind, and for the first time, he truly understood: this wasn't just something he had to fight. This was a part of him.
"No," Reazeal said, his voice thick with determination. "I won't let it consume me. This ends now."
The final Seal, now completely shattered, released its last breath—a twisted, howling scream that sent tremors through the earth. The massive Beast before him was a nightmare made flesh, a form of pure corruption and destruction. But Reazeal, despite the gnawing hunger within him to let the Beast inside take control, stood firm.
The shadows of the Beast's form stretched out like tendrils, reaching for Reazeal, the ground beneath him beginning to warp and distort with each step it took. Its eyes glowed with malicious energy as it spoke, its voice like the sound of grinding bones and screaming souls.
"You cannot fight what you have become, Reazeal. You are mine now. The darkness will devour you, and when it does, all that you once knew will crumble."
The words hit like a slap, sending a cold shiver through Reazeal's spine. He could feel the weight of the truth in the Beast's voice—he had been consumed before. The Beast inside him, that dark force, was a reflection of this very creature. But now, more than ever, Reazeal understood the only way to stop the Beast was to confront it, not by running or hiding, but by embracing it—by becoming something more than what it had made him.
"I am not yours," Reazeal spat, stepping forward. "You are mine to end."
The Beast roared, its immense form shifting as it lunged toward him, its massive claws slashing through the air with terrifying speed. Reazeal barely managed to dodge, the air around him crackling with dark energy. The Beast was relentless, its every attack causing the earth to tremble, but Reazeal stood firm. He could feel the Beast inside him urging him to surrender, to give in to the power it offered, but he refused.
"I am the master of my fate," he thought to himself, repeating the mantra that had kept him going through the darkest moments of his life. He raised Duskcarve, its blade now glowing with a fierce light, and met the Beast's assault head-on.
The battle that followed was nothing short of cataclysmic. Reazeal fought with everything he had, channeling the dark power inside him—not to control him, but to strike down the force that threatened to engulf the world. Each strike of Duskcarve caused the very air around him to ripple with divine and infernal energy, the clash between light and shadow threatening to tear the world apart.
Every time the Beast tried to strike him down, Reazeal felt the surge of darkness rising within him, urging him to strike with all his might, to give in to the power that would destroy everything. But he resisted. He would not be consumed.
---
The Betrayal of the Soul
Lysara had watched the battle from the distance, her heart heavy with both admiration and dread. She knew Reazeal had to face this trial alone, but the sight of him fighting the Beast within—fighting himself—was unbearable. She knew the cost of wielding such power. It was a cost that could tear apart not just the world, but the soul of the one who bore it.
She stepped forward, her sword Dawnfire glowing with the light of her resolve. "Reazeal!" she called, her voice cutting through the chaos. "You are not alone. We are all with you!"
Her words didn't reach him immediately, lost in the roar of the battle. But as the Beast swung down with a blow meant to cleave him in two, Reazeal's body was flooded with a surge of light—his will, his love for those around him, and his newfound understanding of himself coalescing into a single, powerful force.
For the first time, Reazeal didn't see the Beast as an enemy to be defeated. He saw it as a part of himself that he needed to confront, not through brute force, but through acceptance.
With a cry, he drove Duskcarve into the heart of the Beast, not to kill, but to transcend it. The blade pierced the dark form, and the energy within it was absorbed into Reazeal's body, fusing with his own power. The Beast screamed in agony, its form shuddering and shifting, until it finally collapsed into a shadowy mist, dissipating into the air as though it had never existed.
For a moment, everything was still.
Reazeal stood there, breathing heavily, his body trembling from the strain. The power inside him had reached its peak, but instead of consuming him, it settled, calmer now, a part of him that he could now control. He was no longer just a vessel for the Beast. He was its master.
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The True Face of the Darkness
But just as the battle seemed won, the ground beneath them rumbled again, and a new, far more ominous presence began to take shape. The shadows that had once been a part of the Beast gathered, swirling together into a dark, coiling mass.
From the shadows emerged a figure—a tall, imposing being, his face obscured by a hood, his eyes glowing with a deep, unnatural light. The air around him pulsed with power, ancient and terrifying.
"You think you've won?" the figure intoned, his voice cold and venomous. "You've only freed me. I am the one who was truly bound by the Seals, Reazeal. The Beast you faced was nothing more than a part of me. And now, I am free to claim this world."
The figure stepped forward, and as he did, the shadows deepened, swallowing the light and turning everything to night. Reazeal's heart sank as he realized the truth: this was not the end. This was only the beginning.
The darkness had not been defeated. It had only been given a new face.
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End of Chapter 15.