Chapter 150: Chapter 150 : Who kicked me in the face while I was sleeping

James took another step toward Ava, anticipation gleaming in his eyes—

CRACK.

He froze.

The sound echoed—bones snapping, shifting, reforming.

His head whipped around.

And then—

He saw it.

Alden’s battered body, moments ago broken and bleeding on the forest floor, was now glowing with ominous black embers. His limbs twitched. His skin mended. Cracks along his arms stitched back together with burning red veins.

And then… the mark appeared.

A serpentine symbol, etched in pulsing black flame, wrapped around his neck—a serpent devouring its own tail.

James choked, stumbling a step back. “No… That’s impossible!”

Alden’s eyes opened.

No longer the familiar brown.

Now they were pitch-black, glowing with unfathomable rage—a swirling storm of chaotic fire.

A screen pulsed in front of his vision.

—

[You have awakened: Flames of Chaos]

[These flames will not extinguish until you will them to. They consume all—even the world itself.]

—

Another message followed:

[Unlocked: Echoes of Self – Future State]

[You may summon up to 10 Echoes of yourself from the next 5 minutes of past or future. Further future manipulation is forbidden. Echoes will burn with Chaos Flames.]

—

A third message blinked ominously:

[“You have 10 minutes. After that, your body will begin to collapse from exposure to my power. Use your time wisely.” – Ouroboros]

—

Alden’s aura exploded.

Black flames roared from his body, spiraling into a vortex that made the very earth tremble. Trees nearby withered. The grass beneath his feet shriveled. The temperature dropped—yet the fire only grew hotter.

All around, the Expert-ranked enemies stumbled back in fear, their instincts screaming danger.

Alden turned his gaze toward them.

Cold. Deadly.

Then—toward James.

James, for the first time… stepped back.

—

“ECHOES OF CHAOS—MANIFEST.”

A swirling ring of black fire erupted behind Alden.

And from it—ten figures stepped forth.

Ten Aldens.

All identical. All wreathed in deathly black flames.

Their presence was suffocating.

Each stood like a phantom of destruction—silent, radiating pressure that made even the Expert-ranked soldiers falter.

One whisper escaped an enemy’s lips.

“Monsters…”

Alden raised his hand.

“Burn.”

The flames responded like loyal beasts.

He and his Echoes launched forward like comets.

The battlefield turned into hell.

—

The fight began.

A formation of Expert-rankers, armed with elemental affinities—lightning, wind, water, even blood magic—charged in with synchronized precision.

Alden’s Echoes tore through them like ghosts.

One Echo cleaved through a lightning wielder with a blade of pure fire. Another summoned chains of flame that strangled a water mage mid-cast. A third exploded in a storm of embers, reducing three foes to ash.

“F-FALL BACK!” one screamed—before a whip of black fire wrapped around his throat and incinerated him mid-air.

James roared, charging in with space-rending magic, slashing toward Alden with teleportation-enhanced speed.

But Alden didn’t dodge.

He caught the blade—barehanded.

The edge warped against his palm, space bending… but Alden’s eyes glowed brighter.

He twisted his wrist, shattering James’ spatial enchantment.

Then he punched him in the face, launching him back like a cannonball.

BOOM!

James skidded across the dirt, coughing blood.

“You—!” he shouted, stumbling to his feet. “DID YOU AWAKEN!?”

Alden responded only by raising his hand.

“Flames of Chaos—Engulf.”

The black fire surged, coiling like snakes, and swallowed four more Expert-ranks who had tried to flank him.

Their screams didn’t last long.

—

The battle raged.

James kept coming back—teleporting, slicing, firing bursts of spatial collapse and barely dodging Alden’s flames every time by a hair’s breadth using his space affinity.

Alden met him blow for blow, the Chaos Flames making it impossible for James to land a proper strike. Even when he landed a cut, the wound stitched back instantly in a spiral of burning ash.

Alden’s coat was torn. His face bloodied.

But he didn’t stop.

His Echoes fought in sync with him, like extensions of his own fury.

Together—they were unstoppable.

Still—

Inside his mind, time ticked like a drum.

’Four minutes left… I need to finish this and find the others—’

That thought was cut short.

—

CRASH!

A shadow from above.

Something—or someone—slammed into Alden from the sky, throwing up a cloud of dirt and debris.

Alden tumbled, groaning, stunned.

“What the—?”

He rolled over to see the body that had fallen beside him.

A boy.

Familiar.

Too familiar.

His voice caught.

“…Ethan?”

It was Ethan.

Unconscious. Barely breathing.

Alden’s eyes widened in horror.

“No no no—” He dropped beside him, grabbing his shoulders. “Hey! Wake up!”

He shook him.

“Come on, man—wake up! You can’t die here! You’re the hero, remember?!”

No response.

Not a blink. Not a breath.

Then—a voice.

Seductive. Mocking.

“Don’t bother.”

A young woman’s tone, laced with cruelty.

“He won’t wake up. At least, not for now.”

Alden turned, eyes blazing.

A girl stood at the edge of the treeline—dark hair flowing, body radiating malice.

“You see,” she giggled, “he might be strong on the outside… but we made sure to break him from the inside.”

Her laughter rose—manic, gleeful.

Beside her, a tall, cold-eyed youth appeared. He bore the same hair. Same aura.

Veyra. Veyron.

The Twins of Dread.

Wraiths of Darkness.

Alden’s body trembled.

Veyron smirked. “Oh… another Avatar? Looks like the gods are getting desperate.”

His eyes narrowed with sinister delight. “Should we take our time breaking this one too?”

Alden remained frozen. The image of Ethan. The twins’ presence. Everything felt overwhelming.

Then—a screen.

—

[What the hell are you doing? Snap out of it.]

[You have only 1 minute left.]

—

Alden blinked.

His eyes cleared.

’Right. I’m not done.’

He roared, Chaos Flames bursting once more.

With a swing of his arm, he launched black fire at the twins.

But—

A dome of darkness erupted from Veyron’s chest.

It swallowed the flames whole.

Gone. Like they’d never existed.

Veyron laughed. “A newly awakened Avatar tried to kill us. How adorable.”

In a blur—he appeared in front of Alden.

SLAM.

Alden’s head was driven into the dirt, cracking the ground.

“Agh—!”

Veyra followed. With a flick of her fingers, all ten Echoes combusted into nothing.

One minute passed.

The mark on Alden’s neck faded.

His flames vanished.

And he lay there… broken. Defeated.

—

James limped forward, bloodied and burnt.

Seeing Alden on the ground, he exhaled in disbelief.

“…Thank the abyss—I almost died again.”

He dropped to one knee before the twins.

“I greet the Wraiths of Darkness. Disciples of Lord Aaron himself.”

Veyron stared at him with disgust.

“Trash.”

He kicked James in the face.

CRACK!

James flew back, spitting blood.

“Useless. Trash can’t even take care of a simple task.”

James didn’t even argue.

He just bowed again.

His face in the dirt.

—

Suddenly, a sound broke the moment’s stillness.

The sound of something being dragged.

Rough. Rhythmic. Accompanied by shallow, broken breaths and shuffling steps.

All eyes turned toward the source.

From between the twisted trees, Sephira emerged—her one arm clenched tightly in the hair of two beaten figures.

Charlotte and Seraphina.

She dragged them through the dirt like discarded dolls, their faces bloodied, their bodies covered in wounds and scorch marks.

Neither of them screamed.

They couldn’t.

They were barely conscious—eyes fluttering, lips trembling, faces soaked in dirt, blood, and tears.

Sephira grinned savagely and tossed them to the ground with a hard thud.

Their bodies hit like ragdolls, limbs lifeless.

Veyra’s eyes gleamed with morbid amusement.

Veyron chuckled, tilting his head.

“Looks like one of them actually did their job properly.”

Sephira noticed the twins didn’t hesitate. She dropped to one knee and bowed her head.

“I greet the Wraiths of Darkness. Disciples of Master Aaron himself.”

The twins simply smirked—approving, but silent.

Then, amidst the quiet—

A hoarse, muffled voice.

“Ah… Ava…”

They all turned.

A broken figure was crawling across the bloodstained ground.

Alden.

His body twitching, arm dragging, blood trailing behind him. Every movement looked like agony, yet he inched forward on instinct—toward Ava, who still lay unconscious nearby.

He reached out, weakly.

That’s when they all laughed.

Veyra.

Veyron.

Sephira.

James.

Even some of the remaining Expert-ranked soldiers chuckled, their twisted faces filled with cruel delight.

The sight of Alden crawling, helpless and desperate—it was too perfect.

Veyron grinned, a thought forming in his depraved mind.

“Looks like he really loves this girl.”

He glanced toward the three girls—Charlotte, Seraphina, and Ava.

Then his gaze shifted to James.

“Hey, trash.”

James flinched at the insult but immediately bowed his head. “Yes, sir?”

Veyron’s grin deepened.

“Strip them. All of them. Not a single thread left.”

A sickening silence followed.

Then—

James’s lips curled into a crooked smile.

“With pleasure, sir.”

He rose, his footsteps crunching the dirt as he walked toward the unconscious girls, fingers twitching in anticipation.

Charlotte, barely awake, whimpered and tried to lift her arm.

Seraphina flinched, lips trembling.

They couldn’t move. Couldn’t scream.

But they were breaking from the inside, thinking of what was about to happen to them.

Alden’s broken voice begged.

“No… No… please. You can do whatever you want to me. Just leave them alone.”

But his pleas were drowned by laughter.

Twisted. Mocking. Inhuman.

The twins reveled in the misery.

They fed on it.

James reached forward—his hand stretching out toward Charlotte’s torn outfit—

—

CRACK!

A blinding bolt of lightning tore through the sky.

The sound shook the realm—as if the gods themselves had awakened.

The sky twisted into a swirling mass of black clouds.

A tree behind James exploded in flames, split clean in two by the bolt.

Everyone stopped.

Even the Wraiths.

Veyra’s eyes narrowed. “What… was that?”

Veyron growled. “This dimension is sealed. Only the creator can control the weather. So how…?”

Suddenly—

It began to rain.

But it wasn’t water.

It was blood.

Thick. Warm. Raining from above.

A sickening drip… drip… drip echoed through the forest.

Then—

THUD. THUD. THUD.

Bodies began hitting the ground.

Headless.

One after another.

Expert-ranked soldiers.

All of them—dead.

Their corpses fell from the treetops, their heads nowhere in sight.

Blood pooled at James’s feet.

His mouth fell open.

He turned around, trembling.

“What…?”

The girl he was moving toward was still lying where he left her.

But beside her—

Stood a figure.

Bathed in crimson mist.

Head down, looking at the figure of Ava.

Silver hair, that couldn’t be dulled by the rain and blood, now shining like moonlight.

His body glowed with faint lines of divine and corrupted energy intertwined, and the symbol on the back of his hand burned brighter as if it were the sun itself.

His right arm flickered with black veins, pulsing with unknown power.

His eyes, however—

They burned with wrath.

Alex.

Standing. Awake.

Alive.

Looking at Ava, Charlotte, and Seraphina’s broken figures with eyes as cold as steel.

His gaze, locked on Ava’s fragile form, was tender. Protective.

But when he turned his head toward the crowd—toward James, Sephira, Veyron, and Veyra…

His voice dropped to a near-whisper.

Cold.

Unfeeling.

Deadly.

“I’ll ask this only once.”

He took a single step forward.

His presence made the air freeze.

“Which son of a bitch… was the one who kicked me in the face while I was sleeping?”

A beat of silence.

Charlotte sobbed.

Seraphina, lips bloodied, whispered through her broken breath, “A-Alex…”

Alden, from the dirt, tears falling—

“You’re awake… run…”

Alex didn’t blink.

He didn’t smile.

His gaze was locked on the enemies before him.

And behind him…

The bodies continued to fall.

——–

A/N:

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