conflict part two

A gust of wind.

A glimmer of red.

her fingers brushed against his lips.

A taunting touch.

Her speed was overwhelming. He couldn't catch up.

Alex moved to counter—but his body wouldn't listen.

 With a sudden shift inside his body 

a throbbing force 

His blood froze.

His veins tightened like iron chains.

Then, a mashing force wrapped around his heart, squeezing mercilessly.

Raven whispered

"The battle is over."

Alex's blood blades flickered—dying out beside him.

Raven tilted her head, her crimson eyes gleaming.

"Tell me, Agniverta," she purred, "how did you even think of using blood arts against me?"

"Petty blood arts… in front of a god who controls the very essence of blood itself though you did use it really well?"

Her grip tightened around his throat.

Alex's own blood was rebelling against him.

 She was pressing her fingers deeper into his skin.

"Can you feel it?" she murmured.

"Your blood boiling?"

His body burned.

His very essence raged like fire.

Then, in an instant—

Cold.

Ice-cold.

His muscles locked.

His vision blurred.

Even breathing became impossible.

"Do you feel it now? Now want to beg for mercy like a insect ? Agniverta ? I can still give you a chance if you become my apostle"

Alex's veins throbbed violently.

He struggled.

"Raven."

His voice was strained, bubbling like a drowning man.

"That was your name, right?"

Raven raised a brow but nodded.

"Of course. I am Raven, the Goddess of Blood."

She tilted her head almost robotic.

"However, right now… I am merely a fragment of my true form. And yet, look at you."

Her smile widened.

"How petty you seem before me. You should be grateful I cannot fully descend into this world."

A flicker of light returned to Alex's darkening vision.

"Oh?"

"Then maybe…"

" today I am lucky after all."

Alex exhaled—a weak, dying breath.

But instead of fear…

His grin deepened.

He spoke.

Once, in a distant land, there was a man named Bing Zheng.

His voice was rough, but his words carried weight.

"He was born without talent, belonging to a clan that was financially crippled—an small orthodox clan with no power. He was their only hope."

"But that hope was crushed."

Alex's gaze sharpened.

"One day, his entire clan was massacred by minor unorthodox households. They left him alive—out of pity. To show the world that they were becoming righteous."

His grip on reality was slipping, but he pushed forward.

"Bing Zheng had no resources. No scriptures. No guidance. He was reduced to nothing but a servant in his own clan's ruins. A laborer."

Raven watched him, though she was hearing just out of curiosity if she wanted she would have killed him right there in mere seconds.

"But in the future—" Alex's grin was razor-sharp, "he became renowned across Murim for his swordsmanship."

"He carved his own path. Created his own martial art."

"What drove him forward?"

His eyes gleamed with something terrifying.

"Hatred."

"Hatred for the world. Hatred for the heavens."

He exhaled, forcing his lungs to function.

"He trained endlessly. Day after day, wielding nothing but a broom. That broom became his sword. And with it, he slaughtered those who wronged him."

Raven remained silent.

"But another day—" Alex's smirk widened. "That broom was split in half."

"The same clan that once made him a laborer—their greatest project was a man named Sheng, the man who they created, A killer they taught him blood martial arts of an eminent man."

A pause.

Alex's voice dropped lower.

"when Bing Zheng massacred them all."

"Sheng was free he survived."

"He ran—like a coward."

Raven narrowed her eyes. "And what happened next?"

Sigh

"Sheng never forgot that moment. That humiliation."

"So he trained. Trained relentlessly. Followed the same steps of battle. Relived the same fight in his mind over and over—until he perfected a mix of martial arts combining both his blood arts that he learned as the killer and as well bing zhengs sword martial art that he saw that day."

A chilling pause.

"And do you know when he finally faced Bing Zheng again… he cut him in half."

Raven's smile faltered.

Alex met her gaze.

His blood still boiled.

His body still froze.

His breath was still ragged.

But his smile?

It was unshaken.

"Tell me, god… no, let me apologize I forgot for a moment that you are a fraud." His voice was laced with an amusing laugh.

"So tell me Fraud…

Who do you think I am in this story?