evolution phase

Osiris walked with a lazy gait, hands in his pockets, eyes drifting across the shattered remains of a mana-run grocery store, a fallen transport hanging like broken sculpture above the cracked road. Dried blood lined the sidewalk in veins.

He liked the silence. It gave him space to think.

Delythera floated behind him, her legs crossed mid-air like she was lounging on an invisible chaise. Her silky pink hair shimmered faintly in the moonlight. She hadn't said much since the orphanage incident—just watched him. Smiling.

It was eerie. He liked that, too.

"I'm sensing something," she finally whispered.

Osiris tilted his head. "Trouble?"

She smirked. "Delight."

Before he could respond, the air shifted.

He stopped, his boots grinding against shards of glass. The ground cracked ahead of him—just slightly—before bursting open with a wet hiss. Something slithered up through the fissure.

One. Then two. Then more.

Twelve in total.

Each one taller than him by at least a foot, their bodies stretched like grotesque serpents balanced on powerful limbs. They were lizard-like, yes, but far from normal. Their scales were warped, glowing with faint luminescence—mana veins pulsing in jagged paths across their bodies.

One had no eyes but moved with terrifying precision. Another had wings. Not bird wings—webbed, torn things that twitched with nervous speed. One opened its jaw and let out a sickening chorus of screeches, sending tremors through the concrete.

Osiris blinked slowly.

Delythera tilted her head. "Mutated Ghar'vex lizards. They used to be lab pets."

"Adorable."

The lizards hissed and spread out, forming a jagged circle around him. One snapped forward—and vanished.

Osiris's eyes barely tracked it. His body moved on instinct, driven by raw energy thrumming in his chest. Threaded energy pulsed through him like static.

The blur reappeared behind him, claws aimed for his neck.

But Osiris ducked low. A pulse of pure force exploded from his palm, slamming into the lizard mid-air. It let out a distorted screech as its ribs shattered.

He didn't wait. He pivoted, eyes scanning.

The others didn't charge in. They waited.

Smart. Coordinated.

He needed to be smarter.

"Del," he said without turning, "don't help."

"I wasn't planning to," she replied, voice like melted sugar. "Show me something beautiful."

He cracked his neck, grinning. "You want a show?"

Another lizard leapt forward. This one spat acidic gas, green and smoking.

Osiris held his breath, pulled mana through his veins—and redirected the energy. The gas turned back mid-air, slamming into the beast's own face.

Its skin bubbled. It screamed. Then dropped.

Two others moved in unison, one swiping high, one low. Osiris darted backward, letting the upper attack miss before grabbing the other by its jaw.

His hand glowed black.

Nether energy.

He channeled it raw, straight into the creature's brain. The head cracked open like an egg, blood pouring from its eyes as its skull imploded.

Four down.

The remaining eight hissed in unison—horrible, screeching sound waves that rattled the broken windows around them.

"Let's make this fun," Osiris murmured.

He stepped forward, smiling wide. "Come on. Let's see who breaks first."

They charged.

He waited until the last second—then flared Null Zone.

It wasn't perfect yet, still messy, unstable. But it was enough. The nearest four froze mid-motion, their mana nullified entirely.

He moved fast—blade from a broken pipe in hand. He slashed throats, twisted spines, gutted one through the belly and watched it collapse, twitching, bile pouring out like soup.

Blood splattered his face, hot and wet.

The last four stayed back.

He knew why.

One raised a hand. And suddenly, he couldn't move.

Gravity. Heavy. Dense.

Osiris fell to a knee, his bones creaking. The ground cracked under him.

Above, Delythera watched quietly, chin in her palm.

Osiris smirked through the strain.

"Not bad…" he growled. "But not good enough."

He focused. Energy roared through his spine. He burned through it fast, ripping open another pulse of Abyssal force, releasing the pressure.

He jumped—straight into the face of the gravity-beast—and slammed both fists into its skull. It folded like a chair, crumpling backwards.

Two more jumped him from behind.

He let them.

They tackled him to the ground, claws digging deep into his shoulders.

And then—

Boom reverse heartbeat.

His body exploded in a burst of raw mana. A sphere of pure destruction. Their bodies were shredded apart mid-tackle, their insides liquefying as they flew back.

Silence returned.

Only one was left.

The smallest one. A baby, maybe.

It didn't hiss. Just stared.

Osiris walked up to it slowly, blood dripping from his face.

It trembled.

He knelt, head tilting.

"Run," he whispered.

It turned—bolted.

Osiris's smile widened.

He raised a hand.

Snap.

The air bent—and the lizard was crushed mid-run. Bones shattered from the inside.

He exhaled slowly.

Delythera floated down beside him, landing lightly on her bare feet. The golden anklets sang their soft chiming tune.

"You lied," she said sweetly.

"Hmm?"

"You wanted to let it go?"

He looked up at her, face soaked in gore. "not really, I'm not a second chance person."

She giggled. "I like you."

He stood straight, body aching. "Let's keep moving."

"As you wish, pretty boy."

They walked off—together—into the ruins, the air thick with blood and smoke.

_____

Osiris walked with his usual eerie silence, his boots crunching softly against the debris-strewn asphalt. The world was quieter now—eerily so. The wind carried a faint, metallic scent of blood and ozone, thickened with the strange buzz of mana dancing in the atmosphere like invisible embers.

Ahead, Delythera skipped.

She wasn't walking so much as floating—her bare feet never quite touching the ground. Her delicate steps barely displaced the dust, yet with every bounce of her ample curves, her golden anklet rings chimed with that sweet, haunting little bell note. It was almost hypnotic, like the lull of a music box in a horror film just before everything goes to hell.

She twirled in the air like she hadn't a care in the world, long pink hair spiraling behind her like silk in a breeze. Her eyes sparkled—bluer than the sky used to be—and every now and then, Osiris caught a flicker of crimson laced beneath them, like something far more ancient and dangerous was peeking out through that sweet facade.

Then, mid-twirl, Osiris finally spoke.

His voice was low. Flat. But something simmered beneath it.

"Why… are the animals like this now?"

Delythera stopped mid-spin, one leg still lifted gracefully. She slowly lowered herself back down, head tilted with a soft hum.

"Hmm?" She tapped her chin with a finger, then smiled. "Oh! You mean the creepy mutations? Yeah, adorable aren't they?"

Osiris gave her a look. It was not a you're funny look. It was more I'm deciding if your skull cracks like porcelain or stone.

She grinned wider, undeterred.

"Okay okay, serious answer time." She glided closer, her eyes warm and playful. "Earth's just… evolving."

"…Evolving?" he echoed.

"Yep!" she chirped, hopping forward, her bells chiming again. "See, Earth has always been kinda the weakest link in the chain of dimensions. Mana flow here? Slower than a drunk turtle on a hot day."

"…A what now?"

"Don't question the analogy," she said sweetly. "Anyway, a rift opened. Close by. Big juicy one. A dimensional rupture just bleeding mana into the world like a busted pipe. And oh boy—Earth? She finally started drinkin'."

She giggled, spinning in place.

"Now it's getting enough energy to push through its first evolution cycle. It's like a baby going through teething, except the teeth are tentacles and laser eyes."

"…Makes sense why the animals are changing," Osiris muttered.

"Mmhm!" she clapped. "They're adapting. Growing into their new bodies. But their instincts haven't changed much. Just one rule, really."

She stopped walking, turned to face him. Her feet hovered inches above the cracked sidewalk.

"If it doesn't look like you? Eat it."

Osiris glanced at a shattered billboard, where a mutated crow carcass was impaled through the neck with a rusted rod. Yeah. That tracked.

"Devour stronger entities, get smarter, faster, stronger. Real alpha predator vibes," Delythera said cheerfully, before pausing to sniff the air. "Mmm. Smells like evolution."

Osiris gave her a sidelong stare.

"…So what happens to people? The ones who don't 'adapt'?"

Her smile faltered. Just a bit.

"Well…" she trailed off, twirling a strand of pink hair. "They either explode from the mana saturation—pop like a grape under a boot…"

Osiris blinked.

"Or," she continued, "they mutate wrong. Real wrong. Turn into those mindless flesh-hungry creeps you saw earlier. I call them mana-junkies. Not cute. Not fashionable. Wouldn't recommend."

Her voice softened. "Only a few people evolve properly. Fewer survive it mentally intact."

"Like me," Osiris said. Not a question.

Delythera floated beside him, resting her hands behind her head, hair cascading down her back in pink rivers. "Mmhm. Like you, pretty boy."

"…Don't call me that."

"I absolutely will."

He groaned under his breath.

They walked in silence for a moment more. The city was beginning to open up again—towers looming ahead like rotting teeth, shadowed ruins yawning with secrets. Smoke curled in the distance. The air buzzed faintly with latent energy.

Then Osiris spoke again.

"…My ability," he said quietly. "What is it?"

Delythera's eyes widened. Then softened. "Ooooh. Now we're getting to the good stuff."

She hovered in front of him, spinning in midair, then floated backwards so she could keep her eyes on him as she talked.

"It's called Ergokinesis," she said, voice hushed and dreamy. "Control over raw energy. Not just the mana that flows through you—but everything. Electricity, thermal currents, pure kinetic force, emotional energy—if it moves, pulses, or vibrates, you can bend it."

She smiled.

"It's not just rare, Osiris. It's dangerous. Because it doesn't just obey your mind—it obeys your will. And if that will ever cracks?"

Her voice lowered.

"It corrupts. Fast."

Osiris raised a brow. "What do you mean… corrupts?"

She floated up higher, flipping upside down above him, her pink hair cascading like a waterfall. "I mean, it's pure power. It doesn't care what you want to do with it. Destroy a city? Snap someone's spine with a look? Warp gravity so time folds in on itself? Sure! All it wants is more. It's addictive. Like a song you can't stop humming even when you hate the lyrics."

She rotated back to normal, hovering by his shoulder again.

"You, my darling little murder-muffin, are already dancing with the devil."

"…I've always danced alone," he muttered.

Delythera tilted her head. "Mm. That's kinda hot."

He sighed again, deeply.

"You're not worried?" he asked. "That I might… lose control?"

She leaned close, her breath brushing his ear.

"I'm counting on it," she whispered sweetly.

He flinched just slightly. She giggled.

"You're insane," he muttered.

"Takes one to know one," she chimed, doing a happy twirl mid-air.

He watched her float ahead, that eerie bell-chime echoing like a lullaby through the broken cityscape.

"…You said energy obeys my will."

"Correcto!"

"Then I'll bend it to mine," he said, almost to himself. "Even if it breaks me."

Delythera turned mid-float, watching him with an unreadable look. "Y'know, most people beg for control. They pray. They cry. You… you just expect the world to bow."

"I don't expect," Osiris said calmly. "I command."

She blinked. A slow, delighted smile formed on her lips.

"You're my favorite already," she whispered.