Ch.66: We Both Just Have To Lose

The wind howled over fractured stone. Rubble crumbled beneath Kael's boots as he moved, dragging a leg behind him, blood trailing in his wake. One eye was swollen half shut. Deep gashes crossed his ribs, his suit shredded to ribbons. But his hands still burned with power. The monster before him—this artificial human—snarled, charging again with thunderous steps that split the mountain floor beneath its weight.

Kael threw up his arm, DarkBind flaring out like snapping jaws. The tendrils slammed into the creature's shoulder, halting its rush for a breath. Just enough.

He dove left—Flashstep surging through his joints in a flickering burst of speed—and nearly collapsed from the pain lancing through his side. He'd already used Flashstep six times too many. His knees screamed. His lungs burned. His vision tunneled.

He forced himself upright.

"Think. Think faster."

The Artificial Human twisted, its torso rotating unnaturally as it ripped free of the shadow tendrils. Its muscles pulsed, writhing under blackened skin. It didn't feel exhaustion. It didn't feel pain.

Kael didn't have that luxury.

With a wince, he slammed both palms together and activated Kinetic Forge. Stored energy from its last blow surged into his arms, fueling a blazing uppercut that connected with the creature's jaw. Bone cracked. The thing stumbled back, just enough to create distance.

It growled, but Kael was already moving. Floating lifted him into the air just enough to clear a crumbled ledge, where he landed hard and barely caught himself with Flexweave-enhanced reflexes. That gave him the height advantage—and time.

"Balancekeeper… I need more."

Kael reached inward, digging into the sealed Quirks he'd avoided for years. Not because they were weak—but because they were dangerous.

He activated one.

A sharp ring echoed through the battlefield as Sound Spike pulsed from his chest. The Artificial Human flinched—staggered. Not much. But enough. Kael followed it up, leaping from the rocks and coating the area in Smokescreen, a dense gray fog that swallowed them both.

Inside the cloud, he was blind—but so was the Artificial Human.

"Let's see how well you fight deaf and dumb," he muttered, slipping behind a jagged pillar.

He pressed a hand to his temple. Thoughtography surged, capturing a mental snapshot of the entire terrain before the smoke covered it—enemy placement, topography, cracks in the foundation. Every variable. His head throbbed instantly. But he pushed through.

"Overlay," he whispered.

A phantom echo of the battlefield danced in his mind's eye. That was the power of Thoughtography—not just memory, but real-time reconstruction. He watched the Artificial Human's footsteps disturb dust. Mapped its position. And lunged again.

Quickcode activated the instant he spotted veins glowing faintly along the monster's back. It wasn't natural—that had to be where energy was flowing. It looked like a support spine. Weakness.

He dove. Struck hard.

His elbow crashed into the pressure point. The beast howled and spun—its fist grazed Kael's shoulder, sending him flying into a boulder. Stone shattered on impact. His left arm hung limp, twisted at an ugly angle.

He bit down a scream.

Blood leaked from his nose. His limbs trembled. He could barely hold his stance.

"I… can't win by playing safe."

He activated Fake Mortal.

The nerves in his right arm rewrote themselves—becoming iron-like, dense, unyielding. The drawback hit instantly: full-body nausea, muscles seizing. But the pain focused him. The pain made him present.

The Artificial Human charged again.

Kael met it mid-sprint.

Flashstep—Kinetic Forge—Shock—all layered at once. He blurred into view and jammed two fingers into its throat, releasing a blinding jolt. Its head reeled back—and that's when Kael drove his forged fist into its core, bones cracking beneath his power-enhanced punch.

The monster roared.

And retaliated.

A massive fist collided with Kael's chest. His ribs folded. His breath left him in a red mist as he was hurled back into the cliffside. Rock splintered. Blood splattered.

He didn't get up.

For a long second… nothing.

Then—he coughed.

Rolled onto one knee.

His hero costume was in tatters. His breathing ragged. His vision nearly black.

And yet… he stood.

A low, rasping whisper left his lips.

"I-I'm not done yet.."

Kael burst forward, blood smeared across his chin, eyes dark with resolve.

The artificial human met him with a roar—its arm coiling back like a whip, then slamming down with monstrous force. Kael dodged left, then used Flashstep, vanishing in a snap of air, reappearing just behind the beast's shoulder. He unleashed a blast of Sound Spike point-blank into its ear.

It staggered, howled.

But didn't fall.

Kael's left hand glowed faintly—Kinetic Forge activated, his palm blazing with stored momentum from every impact he'd endured so far. He twisted midair, slammed his fist into the creature's jaw. The explosion of power echoed down the mountain like thunder, sending dust and shattered stone flying.

The Artificial Human stumbled backward—jaw dislocated, tendons ripped.

And yet—it began to heal.

Kael's boots skidded across the dirt. "Of course..," he spat, wiping blood from his lip. "They really don't want me leaving this mountain."

The monster charged again—no tactics, only raw destruction. Kael dove under its swing, but a chunk of rock from the shattered terrain struck him in the side, hard. His ribs screamed. He collapsed to a knee, gasping for air.

'Flexweave.'

He twisted just in time as the next attack came, his body bending with unnatural fluidity. The Artificial Human's claw sliced the edge of his shoulder instead of severing his arm.

He clenched his teeth. The costume tore. Blood seeped down his bicep.

"You want all of me?" he growled. "Fine."

Kael's right arm shifted—Fake Mortal reshaping the muscle density and bone structure. His forearm bulked unnaturally, veins pulsing as his grip strengthened far beyond human norms.

The Artificial Human lunged.

Kael didn't dodge this time. He met it head-on.

Kinetic Forge, Shock, Flashstep, and DarkBind all activated at once.

Shadow tendrils surged up, grabbing the Artificial Human's ankles just long enough for Kael to zip upward, drive his elbow—charged with kinetic might and a jolt of electricity—into the creature's neck. He heard something snap.

The Artificial Human roared again, but something was different now.

It moved… slower.

Kael's vision sharpened—Eagle Hunting kicking in, eyes locking onto the regeneration points. He'd seen it a few times now—there was a delay, a moment of vulnerability, whenever the brainstem was disrupted.

Thoughtography. He froze the last exchange in his mind—analyzing it frame by frame.

Then he triggered Quickcode, processing the battle data, the healing pattern, every muscle twitch.

"There it is…" Kael whispered. "You need that brain to stay alive. Not just your heart. Disrupt the spinal relay long enough…"

His hands shook. His arms were numb. His shoulder throbbed from the last impact.

"I can do this."

The Artificial Human leapt. This time—Kael didn't back down.

He activated Floating, using it just enough to keep himself midair a half-second longer than physics allowed. He twisted in a corkscrew motion, just above the creature's charge, then Sound Spike exploded from behind, stunning it.

Kael dropped—slammed his enhanced arm straight into the base of the Artificial Human's neck.

A sickening crack.

The creature reeled back.

Kael wasn't done.

He grunted, focused—and activated a Quirk he hadn't used in years.

His left arm shimmered.

The veins along his forearm pulsed violently, his skin glowing from within.

A temperature inversion Quirk, one he'd sealed due to its backlash on muscle tissue. He felt his skin burn as cold flooded his fingers—frost crawling up his knuckles.

He slammed both fists into the Artificial Human's shoulders, superheating and supercooling simultaneously, forcing its muscles to seize up.

It shrieked—choking on rage—and finally collapsed to one knee.

Kael collapsed with it, panting, hands trembling uncontrollably.

His thoughts began to blur.

He activated Courage, his heart slowing, his breathing steadying.

"I'm not done… not yet…"

The Artificial Human lunged again. One final blow.

Kael's foot gave out—Silent Sole let him catch his fall noiselessly, avoiding detection for a moment.

He whispered, almost begging—"Please… just give me one more…"

Then he remembered.

Another sealed Quirk—Pressure Knot. It allowed him to compress force into a single point… but the pressure damaged his own limbs every time.

He looked at his hands. Already purpled. Shaking. Split knuckles. Bone exposed under the skin.

He smiled bitterly.

"Just one more time."

Kael summoned every drop of Kinetic Forge, coiled his legs with Flexweave, and charged one final, condensed Pressure Knot in his palm.

The Artificial Human rose.

So did Kael.

They met at the center.

Fist to throat.

Impact.

The mountain quaked.

Stones split. Trees snapped.

The Artificial Human's eyes rolled back—and for the first time, it didn't regenerate at its normal pace.

Kael stumbled back, one arm hanging limp, elbow shattered and bleeding. His breaths were ragged. Muscles torn. Vision doubling.

But the quiet didn't last.

With a guttural crack, the Artificial Human's spine snapped back into place.

Its body twitched.

Then it stood.

Again.

"No…" Kael whispered, chest heaving. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me…"

The creature's regeneration kicked in slower this time—but still fast enough. Burned skin flaked off, regrown in real time. Its ribs cracked into place. Its dislocated neck rotated with a nauseating twist.

Kael backed away. One step. Then another.

He had nothing left. Every Quirk he had used had pushed him closer to the edge—Fake Mortal's morphing had burned out his arm. Kinetic Forge had torn his muscles. The ice-heat combo scorched his nerve endings.

But still…

It kept coming.

And it wasn't tired.

Kael gritted his teeth, mind racing.

'Nothing I've used is enough. Not even the sealed ones.'

His legs trembled beneath him. Blood leaked from his mouth. Vision flickering.

He needed something final.

Desperate.

Lethal.

Something he swore never to use.

"…No choice," he muttered.

Inside the sealed vault within his mind—the space where the most dangerous Quirks were locked away—he focused on one.

Quirk: Oblivion Pulse.

Type: Emitter.

Effect: Erases cellular cohesion within a radius around Kael—ripping atoms apart in a controlled burst. Originally belonged to a villain known only as "The White Hollow."

Limit: 10 seconds max. Prolonged use causes systemic organ failure, neural collapse, or death.

Kael exhaled.

His lips trembled, but his resolve did not.

"If I use this… I don't come back the same."

But he didn't need to come back the same.

He just needed to come back alive.

The Artificial Human roared—charging, intent on ending it at this very moment.

Kael stood still, eyes dark as the void.

And he whispered—

"Oblivion Pulse."

The air cracked.

Light bent. Gravity twisted. The mountain rumbled as a low hum erupted from Kael's body—like the sound of a dying star.

The very atoms around him trembled.

Dust dissolved in the air. Stones melted to ash mid-flight.

The Artificial Human slowed—then screeched, its skin bubbling, breaking apart, muscle fibers unraveling as it got within range.

Its healing couldn't keep up. The regeneration stalled—confused by the very laws of matter being rewritten.

Kael screamed through clenched teeth. Blood leaked from his eyes, his ears. His veins glowed like searing wire beneath his skin.

Five seconds.

He stepped forward.

The Artificial Human raised an arm—and it evaporated halfway up its forearm. Matter undone by invisible force.

Seven seconds.

His own skin began to crack.

But the Artificial Human was down now, trying to crawl.

Kael raised a trembling hand.

Nine seconds.

"Stay—down—"

Ten.

He deactivated it.

The world snapped back.

Air whooshed in to fill the vacuum of destruction around him. Everything fell silent, except for the wind.

The Artificial Human collapsed—limb-less, twitching, spasming—but no longer healing.

Kael stood over it, steam rising from his shoulders, skin burned black in places, his left arm completely limp, blood pooling in his boots.

His knees buckled.

His body shook—uncontrollably.

He dropped.

Face-first into the dirt.

The last thing he saw before the darkness took him was the sky cracking open with light above.

And then—

Nothing.

…