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By the wary look on his face, I could tell he knew something was off.

Lysa was more vocal about her concern.

“Is everything alright, son?” she asked with a furrowed brow.

I stood in the doorway, not even wanting to come inside, the murderous intent in my heart too strong.

“Honestly no,” I said, reaching for the axe Edrik had crafted for me. “But it will be in a few minutes.”

They both didn’t seem to know what to make of that. I didn’t know myself really. I knew killing Hong Feng wouldn’t bring Mu Lin back, but it was all I had left to do now. Or try to do anyway. The bastard had already killed me once before, but I had the heart of a demon and a solid core now. If this was a way to atone for my failure, then the least I could do was remove that scum from the face of the earth so that no one else would die.

It was crafted to perfection according to the pattern Edrik had shown me a few days earlier, but now seeing it in its true form it was even more impressive. The Corrupted Steel felt weighty and powerful in my hands, the crescent blade balanced perfectly by the solid metal shaft. But Edrik had gone a step further and added a grip to the shaft made of ornate engravings.

Solid. Lethal.

A tool of death if I’d ever seen one.

“This is perfect, Master Edrik,” I said, still marveling at it. “I can’t thank you enough.”

“You can thank me by keeping yourself in one piece,” Edrik said. “For whatever the hells you’re about to do.”

“Do you want to come inside and talk, son?” Lysa said, her eyes filled with concern.

I shook my head.

The time for talking was over.

“Let’s leave him be now, Lysa,” Edrik said patting her on the hand. “This man clearly has work to be done.”

* * *

Edrik’s final words echoed through my mind as I stalked through the alleyways of the restaurant district and approached the door to the Fire Bird Sect. Every last insult I’d endured behind those walls suddenly came back to me, feeding the growing fury of my Flame.

I rapped on the door once.

Stepped back.

Before the eye-slot even slid fully open, I charged forward with a powerful kick.

Wha-BAM!

Wood and stone ruptured with a shower of splinters and dust.

I stepped through the remodeled doorway to see both Du Mak and Ju Gong groaning listlessly in semi-unconsciousness on the floor, half buried under a pile of debris. Voices rang out in alarm from further within the sect, but I didn’t care.

This was no stealth mission.

They would all know who was killing them tonight.

I strengthened the grip on my new axe, surging Frenzy through it.

The [Odds were clearly Against Me] taking on an entire sect and the thought brought a smile to my lips and a craving to my soul. I channeled the fresh Frenzy into [Iron Skin], preparing to face the worst they had to offer.

I charged into the training area with a roar, thundering with lightning.

At least a dozen cultivators died instantly from the lightning bolts radiating from my core.

Those that survived immediately sprang into a defensive formation, flames and weapons flying. A trio of Fire Birds pelted me with fireballs from my left. I barely felt the attacks as I turned to them and slammed my axe into the ground. Bolts of lightning crackled through the floor, electrocuting them with wild and hellish screams. I followed up with a leap, my axe cutting one of them in two as I crashed down. With a swing I took out the other two, even as they raised their meager defense against me.

The surge of [Bloodlust] from their deaths spurred me on as I channeled new energy to my reflexes and speed. More flames erupted from behind and I turned again to see at least two dozen cultivators rushing into the training room from the upper floors. And then as if all at once, they recognized me.

One of them cried out what I could sense they were all fearing in their hearts.

“It’s him! He’s returned from the dead! He’s a demon!”

I threw my head back with laughter at the words, exuding [Fear the Flame].

“Is that what you think I am?” I channeled my Frenzy into [Mark of the Demon] my skin turning red. “So be it then!”

The fear from their souls was enough to sustain my new form and I used it to the fullest, maximizing the strength of my lightning technique. I’d had no time to even develop what these techniques truly were, but the words to augment them seemed to come straight from my Flame.

“[Wrath of a Thousand Slain Souls]!”

A vortex of blue lightning surged from about my body as I thought of every innocent victim they’d killed, the power radiating outwards in a series of coils. The arcs of energy slammed into the Fire Birds like a tidal wave, slamming them into the walls and setting what was left of the building on fire.

Panic and disarray become my feeding ground as I charged into what was left of the sect, slaying them mercilessly with the edge of my axe. The Corrupted Steel carried the strength of my resolve, slicing through even the strongest of their armored techniques with ease. I endured the sting of their flaming blades as well, unable to block or dodge them all, my pain and blood rallying within me. Chaos and Frenzy reigned as the world grew small within my eyes, the Demon unleashing, edging ever closer towards full control.

Give in, you’ve lost it all already. Go all the way!

But the Struggler wouldn’t let go just yet, pulling me back from the edge.

No, I still had Hong Feng to find.

I had to see to it that I killed him first.

Untold minutes passed until finally I had dispatched the last of the sect members, my Frenzy overflowing from the power of my [Bloodlust] technique. I cultivated it to regain my strength. My body was on fire, both literally and figuratively, dripping buckets of blood from the hundreds of soon to be scars.

I didn’t even know how many I’d slain. Only their blood was a testament to their demise. In that brief moment as I stood over the sea of corpses that I’d made, I truly realized how powerful I’d become. While most of the members I’d killed were still in the Foundation Realm, there were a few in the Core Realm as well.

But it didn’t matter to me.

I’d chewed them up and spit them out all the same.

One more left, I thought.

I flew up the stairs to the only place he could be.

Smoke and flames filled the air as I kicked in the door to Hong Feng’s study.

The bastard was there waiting for me as I’d expected.

But not as I thought he’d be.

He was sat behind his desk as usual, water pipe in hand, having a casual smoke like the whole damn building wasn’t already on fire.

“So,” he said with a smile, his voice rough and gravelly. “It seems you are indeed what I thought you were. Perhaps even more so by the looks of you now.”

I cracked my neck, cognizant of the bull’s horns now extruding from the sides of my head as well as my bright red skin.

“The time for talk is over, Hong Feng.” I readied my axe, pointing it at him. “It’s time you paid for what you did to me and Mu Lin.”

“Who?” he said, but then he shook his head with a laugh. “Doesn’t matter. None of this matters anymore.” He then stood casually, his large frame dwarfing the desk in front of him. “Do you realize what you are, Chun? You are a gift! A gift that I’ve been seeking for generations.”

“The only thing I’m seeking from you is your death, you murderous piece of shit.”

“Don’t be so hasty,” he said. And slowly I saw him reach for the handle of a massive black iron mace leaning against his chair. “You do realize my true aim in all this, don’t you? You’re no friend of the empire and neither am I.” He then lifted the mace and rested it on his shoulder, a solid, black-iron rod with what looked like a bowling ball on the end. “Let us put this petty squabbling behind us now and unite. These cultivators you’ve killed here. They mean nothing to me. Mere fruit on the vine, yet to be harvested. Most not even ripe. But you. With your strength, truly we could make a difference and beat back this empire.” He then grinned. “One world at a time.”

The words suddenly stoked my Flame, his goals briefly aligning with mine.

But it lasted only a second as Mu Lin’s tear-filled cries registered within my mind.

“You’ve got to be out of your damn tree.” My blood seethed, craving justice for her and everyone else he’d killed. “You think I’d ever join the likes of you? After what you’ve done?”

He cracked a smile. “But my dear Chun, you already have joined me. Or did you forget your oath. As we are born to the Flame so we die to the Flame. There is no quitting in this sect. You are a Fire Bird for life, my friend.”

I squared up, summoning my solid Frenzy.

“Is that right? You’re forgetting one thing though, asshole.” I grinned at him with [Fear the Flame], lightning crackling. “I’ve already died…”

I bolted at him with a Frenzy-fueled charge.

His desk went up in an explosion of blue lightning and flames as I barreled into it, but he transitioned across the room in a flash.

“So disappointing,” Hong Feng said, his robes shimmering with heat until they burst into flames, burning off to reveal his bare form, a body of hardpacked muscle and brawn. “But I suppose the gloves are off now. As you’ve revealed your true self, it is only fitting that I now reveal mine. One Demon to another.”

I braced with apprehension as the room filled with Dark Frenzy and those same black tendrils I’d seen before began exuding from his back. But then they became less translucent, taking on solid form. That nightmare vision I’d had returned to me, him biting Mu Lin in half as a monstrous demon. Once again, I wondered if that was merely just a dream.

But all I could think off was him ordering for them to hunt down and kill Mu Lin.

“She didn’t deserve to die!” I screamed. “She had her whole life ahead of her!”

My anger and rage consumed me, not caring what the hell he even was anymore.

I got halfway to him before one of the massive, worm-like tentacles reacted with a life of its own, batting me out of the air with the force of a speeding truck. Pain exploded even through my armored skin, as I went careening through wall after burning wall.

The stunning blow got my wits about me and I sprung to my feet just in time for Hong Feng to come tearing through the hole I’d just made in the wall. The six tentacles came at me at once, each one hissing with the head of an eyeless snake or black eel. At the same time, he sent a torrent of blue flames at me from his palm, utilizing the remnants of Yin Chu’s soul.

He followed with a third attack from his mace, but I blocked it with my axe, utilizing my martial forms. The strength behind it was enough to make my teeth clack, and I went barreling backwards through yet another wall.

Hong Feng roared with anger and his hatred for me filled my soul with strength of my own. I redoubled my Frenzy into strength and kicked one of the tentacles to the side, then spun to deliver a [Three-Log Chop] to the neck of another. I bolstered my attack with the Demon-fueled strength of my lightning technique, sending a solid chunk of Frenzy straight to my Jing.

The result was like chopping into an electrical main, huge sparks flying as my axe head broke through the hardened demon skin to reveal dark, putrid flesh beneath. Hong Feng cried out in unison with the five remaining snake heads, their hisses eerily human, like the wails of an old woman. He withdrew and the head of the thing that I had cut off instantly began to dissolve into a puddle of black goo on the floor.

“I don’t know what the hell you are,” I said. “But don’t for a minute think that I’m anything like you!”

I went on the offensive, heightening my axe techniques with the power of my Flame.

Blue lightning and blue flames clashed and we somehow collapsed through the burning floor, winding up in the training area again. One of the tentacles latched onto me and I could feel its venomous bite sucking Frenzy from my soul.

“Yes! YES!” Hong Feng cried, his eyes wide and bloodshot with madness as his Dark Frenzy tried to permeate my soul. “This is the power I’ve craved! I will take it from you now!””

“Blood-sucking fiend!”

I channeled the pain into more Frenzy, hardening my skin to literally push the beast’s teeth from out of my flesh. The move must have surprised him because he jerked backwards and with a sudden burst I spun with a whirlwind technique.

Another tentacle fell to the ground as my axe found purchase, it instantly dissolving into goo.

“No!” he cried, reeling from me. “This power! How is it a simple mortal Terran came to wield such power? You don’t deserve it! Give it to me!”

He charged at me like a raging bull.

I barely had time to brace my axe like a shield before he slammed into me full force.

I went careening through another wall and this time I felt myself free falling backwards, not yet hitting the ground. It was only then that I realized that he had pushed us both into the basement chamber.

My back hit the ground hard, only to be followed up by Hong Feng burying his massive mace in the center of my chest.

OOF!

The world went black for a moment as the life was all but crushed out of me. My [Iron Core] technique reinforced my organs just enough to not become mush as the force of the blow traveled through my body and shattered the concrete below me with a massive spiderweb crack.

I could no longer breathe, my lungs smashed together. Only the pulsing of my demon heart and my [Death’s Door] technique kept me alive. Summoning the last of my will, I countered with a full chop to the face with my axe.

The move caused Hong Feng to retreat immediately, backing away and removing the mace, his remaining tentacles blocking my chop. The slight reprieve was all I needed to stagger back to my feet.

But I still wasn’t breathing.

I was a jet engine sucking on the vacuum of space.

I needed time to heal and recover if I wanted to kill this clown.

I glanced at my only option.

The tunnel.

The same tunnel I’d sent Mu Lin down to die.

Shit…I had no other choice.

“You’re like a damn cockroach,” Hong Feng said as his Dark Frenzy began to swell. “That blow should have well killed you. Are you truly immortal already?” He then began to rise into the air as a huge ball of fire formed around him. “I guess something like you needs to be burned to death to kill. [Flame of a Thousand Burning Stars!]”

Oh shit…!

I dove for the tunnel just as a massive wave of heat crashed into my back, thrusting me forwards. I performed an involuntary flip and somehow managed to wind up on my feet. I pushed into the tunnel just as a bright white light engulfed me. Turning to face it, I instinctively raised my axe to try to block whatever it was and channeled my Frenzy to withstand it.

The roar of a rocket engine filled the tunnel as a two-hundred-mile-per-hour wind of burning-hot plasma ripped across my body. My mind screamed with white-hot agony as my axe heated and turned cherry red in my hands, the flat of the blade the only thing preserving my face and head.

I was still fueling [Death’s Door] unable to breathe or even scream, and I used every ounce of my pain to generate more Frenzy to keep me alive. My [Iron Skin] was melting and I wished I’d had the time to turn my lightning technique into some kind of defense.

Then finally it was over, and the red glow of my axe matched that of the tunnel walls.

I staggered in place, skin burned down to white flesh.

Hong Feng’s silhouette appeared at the front of the tunnel and only then did I realize that I’d been pushed back a hundred feet or more.

“Still alive?” His tone was shrill with irritation. “Why won’t you DIE!!”

He flew at me, covering the hundred feet in the blink of an eye.

I barely had the strength to raise my axe as he swung at me with the cannonball at the end of his mace. My axe did its job, blocking the lethal strike, but the force of the blow sent me slamming into the side of the tunnel and bursting through.

I was suddenly in freefall again, descending into darkness.

I slammed into things on the way down, steel girders and concrete.

My body finally hit the floor and I rolled onto my back to see the glowing form of Hong Feng illuminating the darkness of what had to be some kind of abandoned subway terminal. Or perhaps one that was still under construction at the time of the attack. There were at least three stories of raw steel reaching up to the opening I’d made in the tunnel wall.

I was dying for real now, blood pouring from my mouth, ribs sticking out of my back.

I had to shift and heal if I wanted to survive.

But my Frenzy was already overtaxed, barely keeping me on life support through [Death’s Door].

No, not again…no way would I let this bastard kill me a second time like this!

I was already in [Mark of the Demon] form, but could my body take another shift? I’d already done it once before. I was so angry when I saw Sumatra, that I did it without even thinking, taking on two marks at once.

But could I do it again?

Hong Feng floated down in a cloud of fire. “Fitting you should end up down here. You can die where that stupid little friend of yours ended up.”

My heart leapt at that… Mu Lin?

He landed and began stalking towards me, thrumming the head of his mace in his palm. “I wish I’d seen it to tell you firsthand, but my men tell me her death was…most pleasurable.”

He began laughing and a sickness filled my stomach.

Filthy bastard…

My Flame raged in response, turning bright white at the tip.

Nasty pieces of shit! I cursed them without words, still unable to breathe. I’m glad I killed every last one of you!

But there was still one left.

“I don’t know why you choose to favor those fragile and insignificant mortals,” Hong Feng said, grimacing at me. “They will do nothing but hold you back. They will be your undoing.”

My anger at Mu Lin’s desecration and demise fueled my inner Flame, pumping fresh Frenzy into my soul. I didn’t know if my body could take it, but fearing death was well past me now. I channeled [Mark of the Beast] as Hong Feng got within a few paces of me and painfully my body began to transform.

He jerked back at the unnatural sound of bones and sinew popping, my flesh restoring and renewing itself as it shifted into a hybrid between Demon and beast.

“Damn hell spawn!” Hong Feng shouted as he raised his mace, igniting it with flames. “I’ll burn you to a crisp!”

He swung the mace down at me and a torrent of blue flames followed.

I leapt off the ground before my transformation was even complete, the speed of my Beast form quickening my movements. The flames hit where I once was, but I was already on the attack circling behind him with the speed of a rabid wolf.

I swung with a lightning-infused chop and our weapons clashed as he deftly turned to face me. New anger and rage boiled as I attacked with a fervor, my beast and demon forms combining to heighten the speed and power of my lightning-charged blows.

“You think they’ll be my undoing?!” I shouted back at him as I attacked him again and again. “They are my salvation! They are what separate me from becoming a monster like you!”

Thunder and blue flames roared as I bounded from girder to girder, howling with rage. A fear began to grow inside Hong Feng’s soul as he struggled to keep track of me, barely dodging and deflecting my glancing blows.

And then I realized something else.

He was a demonic cultivator, but he still ran on Qi.

And after all he’d done, his tank had to be running low by now.

The thought pushed me on and only furthered the Frenzy of my attacks.

Strike by lightning-charged strike I wore him down, until I was no longer hitting the steel of his mace, but the hardened skin of his cultivation-forged body. One by one I cleaved the black tentacles from him, until they were little more than ooze-weeping stumps.

His fear spiked and the panic in him was all the fuel I needed to keep going.

“Stay still! Stay still damn you!” he roared, trying to swat at me with his mace.

I finally lured him into a parry, which I quickly redirected into a strike at his leg. Blood flew as he collapsed to one knee, his leg cut in two at the thigh.

“Arrgh!” he screamed in pain and disbelief, dropping his mace to clutch his wound with both hands.

I quickly followed up with a hack to his back, the pure satisfaction of feeling my axe sink into his flesh a thrill like none other.

“You piece of shit!” I screamed. “Now you’ll feel the wrath for killing that sweet young girl! I’m sending you straight to hell for killing Mu Lin!”

My rage and [Fear the Flame] combined must have been enough to paralyze him, because he grew completely still, raising his hands almost in surrender as I swung with a lightning-charged [Single-Chop Cleave]!

My axe hit his waist and continued right on through, the lightning disrupting whatever Qi defenses he had raised. His body fell apart before my eyes and the [Bloodlust] filled my Flame with glee.

Hong Feng lay on the ground in two pieces, his mouth pouring blood as he patted his legs now lying next to his head. He stared up at me with fear and incomprehension in his eyes, his soul cold with terror.

“H-How..?” he sputtered. “What even… what even are you?”

“I am a Berserker,” I said, twirling my axe to rid it of his blood. “And I follow the path of the Frenzied Flame.”

He looked almost appreciative at hearing the name, his eyes growing glossy with delight as he gave me a dying smile. “The Frenzied Flame…”

“You only made one mistake, Hong Feng,” I said as I raised my axe to deliver the final blow. “When you killed me the first time…you should have gone for the head.”

The look of shock and realization became permanently imprinted on his face as I brought my axe down between his eyes. I split his head in two with an ear-shattering scream, releasing every ounce of anger surging through me, fueled by [Bloodlust] and something new.

A sense of justice and revenge.

No, I couldn’t bring Mu Lin back…but it felt damn good to kill this bastard for her sake.

I cycled the fresh Frenzy through my system, cultivating it to restore my depleted reserves.

I’d done it.

I’d taken out the whole damn Fire Bird clan.

Or at least, Hong Feng’s branch of it anyway.

I walked towards the edge of the chamber where I began picking out a pathway to climb back up to the tunnel three stories above. Faintly I heard something behind me. A low growl. Or a hiss?

Slowly I turned to see the impossible.

Hong Feng was moving.

The two halves of his head flopped apart as his body slowly began to rise from the floor, new black tentacles growing from out of his stomach and connecting to his legs. I watched with a sort of morbid fascination as Dark Frenzy began permeating the air with a strength I’d only experienced in the wild.

Shit, I thought. Did Hong Feng have some kind of demonic resurrection technique as well?

But as the form pulled itself together, I realized it was much worse than that.

A being made of black tentacles and hundreds of bloodshot eyes rose before me, exuding Dark Frenzy that threatened to invade my soul. Then with a sound like nails scraping across a chalk board, it spoke.

~Foul Demon of the Cur-sed Flame.~

They weren’t words, but just like on that nightmarish night, I understood the meaning of the horrific sound completely, an interpretation from my Demon form perhaps.

~Thou hast freed me from this husk. And now, I shall free thee from yours~