Chapter 55 - 54: Final Clash

The lights in the entire mall flickered, and the air began to smell of ozone. Min-ho’s body blurred into afterimages as he ricocheted off walls, floor, and ceiling in erratic patterns. Sparks ripped through the air every time he landed. Ye-Rin tapped into Lucky Evasion, her instincts pulling her head back just in time to dodge a high-velocity punch. She countered by grabbing Min-ho’s ankle mid-strike and swinging him toward a pillar. The impact cracked the concrete—but his body dissolved again into shrapnel, pieces exploding outward. Seo-Yeon threw up a telekinetic shield, the fragments bouncing harmlessly off before knitting themselves back into Min-ho’s full form. But then he grinned wider—too wide. Static energy built around his core until his entire chest exploded outward in a chain reaction. Each fragment was a living grenade, detonating upon impact with the environment. The blast hurled Ye-Rin into an escalator railing, Seo-Yeon into the base of a shattered fountain, and In-Ji flat against the floor. "In the head!" In-Ji shouted.In-Ji’s Weak Point Analysis lit up his vision—red marks racing across Min-ho’s form. "Oh you guys found my weakness?" Min-ho smiled, "If I run out of my mana points. My regeneration ability will stop and I will drop dead at that moment." In-ji realized. Lee min-ho wasn’t agreeing to everything and stating his weaknesses for fun. He wanted to die himself. "You are being controlled by Cheng-min currently, aren’t you?" In-ji paused, "that’s why you said you didn’t have the will of your own left." "But I really don’t want to die." As soon as Min-ho said, the wall behind him tore apart and a hand grabbed Min-ho by his throat. It was Cheng-min- or rather Raven King Rakaroz. "You speak too damn much." As soon as he completed speaking, a blue thread connected him and Min-ho. "He is..... drain ....ing m....y magic....." Before min-ho could complete his sentence, he threw him away to a pillar like a thrash. "Excellent. Now this feels amazing. Why don’t we continue what we were doing, Shin Ye-jun." Shin Ye-jun came out from the shadows through the same wall Cheng-min tore through. He had bruises all over his body. Feathers on his wings were covered with their own or Cheng-min’s blood. Shin Ye-jun in his Harpy form stood in front of Cheng-min once more. Cheng-min or Raven king threw the lifeless body of Min-ho into the pillar nearby. I came out from the shadows through the same wall Cheng-min tore through.My talons carved furrows into the cracked marble as my wings unfurled to their full span. "Well," the Death Architect drawled, "the bird comes back to the cage. How many more feathers do you have to lose before you stop?" My golden eyes narrowed. "As many as it takes to rip yours out." Cheng-min smirked, raising one Talon Blade. "Cute. I’ll mount your wings on my wall." The moment his foot shifted, my wings snapped open FWOOOSH! A blast of wind and dust obscuring the mall floor. The Raven King blurred forward, his Talon Blades materializing in each hand, each step trailing black feathers that hissed into smoke. The impact rattled the glass storefronts, sending a spiderweb of cracks racing across the panes. My momentum twisted midair. one wing clipped the Cheng-min’s ribs before he rolled to the far wall, claws gouging deep into the plaster. Cheng-min countered instantly, mud lances erupted from the ground in a fan pattern, shredding the space where I had been seconds earlier. Cheng-min smirked, raising one Talon Blade. "Cute. I’ll mount your wings on my wall." Before the last word left his lips, I lunged. Blades met talons, sparks dancing. "You’ve slowed," Cheng-min observed between strikes. "Your right wing’s torn. Your left leg is strained. I can smell it." I twisted free, beak slashing toward Cheng-min’s face. "Then stop talking and finish it—if you can." From the sideline, Ye-Rin yelled, "Left flank, Ye-jun!" Ye-Rin’s axe smashed into the floor between us, forcing Cheng-min to side-step. He didn’t even glance at her. "You three still think you matter?" He swung an arm, a tendril of shadow lashing out—Seo-yeon’s telekinesis caught it mid-air. "You’re not the only one who can multitask," she said, strain in her voice. Cheng-min chuckled darkly. "And yet you can’t touch me." But he stepped into In-Ji’s suppressive fire. Bullets ripped through the air. In-Ji’s rifle cracked twice. "Doesn’t mean I can’t distract you." A bullet pinged off his mask, making him tilt his head toward her. "Do you think I’m so easily baited?" Ye-jun took the opening, talons sinking into Cheng-min’s shoulder. "Sometimes, yes." It worked. My wingtip caught Cheng-min’s jaw in a slicing arc, carving a shallow gash that bled dark. But The Death Architect’s retaliation was savage,a blade ripped through my wing membrane, blood and feathers scattering. The Raven King’s laugh was deep and humorless. "You think you’ve drawn blood? That’s not blood, bird—it’s mana. And I have oceans of it." I hissed, "Then let’s see if I can drain it dry." He shoved, throwing Cheng-min toward a shattered kiosk. Cheng-min landed light, brushing debris from his sleeve. "Your friends will die before that happens." Ye-Rin stepped forward, planting her axe. "You’ll have to go through me first." "That’s the plan," Cheng-min replied, before shadows erupted beneath her feet. Seo-yeon hurled an uprooted display case into the path of a descending shadow spear, it exploded on impact, the shockwave rattling the second-floor railings. "MOVE!" In-Ji roared, shoving Seo-yeon behind a fallen kiosk as the spears impaled the floor, each one erupting into a shockwave of black flame. But Seo-yeon still managed to yank Ye-Rin free with telekinesis. "Stay mobile!" she shouted. "Don’t give him a fixed target." Cheng-min sighed, almost theatrically. "Three gnats, one crow. Do you know how this ends?" I used chaos, kicking off a fallen column, my talons slammed into the Raven King’s chest, carving through the shadow plating and into flesh. Black mana poured out, sizzling against the tiles. Cheng-min caught me by the throat mid-strike, slammed him into a pillar, the stone split down the middle. He drew back a blade for a killing thrust— In-Ji’s shots pinged against Cheng-mi’s eyes, forcing a fractional delay. I twisted free, wings snapping out wide. "With you on the floor." I hissed. The Raven King’s grin sharpened. "Then stop flapping and prove it." We collided again—talons and blades locked, eyes locked harder. "You fight like you’re angry," Cheng-min whispered between blows. "But anger’s sloppy." I snarled, "Better sloppy than dead inside." I shot forward again, my entire body a blur of claws and wings, aiming for Cheng-min’s throat. The Death Architect met me halfway. Talons and blades locked, wings and shadow swirling in a cyclone of feathers and steel. The floor buckled beneath us, and the air cracked with the sound of tearing stone. And still... neither of us yielded an inch. The air between us trembled. Cheng-min didn’t wait for words this time. The floor cracked beneath his first step—then he was gone. Ye-Rin’s shout barely reached me before a black blur tore past, the shockwave sending her skidding across the tiles. She brought her axe up, intercepting a downward slash—only for the second Talon Blade to ram into her ribs with bone-snapping force. Her breath left in a strangled gasp. One kick sent her slamming into a display column. She didn’t get back up. "Ye-Rin!" Seo-yeon’s voice was tight with panic. Her telekinesis ripped the nearest steel beam from the ceiling and hurled it like a spear. Cheng-min caught it one-handed, shadows curling around the metal until it crumbled into rust between his fingers. "You really thought that would—" He vanished. Seo-yeon screamed as a shadow tendril wrapped around her throat, yanking her into the air. Her fingers clawed at nothing, her powers lashing out—tables, debris, glass—until Cheng-min flung her aside like a broken puppet. She struck the marble hard, limbs limp. In-Ji’s rifle cracked three sharp shots—two pinged off his mask, one grazed his jaw. "Over here, bastard!" Cheng-min turned his head, slow as if savoring the moment, and walked straight into her line of fire. Bullets tore the space between them—he didn’t dodge. Shadow armor drank each hit, black mana leaking and knitting back together instantly. "You think you can pierce me?" He was already in front of her. One hand crushed the rifle’s barrel. The other slammed into her gut. She hit the wall, coughed blood, and slid down motionless. It was just me now. "You like hiding behind them," Cheng-min said, turning toward me. "But look—your feathers are alone now." I didn’t give him the satisfaction of a reply. I lunged, talons tearing at the shadow plating. The first rake ripped into his shoulder—black mana hissed out, sizzling against the tile. His grin didn’t falter. "Finally. A wound worth noticing." The counter came fast—too fast. His blade ripped across my wing membrane, hot pain tearing through me. Blood splattered the cracked floor. My breath came ragged, but I pushed forward, beak snapping toward his neck. He caught my throat mid-strike and *drove* me backward into a marble pillar. Stone exploded around us. "Stronger than them," he murmured, tightening his grip. "Still not enough." I raked at his arm until the flesh split and mana poured freely. He hissed—but didn’t let go. His knee slammed into my ribs, the crack echoing. Darkness licked at the edge of my vision. My legs nearly buckled, but instinct kept me moving. My talons found his jaw, carving another shallow gash before he hurled me across the mall floor. I skidded, wings dragging through broken glass. Every breath was a fight. Across the ruin, Ye-Rin, Seo-yeon, and In-Ji lay scattered and still. I was the last one upright—and barely that. Cheng-min stood untouched in the dust cloud, black mana rolling off him like a storm. "Get up, Owl," he said, voice a razor’s edge. "I’m not done plucking your feathers out".