CHAPTER 19: [NO FEAR]

Its gaze cut through the chaos like a blade.

First to Kairo.

Then to the bleeding ogre, still slumped and twitching.

Then back to Kairo.

Rage.

But it wasn’t loud or wild like before—it was cold. A quiet, lethal kind of fury. One that watched. One that judged.

Kairo crashed into a crouch, stone fracturing beneath his boots as dust rose in thin, ghostly wisps. The tension in his body didn’t release for even a second. Before the rubble could settle, he launched himself forward again, a blur of black, red, and steel.

Right into the stream of blood gushing from the dying ogre’s throat.

’He’s going for the blood.’

Eli’s breath caught in his lungs.

Kairo didn’t waste time finishing the ogre off. He didn’t need to. Its usefulness wasn’t in its life—it was in its blood.

Because Kairo’s ability wasn’t just about creation—it was about control. He needed to touch it, to fuse with it, to bend it to his will.

And the moment his blood met another’s—it was no longer theirs.

It was his.

But as he sprinted toward the splashing crimson, the battlefield shifted.

The two remaining ogres roared and charged, fury burning in their cracked, glowing eyes. Clubs raised high, feet slamming into the ground with seismic force.

And behind them—the leader began to move.

But unlike its companions, it didn’t run.

It walked.

Slow, deliberate steps. Each one thudded like a war drum, echoing through the ruined street.

’Why is it walking?’

There was no panic. No frenzy. Just certainty.

Like it knew it didn’t need to rush.

Like it knew it could kill him anyway.

But Eli’s thoughts snapped back to Kairo—because it was already too late.

He’d reached the blood.

And the moment his fingers brushed against it—the air changed.

The blood reacted.

It thickened, darkened, as though recognizing its new master. It didn’t just splash—it reached, clung, crawled up Kairo’s arm like it had been waiting for him. Veins of crimson spiraled across his skin like ritual markings, glowing faintly with a pulse that mimicked a heartbeat.

The dying ogre behind him shuddered violently.

Eli watched in stunned silence as the creature’s color drained—its grayish skin paling rapidly, its massive frame slumping lower as its blood was taken from it.

’To see him drain monsters in real life... is kind of unnerving.’ It looked like a juice box being sucked dry.

An enraged bellow tore through the air.

One of the remaining ogres lunged forward, club arcing downward with brutal force. The wind from the swing alone scattered rubble and cracked nearby walls.

But Kairo didn’t flinch.

His hand flicked outward—and in a flash, a blood whip snapped into existence, slicing through the air like a viper.

CRACK!

The whip struck the ogre’s club dead center—and shattered it.

Splinters of reinforced wood and metal exploded in every direction. The ogre reeled backward with a startled grunt, momentarily disarmed, staggering from the impact.

Eli’s heart skipped.

’He broke that club like it was nothing...’

Kairo turned toward the remaining ogres, the glow in his eyes deepening into something almost otherworldly. Crimson light shimmered across his iris, his pupils shrinking as power pulsed through him.

He wasn’t breathing hard.

He wasn’t panicking.

He looked—bored.

"Ah," he said coolly, voice as calm as if he were commenting on the weather. His gaze didn’t just meet the ogres—it pierced

them. "It seems I don’t need Mio and Mel’s help after all."

"Yes!" Eli accidentally exclaimed a little too excitedly, making Kairo glance at him. "Ah."

’I have to get myself together.’

But he can’t help it.

He just helped Kairo, even if it wasn’t the big kind of help. A win was a win.

The second ogre lunged with a guttural snarl, its massive club raised overhead like a battering ram—pure, mindless rage driving its charge.

’It still thinks brute strength is enough.’

But it wasn’t. Not in their case.

Kairo didn’t even blink.

His gaze flicked toward it, cold and calculating. He moved his fingers—just slightly.

The response was immediate.

The blood constructs orbiting behind him pulsed once—then launched.

SHUNK. SHUNK. SHUNK.

Three crimson spears burst through the air like missiles, piercing through the ogre’s thick chest and shoulders. The force was so precise, so violent, it lifted the creature clean off its feet.

The ogre let out a strangled gasp as it was impaled—then slammed into the ruined pavement with an echoing boom, shaking the ground on impact.

The ogre convulsed once.

Then stilled.

And then last construct—a curved blood blade—snapped forward like a guillotine and cleaved through the final ogre’s club mid-fall, splitting it into two useless chunks before it even touched the ground.

Weaponless.

Kairo didn’t even pause.

He kept walking—slow, unstoppable, like a crimson god of war.

The last remaining ogre locked eyes with him. Its snarl faltered. Its grip on its weapon loosened.

Then—instinctively, it stepped back.

Just one step.

But it was enough.

’That’s it... it’s afraid.’

Eli’s chest swelled with something between awe and disbelief.

’It’s actually backing away from him. It knows they’re outmatched now.’

The tables had turned so fast it was almost jarring. Just moments ago, Kairo had been on defense—dodging, calculating, surviving.

Now?

Now he was the executioner.

Eli could feel it in the air, in the subtle shift of momentum. It was electric.

He watched as Kairo advanced—blood weapons hovering in orbit like satellites, twitching in anticipation, eager for orders.

The final ogre snarled low, hunching defensively. The ferocity dulled, nerves twitching just beneath their skin.

Then—

Movement.

From behind it.

Eli’s eyes snapped to it.

The biggest ogre. The leader.

Still walking forward.

Not rushing. Not flinching.

Calm. Composed. Each heavy step thudded against the cracked stone like it owned the world.

Its eyes glinted—intelligent. Too intelligent.

Eli’s grin faded in an instant.

’No fear...?’

Something in his gut twisted.

The buzzing in his skull returned, sharper now. Urgent. Like a thousand needles prickling the back of his mind.

’Why isn’t it scared? Doesn’t it see? Kairo has the advantage—he should be scared!’

He took a shaky step forward.

"Kairo! I think—!"

But Kairo was already moving.

He dropped into a crouch. Blood curled around his legs like smoke coiling around fire.

Then—

He launched.

The ground cratered beneath him as he shot upward like a missile, propelled by the force of hardened blood. Tendrils snapped around his ankles and calves, boosting him faster, higher.

His blade glinted in the light. His body spun once—controlled, deadly.

He was aiming straight for the leader’s throat.

’He’s going to cut through it. Just like the others—’

But then—

The ogre breathed in.

A deep, cavernous inhale. Its chest ballooned like a lung made of steel. The sound of it made the air tremble.

Kairo’s eyes narrowed mid-air.

’Wait—’

And then—

"RAUUUUUUGHHH!!!"