Lightning raged without mercy. Again. And again. And again.
Each bolt crashed into Xavier's body with a deafening crack, forcing his limbs to convulse violently. His back arched against the snow as electricity coursed through every nerve. The smell of burnt flesh spread through the cold night air.
The giant gave him no chance to recover. A heavy foot slammed into Xavier's ribs.
Another bolt followed. His body jerked violently. Then another kick. Another flash of lightning.
The giant was no longer fighting. He was venting. Venting every ounce of rage, every trace of grief, every lingering hatred buried within him was unleashed upon the broken human child lying helpless beneath his feet.
The forest echoed with Xavier's cries.
Then—
Thump.
A snowball struck the giant square across the face.
The lightning ceased. Silence returned.
The giant slowly wiped the snow from his beard. His lone eye shifted toward the darkness.
There, standing beneath the pale moonlight, was Xylo. His ragged clothes fluttered in the freezing wind. His frail body trembled uncontrollably. The skin along his arms had withered, riddled with tiny pores and wounds left behind by the curse eating away at him. Every breath escaped his lips as a cloud of white mist.
Even standing seemed to demand every ounce of strength he had left.
The giant stared.
"…Xylo."
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
Finally—
"Captain…"
The word escaped Xylo's lips almost as a whisper.
The giant's expression did not change.
Xylo slowly took a step forward. Then another.
"Captain… please." His voice shook. "Let the boy go."
The giant glanced down at Xavier's battered body before returning his gaze to Xylo.
"You mean this child?" He nudged Xavier with the tip of his feet.
Xylo swallowed. "You know exactly who I mean. Please… I beg you. It's me you're after. Not him. He's just a child. He doesn't even understand what's happening."
The giant let out a dry laugh.
"A child?" His scarred face twisted into something between amusement and fury. "A remarkable little shit of a child. He took my eye."
His fingers brushed the empty socket where blood still trickled down his cheek.
Xylo's shoulders trembled. Still… he walked forward. Then, before the giant, he slowly dropped to one knee. His head lowered.
"…Please. If you wish to kill someone… kill me. If you wish to make someone suffer… make me suffer. But leave him out of this. Please… just let him go."
The giant watched him quietly. His gaze drifted toward Xavier's unconscious body. Burn marks covered the boy's skin. Smoke still curled from his torn clothes.
For a brief moment, the forest was silent.
Then the giant spoke.
"No."
The single word fell like a stone.
"I've no need for you anymore, Xylo." His eye settled on Xavier. "The boy… is the one I desire now."
Xylo's head lifted. "…Captain. I am the one you've been hunting."
The giant nodded once. "Aye. And if you hadn't followed me that night… If only you didn't witness what should never have been witnessed… perhaps the others would yet live. Perhaps we would still call one another comrades... Before I killed you all. But you choose to follow me in secret. You saw me kill that man, something you weren't meant to see. And now… because of you… that child is about to die."
He took a slow step closer. "I never cared for your life once; I wanted to gather as many people as possible under me, thinking I might keep them safe. Then farm them all at once for points... This boy possesses a Soul Bone. A rare, Powerful weapon. Tell me… why would I settle for copper… when gold lies before me?"
Xylo's face paled.
The giant shooed him as though dismissing a beggar. "Leave. I won't repeat myself. Unless you want to end like this."
Then, without so much as glancing behind him, he casually stretched out one arm to his back. Lightning gathered in his palm.
CRACK!
Then a bolt shot backward. It struck Xavier square in the chest.
"AAGGGHHH!"
His scream tore through the forest. His body convulsed violently as arcs of blue-white electricity danced over his skin.
The night flashed over and over again. Light. Darkness. Light. Darkness.
Each burst illuminated the two figures standing motionless before one another.
Xylo remained frozen on one knee, horror filling his eyes.
The giant never once looked back. His single eye stayed fixed upon Xylo alone. Cold. Unmoving. Filled with nothing but quiet, unrestrained malice.
In that moment, the lightning behind him was almost an afterthought.
Xavier's screams echoed through the forest… while Captain and former prey simply stared at one another beneath the falling snow.
"Stop!"
Xylo's desperate cry tore through the frozen forest, sharp and trembling.
For the first time since the savage beating had begun, the lightning faltered. The giant's hand lowered, sparks fading from his scarred fingers. His single eye remained locked on Xylo. Silence pressed down upon the clearing, broken only by the acrid stench of burnt flesh drifting in the icy wind.
From the corner, Xavier's eyelids fluttered weakly. Pain consumed him. Every nerve screamed, every breath scorched his lungs. His vision swam, snowflakes blurring into streaks of white across his face. Blackened patches scarred his skin where the bolts had struck, and each inhale rattled like fire in his chest.
He was alive..
That meant one chance. One final attempt.
His trembling fingers clawed into the snow, dragging his battered frame upward. He managed a knee, but his arms betrayed him, collapsing beneath his weight.
"…Damn…" he whispered, blood spilling from his lips.
Still, he crawled. Each movement carved a crimson trail across the frost. His hand brushed against the feather blade, half-buried beneath the snow, and closed around its hilt with desperate resolve. Tightening his grip, he moved his legs beneath him. His muscles quivered violently, his body shaking as though it might shatter at any moment. Everything depended on one leap.
Across the clearing, Xylo's weary gaze found him. Their eyes met. There was no word spoken out, no signal. Yet understanding passed between them.
Xylo's eyes turned back to the giant, voice trembling but steady enough to hold his attention. "… Listen, Captain. Please."
Now.
Xavier surged forward. Snow erupted beneath his feet as his body launched low across the ground, the blade thrust ahead like the tip of a desperate spear.
Closer. Closer—
The giant's hand lashed out, impossibly fast. His fingers clamped around Xavier's body, halting his charge in an instant. He dangled helplessly, lifted into the air as though he weighed nothing.
"So…" The giant's scarred lips curled into a cruel smile. "…was this thy grand scheme?"
The grip tightened. Xavier's face drained of color.
Then—BOOM!
The giant slammed him into the frozen earth. The ground split beneath the impact. Before Xavier could draw breath, another swing hurled him into the snow. Again. His face struck first. The world around him spun in chaos.
Finally, the giant seized him by one leg and flung him away. Xavier's broken body collided with Xylo quickly, sending the two rolling helplessly until they struck a fallen pine. Neither could rise.
The giant exhaled, his voice heavy with finality. "…Enough."
Lightning crawled across his skin, gathering at his body violently. The air trembled, snow hissing into steam as arcs of blue and white danced around his towering frame. This time, he meant to erase them completely.
"You know…" His tone was calm, almost mournful. "…there is one thing that saddens me."
His eye fixed on Xylo. "I do pity your wife. What a miserable fate… to wed a useless dead man still drawing breath. Look at you—weak, sick, broken. A father who cannot protect. And now…" His gaze shifted to Xavier's crumpled form. "…reduced to hiding behind a child."
"When this is over, neither of you shall be remembered."
Lightning roared. The forest drowned in blue light. The giant extended his hand. "…Farewell."
Then—his body froze.
"…What?"
Confusion twisted his features. His hand rose to his cheek out of instinct, his fingertips covered in Blood.
A violent cough wracked him. Crimson splattered across the snow. His knees buckled, crashing into the frost. Another cough followed by More blood. His breath grew ragged, wet, broken.
"…W-what…what is this, what is happening to me?"
His vision blurred. He touched his ankles. The flesh had blackened and swollen, rotting before his eyes. Some skin sank inward, collapsing as though decades of decay had been forced upon it in seconds. The corruption spread—ankle, calf, thigh, back, cheek. Veins darkened. Every part that Xavier had cut swelled grotesquely.
"No…" His scarred face twisted in horror. He stumbled backward, choking on blood. His single eye darted toward Xavier, realization dawning with dreadful clarity.
"It… it was… your doing wasnt it…"
Silence.
Then—POP.
His shoulder burst open, spraying blood across the snow. Another rupture tore through his forearm. His thigh split. His back erupted. One after another, his body became a grotesque fountain of bone, blood, and shredded flesh.
He screamed, but the sound lasted only a heartbeat. Half of his swelled and exploded, fragments of bone scattering into the night. Muscle, blood, shards of skull, and grey matter painted the pristine snow.
The giant staggered once. Twice. Then collapsed face-first into the frost.
The forest fell silent.
Only Xavier's ragged breathing remained. He stared at the ruined corpse, lips trembling.
"…It…" His voice was faint and weak. "…worked." Then Xavier collapsed from exhaustion..