As the blood wrapped around the king, a strange thing started happening to his body. It was as if his blood was fusing with his skin and bones, causing him to grow a tremendous size. The water around the king slowly turned a darker shade of red until he was completely invisible from Leo’s sight.

An explosion rang through the water, causing Leo, and his massive ocean, to be sent flying backward. As the water flowed away from the battle, Leo noticed something that shook him to his very core.

’Don’t tell me... not now... please, not now.’

The rain above him slowly started to slow down before coming to a complete stop. All that was left in the sky was a scarlet hue of the king’s blood that made its own rainfall as it fell. The world around him looked as if he was in a living hell. Not only this, but there was also something inhuman standing in front of him.

"What... what the hell did you do?! What are you?!"

In front of him was something that hardly resembled the king. It looked more like a massive, crimson beast with long claws, sharp teeth, a wolf-like head, and a glowing, dark red crown attached to his temple. The eyes of the creature were displaying only one emotion: wrath. A loud roar escaped from the beast’s maw, causing Leo to shake in fear.

Leo quickly regained his balance and tried to steady himself, preparing for any attack that may come his way. However, most of duplicates started charging the beast after seeing its appearance and hearing its call. The crimson beast didn’t wait for them to come towards him; he charged ahead to meet them head-on.

What Leo saw was maddening. Each and every single body was mercilessly ripped to shreds, bitten in half, or completely consumed. It didn’t seem to care if it was humans that he was eating, it only fueled his fury with more blood being spilled.

Leo’s entire world view was rapidly changing. If the king’s curse allowed him to transform into something completely inhuman, what could this mean for the possibility of other powers? Could he turn himself into something of a water beast? Perhaps, it was different for rend users.

"How the hell... all he did was sit on a throne. How did he figure all of this out?!"

Even watching the hopeless scene in front of him, Leo slapped himself in the face and formed a long sword made of ice. The only issue with creating ice for Leo is that once he made it, he would lose control of it until it turned into water again. It seemed his power had to do with the state of water more than anything. Or perhaps, he just hadn’t mastered his ability enough to find out.

He let out a shallow breath, trying to regain his focus. The monster was still tearing through the army of duplicates and an incredible rate. Using the remaining water he had, he pushed himself forward. He took his sword and tried to pierce his back from behind. However, the sword shattered the second it hit against the hide.

The beast turned around to see who the attacker was and quickly swiped at Leo to get him away.

"I should’ve guessed that wouldn’t work."

After catching the attention of the beast, Leo created some distance between them, trying to come up with a plan. There was only one hope left for him, but he had to gamble his life that he would survive the trip.

The monster swiped its claws at Leo. A few times, a small scrape brushed against him which was enough to slice through his entire arm with ease. He could hear the pressure of each strike as it passed by him. Leo used his water to muddy the ground under the beast, throwing him off balance for a small second. That small second was his best and only hope.

He used the remaining energy of his power to send a pressurized stream of water through the beast’s shoulder. Thankfully, he was finally able to break through the tough hide. However, this was only the easy part of his plan. The water stayed chained around his shoulder and Leo started pushing himself, and the massive beast, back towards the kingdom.

Every now and then, the beast would swing widely enough to through him off balance and delay his arrival. Leo considered simply dropping the king off in front of his own citizens and letting him wreak havoc; however, Leo needed most of the citizens alive, and he was almost positive not a single one would survive the onslaught. This left him only one place to take the king: back to the palace.

Leo assumed that the king told Jacob to stay back since he never saw him at the front lines with his father. Therefore, his only hope was having Jacob, and anyone else he may be with, help fight the monster he was carrying.

As he soared across the sky, many on lookers looked up in horror at the monstrosity that was floating towards their palace.

"What the hell is that thing?!"

"It’s heading for the palace! Where are the noble clans?!"

"Maybe the king had them stay back at the palace. It’s a good thing he thought ahead."

"Even so... what is that monster? I’ve never seen anything like it before. Just looking at it is making my legs shake."

"Let’s hope the noble clans can handle it. If that thing gets out into the streets, there’s no telling how many will be killed."

Leo had finally made it to the palace. There were guards in the front who saw the monster flying their way and ran away to not get caught up in its fury. The side of the palace was completely destroyed on impact. Leo and the monster were sent rolling into the throne room floor.

Time seemed to stop for a moment. Lidia, Cane and Maddy looked at the beast with apprehension. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"What the hell is that thing?!"

Lidia looked over at Leo struggling to get up from the floor.

"Hey, aren’t you supposed to be on our side?! What gives?!"

Leo looked over at Lidia, breathing heavily.

"I thought I’d bring a little welcome present. This is who you’re supposed to fight. This is the king."

"What?! How can this be the king? It’s just some red monster!"

Suddenly, the beast started shrieking and holding its crown. Its size started to shrink more and more until the king regained his original shape. Everyone started backing away, afraid of what was going to happen once he went back to normal.

After shaking his head, the king looked around him, gauging his surroundings. He saw his brother-in-law and Lidia with some noble clan members. Looking up toward the throne, he saw something that made his heart drop.

Jacob was holding up the charm that was attached to a chain around his neck. It was emitting a white light, signaling its activation. Jacob still held his same menacing glare down at his father. His chin still rested on his fist, and to his right, was Maria. She looked just as serious and cold with her glare.

"Hello, father. I really hate to be the one to tell you this, but I’m going to be taking this throne from you now. Do I not just look so great in it already?"