After the battle, Kael felt as though he were carrying a heavy burden. His eyes were still blurred by the fog of war, and yet the bitter taste of victory still lingered on his tongue. He had crushed Ezekiel—empowered by divine forces—with endless pain and fury. But everything came with a price.
No matter how many victories he claimed, the true weight and nature of war wore him down, both physically and mentally.
For a moment, he thought it was all over. But the emptiness inside him made him realize how deep the void can grow after a victory, a loss, or even a beginning. This triumph showed him more clearly what he had truly lost—and what he had gained. Ezekiel's defeat was the first lesson in despair.
Then Kael hesitated. A question echoed in his mind: "Did I really win?"
The being he fought, the one who challenged him at every step—were there others like him? And even if so, what was all this power truly worth?
In the end, a secret far heavier than victory began to emerge. Ezekiel was not one of the strongest among the Apocalyptic Twins—he was the weakest.
This realization sent a wave of unconscious fear through Kael.
The ones remaining were far more powerful.
It was then Kael understood how fleeting his victory truly was. His destructive power may have worked up to a point—at the beginning of his path of vengeance—but to keep going, he needed to reach his true strength.
There were more of these Twins, and each one threatened Kael's freedom and peace. The power he gained from the temple had granted him survival, but he still had no idea how to defeat his real enemies. The instability of his dark powers, their hunger for war—beyond all that, fear and doubt had begun to take deeper root within Kael's mind.
When he faced the next Twin, Kael would truly discover how powerful he was.
But no matter how powerful he became, victory might only bring him more pain and darkness.
The battle against his enemies—and against himself—was now something far deeper than just Kael's war.
Kael's journey ahead would not just be a search for victory, but an inner discovery to understand himself one step better. But as he realized that every victory cost him more than the last, the path he walked became increasingly difficult to see.
After leaving the dungeon behind and distancing himself from the echoes of his last battle, Kael found himself alone for a while. Peace, he realized, was merely a reflection of what he had tried to escape. He did not collapse, but over time, he began to buckle under the weight of all he had lost. Ezekiel's death and the victory he had claimed required much more than simply triumph to fill the void inside him. No matter how many battles he won, everything still ended in darkness. His goal was clear; yet he began to grasp an inevitable truth: every victory led a man closer to greater loss.
His mind was tangled, his thoughts swirling into each other. He decided to return to the temple. There, he had to better understand the power the demonic spirit had given him. Would power bring back what he had lost? The answers, he knew, lay within the temple.
But when he arrived, a familiar presence filled his soul. He had always known there would be a price to pay in his pacts with spiritual beings, but this time, an inner voice whispered something different. The time had come to go back. He had to pay the price for the dark power he'd taken, and finally learn what he had truly gained.
As he stepped through the grand temple doors, the demonic spirit was waiting. Kael's footsteps echoed off the stone walls, creating a cold silence. The air inside squeezed his throat, and his heartbeat quickened. When the spirit appeared, Kael felt more helpless and alone than ever before.
"Kael," the demonic spirit said, each word echoing in the still air. "You summoned me. I know why you're here, but you still don't understand what you're truly fighting for."
Kael took a deep breath. A dark force still shimmered in the eyes of the warrior. But the spirit, narrowing its eyes like it was assigning him a task, continued:
"You defeated Ezekiel, yes. But he was only the weakest. The others will not be as simple. The ones remaining could destroy you without so much as blinking. They are not like you. They are beings created beyond this world—holy creations of God himself."
Kael froze for a moment. What he heard, and the way the spirit spoke, painted an even more chaotic picture in his mind. Those beings... the remaining members of the Apocalyptic Twins... Were they divine spirits sent by God? Kael's breath shortened. Even in the moments when he felt strongest, he now realized just how powerless he truly was in the face of this truth.
The demonic spirit stepped closer, offering a deeper revelation:
"The Apocalyptic Twins are unique beings. Their only purpose in this world is to destroy humanity, to correct the flaws God once made. They are His emissaries. The eleven that remain—each holds a different power. And you, Kael, will not find the strength to defeat them as you are now."
Kael's heart raced. As painful as the spirit's words were, he had no choice but to accept them. There were only eleven of them left, and each existed to test his strength. But even against just one, he had barely survived.
"These are divine beings sent by God's command. Their sole purpose is to erase you. There is only one way to defeat them—by unlocking your true power. But the cost… will be far more than you can bear."
Kael's shoulders trembled. His self-directed rage fused with the darkness inside him, making him even more hardened. The truth that everything had a price hit him once again. Possessing the power that had brought him this far had not brought him peace. And the spirit knew it all too well.
"The power is yours, Kael. But in the eyes of the gods, you are nothing compared to what you once were."
Kael took a deep breath, trying to push the spirit's words aside. With each step he took and each price he paid, he was gaining the true power the spirit promised—but what he lost in return was immense. The demonic spirit, which awakened Kael's darkest desires, offered him more. But Kael's fear grew the more he realized how much of himself he had already lost. Now, he was afraid to take even a single step forward.
The spirit saw the hesitation in Kael's eyes and nodded slightly:
"This is your truth. But your path awaits. God and the Apocalyptic Twins are waiting. Stay strong, Kael. Are you ready to take one more step?"
Kael closed his eyes and thought for a moment. No matter how afraid he was, there was only one path left. There was no other choice. At that moment, he made a decision. He would pay the price for everything. He would not allow himself to fall until he understood his power, his true self, and what he was truly fighting for.
Before the spirit could speak again, Kael stared into the truth he now faced: No matter how high the cost of power—he had nothing left to lose.
Kael was growing stronger with each passing day. Defeating Ezekiel, the first of the Apocalyptic Twins, had multiplied both his physical and spiritual strength. But that victory had taught him one thing: he still had one more step to take to become truly powerful. None of his enemies were ordinary beings. They were superhuman entities, created directly by the gods — and Kael was coming to terms with this truth more and more each day. However, he also knew that this power came at a price — a price that meant increasing pain and solitude.
The next Apocalyptic Twin awaited him. This time, his opponent was not known for brute strength, but for a dark intellect. Known as the Mental Twin, this Apocalyptic entity would challenge Kael with mind games and bring forth his deepest fears. He was more than a warrior — he was a manipulator, a strategist.
Kael had prepared for days, pondering this enemy. Every foe he had faced until now had been physically powerful, but the Mental Twin would target his mind and spirit. Though Kael had been trained deep within the temple under the guidance of the demonic spirit, this battle would make him question everything he had learned.
One morning, as Kael returned to the old temple, he sensed the Mental Twin's trail. As he stepped inside, the atmosphere shifted. Everything was covered in a strange, dense energy. The air inside the temple choked his breath and squeezed his soul. Suddenly, the Mental Twin's laughter pierced the silence.
"Kael," the voice said, "I've dreamed of playing a game with you for a long time. But don't worry — this time, that 'strong' soul of yours won't be enough to stop me."
Kael recognized the voice. This was no ordinary threat — this was a battle for his very mind. One wrong move could result in mental collapse, or worse — a return of the darkness he had buried. The demonic spirit had strengthened Kael, but his greatest enemy was still his own mental limits. The Mental Twin would reveal his fears, his weaknesses — and try to push him back.
In the first moments of the battle, the Mental Twin invaded Kael's mind. Suddenly, Kael was pulled back into his past — the bloody scene of his family's death. The enemy's attacks were dragging Kael's darkest emotions into the light. He felt himself becoming fatally weak. Reliving the moment of his family's murder cut deep into his soul.
"Their death was my fault," he thought. "I became a monster who couldn't protect them."
But Kael resisted, drawing on the teachings of the demonic spirit. The manipulations aimed to break him, but Kael's mind had learned from previous failures. He gathered his inner strength and constructed a barrier against the mental onslaught. In that moment, Kael realized just how much stronger he had become. This was not just a physical triumph — it was a spiritual one.
Sensing the weakening of his opponent's power, Kael launched a counterattack. The Twin was unprepared for his swift, focused assault.
"How much more pain can you endure?" the Twin shouted in desperation, launching one final attack.
"I've suffered enough," Kael replied coldly. "Now it's my turn to inflict pain."
In the end, Kael defeated the Mental Twin. But this victory left a lingering emptiness within him. The battle had brought some light to his inner darkness — but something still felt incomplete. The demonic spirit applauded Kael's triumph.
"Well done," it said. "But there's more. The others are waiting."
Kael emerged from the temple, exhausted. The stronger he became, the more isolated he felt. The dark spirit had given him power, but that power had deepened his shadow. Still, Kael had come to a realization — it would take more than strength to win this war. The memory of his family's death continued to guide him.
With the Mental Twin's demise, Kael knew he had to face the remaining Apocalyptic Twins. Until the final moment came, he would keep moving forward. He had made peace with the darkness within him — for he now understood that the only way to win… was to embrace it.