?°?°?°?°?

  "Tell me if you've lost your mind? Because if you have, I have a cure for that!"

  Major Shaurya tapped the Guild Leader’s forehead a few times. Sangharsh didn't resist. He simply let his head hang back, holding the fingers of military officer standing in front of him, as if he were dying of boredom.

  "My mind is fine. Just tell me, Are you helping or not?"

  "No!"

  The military officer standing in front of him didn't think for a moment before giving his answer.

  No hesitation.

  No second thoughts.

  Just a direct, cold refusal.

  "Why not?!"

  "Because it’s wrong!"

  Sangharsh narrowed his eyes at Shaurya, and Shaurya stared right back. Sangharsh let out a long sigh. He knew exactly why Shaurya considered it wrong.

  "So, you know who I’m talking about then?"

  "Of course!"

  Shaurya stepped forward, took the parts of his bracer back, and began putting it back on his arm. The silence and the Major’s calm eyes spoke volumes to Sangharsh, so much so that he didn't feel the need to argue further.

  "Amogh... he has no power right now..."

  Shaurya’s hands paused. He shot a look at Sangharsh and raised an eyebrow.

  "And?! Have you forgotten? I’m on duty. Don't expect anything questionable from me right now."

  And the Major went back to fitting the parts into the bracer. He gestured to Sangharsh for a 1.2 mm screwdriver that was lying nearby. Sangharsh picked it up and gave it to him, but something was still on his mind.

  "Do you have any idea how big of a plan you're stalling?"

  But Shaurya paid no attention to the guild leader, as he had no desire to support Sangharsh. The Major quietly went about his work and finished assembling the bracer. He was about to test it when...

  "...This energy..."

  "Sangharsh? Do you feel it?"

  Shaurya immediately turned to Sangharsh, but Sangharsh looked at him as if he didn't understand what he was talking about.

  "What energy?"

  "You can't feel it?"

  And when Sangharsh answered in negative, Shaurya was surprised. He could smell a familiar scent. A faint sense of power. But he didn't know how to put it into words.

  "Follow me. Something is wrong!"

  The guild leader followed Shaurya. Shaurya exited the room and headed down the corridor. From the corridor leading to the bridge leading to the second tower, Shaurya sensed a power, a familiar scent, and quickly turned in that direction.

  The same sight that Shaurya saw, Sangharsh also saw. And both of them were wide-eyed.

  Wings, nine to ten feet long, dripping with blue-gold energy. But the eyes were a piercing, vengeful red. The edges of the wings were like black serrated daggers. It looked as if it was extremely angry.

  "This... this Butterfly?..."

  ?°?°?°?°?

  ║ COPY ║

  Raghav was at a loss for words. His mouth hung open as the word stared back at him.

  『 Copy? What does that mean? 』

  Raghav was surprised to see this screen flickering. His eyes were in blueprint mode. He tried to touch it, but his hand passed right through the interface. He couldn't touch it even if he wanted to.

  『 Copy what? What am I supposed to do? Nothing is happening! 』

  Chirayu stood in front of Raghav, looking at him as if the boy had gone mad. Raghav was swatting at thin air, his facial expressions changing spontaneously.

  "If you think this pathetic acting is going to save you, you're wrong. I am the boss of this game!!"

  And Chirayu started moving back towards Raghav.

  Faster, faster, and faster.

  Before he could grab Raghav's head in his hands, Raghav delivered a sharp elbow directly to Chirayu’s throat. Chirayu stumbled back, coughing violently.

  Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

  Meanwhile, Raghav stared at his hands in complete shock. He felt as if he knew exactly what Chirayu was about to do.

  Just like a writer knows what his characters are going to do next...

  Still, Raghav's head was aching, and so was his back. It was as if someone was draining all the strength from his body.

  Chirayu once again exerted all his powers, and the cacophony of voices returned to Raghav’s mind.

  "You bastard!"

  Raghav clutched his head. He was already dealing with his body’s turmoil, he didn't have the bandwidth for a Guild Leader’s mind control.

  『 What should I do with this scoundrel? Hey do something, you stupid Copy-Sopy power!! Help me!! 』

  As Raghav strained his brain to the limit, trying to figure out how to use his stupid power, an idea struck him. It came at the right time.

  {{ "Anuvrat! I want to know how your powers work."

  "M-my powers?"

  "Yes. Yours."

  "I focus my mind and... I become invisible." }}

  『 ...Focus... 』

  And Raghav, resisting Chirayu's pressure, strained his mind. Biting his lip, he closed his eyes tightly and covered his ears. He could feel Chirayu approaching him, but he refused to let his focus break.

  He exhaled deeply...

  He repeated the words he saw on the screen in his mind, and soon Raghav heard a voice in his mind that drowned out all Chirayu's voices.

  【 Copy... 】

  But when Chirayu came closer, he immediately opened his eyes. Chirayu held a piece of broken mirror in his hand and charged towards Raghav's chest.

  But Raghav, as if in his blueprint mode, clearly saw his intentions. He can feel as if it were happening in slow motion. Raghav immediately struck him hard on the thigh with his knee and snatched the piece of broken mirror from his hand, plunging it into Chirayu's left arm.

  Chirayu sank to his knees with a loud scream. He groaned, but Raghav wasn't about to relent. Not after everything he'd just been through. Just then, Chirayu landed a powerful blow on Raghav's right calf, and Raghav felt a searing pain. He slid back against the wall and sat down, groaning.

  "You dog!"

  Raghav quickly pulled out the shard of glass and threw it away, but when his mind went to it, his eyes widened.

  Chirayu had attacked the boy with the same shard that Raghav had snatched from his hand. And Raghav also had the same shard in his hand...

  『 Copy... oh! So that is Copy! 』

  Raghav immediately focused his attention and pulled the lead piece from one hand to the other, and was astonished. Now he had a piece of lead in each hand. Chirayu, sitting opposite him, was also stunned, dumbfounded.

  "What... what just happened?"

  A smirk spread across Raghav's face despite the pain radiating all over his body.

  "Nothing special... Except there’s a new boss in the game..."

  And no sooner had he said this than Raghav plunged both sharp pieces into Chirayu's wrists. He used every ounce of strength he had left. Chirayu screamed with a sharp pain.

  While Raghav stumbled to his feet and somehow made his way to the door, his chest pain increasing. His vision began to blur. Once again, the static screen in front of him began to flicker. He felt his strength evaporate.

  He managed to grab the door handle, but before he could open it, he felt a sharp blow to his head, right near his ear.

  This time, He hadn't seen it coming. Raghav turned back, and Chirayu was standing in front of him, panting.

  He held a metal water tap he had ripped straight out of the basin. Water was gushing out of it.

  Raghav's ears started ringing with a high pitched beeping sound, which is often caused by a very strong blow to the ear.

  "You son of bi*ch! You thought I’d let you leave?"

  Chirayu swung again, hitting Raghav’s forehead. Blood began to pour into Raghav's eyes.

  "AHH!!"

  "After all I've endured, I can't bear to see your ugly face breathing!"

  Chirayu attacked him again and again, so much so that Raghav's eyes turned red, his forehead was bleeding, and his body went limp. But Chirayu showed no mercy.

  "I’m going to tear your chest open and take that core!"

  With that, he picked up a piece of large broken glass, and stood in front of Raghav. He immediately used all his strength to attack Raghav's chest.

  But suddenly...

  BOOM!

  There was a loud explosion. Chirayu was thrown away with the explosion and hit the washroom wall with such force that even the tiles he had hit cracked.

  Coughing loudly and spitting blood, Chirayu raised his head and looked in that direction, but he was stunned by what he saw.

  The entire wall had collapsed directly behind Raghav's barely conscious body. A section of the door and the stone had been sliced perfectly, as if someone had used a high-intensity laser to cut that portion off. From behind the dust, a figure was approaching.

  A blue butterfly, which no longer looked like a butterfly by any stretch of the imagination.

  A protective aura shimmered around Raghav’s unconscious-drifting body.

  And that huge, 9 to10-foot long creature with dagger-like wings was now in front of Raghav. Raghav may not have been able to see it with his barely open eyes, but he could feel a familiar presence within him.

  Raghav barely raised his blood-soaked hands toward it, and the butterfly immediately raised its antennae, bringing them closer to his hand.

  The hairs on its antennae, the sensilla, were jagged and sharp.

  But before Raghav's hands could touch its sensilla, they fell to the ground. Raghav was breathing lightly, but his body was no longer responding. Like a deadly predator, the butterfly slowly turned toward Chirayu.

  "S-stay away from me!!"

  Chirayu screamed and unleashed his power on the butterfly, causing the butterfly to raise its wings to fight. But it wasn't necessary.

  A crackling bolt of electricity struck Chirayu, dropping him to his knees as blood pooled in his nostrils.

  The leader of the Para SF Special Unit and the Leader of the Pralay Guild...

  "S-Shaurya? Shaurya! Thank God you're here. This boy and this monster... they’re trying to kill me!"

  Chirayu almost fell on his knees, running towards Shaurya. But the Major didn't react. His eyes were as cold as ice. And so were Sangharsh's.

  Chirayu then fell at the Major's feet. He grabbed Shaurya’s boots. Hands folded. His eyes were begging for mercy.

  "S-save me! Save me! I fall at your feet."

  Shaurya leaned down. His eyes stared at Chirayu. An old wound shone in those eyes. An old fire that still smoldered.

  And then he grabbed Chirayu by the hair, and yanked his head. He yanked so hard that Chirayu's mouth flew open.

  "Why?"

  Shaurya's eyes narrowed with a lingering anger. The grip on his head tightened. And Chirayu's breath hitched. He hadn't known a single word would ever feel so dangerous.

  "S-Shaurya?..."

  "Did you forget? Five years ago... what you did? What I lost?!"

  Shaurya’s angry voice thundered through the washroom. He shoved Chirayu away and stood back up.

  "But–but you're on duty! You can't settle a personal grudge now!"

  But the Major merely stared at him like a hawk staring at a mouse. The guild leader moved forward, towards Chirayu.

  "Oh, you forget. Major Shaurya is on duty. And during his duty, you brought an INNOCENT boy to the doorstep of death. Who is going to pay for that?"

  Chirayu's body trembled with fear. And he knew that the unconscious boy lying next to collapsed wall was just an excuse. The real reason was the tragedy that had happened five years ago.

  "Five years ago..."

  To be continued...