Arc 1 - Sands and Steel

  CHAPTER 7 (Bloodbath)

  They should have been dead.

  Stone slabs and twisted metal lay where the room had once been, flames licking through shattered walls. Dust choked the air. Somewhere nearby, fires crackled and something large burned.

  Eren standing still questioning to himself on why?

  Avelin groaned, coughing as dust filled her lungs. Her cybernetics flickered weakly, light crawling beneath her skin like embers refusing to die.

  For a single breath—

  Silence.

  Then—

  A roar.

  Not mechanical.

  Not human.

  The ground exploded.

  Rubble blasted outward as something massive tore through the wreckage. Stone shattered into lethal fragments, metal beams screamed as they were ripped apart.

  Eren moved without thinking.

  He drew one sword and pulled Avelin close with the other arm, steel flashing in a tight arc. Debris slammed toward them—

  —and was cut apart midair.

  Stone split. Metal screamed. Dust scattered.

  Eren planted his feet, deflecting everything that would have crushed them, his blade glowing as sparks rained around him.

  From the smoke and fire, Balor emerged.

  His black armor was scorched but intact. Red-metal threads in his cloak glowed like veins of heat. The obsidian half-mask reflected the flames, his single visible eye burning with cold intent.

  Heavy steps.

  Unhurried.

  Certain.

  "Those cybernetics," Balor said, voice deep and iron-hard, "will be mine."

  Eren stepped forward, placing himself between Balor and Avelin.

  "No," he replied calmly. "They won't."

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  Balor lunged.

  The ground cracked beneath his weight as his fist tore through the air like a battering ram.

  Eren barely blocked.

  The impact sent a shockwave through his arms, pain ripping up his spine as he was thrown backward. He skidded across broken stone, boots carving lines into the ground.

  Balor didn't pause.

  He advanced, relentless.

  Eren rose—

  And then—

  Something pulsed inside him.

  Not pain.

  Not fear.

  A surge. Sharp. Violent.

  The world slowed.

  A sound echoed inside his skull, clearer than ever before.

  "Ani… fight."

  Eren's breath caught.

  His heartbeat thundered.

  And suddenly—

  his body moved faster.

  Balor's next punch came—

  —but Eren was already gone.

  He twisted aside, the strike tearing empty air where his head had been. Stone behind him detonated from the impact.

  Eren stared at his own hands, shocked—

  What… is this?

  No time.

  Balor turned, swinging again, faster now, adapting.

  Eren ducked, rolled, blades flashing as sparks tore across Balor's armor. Each movement felt… instinctive. Trained. Familiar.

  He saw it then.

  A faint glow beneath Balor's armor—

  cybernetics running along his spine.

  Eren's eyes snapped to Avelin.

  "Listen to me," he said quickly, dodging another strike. "I'll distract him. When he charges—stab him. Right here."

  He pointed sharply at his own spine.

  Without hesitation, he thrust the shorter katana into her hands.

  Avelin didn't argue.

  She nodded once.

  Eren turned back to Balor and smiled.

  A slow, taunting smile.

  "What's wrong, Tyrant?" Eren called out. "You rule a whole city and you can't even land a single hit on me?"

  Balor roared.

  Pure fury.

  He charged.

  Eren waited.

  At the last possible moment, he slid low and slashed.

  Balor's right leg buckled as molten steel carved through armor and flesh. The tyrant crashed down to one knee, the ground shattering beneath him.

  "NOW!" Eren shouted.

  Avelin moved.

  Silent. Precise. Desperate.

  She drove the shorter katana straight into Balor's spine.

  The blade ignited.

  Balor screamed.

  Not in anger.

  In agony.

  His entire body convulsed as the cybernetics along his back sparked violently, light bursting from beneath shattered armor. He slammed a fist into the ground, cracking stone, roaring in pain.

  Eren didn't hesitate.

  He leapt.

  Using Balor's arm as leverage, he ran up it in one fluid motion and brought his blade down.

  Clean. Merciless.

  Balor's forearm hit the ground with a wet, heavy thud.

  Blood sprayed.

  Eren landed hard, drenched crimson, breathing steady despite the chaos.

  Avelin was already moving.

  "Sewers!" she shouted, pointing toward the northern gate mechanism.

  They ran.

  Balor roared behind them, wounded but very much alive, smashing debris aside with his remaining arm.

  Eren reached the pulley system and slashed upward.

  Then in split moment bolted into the sewers.

  Ropes snapped.

  Metal screamed.

  The massive sewer doors slammed shut, chains locking in place as the mechanisms failed.

  Balor crashed into them seconds later.

  The impact shook the entire tunnel.

  But the doors held.

  For now.

  Eren grabbed Avelin's hand, and together they vanished into the darkness of the northern sewers.

  Behind them, Balor's fury echoed through stone and steel.

  The Tyrant lived.

  And the hunt had only just begun.