Path of the Unmentioned: The Missing Piece-Chapter 59: No Turning Back [3]

Kyle’s lungs burned. Each breath came harder than the last like trying to suck air through a wet rag.

The demonic energy radiating from the masked figure pressed down on him like an invisible hand crushing his chest.

His vision swam at the edges dark spots dancing before his eyes.

The masked man stood perfectly still amidst the carnage around him.

Bodies lay twisted in unnatural positions around him, their blood slowly spreading across the warehouse floor in dark pools.

The coppery scent filled Kyle’s nose mixing with something fouler. The stench of corrupted magic the demonic magic.

His mask.

Black leather stretched tight across the face, with crude red stitching forming a grotesque, permanent smile.

The thread pulled at the fabric making the mouth appear to strain against its restraints.

But the eyes... those emotionless glowing crimson eyes bored into Kyle with terrifying intensity.

They didn’t blink.

Didn’t waver.

Just stared with the cold patience of a predator who knew its prey couldn’t escape.

Kyle’s fingers tightened around his tachi’s hilt. His palms were slick with sweat, making the grip slippery.

Every instinct screamed at him to run, to fight, to do something. But his body refused to obey.

His legs might as well have been stuck to the floor. His arms felt leaden, too heavy to lift.

’Move!’ his mind screamed. ’MOVE DAMMIT!’

The masked figure tilted its head to the side, the movement slow and deliberate.

The leather creaked faintly.

Then, with terrifying casualness, it took a step forward.

The boot made a wet squelch as it came down in a pool of blood.

Step.

Another.

The sound was methodical.

Unhurried.

Each footfall echoed through the silent warehouse of Vipers. No other noise existed, just those slow inevitable footsteps coming closer.

Kyle’s heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird.

His mouth went dry. The taste of copper filled his mouth.

He had bitten his tongue without realizing it.

The masked man raised his sword.

The blade was black as darkness, except where fresh blood ran down its length in thick streams.

The red droplets fell to the floor one by one, each impact sounding impossibly loud in the stillness.

Kyle’s survival instincts finally overrode his terror.

Blue-white lightning crackled across his skin, the sharp sting shocking his muscles into action.

He threw himself sideways just as the sword came down in a vicious diagonal slash.

Pain exploded across his collarbone as the tip caught him.

It burned like fire and ice simultaneously.

The wound pulsing with sickly black-red energy before the corruption faded, leaving behind an unnatural chill that seeped into his bones.

Gasp!

Kyle scrambled back, putting some distance between them.

His free hand flew to the wound, coming away slick with blood.

The masked man didn’t pursue immediately.

He just... watched.

The tilt of his head suggested curiosity. As if Kyle was some interesting specimen he was dissecting.

Kyle didn’t wait for him to make his move and swiped his hand upward.

Ice spikes erupted from the ground with a sound like cracking crystal.

It shoot towards the masked figure with deadly precision.

The masked man didn’t even bother to dodge.

With a casual flick of his wrist his sword traced a lazy arc through the air.

A crescent of black-red demonic energy sliced outward, meeting the ice spikes midair.

They exploded into harmless shards that rained down like glittering dust.

The demonic energy wave continued unrestrained, forcing Kyle to twist aside at the last second.

Even the near-miss left his side scorched, his clothes smoking where the demonic energy had grazed him.

The stench of burnt clothe fabric filled his nostrils.

Before he could recover his balance. The masked man was suddenly infront him, so close Kyle could see the individual stitches in that grotesque smile.

A fist plowed into Kyle stomach with the force of a battering ram.

All the air left Kyle’s lungs in a whoosh.

His body folded from the impact, blood spraying from his mouth.

Then he was airborne, flying backward until his spine connected with the warehouse wall hard enough to crack the stone.

Dust and debris rained down around him as he slumped to the floor.

Pain shot through his entire body. His vision blurred, darkened at the edges.

Through the haze, he saw the masked man approaching again. His sword raised for the killing blow.

With a desperate gasp. Kyle thrust out his hand and unleashed a concentrated burst of wind to his left.

The force shoved him sideways just as the black blade came down, biting deep into the stone where his head had been a second before.

But not fast enough.

Agony unlike anything he had ever experienced erupted from his left arm.

Kyle looked down in horror to see his forearm lying on the ground several feet away, fingers still twitching.

Blood fountained from the stump. Painting the floor crimson.

"AHHHH—!"

The guttural scream tore from his throat raw and primal.

Tears blurred his vision as white-hot pain lanced up his nerves. His stomach heaved, bile rising in his throat.

The masked man loomed over Kyle’s broken body his silhouette casting a long shadow across the blooded floor.

Kyle lay gasping, each breath a wet bubbling struggle.

His vision swam in and out of focus, but he could still see those crimson eyes burning through the darkness.

They dropped to his chest watching, waiting. As if they could see right through skin and bone to where his heart pounded like a trapped animal.

Without warning, the masked figure’s boot lashed out connecting with Kyle’s ribs with brutal force.

The impact lifted him clean off the ground, sending him flying upward.

Dust and blood swirled in his wake as he arced through the air.

For one weightless moment, Kyle hung suspended.

Then he saw it, the masked man was already above him move in a blur of motion.

Kyle’s tried to move out of the way with the concentrated burst of wind like before. But it was already late.

An axe kick hammered into his ribs, driving him back down like a meteor. The world became a blur of motion and pain until -

CRACK!

His body smashed into the concrete floor with bone-shattering force.

The impact cratered the ground beneath him, sending spiderweb fractures racing outward.

Dust and debris exploded upward in a choking cloud.

Before Kyle could even groan, the masked man was there again.

A dark specter emerging from the settling dust.

His boots crunched on broken concrete as he approached with terrifying calm.

Then, the final blow came.

His boot descended like a guillotine crushing Kyle’s ribs with a sickening crunch.

Pain exploded through his body, so intense his nerves simply shut down.

His heartbeat, once frantic began to falter.

Each pulse came slower than the last, the intervals stretching into eternity.

The edges of his vision darkened, the world narrowing to a tunnel with those glowing red eyes at its center.

One last shaky breath escaped his lips carrying flecks of crimson.

Then silence.

Stillness.

The masked man stood motionless over Kyle’s ruined form, his head cocked slightly to one side like a curious bird.

His mask creaked faintly as he studied his handiwork.

No rise and fall of breath disturbed the tattered remains of Kyle’s shirt.

He scanned Kyle’s heart with his crimson eyes.

No pulse.

Dead.

Kyle’s body lay there broken and still.

The pool of red spreading slowly across the concrete floor.

Silence reclaimed the warehouse.

The flickering lights cast long dancing shadows over the scene of carnage.

A single water droplet fell from a leaking pipe, its impact echoing through the emptiness.

Plink.

Then nothing.

***