The crimson sky cracked open, sending a bolt of dark lightning into the center of the circle where Jin stood.
He convulsed, arching backward as the prayer beads at his feet broke into dust.
The fragments swirled upward, caught in a vortex of energy that engulfed him.
"Jin!" Rui lunged forward, but an invisible force kept her back.
Her chaos energy erupted, pink-gold flames scorching the barrier between them.
Jin's eyes opened wide, blazing with crimson light. His skin cracked, revealing glowing red veins beneath.
He fell to his knees, his fingers digging into the scorched earth as something inside him fought to break free.
"Stay back!" he said through gritted teeth.
The air around him distorted, and reality itself bent as the Rageborn Behemoth separated from its human vessel.
Jin's shadow stretched and twisted unnaturally, separating from his body like thick black tar.
Outside the barrier, Zou pounded his fists against the crimson wall.
"We have to get in there!"
"Impossible," Kee Kee chittered, eyes wide with fear.
"That's primal magic. Old as the realms themselves."
Inside, Rui circled the perimeter, searching for any weakness in the barrier.
The spectral warriors around them began to move closer, drawn to the chaotic energy of the ritual.
"Jin, hold on!" she called, her voice barely audible over the howling winds that now circled within their enclosed battlefield.
Jin's body convulsed again as the shadow beneath him grew into something massive.
A monstrous form began to take shape. It emerged from Jin's shadow, rising higher and higher until it towered above them both.
Its body was a grotesque fusion of muscle and molten fury—charred leather skin stretched over an unnaturally large frame.
Where its face should have been, a skull-like visage burned with internal fire, eye sockets housing twin infernos that stared at Rui with ancient hatred.
Curved horns swept backward from its temples, cracked and scorched as if they had been through countless battles.
The creature's massive arms ended in claws that left burning imprints on the ground.
Its chest heaved with each breath, revealing pulsing magma veins that ran across its torso. The air around it was shimmering with heat, distorting reality itself.
The Behemoth threw back its head and let out a roar that shook the very foundations of the battlefield.
The primal fury overpowered the spectral warriors surrounding them, and they fell to their knees.
"At last," the creature's voice sounded like distant thunder, "I am free."
Jin collapsed to the ground, his body suddenly his own again but drained of color and strength. He reached weakly toward Rui.
"The... dagger..." he whispered.
The Behemoth surged forward at an impossible speed for something so massive. Its claws extended towards Rui, promising oblivion.
Rui's chaos core flared brighter than it had ever done before.
The Greed mark on her arm burned gold, while the Wrath mark pulsed with crimson fire.
Rui moved with grace, leaping sideways as the Behemoth's massive claws crashed into the ground where she had been standing moments before.
Drawing on everything she had learned, she channeled her chaos energy into controlled streams rather than wild bursts.
Pink-gold flames coiled around her arms as she fired a concentrated blast straight at the creature's chest.
The energy struck true, scorching the Behemoth's hide.
The beast roared, more in surprise than pain, as a small blackened patch appeared on its torso.
"That's it?" Rui muttered in disbelief, watching as the charred skin already began knitting itself back together. "I hit it with everything I had!"
Rui circled warily, keeping distance between them. She fired another blast, this one aimed at the creature's leg.
Again, her attack landed perfectly, and again, the damage healed almost instantly.
"Its like scratching a mountain," she hissed through gritted teeth.
The beast lunged again, faster this time.
Rui rolled beneath its swing, the wind from its massive claws ruffling her hair.
She fired three rapid blasts into its underbelly.
Each hit was precise, but caused only momentary damage that the creature quickly absorbed and regenerated.
The Behemoth's laughter rumbled like distant thunder.
"You cannot harm what is born of rage itself, little princess," it growled, its voice like grinding stone.
"Your chaos is but a spark against my inferno."
Outside the barrier, Zou watched in horror as Rui's attacks failed.
"Her powers aren't strong enough," he whispered. "The beast regenerates too quickly."
Kee Kee climbed onto his shoulder, tiny claws digging into the fox demon's robes.
"No, she needs to find another way. Raw power won't work."
Inside, Rui backed away, her mind racing.
Each attack landed perfectly, but they weren't doing lasting damage.
She glanced at Jin's crumpled form.
He was conscious but barely, watching the battle with pained eyes.
The Mercy Dagger lay beside him, its blade gleaming ominously in the crimson light.
"Do it Rui, use the dagger." pleaded Jin.
"No," she whispered fiercely. "There has to be another way."
The Behemoth circled Rui, its massive form casting long shadows across the ritual ground.
With each step, the earth trembled beneath its weight, cracks spreading like spiderwebs.
"Your father knew you weren't worthy," it rumbled, voice like stones grinding together.
"Why else would he disappear without saying goodbye?"
Rui's fingers curled into fists. "Shut up. You know nothing about my father."
"I know everything about fear and abandonment, little princess." The creature's eyes glowed brighter.
"I've lived in the darkest corners of mortal hearts for millennia. Your fears taste... familiar."
"Your entire life is a monument to failure," the Behemoth continued, circling again.
"The useless princess. The chaos child who can't control her own power. Even now, you fight to save a mortal who will die in the blink of your immortal eye."
Rui fired another blast of chaos energy, her aim wavering with her rising emotions.
The shot went wide, dissipating harmlessly against the barrier.
"Everyone sees it," the monster pressed.
"The council. The monks. Even your little pet. They humor you because they fear your bloodline, not because they believe in you."
"You are nothing without the Demon King as your father."
"That's not true," Rui snapped, but doubt crept into her voice.
The Behemoth smiled, revealing rows of jagged teeth.
"And the monk? He pities you. His kindness is the same he would show any lost creature. Once free of me, he'll return to his pure, simple life—far from the chaos you bring."
The marks on her arms burned more intensely as her rage grew.
"Jin chose me," she growled.
"He chose to use you," the Behemoth replied.
"To be free from me. Why else would such a pure soul become involved with a demon?"
Rui's vision blurred, tears of fury threatening to spill.
She glanced at Jin's prone form, remembering their intimate moments, his gentle touch, his promises. Could it all have been manipulation?
"No one truly wants you, princess," the beast continued, pressing its advantage.
"Not your father who abandoned you. Not the council who seeks to replace you. Not even this monk who beds you while plotting his escape."
"ENOUGH!" Rui screamed.
The chaos core inside her erupted. Pink-gold flames erupted outward, transforming the controlled streams into a raging inferno that consumed everything around her.
The barrier that separated them rippled in response to the onslaught of raw emotion.
Outside, Zou and Kee Kee averted their gaze from the intensity.
Zou whispered, "She's losing control," with genuine fear in his voice.
Rui floated several feet above the ground within the circle, held up by her own chaotic energy.
Her eyes shone with pure power, and tears evaporated before they could fall. Her hair whipped around her face, caught in the magical storm she'd created.
The Behemoth did not retreat.
Instead, it opened its massive jaws and inhaled, absorbing Rui's chaotic energy like a whirlpool consuming water.
"Yes," it growled, growing larger with each second.
"Your wrath feeds me, princess. Your chaos makes me stronger!"
Rui couldn't stop.
The floodgates had opened, and her power poured forth uncontrollably.
The more enraged she became, the more energy escaped her, and the more the Behemoth consumed.
Jin struggled to his knees, watching in horror as Rui's uncontrolled power fed the very monster they were trying to defeat.
"Rui," he called weakly, his voice lost in the magical maelstrom.
"It's using your anger. Don't let it in!"
But Rui couldn't hear him.
Lost in her rage and pain, she had become exactly what the Trial of Wrath demanded she overcome.
The chaotic energy that had suspended Rui began to flicker and fade.
She felt herself becoming lighter and hollower as the Behemoth continued to draw her power into its monstrous form.
The beast grew larger with each passing second, its shoulders now scraping the top of the barrier, its eyes brighter than the crimson sky above.
"Your rage is exquisite," it rumbled, the voice becoming deeper and more resonant as it grew.
"So much wasted potential."
Rui's feet touched the ground again, her knees buckling.
The pink-gold flames around her faded to faint wisps.
She attempted to stop the flow of power and close whatever channel had opened between them, but the connection had taken on a life of its own.
"Stop," she gasped, raising her trembling hand.
A weak pulse of energy emitted from her fingertips, dissipating before it could reach the beast.
The Behemoth laughed loudly, like an avalanche.
It lunged forward at frightening speed.
One massive claw swept sideways, catching Rui across the midsection. The impact sent her flying through the ritual space.
She collided with the barrier wall and crumpled to the ground, like a discarded doll.
Pain erupted throughout her body.
She tasted iron as blood poured into her mouth, past her lips and onto the scorched earth below her.
The world tilted and swam before her eyes.