The name rattled inside Askum’s chest.

In an instant, his hands and legs shook—not from injury. Not from pain. But simply from the weight of the name itself.

A name that had haunted the Pelesit race since the dawn of time.

The First Apocalypse (Kiamat Awal).

The moment two worlds collided.

Humans and Pelesits.

Five years had passed, yet the memory still burned in his mind. Too vivid.

A man in a purple jacket stood behind the fallen Pelesits. Smoke twisted violently in the air.

Red.

Blue.

Green.

And at the center of chaos…

Purple.

Crack!

The sound of splintering concrete tore Askum from his trance.

Kenz stepped forward.

A thin veil of purple smoke seeped from his hair—lighter than before, not suffocating the space like Askum remembered.

Had he weakened?

The thought flitted briefly—and then shattered.

Because the smile…

Remained.

A cruel, lethal smile, as if the world before him had never changed.

Kenz’s gaze cut into Askum like a sharpened blade.

Pressure surged along every nerve, freezing muscles one by one.

But Askum’s ego roared in defiance.

His fists clenched. Red smoke snaked around his legs.

“Don’t act like a thug!”

He slammed the restaurant floor.

BOOM!

Concrete exploded. The tremor clawed through the room. Ratree nearly lost her footing as massive cracks tore the floor like jagged veins.

But Kenz did not flinch.

He stepped onto the fractures.

He stepped on the shards flying through the air.

Dust whipped around him—

And in a heartbeat, Kenz’s face was inches from Askum.

Askum’s breath hitched.

Too fast.

He swung a punch with every ounce of strength he had.

Kenz was gone from its path.

He spun sideways, fluid as a shadow, before delivering a lightning back kick.

BAM!

Askum’s left rib shattered under the impact. He staggered back, clutching his side. Pain flared like wildfire.

His eyes caught the faintest wisp of purple smoke at Kenz’s feet—thin, almost ethereal.

Askum gritted his teeth, trying to still the pounding in his chest.

“Why… is he still this strong…?”

Ratree, struggling to her feet, froze. Her eyes followed the curling purple haze from Kenz’s hair.

Purple Zing?

Impossible. That color had never been documented. Zing only had three official spectrums.

The phone in her hand continued to play the recorded interview. Every detail exact. Too exact.

Yet—

Nothing in the official Zingforce data.

No coverage.

No reports.

Kenz?

Purple Zing?

Ratree scanned the archives.

Empty.

The name might as well not exist.

Hidden… or deliberately erased.

“This stays between us. Just us. Deal?”

Khai’s words reverberated in her mind.

Ratree looked at Kenz.

Calm. Unyielding. That cruel, razor-sharp smile never faltered.

Even as Askum’s shadow loomed, Kenz’s movements were precise, anchored. Only his eyes were deadly and focused.

No trace of the weary Khai remained.

Before them now…

Stood only Kenz.

Red smoke thickened around Askum. Dark, iron-like, suffocating. The stench of rust burned Ratree’s nostrils.

She retreated swiftly, pulling her tablet. Vibrations rattled the air as she crossed the smoke.

Fresh air hit her like a sudden wave.

Ratree glanced back. Askum’s aggression spiked. Red smoke licked wildly at his arms.

But Kenz…

Remained still, arms at his sides. Relaxed, yet every muscle coiled like a spring.

“He’s… not affected at all?”

Askum thought. Ratree felt it too.

The tablet glowed.

Red Zing skyrocketed.

Unknown Zing flickered.

Its frequency…

Five times higher.

Ratree’s brow knitted.

Purple Zing flickering?

She glanced at Askum. Then back at the tablet.

“The Pelesit stats are spiking because the red mist is growing thicker…”

Her hair stood on end.

“Impossible…”

Her voice dropped, heavy with dread.

Crack!

Arghhhhhh!

A deafening impact rolled through the space.

Kenz’s fist obliterated Askum’s left-hand shield.

No fire.

No purple haze.

Only raw, brutal force.

Askum staggered, right hand trembling. Eyes wide, panic creeping in.

Ratree swallowed hard.

Zing wasn’t just a weapon…

It was a shield.

An amplifier.

She realized.

Kenz wasn’t separate.

He was Khai’s protection.

Enhancing every attribute, exponentially.

One.

Two.

Five?

Far surpassing red Zing’s limits.

Fragments of Askum’s shield clattered to the floor, still emitting faint red smoke.

Kenz’s steps halted directly before him.

The walls became a cage. No escape.

“Leave.”

Kenz’s voice was calm. Sharp. Absolute.

Askum froze. Ego battled instinct.

“As long as you breathe, I will—”

A tremor betrayed him.

Silence swallowed the room. Only distant sirens pierced the tension.

“Why are Pelesits so afraid of humans?”

Ratree flinched. Humans were supposed to cower…

Askum ground his teeth.

“Look around you,” he spat.

“What have you truly achieved?”

Ratree remembered her conversation with Khai.

“You’re going to create another weapon from Zing.”

She gripped the ring her mother had left.

“Science is sometimes misused,” her mother’s voice echoed,

“but that’s no reason to stop studying it.”

“But how do we control it?” she had asked.

Kenz’s smile cut through the memory.

“Ethics.”

Ratree exhaled.

“I’m not weak…”

Askum pulled a small glass vial filled with red liquid. He shattered it.

The mist erupted, wrapping his arm violently. His body ignited from within.

Heat spiked.

Red Zing’s graph soared.

Spoons and forks glowed crimson. Tablecloths burst into flames.

Ratree backed away. The heat burned even past sever

al shop lots.

Kenz didn’t flinch.

No shock.

No panic.

As if all this were ordinary.

Beep!

A surge appeared.

Unknown Zing finally surged.