CHAPTER 30: JOHNQUIS VS. REX – BROTHERS COLLIDE.

The casino lights stuttered—red, yellow, red .The air twisted around Rex as if the world itself recoiled from what he was becoming.

His body hunched, limbs twitching with violent spasms. The violet veins bulged like cables under skin, pulsing in time with his heart, a heart no longer fully human. The saw-blade in his grip shrieked against the marble as he pulled it up and swung.

CRASH!

He split a blackjack table in two. Cards exploded into the air.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!"

[WARNING!]

— EATER FLOW IS CRITICALLY UNSTABLE!

He stomped forward, veins leaking black fluid, every step sending shivers through the glitched field. The roulette wheel began spinning again behind him, lights flickering in celebration.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

"Seaside Mall’s Casino welcomes you back! Would you like to double your luck today?"

SHHRRRRANK!

He cleaved it in half. The announcer voice distorted into static. Coins clattered across the floor like broken teeth.

Another machine chimed behind him. Then another. Then all of them.

DING-DING-DING-DING-DING!

The casino erupted in false celebration.

Rex roared and charged, blade dragging arcs through the air, his muscles surging unnaturally.

He slashed the bar in half, tore through the chandelier chain, sending it crashing in sparks.

"YOU THINK THIS IS A FUCKING GAME?!"

He turned, his back heaving, teeth bared. The floor thumped with his heartbeat. Lights overhead burst one by one.

The air was thick with rot and electric tension.

And still, Johnquis watched. Waiting. Hidden in the upper corner of the balcony with the Runner crouched beside him.

The Runner’s claws twitched. Its violet eyes tracked Rex’s every movement.

Johnquis whispered, "Now. He’s blind with rage. His eater flow is critical unstable, Im afraid his about to lose himself... We wait for the swing, then we strike together."

The Runner hissed softly.

Below, Rex howled at the ceiling.

"WHERE ARE YOU, JOHNQUIS!? "You and your fucking pet think you can outrun guilt?!"

He slammed the saw into a golden statue, Lex’s reflection briefly caught in the metal as it was cleaved in half.

A calm voice echoed from the shadows.

"No. But we’re done hiding."

Johnquis leapt.

THUMP!

He landed behind the roulette table, knees bent. His chain snapped loose, coiling in the air. The Runner dropped beside him, crouched and ready.

Rex turned, eyes lighting up.

"Finally. Finally!"

Johnquis raised his arm. The chain shimmered in the casino lights.

"You’ve gone too far, Rex. This isn’t grief. It’s madness."

Rex grinned, jaw twitching.

"It’s the only thing I have left."

"There is no turning back once you—"

Rex lunged, sawblade screaming.

CLAAANG!

"WHAT ELSE SHOULD I TURN BACK INTO, HUH?!"

Johnquis met the blow—barely. The chain caught the saw just inches from his chest, sparks flying.

H felt it, Rex’s eater flow, wild and unstable, flooding out like a storm. It surged through the air,

even the chain in Johnquis’s hand reacted, twitching like it sensed danger.

"No... no way... He’s close to becoming a Glutton..."

The Runner lunged, claws slashing toward Rex’s ribs.

Rex twisted, took the hit to the shoulder, let it happen just so he could backhand the Runner across the casino.

"YOU ROTTEN MUTT!"

THWACK!

The Runner slammed into a blackjack table, cards flying into the air like dying butterflies.

Rex growled, "You think your pet makes you strong? That chain is a leash. And you’re too weak to pull it."

Johnquis wiped blood from his lip. "This chain is a bond. Not a leash."

He flicked his wrist.

The chain lashed out.

CLANK—SHNK!

It wrapped around Rex’s leg.

Johnquis pulled hard.

Rex stumbled, then howled, dragging Johnquis with him.

The two clashed in the middle of the casino floor, surrounded by blinking machines and glitching lights.

Steel met steel.

SAW against CHAIN.

Each blow shook the room.

The Runner recovered, sliding low under the buffet table then sprinted with unnatural speed across the wall.

"NOW!"

Johnquis shouted.

The Runner leapt blades out. Rex caught it mid-air, one hand around its throat.

But the Runner didn’t flinch. It sank a claw into his side, deep.

"GGRRAAARGHH!"

He flung the Runner through a chandelier, glass shattered, raining down.

Johnquis moved fast, chain flying wrapping around Rex’s other arm and pulling it just enough—

SLASH!

The Runner reappeared behind him, cutting across his back.

Rex dropped to one knee, panting.

His body spasmed.

The veins now covered half his face. His arm was growing larger, inhuman.

"Stop, Rex! The Eater Blade, it’s taking over! You’re feeding it too much!"

He laughed, dry and broken.

"Maybe that’s what I want."

His other arm began to twitch. The blade melted slightly, pulsing like it was becoming a part of him.

Johnquis gritted his teeth.

"If you keep feeding it, your mind won’t come back. You’ll become the thing that killed Lex."

Rex froze. For half a second.

"LIES!"

He charged again.

Johnquis and the Runner stood their ground.

They fought as one.

Every step of Rex’s was countered by Johnquis pulling the chain to redirect. Every blow was followed by the Runner’s claws harrying his flanks, slicing tendons, weakening balance.

It wasn’t just a battle. It was a rhythm. The chain lashed. The saw crashed. The Runner moved like a shadow.

"Your blade... it’s eating you alive."

"I DON’T CARE!"

He swung again. His Eater Flow flared,

BOOM!

Johnquis ducked just in time, but the saw’s teeth grazed his forehead. Blood spilled down his face.

"Shit!"

Rex didn’t slow. He came harder, each strike wild, brutal.

"You wanna talk about being eaten?! YOU LET THAT RUNNER LIVE! YOU LET IT KILL HER!"

Johnquis struggled to keep up. Every block rattled his bones. The saw was changing, growing longer, sharper. Each clash tearing more of his skin.

"Feel the pain you and your damn pet brought me!"

Johnquis flung his chain, wrapping it around Rex’s arm, pulling hard. But Rex’s veins pulsed violently. He tore free with raw strength.

The Runner snarled and leapt.

SLASH–SLASH!

Two clean cuts ripped down Rex’s back.

He howled in pain but didn’t stop. He spun with fury, his sawblade crashing the Runner to the ground.

"YOUR PET’S DEAD!"

He raised the blade high and brought it down.

SHHK!

It sank deep into the Runner’s chest, nearly splitting it in half.

But Johnquis was already moving.

Chains snapped forward, wrapped tight around Rex’s throat. The Runner’s claws scraped at the sawblade, trying to hold it off. Chest heaving. Blood gushing. Metal grinding.

Three forces locked.

All of them gritting their teeth. Muscles straining. For a moment... pure deadlock.

Then, all at once. They screamed.

The Runner ripped the sawblade free. Johnquis pulled with everything he had.

Rex staggered backward, choking, balance breaking.

The Runner broke loose, leaping back, chest slashed and dripping. Johnquis jumped back too, panting hard, his hand still gripping the chain.

Rex stood alone in the center, body trembling, muscles twitching. In front of him—the Runner, crouched and bloodied. Behind him—Johnquis, barely on his feet.

Then... Rex began to laugh.

Low at first. Then louder. Broken, unhinged.

"You made me feel it again... pain. Real pain."

He grinned wide.

"You two... You’re fantastic. Never thought I’d meet a freakin’ eater and a leash boy who could actually push me this far. Not in this zone."

He held up the blood-soaked saw.

"You know... Lex gave me a gift."

His voice darkened. "Right after I carved that whispering Queen in half... the one mimicking her voice."

A system ping flashed across Johnquis’.

[Passive Skill: LIVING EDGE]

-For every minute this blade is wielded, it absorbs a trace amount of blood from the wielder

Note:Each second increases the hunger.

[Current Blood Cost: 74%... 77%]

"My little sister... she cared. Even after death. She gifted me this passive skill, something to kill every bastard who wronged her."

His veins pulsed violently beneath his skin, violet threads turning red. His eyes followed.

Burning. Blood-red.

"I’LL KILL MARS FIRST! He stole Lex from me! Thought he could have her?! After I smash his skull, I’ll take down that nemesis next—add it to my feed count, hit SILVER—"

His voice cracked into a roar.

"—AND THEN I’LL RIP JOHNQUIS APART! HE’S THE REASON SHE’S DEAD! THAT BASTARD DESERVES TO DIE!!!"

The air around him snapped and cracked—red and violet sparks bursting like lightning from his limbs. Energy surged outward in a wave of pressure.

His breath came in heaves. Blood and spit ran from his jaw. The sawblade in his hand vibrated like it was alive.

[Current Blood Cost: 79%... 81%... 83%]

His whole frame trembled not from fatigue, but from something worse.

Mutation.

"Lex... she told me not to lose myself." His voice cracked. "But what do you do when the only way to win... is to become the monster?"

His arms twitched again.

Then his back. it cracked.

SNAP—POP—KRKKKK

A new vein erupted across his spine, pulsing red-violet.. His shoulder blades split open. Something wet and long slid out flesh-coated ridges twitching and curling as they emerged.

Johnquis stepped back, chain recoiling on instinct. The Runner crouched, limping, blood dripping on it’s chest.

"He’s... changing...No!"

Rex hunched, his body stretching. Skin peeled back as muscle expanded, tendons twisting. The sawblade melted into his right arm, fusing with the flesh like it belonged there.

A warning flashed.

[SYSTEM ALERT]

– An Eater Blade is entering Pre-Glutton Stage.

[Warning!] [Warning!] [Warning!]

[KILL ON SIGHT]