Andromeda's Echo sigil blazed, veins of silver light webbing across his chest.

His voice thundered:

"JunJun! FORM TWO — BEAST SHELL!"

"Arf!!"

The hound's body dissolved into a storm of light. Shinrei threads unfurled from Junjun's crimson eye, wrapping around Andromeda's frame. Plates of spectral fur and sinew bound to his gloves, boots, and chest like living armor. His shadow elongated, canine-shaped ears flickering above his silhouette.

For a moment, Andromeda and Junjun breathed as one.

Every motion, every spark of emotion harmonized.

[Author Note – Beast Shell]

Type: Resonance Form (2nd Gate)

Effect: User merges their Echo Beast or Spirit into partial symbiosis, enhancing physical power, reflex, and instinct.

Drawback: Shared wounds — if the beast or spirit takes damage, so does the user.

Matthew sneered through bloodied lips, but his smile twitched with unease.

"So… this is your trick, noble brat?"

The corruption along his arm pulsed violently, black flames oozing from his knuckles.

"Fine. Then I'll show you what my new arm can do!"

He slammed his palm into the ground. Black veins spidered across the cracked tiles, and from them rose jagged void-spikes, shrieking as if alive.

Andromeda stepped forward and vanished.

His boots slammed down with impossible speed, each strike guided by Junjun's predator instinct. He zig-zagged between the spikes, silver afterimages trailing behind him.

"Beast Shell Fang—!"

His fist drove forward, coated in spectral fangs, striking Matthew's chest like a cannonball. The blow launched the corrupted boy across the gym, shattering benches on impact.

Blood sprayed.

But Matthew laughed as he rose.

"Haah… haaah… yes. That's it. Hurt me more. The artifact loves it."

The engravings on his arm glowed brighter. His Shinrei warped, dragging the gymnasium lights into a dull haze.

And his veins, his Vein Gates began to creak open on their own.

[Author Note – Voidborn Corruption: Forced Vein Unlock]

Effect: Corruption exploits unstable emotions to forcibly open Vein Gates.

Matthew: Now touching 3rd Gate — Stabilization unnaturally.

Drawback: Gate pathways twist; stability burns away → accelerating Voidborn Drift.

Matthew dashed, his speed blurring unnaturally. His corrupted claw extended threefold, slashing wide.

Andromeda parried — but the recoil numbed his arm. His eyes widened.

"Stronger than before…? He's not even controlling it anymore."

Junjun barked inside his chest warning. Instinct roared.

The next claw came faster.

Andromeda twisted, just barely redirecting it, the floor beneath him splitting like a broken wave. But the corruption kept growing. With every second, Matthew looked less human, his laughter echoing like two voices at once.

Andromeda (thinking) "He's already halfway gone. If this keeps up, he won't just be Matthew anymore… he'll be Hollow."

His gloves burned with wind as he steadied his stance.

"Then I have no choice."

He inhaled, syncing with Junjun's heartbeat. His silver aura flared twice as large, forming spectral fangs and claws along his limbs.

"Echo art: Alpha Fang Drive!"

Silver light exploded, clashing against the tidal wave of Void that Matthew unleashed in

kind.

The gym quaked. Shattered lights swung overhead, sparks raining like false stars.

Discipline versus corruption.

Andromeda's every strike sang with honed precision.

Matthew's claws lashed wild and hungry, dragging the Void with him.

—CRASH!

The wall caved under the sheer pressure of their clash.

Andromeda's breath came sharp. His silver aura flickered, then flared again, Junjun's spirit reinforcing him.

(My affinity is Wind… if I channel it through Beast Shell and my artifact—then everything I've trained for… everything my family expects of me… will come down to this one strike.)

He glanced at the gloves hugging his hands. Family heirlooms, Stormfang Relics, handed down through Ban bloodline. Inset runes glimmered faintly, their old power waiting to be awakened.

Andromeda clenched his fists.

"Let's do this… Junjun!"

"Arf!!"

Silver flared. Wind surged. His aura sharpened into cutting gales, ripping the debris into fine dust around him. His body blurred, not from Void, but from sheer acceleration — the instinct of beast and the discipline of wind moving as one.

Matthew staggered up from the crater, black Shinrei dripping from his arms like tar. His eyes glowed hollow violet, voice echoing in two tones.

He thrust his arm out. The Void twisted into writhing tendrils, jagged and screaming. They tore through the floor, lunging at Andromeda like starving wolves.

Andromeda leapt wind bursting beneath his boots. He wove through the tendrils, Beast Shell claws carving them apart. But each one that fell, another rose. And Matthew only laughed louder.

"ENOUGH!"

Andromeda's Shinrei ignited, silver stormwinds spiraling outward. The gym floor buckled under the cyclone, walls collapsing, air howling like a living beast.

[Author Technique: Windfang Gale – Beast Shell Fusion]

Channeling Affinity (Wind) through Echo Fusion.

Gloves amplify cutting pressure, compressing air into near-blades.

Costs: Body strain doubles; if Junjun falters, recoil breaks both.

Andromeda's eyes sharpened.

"Matthew… if you've truly become Voidborn, then I'll do what must be done."

He shot forward a storm of fangs and wind.

Matthew roared, his Void arm extending monstrously, claws the size of spears. The two collided mid-air.

BOOOOOOOM!

Shockwaves split the gym apart. Tiles shattered like glass, rafters collapsing.

Andromeda's fists met Matthew's claws one side silver, the other void-black. For a heartbeat, it was even.

Then Junjun barked inside Andromeda's chest, pouring everything into his partner.

Silver flared brighter.

The wind screamed louder.

Andromeda twisted, driving his fist through the corrupted arm. The Stormfang Relic detonated with compressed gale force, shattering Matthew's limb into void-splinters.

"GRAAAAHHHH—!"

Matthew's voice fractured, half-human, half-monster, as his body convulsed. The Void fought to repair him but the Shinrei backlash devoured him from the inside.

Andromeda's fist, glowing with the blinding brilliance of the Judgment Strike, drove forward—

"Echo Art: WIND FANG—JUDGMENT STRI—"

"NOOO!!!"

The voice ripped through the battlefield.

Khael's.

Andromeda's eyes widened for a split second, too long. His body froze, fist trembling inches from Matthew's heart.

That hesitation cost him everything.

The Void surged back. Matthew's claws lashed out, piercing through Andromeda's defenses and raking across his chest with a sound like steel tearing silk.

"GAAAHHH!!"

Andromeda was flung across the gym like a ragdoll, smashing through a wall and tumbling in the rubble. His gloves cracked, silver aura sputtering out. Junjun's howl echoed painfully inside his chest.

The dust swirled, the battlefield briefly silent until footsteps echoed.

Kaen and Khael had arrived.

Matthew stood at the epicenter, Void pouring off him like black flame. His arm, shattered moments ago, had regrown in twisted, spined form. His hollow eyes locked on the newcomers, lips curling into a grin far too wide.

"More… more Shinrei to feed me…"

Kaen's fists clenched, his rage blazing hot enough to ignite the broken tiles underfoot. His eyes darted between the corrupted Matthew and the bleeding Andromeda.

"Khael… you idiot. Do you know what you just did?!"

Khael froze, breath heavy, staring at Matthew not the monster, but the boy beneath.

"…I couldn't let Andromeda kill him. He's not gone. He can't be gone."

But Matthew's shadow loomed larger, the Vein Seal pulsing across his chest like a beating, corrupted heart.

Kaen's jaw tightened, fire Shinrei roaring around him.

"…Khael. If you're wrong, Matthew will kill us all."

To be continue