A thin ribbon of purple smoke coiled around Kenz’s right fist.

  Not dense. Not violent.

  It pulsed gently, like gas drifting through an unseen chamber.

  His eyes locked onto Askum, who roared as heat consumed him from the inside.

  The pelesit’s skin turned red, glowing like metal forged too long in flame. Wooden tables and chairs around him blackened slowly, smoking, rotting before splintering apart.

  “You think this ends with violence?”

  Kenz’s voice was tight.

  No smile.

  His jaw hardened.

  His right fist rose to the level of his head.

  Feet planted wide.

  Ready.

  But his fingers trembled.

  Purple Zing flowed around his knuckles. It did not explode.

  He was holding it back.

  “The strongest… stands above all!”

  Askum’s scream tore through the air.

  His body surged, releasing waves of scorching gas. Red mist burst outward, pushing the air aside. He stepped forward, each step burning the ground beneath him.

  Kenz did not move.

  The purple smoke around his fist began to spin faster.

  Through the thick red haze, a quiet violet glimmer slipped out. Subtle. Controlled.

  Ratree saw it immediately.

  Her tablet snapped up.

  The Unknown Zing reading fluctuated between frequency five and six. Unstable. Yet it wasn’t erupting.

  It was being restrained.

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  A thunderous impact split the air.

  The red mist shattered at once, blown apart by a violent surge from the center. Ratree was thrown backward, hitting the pavement hard.

  Concrete cracked. The restaurant floor fractured outward in jagged lines.

  At the heart of the shockwave stood a single figure.

  Kenz’s glowing purple fist had pierced straight through the giant pelesit.

  There was no explosion.

  No final scream.

  Askum’s body began to dissolve slowly, turning into thick red smoke. Calm. Rising upward. Blending with the softer purple haze around Kenz.

  No brutality.

  Just an ending.

  Kenz withdrew his hand.

  Askum dropped to his knees.

  Weak. Fading.

  The purple light vanished from Kenz’s fist. The smoke dispersed.

  Silence returned.

  Ratree pushed herself up and stared.

  Kenz no longer looked overwhelming. No arrogance. No dominance. Just a hollow stillness.

  That familiar crooked smile was gone.

  “You should be proud, Kenz.”

  Askum’s voice was barely audible now.

  “You’re… the strongest.”

  Kenz tilted his head up toward the Zing-stained sky.

  “Being the strongest,” he said quietly, “isn’t permission to be the best.”

  Purple smoke rose around his body again, gentle this time. It wrapped around him, not to empower, but to shed something.

  Kenz dissolved.

  Khai stood in his place.

  Askum looked up.

  The eyes staring back at him were no longer those of a conqueror.

  They were tired.

  Tired of carrying strength like a burden.

  Tired of feeding an ego that always demanded more.

  Yet this man…

  He eats.

  He talks lazily.

  He lives without chasing a title.

  Maybe that is strength too.

  Askum’s Red Zing reading dropped to 0.5.

  His body finally dissolved completely into red smoke.

  When it cleared, a single red stone remained on the cracked concrete.

  It pulsed.

  Like a heart.

  Zing Core.

  Thin red vapor escaped from its surface.

  Ratree watched as Khai picked up the Zing Core with his bare hand.

  He glanced at her.

  She quickly looked away.

  Is he angry?

  “Don’t come near. Sorry if I upset you,” she muttered, stepping back.

  A small laugh escaped him.

  She looked up again.

  His smile was soft now. Relaxed. Human.

  “You’re funny.”

  He extended his hand.

  “Do you have a container? Glass is fine.”

  Still shaken, Ratree pulled out a small glass vial from her sling bag.

  He suddenly moved it toward her.

  She yelped, nearly dropping it.

  Khai stared at her with a straight face for a moment, then smirked faintly.

  She narrowed her eyes and shoved the vial at him.

  He placed the Zing Core inside and handed it back.

  Ratree hesitated.

  “You’re… giving this to me?”

  Hazardous material. Restricted. Illegal for civilians.

  The Zing Core pulsed inside the glass.

  “I want to see,” Khai said softly, “what you can discover with it.”

  For a split second, she saw Kenz in him again. The sharpness. The confidence. Then it faded, leaving only Khai.

  She accepted the vial carefully.

  Two presences overlapped in her mind.

  Khai and Kenz.

  Courage and vulnerability in the same body.

  “Thank you—”

  “Hands up!”

  The command snapped through the air.

  Ratree froze and raised both hands.

  Two Zingforce officers stood behind her, weapons aimed.

  Tai laew.

  She had forgotten. Zingforce was already here.

  “Are you a pelesit?”

  One officer lifted a Zing detector and aimed it at her.

  Around them, more Zingforce silhouettes moved through the lingering mist,

  scanning the area.

  Ratree swallowed.

  The Zing Core was in her bag.

  If they detect it…

  Will they shoot?