Deviant: No Longer Human

She staggered forward, each step more uncertain than the last, her blood spilling onto the icy surface, creating a beautiful red against the white.

As she fell, her eyes locked on Zhao Yang, filled with a haunting mix of betrayal and unasked questions.

Her collapse was slow, almost graceful, as she surrendered to her wounds, her body finally hitting the ground with a soft thud that echoed ominously around them.

Bam!

Wang Xiao watched the scene, his initial shock giving way to a strategic calculation. "You were never with them, right?" he said, his voice low and controlled, masking the underlying tension.

"Indeed," Zhao Yang replied smoothly, wiping his bloodied hand on his pants. "In this world, it\'s every man for himself. To forge your path, you must sometimes sever past ties. It\'s not personal, just survival."

Xerxes finally broke his silence, his voice booming with a mixture of wrath and confusion.

"You\'ve crossed a line, Zhao Yang. This isn\'t just survival—it\'s betrayal!"

"Betrayal... it\'s a fascinating choice," Wang Xiao mused aloud, his voice amused.

Zhao Yang simply shrugged, his eyes scanning the horizon, already calculating his next move in the deadly chess game they were in, "Gabrial was merely using us as his chess pieces if you haven\'t realized it yet," he stated flatly, his eyes sweeping the horizon where Gabrial was engaged in a fierce battle with Luna.

His gaze was piercing, challenging each of them to acknowledge the invisible chains that bound them to another\'s will.

"He wanted us, and everyone else, to sacrifice ourselves for something he believed in, while he himself would live to see his dream fulfilled, and we would be erased." As he spoke, Zhao Yang\'s eyes flickered with a calculating light mixed with burgeoning fury. He turned back to face Wang Xiao and Xerxes, his gaze intense and focused.

"I simply didn\'t want to self-sacrifice for someone else\'s gain. I\'ve started to like this life I am living. We could have been coexisting in silence, like the beings they call Deviants. There\'s no need for us to follow Gabrial or any other leader. We should be independent and capable of making our own choices," Zhao Yang continued, his voice calm yet carrying an undercurrent of deep conviction.

As he spoke, Wang Xiao noticed Zhao Yang\'s fists clenched tightly at his sides, the knuckles whitening—a small but telling sign of the internal battle he was fighting.

It was clear that despite his outward calm, Zhao Yang was struggling mightily to override the instincts ingrained in him as a hell spirit.

Wang Xiao, observing this subtle display of tension, nodded slowly, "Even if you aren\'t with them, it doesn\'t mean I would let you be alive forever. Today you can go, but better not show your face again to me."

Zhao Yang\'s nod was one of firm resolution, his face set in an expression of grim determination. "If the day comes, I need to die for the person I am," he whispered, his voice barely audible as he turned to leave.

His figure slowly blended into the swirling red mist, a visual echo of his departure from the old allegiances.

"Wait! You can\'t just leave like this! I would kill you for betraying us!" Xerxes roared, his voice thunderous against the eerie silence that followed Zhao Yang\'s departure.

He made to chase after Zhao Yang, his massive frame a blur of motion, but Wang Xiao intervened with a commanding presence.

"Enough of yelling, you can\'t leave until I am here," Wang Xiao declared, his tone sharp, halting Xerxes in his tracks and drawing a scowl from the giant.

Whooooosh!

"Ant, shut up!" In a sudden flare of rage, Xerxes spun around and lunged toward Wang Xiao, his fist, larger than Wang Xiao\'s torso, slicing through the cold air, aimed directly at him.

Boooooom!

The fist made contact, but not with Wang Xiao.

Instead, there was a small smile on Wang Xiao\'s face as Xerxes\'s punch halted abruptly, stopped by an invisible barrier.

"H... how?" Xerxes\'s eyes widened in disbelief as his hand thudded against something unseen, the force of his blow unexpectedly halted.

Next moment!

Boooooom!

With the same monumental force he had attempted to deliver, Xerxes was thrown backward, repelled as if by a rubber wall.

His body hurtled through the air, landing with a heavy crash in the distance.

Wang Xiao stood calm and unscathed, as if the master of his own fate, embodying the very independence and strength that Zhao Yang had advocated.

Crash!

As Xerxes crashed into the ice, creating a web of cracks that spread outward, Wang Xiao maintained his unusual calm stance, his eyes narrowing slightly as he watched the giant struggle to regain his footing.

"Is that all you have?" He taunted, his voice echoing, mingling with the sharp, biting wind.

The red mist swirled around them, adding a surreal quality to the battlefield.

"Arghhh!"

Xerxes, his face contorted with rage, pushed himself up, ice and snow clumping to his massive form.

"I\'m not done with you!" he roared, lunging forward again with renewed fury.

Swoooosh! Thud!

His feet pounded the ground, each step a miniature earthquake, as he charged like a bull.

Wang Xiao, serene and unbothered, prepared to counter.

His eyes, sharp and focused, calculated the incoming trajectory.

"You should have learned, brute force isn\'t enough," Wang Xiao murmured, almost to himself.

As Xerxes swung another colossal fist at him, Wang Xiao pivoted gracefully, his movements fluid and precise.

Swooooop!

Wang Xiao\'s form blurred, moving with the blue.

He sidestepped the punch with ease, his hand reaching out to tap a pressure point on Xerxes\'s arm as it whooshed past.

"Wha—?" Xerxes grunted, his arm suddenly numb, the force of his own punch carrying him forward and throwing him off balance.

Crashhh!

Xerxes stumbled, his large body crashing into a nearby ice mound, sending shards flying into the air like a burst of icy fireworks.

Wang Xiao didn\'t pause. "It\'s not just about strength. It\'s about how you use it," he called out, his voice steady and commanding.

Xerxes, shaking off the impact, glared at Wang Xiao, his eyes burning with a mix of frustration and disbelief.

"ANTTTTTT!"

He roared, not ready to concede.