Deviant: No Longer Human

"What—!?"

"Run!"

"Get away!"

"What's going on?!"

Rumble…

Rumble…

The ground quaked violently as if the earth itself were tearing apart, and the entire shoreline trembled under the force.

Panicked screams filled the air as people scattered in every direction.

The sandstorm erupted with sudden fury, violently shaking, obscuring vision with a thick veil of sand.

"Turn off your phones, we need to go!"

"Get out of here—now!"

As the storm intensified, blinding anyone caught in its path, people fumbled for safety, the livestreams blinking offline one by one, leaving confused and frustrated viewers.

user324: "Where's the feed?!"

gilfhunter_401: "It just went dark—what's happening?"

pussybreaker_69: "Damn it, I was watching!"

Through the chaos, Wang Xiao leaped from the crater, his form seeing through the storm with ease.

His eyes narrowed as he spotted a figure slipping away in the chaotic sand.

With a casual flick of his wrist, he sent his sword sailing through the air, glowing with that familiar blue fire.

It sliced through the storm like a comet, flying back toward Wenxi at the villa.

The blade landed perfectly in her hand, as though it had always belonged there.

Wang Xiao vanished, his form blurring into the storm as he reappeared directly in front of the fleeing figure—blocking his escape with an effortless calm.

"Going somewhere?" Wang Xiao's voice was cold, his eyes gleaming with disdain.

The imposter, who bore an eerie resemblance to Wang Xiao, froze in place, his red eyes wide with shock.

"Who… who are you?" the imposter barked, his voice trembling.

Wang Xiao's form shifted, returning to his true appearance.

His aura flared—dominating, suffocating, a force that could crush souls with its sheer presence.

The imposter's face drained of color as he stuttered, his voice barely a whisper.

"Y-You… you're the real one…"

Wang Xiao's lips curled into a mocking smirk. "You only just figured that out?" His voice was laced with arrogance, as if the very question was beneath him. "There's only one of me. And you? Just a pitiful imitation."

With a wave of his hand, the ground beneath him shifted.

Sand swirled and reformed into a grand throne, rising from the earth as though the world itself obeyed his will.

He sat down casually, his gaze cold and dismissive, looking at the imposter as though he were a mere insect.

"I have to say," Wang Xiao continued, his voice dripping with disdain, "I'm disappointed. This is the best they could come up with? Some knockoff pretending to be me?" He let out a dry laugh. "Pathetic."

The imposter trembled, his body weak under the crushing weight of Wang Xiao's aura.

He looked exactly like Wang Xiao would have at nineteen—red eyes, youthful features—yet there was none of the depth, none of the power.

A hollow shell.

Wang Xiao's eyes glinted with cold amusement as he gazed at the imposter. "Look at you," he sneered, his voice cold like ice. "Just a cheap imitation, living by copying the lives of the dead... Give me one reason why I shouldn't erase your entire species from existence."

"!"

The imposter shivered, its red eyes narrowing into slits, cold fury bubbling beneath the surface. "You think you have the right to decide which species live or die?" it hissed. "Don't overestimate yourself, human! Every species has a right to survive! We aren't causing harm; we're just peacefully coexisting…"

Wang Xiao tilted his head slightly, as if considering the words.

Then, with a casual shrug, he nodded. "That's a good reason. Fine, I'll spare your kind."

The imposter blinked, utterly stunned.

It had never expected a human to accept the existence of their species—especially not one as powerful as Wang Xiao.

After all, they ate humans.

But Wang Xiao wasn't exactly human anymore.

His gaze was dispassionate, treating the conflict between humans and skinwalkers as nothing more than a natural struggle for survival.

To him, it was simply part of the cycle of existence.

Humans ate lower species for sustenance; skinwalkers ate humans.

In the end, it was just another competition for energy between creatures of a lower existence.

"The fight for survival between your kind and humanity has nothing to do with me," Wang Xiao said calmly. Then, his eyes darkened, voice dropping to a near whisper. "But… you made a mistake."

The imposter stiffened, feeling an unnatural chill creep down its spine. "W-What mistake?"

Wang Xiao's expression remained detached. "Skinwalkers… Huli Jing, Rakshasas, Púca, Doppelgängers. These are all names your kind has gone by, aren't they?"

The imposter's body tensed, its eyes narrowing further as it hissed, "Not completely…"

Wang Xiao nodded slowly, as if already knowing the answer. "Right, you're only a fragment of what your kind used to be. Your species has appeared in human history more times than I care to count. Beasts capable of shape-shifting, living in the shadows of this world for millennia."

The imposter, now called Moying, could only glare at him, though the fear was growing in its eyes.

Wang Xiao's gaze remained cold, but his curiosity was piqued. "Do you even know the origin of your species?"

Moying hesitated, then shook its head. "No," it growled, eyes glinting with determination. "But you won't live to find out! I'll kill you here!"

Wang Xiao chuckled darkly. "Oh? You? A failed experiment thinks it can kill me?"

Moying's eyes trembled. "W-What do you mean, 'failed experiment'?"

Wang Xiao smiled knowingly. "You weren't born naturally. You were an attempt—an experiment by someone in the distant past to create a superior species. But you failed and were discarded. You and your kind are nothing more than remnants of a failed creation."

"Impossible!" Moying roared, rage flooding its voice.

"Believe what you want." Wang Xiao sighed, standing from his sand throne. "You could have lived quietly, but you made the mistake of imitating me. Now, I have no choice but to kill you."

Moying's body trembled as rage twisted its form.

The skin of its hands began to shift unnaturally, turning a disgusting green as its fingers extended into sharp, lizard-like claws.

Its body rippled with monstrous energy. "Then come and try!" it spat, lunging at Wang Xiao, claws ready to tear him apart.

Wang Xiao shook his head, unimpressed. "Sigh..."

BOOM!

Before Moying even got close, its head exploded with a deafening burst.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

The greenish flesh of its skull scattered across the sand, spraying the ground with acidic blood.

The remnants of its skull hung limp, twitching as the body staggered forward, headless.

Thud!

Wang Xiao didn't even flinch.

He cast a glance at the headless corpse, now reverting to its true, ugly form.

Its green flesh began to bubble and contort, becoming a hideous, slimy creature that no longer resembled a human in any way.

"Disgusting," Wang Xiao muttered, waving his hand.

The sand around the corpse shifted, moving as if alive, devouring the remains until there was nothing left but smooth ground.

The entire body was swallowed by the earth, leaving no trace of the creature that had once stood there.

Wang Xiao glanced at the scene, his eyes calm, emotionless. "Next time," he said softly to no one in particular, "send something worth killing."