I turned my head to stare at her.
My left leg was completely useless, and my right hand wasn't any better. That last elbow strike had left it dead weight.
With no other choice, I used my left hand to crawl away from her, dragging my battered body inch by inch.
I had nothing left—no strength, no Essence, no plan. The only thing I could do now was hope Arkas would step in before the crazy demon finished me off.
A groan came from behind me.
Guro finally shifted, rolling onto her back before turning to face me.
I froze.
She looked awful.
Her entire face was covered in blood, deep gashes marring her features. Blood leaked from her mouth, nose, and even her eyes. A jagged piece of rock stuck out from one of them, dangerously close to piercing deeper. If it had gone just a little further, she'd be dead.
Her remaining eye locked onto me.
A low, raspy voice slipped from her throat.
"I will kill you."
Then she moved, trying to get up.
My eyes widened.
I had hit her with everything I had. The elbow drop was supposed to make sure she stayed down. I had hesitated at the end, holding back just enough to keep her alive.
Now I cursed myself for chickening out.
I watched as she pushed herself up onto her knees. But that was as far as she got.
Her whole body trembled violently, her muscles barely holding together.
I grinned.
So it worked. Just not enough.
Her spine had taken serious damage. Otherwise, she would've been back on her feet already.
She groaned again, then started crawling toward me on her knees.
I clenched my jaw and dragged myself backward. But her knee-walking speed was faster than my one-armed crawl.
Within seconds, she reached me, straddling my waist and pinning me down.
Then she grinned, blood staining her teeth.
"I warned you, didn't I? I'm going to roast you."
She lifted my right hand, her grip firm around my wrist. Blood trickled down my fingers, but that wasn't what made me tense.
A slow, creeping heat spread from where she held me.
At first, it was mild. A warmth I could tolerate.
But then it intensified.
The searing pain burned through my skin, and I could feel my flesh turning red-hot.
'What the hell?'
Panic crawled up my spine. Was this demon really about to roast me alive?
I gritted my teeth, refusing to scream as the heat climbed higher.
Guro's grin stretched wider, her grip tightening, as if savoring my suffering.
I clenched my jaw and shut my eyes, trying to think.
That's when I felt it.
The heat particles.
I sensed them moving toward her hand, obeying her command, fueling the rising temperature.
I observed closely as they gathered, drawn in, bending to her will.
'I can do that too.'
The thought struck me like a spark in the darkness.
I focused on my Generator Core, tracing the movement of the particles as they flowed into my body. They entered through my skin, traveled toward my heart, the core, where energy was extracted and transformed into Essence.
I recalled how, before my Generator talent had evolved to absorb particles on its own, I had done it manually. I had used [Psynapse Boost], enforced my will on them, surrounded them with Essence, and pushed them into my core.
But, I only had one unit of Essence left.
Which meant I had to do this the hard way.
Brute force.
I just had to stop the particles from reaching her hand, to block them from increasing the temperature any further.
I exhaled sharply, focusing all my remaining willpower.
I reached out with my perception, latched onto the moving heat particles, and forced them to slow down.
It took effort. The Particles fought back. But I held on.
Gradually, the flow weakened. The particles no longer rushed toward her.
I didn't stop there. I shifted them away, redirecting them, scattering them back into the air.
Seconds passed, and then I felt it.
The difference.
The temperature had stopped rising.
I opened my eyes, locking onto Guro's face.
She was still grinning, still gripping my wrist. She hadn't noticed yet.
I extended my perception even further, stopping every heat particle within my range from moving. That's when she noticed it.
Her grip on my wrist loosened, and she glared at me, her teeth clenched.
"What did you do?"
I grinned.
She leaned in closer, her breath hot against my skin.
"You know what? Let's see who gets here first, your saviors or death."
Her nails elongated further, curving like blades.
Then she closed her eyes and whispered.
"Reaper's Sacrifice."
Suddenly her body jerked and blood trickled from the corners of her mouth.
She raised her hand above my chest and began pressing her nails into me. Slowly, they pierced my skin, sinking deeper, burrowing toward my heart.
And the entire time, that damned grin never left her face.
I tried to move, to fight back, but my body refused to respond.
'Fine.'
Gritting my teeth, I focused on the heat particles, gathering them over the palm of my only working hand.
I pulled in the heat particles as fast as I could, forcing them to converge above my palm. They resisted at first, slipping through my control, but I clenched my jaw and kept at it.
Her nails sank deeper into my chest.
My vision blurred.
I had no time.
I willed the particles to compress, to take form. They trembled, vibrating with stored energy as I forced them into a denser, tighter mass.
The heat intensified. My skin burned. My hand shook.
Guro chuckled, blood dripping from her lips.
"What are you—"
I shut out her voice and focused.
The formless, swirling heat started to change. First into a wavering shimmer of air, then into something denser.
A sphere. A burning sphere of heat in my vision.
Her nails inched closer to my heart.
I wrapped my will around the searing mass of heat. Though my fingers couldn't grasp it, I moved my hand with it, guiding it toward her throat.
Without hesitation, I thrust my hand up and latched onto her neck.
Guro's eyes widened in momentary surprise before narrowing into a glare.
I forced more heat particles toward her skin, gathering them around her neck, trapping them there. The temperature spiked. Her flesh reddened, veins pulsing against the growing heat.
She snarled, her grip tightening.
"You think this will stop me?" Her voice came out rough, strained. "I'll pierce your heart before you can do anything."
I met her gaze, unfazed.
"Then do it."
She growled and shoved her claws deeper. I gritted my teeth as pain flared through my chest, but I didn't let go.
More heat. More pressure.
The skin around her throat blistered. Smoke curled from where my fingers pressed. She coughed, her body jerking in resistance, but she refused to pull back.
Then her nails pierced deeper.
I gasped as I felt them touch my heart. But instead of sinking into flesh, they scraped against something hard.
Her eyes snapped open in shock.
"What…?"
Something clicked in my mind.
My heart. It wasn't just an organ of blood and muscle. It was the Generator Core.
A surge of realization shot through me. When I had activated my talent for the first time, it had transformed my heart.
And that reminded me of something.
I roared and activated Seismic Burst.
Raw strength rushed into my palm, flowing into my grip around her throat. The newly generated two units of Essence ignited within me, and I channeled it all into the burst.
The explosion triggered.
Essence blasted outward from my palm on her throat and as it met the concentrated heat particles, fire roared into existence.
Flames erupted from my hand, engulfing her neck and face in a violent inferno.
Guro screamed, thrashing as the fire crawled up her skin, searing everything it touched. I pulled more heat particles in, feeding the blaze, pushing the temperature and flames higher and higher.
The heat was unbearable. My own skin boiled from the intensity, melting under my own attack, but I held on.
In my vision, I could see the heat particles rushing in of their own volition, as if excited.
Desperate, she drove her claws deeper, raking them against my heart. A wet gurgle escaped my throat, and I vomited blood, but I didn't stop.
She thrashed wildly, clawing at my arm, at my burning hand locked around her throat. My flesh peeled. Pain beyond anything I had ever felt ripped through me.
I tightened my grip and roared from the pain and desperation.
And pushed more particles in the fire, increasing the blaze more and more.
Then, suddenly, her body convulsed. Blood, thick and bubbling, poured from her mouth, sizzling as it dripped onto my burning hand.
Her struggles slowed.
Her fingers trembled.
And finally, she went still.
Her body collapsed onto me.
The fire still raged from my hand, and I kept roaring, the only way to stop myself from crying in agony. I could see it. My left palm… nothing but bone. The skin was completely gone.
My breaths turned ragged. My vision blurred. My body trembled. And just before everything faded to black, I heard the notifications.
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level 22 → Level 25]