Second Genesis

Grey raised one of his daggers, huffing for breath. His other arm was practically useless, though it was a miracle that he could even stand despite the fact he felt like his spine had been cut in two.

If not for Metal Body and Iron Veil, that really would have been what happened. But neither of those two things were the solution to his problem. He needed a stronger offensive output.

If he used the fang daggers alone without the blood blade extension, that would definitely work to cut into Joaquin’s flesh. The problem was that the fucker was way too fat right now and the fang daggers were too short. That was why despite knowing the blood blades were more vulnerable, Grey had no choice but to take a chance on them despite not being sure how tough Joaquin’s defenses were.

But now it was clear that the daggers wouldn’t be enough, not for a one-shot kill. It seemed he was going to have to carve Joaquin out little by little, but every time he got close, that was another chance for the latter’s overwhelming strength to kill him.

To make matters worse, he had left two corpses outside, and the commotion down here wasn’t small no matter how far away it was from everything else. There also wasn’t a guarantee that the Bishop couldn’t contact someone else to come investigate the moment he stopped being in such a deep, "worshipful" mood.

The one solution that seemed left to him was probably the most dangerous option he had left.

’Dammit.’

Grey dove out of the way of another magic bullet.

He could feel that Joaquin was getting more proficient. He was drawing them faster and faster now.

’Why the hell hasn’t he run out of stamina yet?!’

Grey checked his own and his heart sank to rock bottom.

—

Stamina: 17/42

—

He was already down to less than half. He was using the Vampire Lord Frame to its full, it was inevitable that this would happen. Even with the Blessed Bracelet, he was still running dry too fast.

He didn’t have the time to take the slow approach even if he wanted to.

’Fuck!’

Was he really going to have to die?

He gritted his teeth so hard they nearly filed themselves down to the nubs of his own gums. He felt like vomiting just thinking about it.

"No."

Joaquin’s eyes snapped toward Grey the moment he spoke, but Grey didn’t flinch almost like he already expected it.

"You don’t deserve a damn thing you were given." Grey said coldly. "I’m not dying to a boot-licking cunt like you. Go kiss some shoes in hell."

Grey shot forward as rage twisted Joaquin’s features. The latter raised up a palm, a magic bullet forming instantly this time. It blocked the view of Grey, but it didn’t matter.

A pulse came out from Joaquin’s psyche and the magic bullet suddenly became a scythe that expanded until it spanned the entire width of the tunnel.

"Where will you run now? What right do you have to judge me?"

Grey’s shadow appeared within the blinding light of the golden scythe and Joaquin’s eyes sharpened, releasing it with a vicious whistling.

Grey’s eyes lit up with a vibrant madness. Even amidst the brightness of the golden energy, their crimson burned like two lamps amidst the inferno, a pair of suns fueled not by fusion or flames, but instead by rage and not a single fuck to give.

His jaws unhinged and he bit down, a spark of red-gold flames flaring as he cut right through the scythe.

—

Energy Reserve: 0.2/20.1

—

Joaquin’s eyes widened as Grey rushed right through the broken gold. It fell from the air like shards of illusory glass, sprinkling against the ground like fire racing across marble.

Without hesitation, Joaquin crossed his arms over his body to block.

Grey felt a surge of might pour into his Holy Frame, fueling his stamina in ways even the Blessed Bracelet could not. Without missing a beat, his fang daggers swung.

His eyes sparked with electricity, every aspect of himself becoming dialed in to an extreme.

He didn’t care that he didn’t have enough energy to revive, he didn’t care how powerful Joaquin had become, he didn’t care that even a Bishop more powerful than he could fathom right now was kneeling to him.

He only cared about one thing.

He wasn’t dying to this cunt.

Joaquin screamed, his hands being split at the wrist. The fang daggers weren’t long enough to go through them entirely, but it was still enough to cut through half.

Grey landed on the ground to the tips of his toes, suddenly accelerating out of the way of a swipe of Joaquin’s arm, the latter’s attack falling through a flickering afterimage.

Without missing a beat, Grey slashed down, cutting into Joaquin’s elbow.

Leaping back out of the way of another attack, more flashing arcs of electricity danced in Grey’s eyes. Seizing another brief instant, he dipped down beneath an attack, explosively arching his fang dagger upward and through Joaquin’s other elbow.

"Oink, oink, piggy." Grey growled, sweeping out a leg toward Joaquin’s knee. Coating his shin in Iron Veil and Heart Lance, he erupted with all the torque he could.

Joaquin’s knee buckled, but the man was far too sturdy.

Grey already expected this.

Joaquin swung at where his voice was, but Grey was already gone, his blade cutting into Joaquin’s opposite Achilles.

The bastard tumbled to the ground, his body reacting like its steel cord of an elevator had been snapped in two.

Yet, he instantly turned his head.

It seemed that while Grey was calculating, so too was Joaquin. He knew that things couldn’t continue like this.

Joaquin’s jaw unhinged and a beam of gold erupted right out of it, sweeping in every direction.

"Wrong way, piggy."

Chi.

Joaquin felt another blade cut through his neck as Grey’s legs wrapped around his jaw from the back.

Grey’s eyes flashed with madness, cutting down and piercing into Joaquin’s fleshy neck.

Joaquin roared, his fatty flesh writhing as he felt Grey’s blade begin to extend again. He would just shatter it like he had before, and his body was far too sturdy for even that blade to deal with without any momentum.

It looked like Grey was just doing what had already failed once before, but the look in his eyes suggested something else.

He was going down with this ship.