79. Trial and Error
My eyes split open as usual, releasing streams of invisible light. No one around me noticed what I was doing.
This time, I sought to erase the very sense of touch.
The outcome was exactly as I had anticipated. The writhing mass of flesh and blood failed to form a new hand; instead, portions of it sloughed off, splattering onto the ground.
The man, who had grown accustomed to this grotesque process, appeared genuinely startled by his failure. He stared in disbelief on his own mistake.
It was much like the act of grasping something with your hand. Normally, you take it for granted—you don't even think about the fact that you're using five fingers. Aside from the thumb, which is somewhat unique, the rest serve a similar purpose. In truth, even with just four fingers, you can still hold an object with little difficulty.
But the first time you lose a pinky, everything feels strangely uncomfortable. It doesn't mean much in the long run—you'll eventually adapt—but in that moment, you're forced to direct more focus and awareness than ever before.
That extra second was all it took.
Xio had already drawn a gun from who knows where.
Bang!
She fired straight at his head—impressive marksmanship. Though she excelled in close-quarters combat, after witnessing me and the flesh explosion he had caused, she wisely decided it was better to keep her distance.
The bullet tore cleanly through his skull, yet no blood spilled. Instead of dying, his body dissolved into a writhing mass of flesh and blood. From that grotesque heap, the surrounding shadows thickened, condensing into the snarling shapes of hyenas.
Meanwhile, a circle of elongated, thin rectangles materialized above my hand. The pain was distracting, but channeling it through my hand made aiming far easier.
Out of the three shadow hyenas, two were struck—one in the head and the other in the stomach. The third, however, only suffered a graze and managed to close the distance. It lunged at me, only to be kicked back by Xio, who then swiftly fired at the hyena whose head I had missed.
The time we spent dealing with the hyenas had given the enemy enough opportunity to reconstruct his body. By then, I had already released my Evil Eye from him.
"Let's run," Xio whispered, taking advantage of the brief stalemate.
"That power—it's most likely—"
"Aurora Order," I finished for her. "I think so too." she added.
I didn't dare let him out of my sight, not even for a heartbeat. He seemed ready to summon another pack of hyenas—or so I thought. Instead, he lunged at us, erasing the few meters between us in an instant. From the shadows, a massive two-handed axe emerged, and he swung it toward us with all his strength.
A staff woven from threads formed in my hand. To take that attack head-on would've been suicide, so I angled the staff carefully. When our weapons clashed, the sound that rang out was one that should've been impossible—thread against shadow. Yet, I managed to parry it.
A feat unimaginable for me just a month ago.
Seizing the moment, as his posture faltered from the sudden shift in balance, Xio darted from behind me and drove a powerful kick into his side.
"Ughh." Xio grimaced as she leapt back. The moment her kick landed, it felt as if she had struck soft jelly. His flesh yielded with that same unsettling texture, and blood immediately welled up to cover the impact point. Thankfully, she always wore proper boots.
The sensation was like kicking a sponge soaked through—not with water, but with flesh and blood. And this blood wasn't ordinary; it corroded whatever it touched.
Realizing the danger, Xio and I quickly retreated a step to put some distance between us—but that was a mistake.
The man's leg suddenly detonated, propelling him forward with explosive speed as he closed the gap in an instant. He was clearly a seasoned fighter. Though his posture made swinging the weapon impossible, he adapted immediately—lunging, not to strike, but to seize us with his hands.
I shifted my stance, feinting as if I were about to kick him. He read the movement instantly, bracing himself to counter the strike—only for a translucent, glasslike foothold to materialize between us.
It was my spatial maneuvering ability.
Using it, I launched into a second jump, pulling Xio along with a thread of mine.
The second jump didn't give us enough distance, so I twisted my body to act as an axis and flung Xio farther away. As she landed at a safer spot, I saw the man advancing toward me once more.
"Try again," I said, my voice calm and steady.
"!??" The man's eyes went wide. He could feel it across his entire body—an overwhelming pressure bearing down from the front. It was as if an invisible force were smashing into him, and he didn't even register it in time to defend himself. The result: he was blasted backward.
Splash!
His flesh tore apart, yielding like slime smashed against a wall, softening the impact but leaving him out of shape.
I quickly followed up with a barrage of Dark Bullets aimed at him. I say "barrage," but it was really only a handful of shots. Firing these bullets wasn't easy—it took a bit of my mental power to precisely calculate their trajectories and a fair amount of spirit energy to power the attack.
I was still getting accustomed to manipulating spirituality. It would take time before I could wield it effortlessly, especially with no one to guide me.
By the time he reconstructed his body, his prey had vanished from sight.
***
Phew. I let out a long sigh of relief after successfully escaping with Xio.
Becoming a misfortune… It was harder than I had anticipated. I reflected on my actions from just moments ago.
"What… was that?" Xio muttered, clearly dumbfounded. Her boots, splattered with his blood, were ruined. She kicked them off, watching them disintegrate before her eyes. Shocked by her boot's end, she slowly turned her head toward me.
"!?" She froze, horrified to see half of her friend's body engulfed in white flames. "Chris?!" she panicked, eyes darting around, searching for the source of the attack.
"Yes?" I replied calmly. As the flames subsided, what remained was no longer the black-and-red blood of before—only red, blistered flesh, like the aftermath of a second-degree burn.
"Y—you okay?" Xio asked, her concern clear for a moment before her focus shifted. She grabbed my uninjured hand and pulled me along.
"Quick, we have to leave now. We don't know when the next attack will come."
Instead of letting her pull me, I grabbed her hand and held it to steady her. "It's fine. This was my doing, not the enemy's," I explained, hoping to clear up her misunderstanding.
The corrosive blood still bore traces of corruption. Uriel's flame was perfect for purifying it. Even if it hadn't been corrupted, her flame alone could have evaporated the attached blood—but in that case, water would have worked better. Unfortunately, Uriel's flame wasn't as versatile as Neph's, so I couldn't use it to heal the burn marks.