"So..okay. Can't block everything."
He coughed hard, spitting blood into the snow.
"Good to know."
Snowflakes drifted silently around him as he groaned, one arm wrapped tightly around his side. Each breath stabbed like needles through his lungs—sharp, raw, unrelenting. The world tilted, spun, but he ground his teeth and forced himself to stay upright.
His vision kept flickering between icy reality and the hazy blue system interface hovering just at the edge of his sight.
[ /!\ Warning /!\ Supreme Core Trait Temporarily Disabled.]
"Of course it is," he rasped, voice laced with pain and sarcasm. He glanced at the blood splattered across the snow beneath him. "Figures I get a cool ass power and still get folded like Yamcha…"
He staggered to his feet, muscles trembling beneath him. The cold wasn't just gnawing at his skin anymore—it was sinking into his bones, into the core of him. A chill that whispered:
You'regoingtodiehere.
The Sub-Zero Jaguar turned its head, glowing cyan eyes narrowing as it fixed on him again.
Predator.
Prey.
Round two.
Aquarius grimaced. He didn't have long. He needed a plan and fast.
His eyes flicked behind him.
The young woman.
The twins.
The ones he shielded earlier.
He spun halfway back and yelled out, voice rough and urgent.
"Hey! You!"
She looked startled that he was still alive—let alone yelling.
"What's your Trait!? Anything useful?!"
Shia blinked, snapping out of shock. "It's useless! I just have Radiant Pulse! It boosts allies, that's all!"
Aquarius squinted at her like she just said the sky was red.
"…Don't you think that'd be real damn useful right now?!"
A low growl rumbled behind him. He glanced over his shoulder.
The Sub-Zero Jaguar was stalking forward, steam curling from its maw, eyes glowing brighter now.
"Seriously—if you're gonna boost me, now's the time!"
"Then kill it already!" Shia shouted back.
A burst of radiant yellow light exploded from her palm, rippling across the snow in a glowing wave.
It wasn't hot.
It wasn't blinding.
But when it hit Aquarius—it felt like a lightning bolt to the chest.
[Radiant Pulse: Empowerment Engaged]
[Pain: Partially Nullified]
[Power and Strength +20%]
[Duration: 30 seconds]
His body jerked slightly as golden energy wrapped around him like armor. The stabbing pain dulled. His legs stopped trembling. His mind sharpened.
He stood straighter.
'I've got thirty seconds. That's it. Gotta find a weakness—fast.'
If there was one thing Itachi Uchiha had taught him, it was that everything had a weakness.
And this big ass ice cat? Probably allergic to fire.
But…
'Where the hell am I supposed to get fire from?!'
The Jaguar roared again, shaking loose the snow in the trees.
Its claws slammed into the ground. A gust of frost hissed from its jaws.
It wasn't just mad now—it was done playing.
Aquarius darted left, shoes kicking up white powder.
The Jaguar lunged—massive, terrifying, fast. Too fast.
He barely rolled out of the way as claws tore into the earth where he'd just been standing, erupting frost in a vicious burst.
'Maybe I don't need real fire. I just need it to look like fire..'
He ignored how dumb that sounded, but then he saw it.
Blackened snow. Still smoldering ash from Fin's destroyed Shadow Wolves.
That might do it.
He skidded to a stop next to the residue, scooping it up in his hand. The slush was warm—faintly embered, with sparks still flickering weakly within it.
It's not fire. But maybe it doesn't have to be.
Behind him, the Jaguar growled—and began charging a frost beam, light gathering in its mouth.
[5 Seconds Remaining..]
"Damn! I'm out of tim-"
Then—
[ /!\ SYSTEM ALERT /!\ ]
[Supreme Core Trait: Limitless Devouring – REENABLED]
[Synchronization Surge Triggered]
[Foreign Energy Detected: Shadowflame Residue]
Devour? [Y/N]
"YES! Eat that shit!"
The ash in his hand flared—first with heat, then with power. A spiral of ember-red and black smoke twined upward, spiraling into his chest like a vortex.
His body convulsed—just for a second.
Then the pain vanished.
Replaced by something else.
[New Ability Unlocked – Adaptive Trait Created]
[Ember Vein] Shadowflame Burst
[Type] Reactive Burst
[Range] Short | [Cooldown] 45 sec
[Effect]
Condensed burst of devoured energy. Infused with corrupted flame and shadow. Deals moderate damage. Causes elemental disruption in frost-type enemies.
He felt it.
A heat—not like fire, but like purpose.
Like something in him had been waiting to be awakened.
The Sub-Zero Jaguar bared its teeth, the frost beam fully charged now.
Aquarius took a breath, set his stance.
"Let's see how you like it…"
He clenched his fist.
Black and ember-red energy surged down his arm, wrapping it in a crackling gauntlet of burning shadow.
The frost beam fired.
And Aquarius punched forward.
WOOMPH!
The Shadowflame Burst exploded from his fist like a collapsing sun, colliding directly with the beam midair.
It didn't stop.
It pierced through the cold, splitting the beam apart before slamming square into the Jaguar's chest.
BOOM!
An explosion of black fire and corrupted light sent the beast flying, crashing backward in a spray of snow and ice.
It howled—loud, painful, furious.
Its cyan glow flickered, glitched.
Steam hissed from the scorched crater in its chest.
Its breaths were shallow. Strained.
That hit deep… right in the core.
Aquarius staggered forward.
Then—
The Jaguar screamed again, its body glowing with icy blue sigils. Rage overtook it.
It unleashed a frenzied barrage—jagged frost spikes erupting from the ground, a vortex of blizzard winds, and a rain of ice blades.
Aquarius dodged left, right—then stumbled.
His body was slowing again. The cold and pain was creeping back.
'Not now! Come on not no-!'
"Aquarius!!"
He looked up.
Shia was still kneeling beside her brother, hand raised. Her palm glowed like the sun.
Another radiant burst shot toward him.
[Radiant Pulse: Empowerment Engaged – STACKED]
[Speed +30% | Strength +20% | Reaction Time Enhanced]
[Duration: 15 seconds]
Light wrapped around him again, fusing with the shadowflame already coating his arm.
He grinned.
"Hell yeah!!"
He vanished in a blur of speed, dodging the ice storm and sprinting straight for the beast.
The Jaguar saw him—but too late.
The corrupted flame ignited across his arm, the gauntlet glowing brighter than ever.
He ducked under a final strike—then launched the Shadowflame Burst point-blank into the already-ruined wound.
CRACK!
FWOOOM!
Another eruption of black fire tore through the beast's chest from within.
Its roar came out warped. Glitched.
Then—
Silence.
Steam poured from its mouth. Its glowing eyes dimmed.
And finally—
It collapsed.
Massive. Still. Dead.
Aquarius stood in the aftermath, chest heaving, blood still trickling from the corner of his mouth.
He hunched forward, hands on his knees.
Snow drifted gently again.
Quiet. Peaceful.
He grinned.
"First time in a novel with superpowers and I gotta say that was fucking awesome."
Then he noticed the jaguar's body glowing faintly in gold.
[Target: Sub-Zero Jaguar]
[Status: Consumable Subject]
Devour? [Y/N]