Dangerous!
Its senses were screaming at it to dodge.
'What's going on? It spiked again.'
Appearing behind the creature upside down, Damon swung his blade towards its nape.
The creature lowered its head, dodging the strike and countered, lunging a tendril at him. Reacting quickly, he spun his body midair, barely evading the attack as his cheek was sliced.
SHING!
Landing crouched on the ground, he ignored the stinging pain and looked for the creature's next attack.
His vision was covered with a foot coming down from an axe kick to stomp on his head.
Without breaking focus, Damon jerked his head to the side.
Whoosh!
SHIIING!
Bang!
The creature's attack missed slightly as the wind pressure cut into his right shoulder, and the kick cracked the ground, but it didn't let up as it raised its sword.
Still kneeling on the ground, Damon had little room to dodge again.
Just as the creature was about to swing the blade, Damon acted quickly, lunging forward. He coated his left hand in spiritual energy, catching the blade as the sword came down on him. His feet dug into the dirt from the raw power behind the blow.
Crunch!
He heard a crunch in his arm, but he ignored it. Swinging the blade in His other hand, he severed the creature's arms in one clean strike. Grabbing the sword with his damaged arm, he leapt back, avoiding the counterattack of the creature's tendrils.
Dropping Rudy's sword, Damon could feel his left arm throbbing from pain. It almost broke during the exchange, but luckily, the reinforcement was enough to save it. The damage caused his arm to flail like a dangling tree branch.
Watching the creature convulsing in pain as it tried recreating its arms, Damon knew he didn't have much time for rest. He had tried mimicking Gerald's application of heat with his energy, but he wasn't sure how effective it would be.
Gritting his teeth, he gripped his left arm bicep. He had never dislocated a joint before, but he had received basic anatomy lessons at the age of ten and knew what to do. Gently pushing up, he was able to successfully reconnect the socket joint in his shoulder before using Mystic Eyes to guide energy towards repairing the carpal bones in his wrist and healing all his previous injuries.
Sensing what Damon was doing, the creature ceased restoring its arms and fixed its gaze upon him. Roaring, it lashed out six tendrils from its back.
The six tendrils attacked him from the air. Surrounding him from all sides, they struck downwards.
Sidestepping, Damon dodged the first two tendrils before slashing them to pieces.
Feeling a chill behind him, he spun around quickly, slashing three more tendrils. Catching the last tendril headed for his face, he increased the heat, burning off the tip of the tendril. Instead of smoke, the tendril melted into a black ink that dripped on the ground. He didn't know what it was, but he had a faint feeling it was related to the energy he was absorbing from the mist.
This seemed to cause the creature the most pain as it howled, seeing an opportunity. Damon quickly stored Rudy's blade using the Hidden Inventory skill and rushed at the creature again.
Vanishing again, he appeared behind the creature in a blitz.
He reached forward to touch its back to release a wave of heat energy through its body, but before his hand could reach, the creature spun around, throwing a brutal right jab with the dripping stump of its hand, hurling towards his head.
'I think I understand it now'
Narrowing his eyes, Damon dropped low into a slight crouch, the air whistling past his ears as the punch sailed just above him. In that instant, He surged forward like a coiled spring unleased. His spiritual energy condensed into his blade as the image of a burning wildfire was cemented in his mind.
With a sharp exhale, he increased his grip, driving his blade straight into the creature's torso, burying it hilt deep just beneath what seemed to be ribs. The creature let out a guttural snarl, but before it could react, Damon clenched his jaw and unleashed everything.
A blinding pulse of energy erupted from the blade.
This was it. The realization of Damon's will and desire to avenge Gerald, Liz, and Rudy. It wasn't clean or pretty; instead, this was a manifestation of pure rage that sought to burn everything to ash.
Crack! Bang!
The shockwave tore through flesh, muscle, and bone with a deafening crack, blowing a wide, Sizzling hole clear through the creature's torso. Gore and mist sprayed behind it as the blast shot forward, collapsing the cave entrance.
The creature staggered, twitching violently, the upper half of its body gaping open as its ribs began to liquify. Yet even as it trembled, its eyes, or rather empty sockets, still burned with feral malice
"How could I not notice.... You were feeding off me! ..... the mist..."
Its voice warped, more gurgle than words now.
"You absorbed my spiritual energy... and heated it. You turned it against me!"
Damon didn't respond. His stance was low, blade in hand, breath steady and sharp. His eyes remained locked onto the unraveling creature.
With a pained hiss, the creature's body began to twist again. Bones popped, muscles reshaped. Snakes writhed into softer strands of hair. Slowly, it took on the form of Liz. It seemed to be an attempt at healing as the creature's wounds began to close, knitting itself as the transformation progressed.
Seeing this, Damon was ready to lunge to stop it, but before the healing could complete, thick arms wrapped around its form from behind.
A searing shriek echoed as the Gerald copy, now scorched and half charred, appeared from the shadows, very much alive. His arms locked around the creature's chest in a brutal bear hug, Black ichor sizing against his scorched flesh.
"Huff… Like hell, I'd let you violate her image, Huff., You're not getting away again, Freak!" He snarled, his eyes burning with fury and pain.
"You Damned Insect! LET ME GO!"
The creature screamed in rage, jagged spikes bursting from its sides and back, impaling Gerald's midsection, ripping tendons in his torso, shoulders, and thigh, but still he held on. His finger was digging deeper into the creature's chest.
"Damon! I can't hold it for long," He roared, his voice cracking but unyielding. "Do it, NOW!"
Damon's eyes widened but only for a heartbeat. He was shocked that Gerald's duplicate had survived, but that feeling was quickly drowned beneath resolve. His grip on his blade tightened once again as he stepped forward. One, two, three quick strides, then he leapt.
With a fierce cry, he raised the extended blade high and brought it crashing down, as if responding to his will, the blade in his hand materialized, the metal stretched, reshaping until the blade became a true Katana forged by intent alone, spiritual energy flaring around him like a second sun.
Seeing this, the creature's eyes went wide as it struggled even more desperately to escape Gerald's grasp, but it was too late.
The Katana cleaved downward, splitting the air with a soundless scream, then made contact. Through the flash of light, he was able to make out Gerald's final words.
'Goodbye'
SHIIING!
BOOM!
What followed the sound of eruption was a pillar of light from the point of impact, white-hot and searing. For a single second, the world itself seemed to pause. The now blackened mist surrounding the battlefield pulsed, then fractured. Shards of shadow broke like glass in every direction. The creature didn't scream at him this time. There was no time for pain, only obliteration. Its body and Gerald's were consumed instantly, reduced to drifting ash. No more blood, flesh, or bone. Just heat and memory.
Damon landed in a crouch at the center of it all, the katana still glowing faintly in his hand. Around him was silence. Before his eyes, a crater now spread where the battlefield had once stood. Its edges were scorched. The earth glared over as the land stood bare.
"We actually did it, huh?"
Lowering his gaze, he admired the scarlet blade in his hand as he noticed the faintest hint of a heartbeat within. He could tell he and the blade were completely one. Though he loved his family deeply, he had never felt a connection this strong before. The corner of his lips slowly rose as he envisioned the future ahead.