I felt it. Something had fundamentally changed inside me. Through the haze of pain and blood, I knew I'd crossed a threshold. The raw power surging through my veins was unlike anything I'd experienced before—wild, untamed, but unmistakably mine.
"Consummate Inner Strength Grandmaster," I whispered, testing the words on my bloodied lips.
Warren's face twisted with disbelief. Despite his earlier attacks, despite the damage he'd inflicted, I was still conscious. Still fighting. And now, impossibly stronger.
"You're delusional," he spat, regaining his composure. "Your golden core is fractured. You're as good as crippled."
I pushed myself to my feet, each movement sending jolts of pain through my body. But beneath the pain was power—vast and growing with each passing second. My chaotic body was adapting, stabilizing, integrating the breakthrough.
"Perhaps," I said, my voice steadying. "But crippled or not, I'm going to kill you."
