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The thought roared inside Kael's skull like a bell, beating louder than the thunder of his own pulse. His body twisted on instinct, but it was already hopeless.
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!
The air itself screamed as the bullet tore through it. He didn't even hear the gunshot first only the shrill whistle of velocity breaking the silence of the corridor. It was so fast the sound lagged behind, a razor slicing space before the echo could catch up.
His crystalline red eyes, wide with shock, caught the reflection: the gleam of spinning metal, polished and merciless. For a heartbeat, it was like staring into a mirror seeing himself, death, and inevitability all at once.
I'm going to die.
The realization struck colder than the wound about to come.
---
And then, from somewhere deep inside, a storm answered.
The core of him, once soaked in the essence of Champion-tier and Elite-tier Ghost Pokémon, erupted. All that stolen energy, raw, corrosive, infinite in its hunger, surged awake. His veins burned as if ice and fire rushed through them together.
[System Alert: Host in Critical Condition]
[Ghost-Energy Reserves: Emergency Surge Protocol Initiated]
Like lightning traveling down shattered wires, the essence exploded through his muscles. His body, broken and battered already, convulsed as the Ghost core forced one last act of defiance.
His leg muscles screamed, fibers tearing, blood spattering the ground in crimson streaks. Every cell was already at its breaking point, but the system wrung one last ounce of power from them.
It wasn't graceful. It wasn't pretty. It was survival.
BOOM!
The floor cracked under his sudden lunge. That desperate thrust, just centimeters, no more, saved his life.
The bullet that should have torn through his skull instead punched into his shoulder.
The impact was apocalyptic.
Metal spun like a drill bit from hell, shredding through skin, parting muscle like paper, cracking bone. The sound wasn't a gunshot anymore it was a sickening crunch of meat and steel meeting.
Kael staggered, a choked cry breaking from his throat. For the first time since awakening in this world, he had truly felt death's fangs bite down.
[Zamazenta's Heart (Fragmented): Passive Activated]
[Damage Mitigation: -50%]
[Threshold Reached: HP < 30% → Trait Triggered: Hundred Battles Survivor]
[Additional Mitigation: -25%]
It was as though unseen hands had slowed the bullet. Its spin dulled, its bite blunted. But even diminished, it dug deep, embedding into his shoulder, hot and hateful. Blood burst outward, spattering the corridor wall in thick arcs.
Kael's breath rattled. The muscles around the wound clenched, grinding against the foreign object now buried in him. His vision pulsed with black and red, system text flashing like warning sirens.
[Condition: Major Trauma (Shoulder)]
[Mobility: Reduced]
[Blood Loss: Accelerating]
But he was alive.
Alive — and staring straight at the man who had tried to end him.
---
The security captain lay sprawled on the floor, body shaking from pain and exhaustion. His face was pale, his lips blue, but his hand still clutched the pistol like it was salvation. His entire body was cracked and broken, but in those final moments, he had summoned the strength of every scarred veteran that had ever lived.
His single bullet had flown straighter than any before. It had been the culmination of his will, his fear, his desperation. His final defiance against the monster that had invaded his world.
And Kael had survived it.
Kael's lips curled into something caught between a grimace and a snarl. Pain throbbed in his shoulder, but hatred burned hotter.
The darkness in him swirled, thick and vile. [Ghost]-energy clustered in his palm, knitting itself into a sphere of writhing shadows. Negative flame crackled, veins of scarlet hate running through it.
He didn't even hesitate.
With a vicious flick of his arm, Kael hurled the orb.
It screamed through the air and struck Bert's body.
The result was immediate horrifyingly so.
There was no time for a scream. No last curse, no final prayer. The corrosive [Ghost]-flame devoured him. Flesh sagged, then dissolved, melting into foul-smelling sludge that hissed as it spread across the floor. In mere seconds, the captain of the security squadron was nothing more than a puddle.
---
The corridor erupted with another sound then — one even more terrible than the bullet or the blast.
A shriek.
Arbok.
The serpent had watched its partner, its master, its only bond in this cruel underground base, unravel into rot before its eyes. The sound it made was not natural. It was grief and rage twisted into noise, a banshee's wail trapped in a predator's throat.
Its pupils bled red.
Its body, already shredded from Kael's blows, convulsed with fresh energy born not of health but of fury. Muscles split, blood rained, but the colossal snake didn't care. It writhed, slammed itself against the walls, tail cracking stone as if the entire base should collapse to honor its grief.
Kael swayed on his feet. His shoulder was a furnace of pain, his leg screamed with every step, and his breath was ragged. The bullet still clinked as his flesh convulsed, pushing the slug outward until it finally rolled free and dropped to the ground with a metallic clink.
But his eyes never left Arbok.
A berserk opponent was dangerous, yes. But also predictable. And predictability could be killed.
---
Its body slammed forward like a living train, jaws unhinged wider than Kael thought possible, venom dripping in ropes from its fangs. Every instinct in its DNA demanded the same thing: crush, coil, consume.
Kael ducked, rolling to the side. The wind of its strike whipped across his face, carrying the stench of venom and blood.
He rose, fist tightening, and willed [Ghost]-energy into his knuckles. Dark fog spiraled upward, solidifying into a spectral gauntlet that hummed with corrosive power.
"[Shadow Punch]!"
His fist met Arbok's skull.
The impact cracked like thunder. Purple scales burst apart, shards raining like glass. Blood sprayed hot against his arm. The serpent's head jerked sideways, the full weight of its massive body rolling with it until it crashed against the corridor wall. The stone split under the impact.
Arbok writhed, screaming, but it wasn't finished.
Not yet.
Kael staggered backward, panting. His body shook. His shoulder burned. His leg barely held him up. But the fire in his chest only grew.
The serpent rose again.
Blood poured freely now from gashes across its hood, its tail, its fangs. And still it came. Its hood spread, patterns flashing in a deranged, broken rhythm, energy sparking erratically across its body.
It had lost its trainer. It had lost itself. All that remained was a beast with one last purpose: to drag Kael into the grave.
Kael felt the pulse in his own chest. He knew. This was the end.
He lifted his arms, every vein bulging as he forced the last reserves of energy into them.
[System Alert: Final Offensive Mode Engaged]
[Stamina: 8% Remaining]
[HP: Critical]
[Risk Assessment: Extreme]
His muscles ballooned, tearing and repairing in the same instant under the twin forces of [Fighting]-energy and [Ghost]-essence. Brown-red aura flared around his fists, searing the air.
Arbok launched again, mouth wide, fangs longer than swords, intent to bury them in his flesh.
Kael roared, the sound shaking the very corridor.
He thrust upward, meeting the strike head-on.
The world slowed.
Two forces, man and monster, ghost and serpent, rage and despair, collided.
The final clash began.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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