Maren leaned harder, grinding the blade's point against the four links Hajin braced across his forearm just above his chest. Corruption chewed through the sleeve while the stalled tip hunted another gap, making every second of that brace cost skin.
'Hold, damn it, he only needs one inch and my heart's sitting right there.'
He kept his elbow locked and dragged his feet underneath him, one scrape of heel at a time.
"What are you using?" Maren snarled, glaring at the chain instead of the blood gathering under his enemy's lip.
The next surge sank into the etched grooves, and the links swallowed it without leaving a single drop behind.
"Something you keep feeding," he wheezed, digging his heels against the sloping rim behind his hips, "so go on, keep feeding it."
Maren shoved down harder, certain that one more heartbeat of pressure would turn stubborn resistance into failure.
"A gutter rat cannot stop my blade!"
