Rudy barely registered the movement.

  One moment, Nourma was talking, and the next, the construct was moving. That white bone sledgehammer screamed through the air with dark flames licking its frame as it swung in a devastating arc aimed directly at Reyana.

  "REYANA!" Rudy screamed as he pushed… pushed his body, pushed his madra, pushed every skill and ability he possessed forward to intercept.

  White flames burst from his skin, and his flesh began to take on the familiar ashen sheen, heat radiating outward in waves that made the air shimmer.

  And in that crystallized moment of perception, Rudy knew he wouldn't reach in time.

  Nourma was too fast.

  Gritting his teeth, Rudy chose to put his faith in Reyana, in her abilities, her training, her survival instincts that had kept her alive this long. He pushed his will deeper into his armor, the soulbound artifact that had bonded to his essence through blood and battle.

  He reached into that connection desperately, calling for aid while madra flooded the channels carved into steel and leather.

  Rudy let out a furious roar that made his throat bleed and swung his greatsword in a sweeping arc that pulled every muscle in his back.

  "FACE ME, MONSTER!"

  The ability [Warrior's Call] triggered—albeit a weaker version than he'd used before. This was the third time Rudy had forcefully activated the skill without proper cooldown, and he could feel the armor screaming in protest. Hairline fractures spread across the chest plate. Tears formed along stress points where essence channels couldn't handle the overload.

  Later. Deal with it later. If there is a later.

  Rudy's call latched onto Nourma like chains wrapping around Nourma.

  The effect worked. For half a heartbeat, as fate itself forced the monster to acknowledge the challenge.

  Rudy saw Nourma's skeletal face shift. Empty charcoal eyes gleamed with something that might have been delight. The enemy pivoted to face him, compelled by the skill, and Rudy's greatsword sailed in a perfect arc toward its exposed chest.

  Then Rudy noticed.

  Nourma's arms were rising to meet his blade. Both hands come up in a catching motion.

  Empty hands.

  The bone sledgehammer was missing.

  Horror dawned cold and certain in Rudy's chest.

  Oh shit…

  Nourma's hands caught the greatsword mid-swing with both palms. The blade bit deep… razor-sharp edge carving through corrupted flesh, splashing dark blood across the blade. But the cut wasn't deep enough.

  The greatsword was locked firmly in Nourma's grip, and Rudy heard a sound that made his heart stop.

  THUD.

  The wet, meaty sound of impact. The sharp crack of breaking bones. A figure was launched through the air like a ragdoll hurled by giants.

  Reyana hit the rooftop and tumbled. Gravel tore through her palms, shredding her gloves and parts of her armor. Her head bounced off the concrete. Pain exploded across her entire left side… ribs cracking, shoulder dislocating, organs bruising from the sheer force of impact.

  "REYANA!" he croaked, and immediately heard the sounds of glass shattering.

  "YOU SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON YOUR ENEMY, YOUNG WARRIOR." Nourma's voice echoed smoothly and deeply, almost gentle in its admonishment, and a moment later, Rudy coughed out blood as agony flared through his gut.

  His eyes snapped down and refocused through the haze of pain.

  Nourma had ducked low during that half-second of distraction and closed the distance to arm's length.

  Arm's length? Rudy's thought came sluggish, disconnected. When did it get so—

  He coughed up more blood, the taste of copper flooding his mouth, and stumbled backward.

  Nourma retracted its hand from where it had punched through Rudy's abdomen, straight through reinforced armor and ashen-enhanced flesh, like neither offered more resistance than wet paper.

  Nourma lifted its gore-slicked hand. In its grasp were pieces of Rudy's insides, intestines, bits of organ tissue, blood dripping between bone fingers.

  Rudy's brain refused to process what he was seeing.

  "YOU HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF A WARRIOR." Nourma's tone carried genuine assessment, like a master evaluating a promising student. "BUT IT SEEMS YOU HAVEN'T ADOPTED A WARRIOR'S MIND YET."

  Nourma waved its hand almost casually, flinging gore and viscera away. With another gesture, the bone sledgehammer reappeared in its grip.

  Rudy clutched the wound with both hands, trying desperately to keep his insides from becoming outsides. Felt warm blood pulsing between his fingers with each heartbeat.

  Nourma rested the sledgehammer on the ground and placed both hands atop the handle in a posture that was almost contemplative. "I WAS ONCE A WARRIOR," the construct said, and those empty eyes somehow conveyed memory. "YOUNG LIKE YOU. AND LIKE YOU, I MET SOMEONE I HAD NO HOPE OF EVER DEFEATING."

  Rudy took deep breaths and forced himself to rouse his madra, circulating it throughout his body according to the patterns Salvatore had drilled into him.

  Asuras don't break easily. The mantra echoed in his mind. They bend. They adapt. They endure.

  Rudy chanted it internally while forcing his body to heal, to adapt.

  He had no idea why Nourma was talking so much, but for once in his life, Rudy was content to let the monster monologue. The more time it gave him, the more he could prepare, could survive—

  Then Rudy noticed his status.

  His stats, abilities, cultivation path, and mantle should have put him into an elevated combat state—enhanced strength, increased regeneration, and pain suppression. All the benefits that kept mantle bearers fighting.

  Instead, everything was worse. Significantly worse. Like someone had applied debuffs that stacked on top of existing injuries.

  The aura skill. Understanding clicked. Jin had said this monster had no natural aura, but according to the status information, Nourma possessed a skill called Desecrated, something that functioned similarly—draining stamina, health, and essence while reducing healing effectiveness.

  Rudy was standing in the aura effective zone, and every second he delayed made him weaker.

  Gritting his teeth, Rudy knew he had to make a decision. Now.

  He stood straight despite every nerve screaming. Squared his shoulders as white flames burst from his hands in twin pillars of searing light, and he pushed them toward the wound in his abdomen.

  “Argh,” Rudy grunted in pain but held on as flames cauterized the flesh with the sizzle of meat on hot iron. Waves of intense pain crashed over him so overwhelmingly that his vision went almost black around the edges before snapping back to focus through sheer stubborn refusal to pass out.

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  Rudy felt his mantle responding to defiance; his Asura path likewise recognized the choice to keep fighting and rewarded that determination with power.

  Nourma watched, and its skeletal features shifted into something approaching delight. It took a step backward, hefting the sledgehammer and pointing it at Rudy like a salute between warriors.

  "GOOD," Nourma said, and genuine approval colored the word. "NOW SHOW ME YOUR METTLE!"

  Rudy's eyes traveled past Nourma to see that his greatsword was well out of reach, and he had zero doubt Nourma would turn him into paste this time if he didn’t give the next attack his all. He was dead.

  He gave a quick scan of the rooftop and didn’t find Reyana anywhere. Focusing on Nourma, he brought out the glaive Jin had recently passed to him.

  The Bloodmoon Glaive materialized in his grip, and Rudy felt the weapon's hunger immediately. The cursed artifact wanted blood, wanted flesh, wanted to feast on whatever it could reach.

  Yeah, me too.

  x_______________________x

  ? 【 BLOODMOON GLAIVE 】?

  ? RARITY: 4-STAR EPIC

  ? TYPE: Weapon - Polearm, Glaive-Class

  ? STATE: Recovered - Corruption Traces Partially Sealed

  ? MANUFACTURER: Unknown - Cult Forge Designation: 'Scarlet Circle'

  ? [ATTRIBUTES] ?

  ? Essence Conduction - TIER V

  └─ Channels wielder's essence and affinity through the blade edge, amplifying cutting force and allowing extreme elemental infusion.

  ? Blood Resonance - TIER IV

  └─ Weapon grows stronger temporarily with each kill. Absorbs trace amounts of life force from fallen enemies.

  ? Durability - TIER IV

  └─ Reinforced polearm structure. Resistant to fracturing under extreme impact.

  ? Corrupted Residue - ACTIVE

  └─ Traces of blood-aspected rituals remain embedded in the weapon's core. May influence wielder's aggression if exposed for prolonged periods.

  ? [ABILITIES] ?

  ? Crimson Harvest

  └─ Successful kills restore 8% of the wielder's vitality and 5% essence. Effect triggers once per target.

  ? Moonlight Cleave

  └─ Under moonlight or low-light conditions, attacks gain +25% reach and leave bleeding wounds that resist healing.

  ? Blood Rage

  └─ When the wielder drops below 30% health, the weapon grants +40% attack speed and +20% damage for 15 seconds. Cooldown: 120 seconds.

  ? [TECHNICAL DETAILS] ?

  ? Weight: 4.8 kg

  ? Length: 210 cm (full length), 85 cm (blade)

  ? Material: Bloodsteel alloy, moonsilver edge inlay, corrupted essence channels, bone-wrapped grip

  ? Detected Residue: Multiple blood signatures - purification recommended before extended use

  ? [VALUE ESTIMATION] ?

  ? Market Value: 1,820,000 - 5,200,000 Zens

  ? Effective Use: ORDER III-IV combatants

  ? Recommended Handling: Cleanse corruption weekly. Avoid use during full moons without mental fortitude preparation. Excellent for sustained combat specialists.

  The glaive thirsts. Feed it battle, and it will sing. Starve it, and it will whisper.

  x_______________________x

  Getting into a stabbing stance, Rudy exhaled a deep breath, and his heart started beating like war drums. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. THUMP-THUMP.

  The rhythm grew louder and louder until even Nourma tilted its head.

  The first step in the seven steps of the first stage was called 'The Heart That Refuses Ruin.'

  Rudy hated his cultivation path; instead of manuals, the scriptures were full of idioms, elusive phrases, and flowery language that frustrated him to no end. All he wanted was for someone to tell him what the hell he was supposed to do.

  But in this moment, with his guts held together by cauterized flesh and white flames, Rudy felt what it meant.

  He knew.

  "An Asura does not fight because he is strong." Rudy's voice came out rough, broken, but carrying absolute conviction. He channeled madra into the glaive, and the weapon ignited with crimson light that mixed with his white flames. "He becomes strong because he refuses to fall."

  “THEN LET YOUR WEAPON SPEAK!” Nourma said.

  They both blurred.

  The bone sledgehammer met the blood-red glaive with a sound like thunder cracking stone. Shockwaves rippled outward from the impact, shattering windows in the building below and sending debris flying.

  Rudy knew instantly he was no match for Nourma in raw strength. The feedback from that single clash made his arms go numb, bones creaking under pressure they weren't designed to withstand.

  So he didn't try to match power with power.

  Instead, Rudy pushed everything he had into the deflection—not blocking but redirecting. He used the momentum from Nourma's overwhelming strike to spin, circling the construct's right flank while the sledgehammer sailed past where he'd been standing.

  His right arm had gone completely numb from the feedback, and Rudy shifted his grip mid-spin, using his left hand to grasp the glaive's shaft and transition into a thrust aimed at Nourma's exposed back.

  Nourma moved with frightening speed. Its weapon came around in a low swing upward.

  “You will bend!” Rudy roared, and without stopping his thrust, Rudy shifted slightly as his right arm burst into white flames that formed a gauntlet of compressed madra, and Rudy punched at the incoming sledgehammer with everything he had left.

  At the same moment, his glaive pierced deep but at an awkward angle into Nourma's side. Not a killing blow. Not even close. But it was something.

  His fist collided with the bone weapon.

  The explosion forced Rudy backward, but he held his ground. His arm was shattered and mangled as the gauntlet of flames dissipated, and his concentration broke under the agony.

  But he'd managed to push the sledgehammer off course.

  His body turned fully ashen, and Rudy planted his feet and pulled on every reserve he possessed. His skill [Ashen One] was fully charged from the accumulated damage, and he unleashed it.

  The glaive still embedded in Nourma's side became the focus point for everything Rudy had.

  He stabbed deeper with an explosive power that cracked the rooftop beneath his feet. The cursed weapon pierced through corrupted flesh and bone, and the lifesteal effect activated, draining vitality from Nourma and channeling it back into Rudy.

  Not enough to heal completely. But enough for Rudy to fuel what came next.

  Nourma faltered backward, actually grunting in pain as the cursed weapon inflicted its curse, and the sustained drain started affecting even an ORDER IV.

  Rudy let go of the glaive's shaft, leaving it embedded like a stake through a vampire's heart. Planted his feet again with a stomp that sent spiderwebs radiating through concrete.

  All his madra, every drop of Asura essence circulating through his cultivation path—gathered at his left arm. Pure white flames shrouded the limb until it burned with light bright enough to cast shadows at noon.

  With the weight of a Colossus behind the blow, Rudy punched the glaive's protruding shaft.

  BOOM!

  The glaive punched through, blasting a fist-sized hole completely through Nourma's torso. Intense lifesteal flooded back into Rudy—so much vitality that his damaged body didn't know what to do with it all. He funneled everything into rage, into power, into the refusal to fall that defined his path.

  His fist continued traveling past the shaft and landed directly on Nourma's chest.

  BOOM!

  Explosions of white flames rippled outward in concentric rings. Shockwaves strong enough to spread spiderwebs cracked throughout the entire building. Something buzzed in Rudy's whisperlink, but he was too focused.

  The flames cleared, and Rudy saw Nourma still standing exactly where it had been.

  Much to Rudy's horror and disbelief, the construct hadn't moved a muscle. Its eyes had burst from the earlier attack's pressure—empty sockets weeping dark blood. The thing bled viscous blood from everywhere, wounds covering its body.

  The attack had dealt massive damage. Rudy could see that.

  Yet somehow it had tanked everything.

  How? How is it still—

  Then Rudy remembered the other skills from Jin's analysis.

  o________________o

  ? Fleshbound Frame: Damage taken converted to kinetic energy.

  ? Ossuary Cataclysm: Damage received fuels charges for catastrophic area attack.

  o________________o

  Oh no. Oh fuck, I just—

  Nourma raised one leg and stomped.

  Time seemed to slow as understanding crashed over Rudy like arctic water.

  The construct was triggering the stored damage. Everything Rudy had just inflicted… every punch, every stab, every explosion was about to come back amplified and released in a single devastating area attack.

  Rudy tried to move as he tried to do anything in his power.

  His body refused to respond.

  Then he noticed a foreign essence spreading around him.

  Shadows erupted beneath his feet like geysers of liquid darkness. Reyana emerged halfway from the shadow-space, one hand grabbing Rudy's ankle.

  She pulled, dragging him down into darkness with her.

  They fell through shadow-space, that nauseating non-place between reality and void where Reyana's abilities let her travel. Rudy's stomach lurched as up became down and left became inside-out.

  They dropped out of the shadows one floor below, hitting concrete hard enough to bruise.

  Just in time to see the ceiling explode above them.

  The rooftop detonated like someone had planted demolition charges across every support beam. Concrete and steel and rebar erupted upward and outward in a sphere of destruction that consumed everything within thirty feet of where Nourma stood.

  The shockwave reached them even through the floor—a pressure wave so intense it threw both of them backward into the far wall. Debris rained down through the massive hole now connecting this floor to the rooftop. Dust and smoke filled the air until Rudy couldn't see three feet in front of his face.

  His ears rang from the explosion. Blood dripped from his nose. His shattered arm hung uselessly.

  But he was alive.

  Rudy turned his head. The movement had sent fresh agony through his neck, and he found Reyana beside him. She'd taken the brunt of their impact with the wall, positioning her body between Rudy and the collision.

  Her eyes met his through the settling dust.

  "You're welcome," she rasped.

  "Thanks," Rudy managed and then with a conflicted expression he said. “I think, this battle might be too much for us.”

  You realizing that now?” Reyana said with a slight chuckle. "You did good, I suppose it's my turn to buy you time to heal."

  Above them, through the massive hole in the ceiling, something moved in the smoke.

  A tall silhouette, lit by the fires among burning debris.

  Nourma wasn't done.

  ~~~

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