He didn't use a spell. It was an instinct. A burst of raw, unrefined energy that blasted me out of his body like a cannonball. I flew backward, slamming into a jagged rock wall with a wet *thwack*.
I landed in a heap, my form shredded and leaking essence.
[Warning: Critical Essence Loss.] [Status: Near Death.]
The scavenger stood up, panting. He looked at me with a mix of horror and disgust. He didn't even look like a human anymore; his eyes were bloodshot, his face pale.
"You're a parasite," he hissed, stepping toward me. "A real, honest-to-god shadow leech. I'm going to carve you into a thousand pieces and feed you to the Tower dogs."
He raised the blade. He was shaking, but he was determined.
I looked up at him—or rather, I sensed him. I didn't feel fear. Why would I? I'd felt the void. I'd felt the betrayal of Silas and the others. This guy was nothing.
*Do it,* I told him. *Kill me again.*
"Why aren't you running?" he asked, his voice cracking. "You're dying! You're literally melting into the floor! Why aren't you begging?"
"Because," I hissed, the sound vibrating through the stone, "I'm just getting started."
He didn't understand. He couldn't. He thought death was the end. He didn't know that in the Abyss Tower, death was the only currency that mattered.
"Die then!" he screamed, bringing the blade down in a vertical arc.
I didn't dodge. I opened myself up. I spread my shadow-body wide, welcoming the steel.
*Slice me. Break me. Give me more.*
The blade tore through me. Again. And again. He hacked at me in a frenzy, screaming with every strike. He thought he was winning. He thought he was erasing me.
But with every cut, I felt the 'Death Dividend' kicking in.
[Death Dividend Triggered.] [Absorbing Kinetic Energy...] [Absorbing Host Fear...] [Evolution Progress: 24%... 41%... 68%...]
I was gorging on him. Every time he killed me, I came back stronger. I was a loop of endless failure and sudden growth.
By the tenth strike, the scavenger was exhausted. He was leaning on his sword, chest heaving, sweat dripping off his chin onto my shredded remains.
"Why... won't... you... stay... dead?" he wheezed.
I didn't answer with words. I answered with a surge.
I didn't just reform; I expanded. I snapped outward like a black spring, wrapping around his wrist in a fraction of a second. The grip was cold. Absolute.
"What—"
I didn't let him finish. I squeezed. Not to kill—not yet—but to pin. I felt the bone in his wrist creak.
He tried to pull away, but I was like industrial glue. I started to climb, my shadow-tendrils weaving into the fabric of his sleeve, locking him in place.
"Let go! Let go of me!"
I dragged him down. I forced him to his knees, my mass sliding up his arm to wrap around his throat. I could feel his pulse racing, the terror pumping through his veins like a drug.
I could kill him now. I could drain him dry and move on. But then, I heard it.
*Clink. Clink. Clink.*
Footsteps. Not the clumsy stomp of a scavenger, but the measured, rhythmic pace of someone who owned the place.
I froze. The scavenger stopped struggling, his eyes widening as he looked past me.
"Oh, look at that," a female voice drifted through the air. It was smooth, mocking, and carried a hint of genuine curiosity. "A Shadow Seed that actually fights back. How rare."
I turned my gaze. A woman stood at the entrance of the cavern. She wore leather armor that looked like it had seen a hundred battles, and a massive blade was slung across her back. Her eyes were sharp, scanning me not as a monster, but as a curiosity.
She stepped closer, the heels of her boots clicking on the stone. She didn't look scared. She looked bored.
"You've got a lot of nerve, little ink blot," she said, stopping just a few feet away. She tilted her head, her gaze landing on the terrified scavenger I was currently strangling. "And you've got a very loud pet."
She reached for the hilt of her sword, and the air in the room suddenly felt ten times heavier.
"Now," she whispered, "do I kill you both, or do you have something interesting to tell me?"