HUFF!
Frederick let out a heavy breath as he stared at the tip of the mutant's tentacle just a hair's breadth away from his face.
He had barely escaped its reach.
"Fuck, I can't do this anymore," he cursed, backing away quickly.
Should he retreat now?
The question lingered in his mind.
The plan was for him to keep the mutant distracted so Kyoji could make his move. But Kyoji had also told him to retreat once he couldn't hold on anymore. So should he fall back now?
He was already breathing heavily, and the space between him and the mutant's strikes was getting smaller and smaller. The dodges were getting riskier by the second.
Retreating definitely sounded like the smartest option right now.
But just as he was about to decide what to do, he noticed something.
From the corner of his eye, he spotted a figure moving through the shadows, slipping between debris and edging closer to the mutant.
It was Kyoji.
He was getting into position, preparing to strike.
"Just a little more," Frederick muttered to himself as he made his decision.
He just had to hold out for a little longer—to give Kyoji the chance to act.
Steeling his nerves, he charged back toward the mutant's tentacles, diving into yet another dangerous dance with the monster.
Meanwhile, Kyoji silently crept through the ruined remains of the temple, his body low as he weaved between fallen stones and cracked walls, getting closer with each step.
Floating quietly beside him was a blob of dark, thick mutant blood.
Finally, he got close enough. He crouched behind a large piece of debris, his expression cold and emotionless.
"Here goes nothing," he whispered in a low voice, stepping out from behind the cover as he charged toward the mutant's side.
The mutant, still locked in a fight with Frederick and focused on its breakthrough, barely noticed Kyoji's approach. But Kyoji was already making his move.
"Time Dome," he muttered.
A transparent dome instantly formed over his head, spreading out and locking the area inside.
Suddenly, Kyoji's perception of time shifted. Everything outside the dome slowed down—dust froze in midair, Frederick's movements became sluggish—but inside, time was speeding up.
Kyoji himself wasn't affected by the time acceleration. He wasn't affected by his own time control. But that didn't matter. That wasn't the plan.
He gave a silent command, and the floating blood drifted toward him, forming in his hand. The mass twisted and sharpened, taking shape as a dark, glistening spear made entirely of blood.
Without wasting a second, he hurled it upward with all his strength.
The spear flew fast, boosted by the accelerated time inside the dome, tearing through the air like a bullet.
But Kyoji wasn't finished.
A sliver of blood, no thicker than a thread, unraveled from the flying spear and spiraled backward, wrapping tightly around his forearm.
Then, with the spear's incredible momentum, the thread yanked Kyoji off the ground—pulling him forward and launching him into the air like a blood-fueled slingshot.
The moment Kyoji activated Time Dome, the Dominator Mutant felt the shift.
It slowly turned its head, its massive glowing eyes locking onto Kyoji midair.
It was beyond furious.
Seeing this, Frederick immediately pulled back—just as they had planned. His part was done. Now it was up to Kyoji.
Whether he succeeded or failed, Frederick didn't want to be around to find out.
But before leaving completely, curiosity made him turn around for one last look—and what he saw made his eyes widen slightly.
Kyoji had used the blood spear as a method to launch himself into the air. It was reckless. It was crazy. But it worked... mostly.
Frederick noticed the problem immediately.
The spear's trajectory had gone off course.
Kyoji hadn't accounted for the shift after being pulled up by it. The angle had changed. The spear wasn't going where he expected.
Frederick couldn't help but worry. Without the spear, Kyoji wouldn't be able to land his attack. But just then, something strange and unexpected happened.
As he was wondering what Kyoji would do next—how he planned on recovering the spear—Kyoji suddenly stretched his hand out toward it.
To Frederick's surprise, the solid spear suddenly dissolved into a mist that floated back toward Kyoji.
"What the fuck?" Frederick's mind exploded in confusion as questions slammed into his head one after another.
But Kyoji, unaware of the shocked spectator, was focused.
Too focused.
Any mistake now, and he was done for.
Spreading his hand, the blood mist curled into his palm. With another command, it solidified into a spear once more.
Then, stabilizing himself as much as he could in midair, Kyoji took aim.
And with everything he had, he threw it—straight at the mutant's eye, which had just locked onto him, tracking his movement.
The spear moved at incredible speed, warping through the Time Dome's accelerated time, heading directly for the eye.
The mutant instantly sensed the danger coming. All of its tentacles, now free since Frederick had retreated, moved to block the spear—but it was too late.
PUI!
The spear hit its mark, driving halfway into one of the mutant's eyes before stopping. But that was enough.
ROAR!
The mutant let out a furious roar, filled with pain and rage. Its energy, which had been focused internally, suddenly burst out in a violent surge.
That was the sign—Kyoji had broken its focus.
Kyoji didn't care about the roar. At that moment, he was already falling from the sky, having lost all momentum. He hit the ground with a heavy thud and rolled to break his fall. He could already feel his legs go numb from the impact, but he didn't care.
He had succeeded.
He had broken the mutant's breakthrough.
Hearing that painful roar was enough to confirm that the mutant's internal energy was starting to wreak havoc from within.
Meanwhile, Frederick—still frozen in shock—was snapped out of his daze by the mutant's roar. Realizing he was still too close, he quickly turned and began retreating fast, pushing away the questions about Kyoji's strange ability for now.
The mutant's energy surge didn't last long, though. It quickly tried to regain focus, attempting to suppress the effects of its interrupted breakthrough.
But Kyoji wasn't going to let that happen.
He could still feel the connection to the blood spear lodged in the mutant's eye. With a single command, the solid spear dissolved into mist again and started burrowing deeper into the wound it had created.
Then, with another command, the mist—now inside the mutant—solidified into dozens of tiny blood spikes that stabbed through the sensitive tissues within the eye.
ROAR!
The mutant roared again, even louder than before, as pain tore through its eye socket. Another violent burst of energy exploded out from its body.
Kyoji stared, his eyes cold and emotionless.
From his calculations, this would be enough.
With its focus broken twice and the internal injuries that followed, there was no way the mutant could resume its breakthrough—not anytime soon.
Without hesitation, Kyoji turned and started retreating as fast as he could.
Mission successful. There was no reason to stay any longer.
But Kyoji had made one miscalculation.
He underestimated how crazy mutants could be.
He thought the mutant would try to suppress its injuries and control the energy tearing it apart. But instead, the mutant chose violence.
It chose revenge over its own survival.
Kyoji's senses suddenly flared. Danger was coming from behind.
He didn't need to turn around—he knew something was coming.
"Crimson Arsenal," he muttered under his breath.
All his pores opened up, blood rushing out as a mist that condensed into a shield behind him.
Just then, it hit.
BAAM!
Something slammed into his back with terrifying force.
His blood shield shattered on impact as the force continued straight into his spine. Kyoji could swear he heard his back break.
His body flew through the air like a ragdoll, crashing into one of the temple's walls, shattering it before falling to the ground.
Debris rained down on him.
"Argh," Kyoji gritted his teeth through the pain.
His whole body was going numb. He couldn't move. His consciousness started to fade.
Was he going to die again?
That question crossed his mind.
From the corner of his eye, he saw the mutant slowly limping toward him, growling in rage. It wasn't in good shape either.
Its skin and veins were tearing with every step, but it was still determined to take Kyoji down with it.
Kyoji couldn't move. He was broken, trapped—and the darkness was closing in.
Then, he lost consciousness.
Darkness consumed him.