Michael and everyone else stared in shock as the old man swayed.

The elder gripped his staff tightly, but another wet, violent cough ripped from his throat. More black blood splattered across the mirrorlike sea.

Michael blinked.

That was not normal.

He had expected the Domain to crush them but he had never imagined the old man would suddenly weaken like this. His first thought was the natural backlash from forcing a Rank four Domain inside Hell's suppressive rules. But he quickly dismissed that.

No. It did not add up.

The old man was experienced. Someone who had lived long enough to reach Rank four would know exactly how far he could push himself. He had not entered this Domain blindly.

Something else was at work.

Another cough wracked the old man's body. This time he staggered two steps, the surface beneath him rippling outward in unstable waves. His aura flickered again, breaking like a cracked lantern struggling against the wind.

Michael's eyes narrowed.

Then a thought struck him.

His spear.

The Venomfang Spear.

He replayed the moment of contact in his mind. Even though the old man had later blocked the strike that followed Phase Shift, the spear had still touched his spatial barrier.

And Venomfang was not a normal weapon.

Even the Awakener system marked it with a dangerous appraisal thanks to its nature. It was capable of producing extremely potent poison.

Rank three creatures needed extraordinary rank gear to properly assist themselves. Venomfang was at the peak of extraordinary rank. That level of poison could, perhaps, potentially hurt even a Rank four, especially one who was already tearing himself apart by forcefully unleashing a Domain.

Michael realized the truth.

The Domain itself was accelerating the poison.

The old man seemed to finally understand something as well.

His hand trembled as he pressed it against his chest. He sent his senses inward, tracing his veins and meridians. His face grew darker with each passing second.

The Rank four elder coughed again. More black blood dripped from the corner of his lips. His Domain wavered. The mirror sea beneath their feet cracked, light flickering through the surface.

The old man's eyes, previously sharp with murderous intent, now widened in disbelief and fury.

"Poison… from you?"

His gaze snapped to Michael.

Michael did not respond but his body, now able to move, was already in a stance.

The elder snarled, voice trembling with wrath and confusion.

"What kind of spear is that? How is its poison so potent? Even suppressed, this should not be possible."

His fingers trembled around the staff.

He staggered again.

The Domain dimmed visibly.

Waves of pressure lessened, giving the undead a momentary breath.

Michael could see it now. The old man was not only fighting them. He was fighting the poison ravaging his body from the inside.

And because he had opened his Domain, it was killing him faster.

A slow, dawning realization settled in Michael's chest.

Maybe they could win.

The old man spat another mouthful of dark blood onto the sea. His aura shook violently.

"You dare poison me… you insignificant brat…"

The Domain cracked again.

And for the first time since the fight began,

the old man looked afraid.

The mirror sea trembled.

The old man's Domain fractured again, cracks of pale light splitting across the surface like shattered glass.

Ghost felt the pressure weaken by a fraction. His mandibles clicked, a sharp screech bursting from him as he lunged forward again.

Beginning steadied himself, stone muscles tightening as the invisible weight lifted from his shoulders. He took one step, then another, then hurled his entire massive frame at the elder.

Lily, swaying, bleeding, half delirious, still forced herself upright. Her mouth opened and closed with effort as she tried to ready her devour ability again.

Even the ants behind Ghost moved with renewed vigor.

The old man's feet dragged lightly across the mirror sea. His eyes twitched. His grip trembled. His staff, once steady as a pillar of reality, now shook violently.

Another burst of black blood erupted from his lips.

The Domain rippled, then shattered.

The illusion broke apart like fog under sunlight.

The mirror ocean dissolved. The sky brightened. The frozen plains reformed beneath their feet. The suffocating pressure vanished in an instant.

Everyone gasped as air rushed back into their lungs.

Ruel stumbled, nearly collapsing.

Varun steadied himself, eyes wide in disbelief.

The demonic supernaturals, who had been preparing to strike at Michael the moment he weakened, froze where they stood, suddenly unsure whether they were witnessing victory or imminent death.

The old man's knees bent as he landed back on the real battlefield. His chest heaved. His aura flickered like a dying flame.

Michael stared at him.

Even with the Domain gone, even with strength returning to everyone, the old man should still have been terrifying.

A Rank four, no matter how wounded, was not supposed to look like this.

But the poison was eating him alive.

Ghost landed first.

His enormous foreleg hammered down at the old man.

The elder swung his staff and diverted the blow, but this time the barrier shook, bending inward.

Beginning arrived from the opposite side, fist thundering toward the elder's ribs.

The old man stepped back sharply, but not fast enough.

CRACK.

Beginning's knuckles grazed his side. The old man recoiled, blood spraying as the poison flared wildly from the open flesh.

He hissed, clutching his ribs as the darkness spread along his skin.

"You… cough… actually dare push me this far?" he snarled.

A roar came from behind him.

Lily came from the left as her massive shadow fell over him.

The ants circled like predators.

Prince stepped through the air, five new shadows forming behind him.

For the first time, the Rank four elder was completely surrounded.

Both sides looked equal now,

but the old man was the one being driven back.

Ghost crashed in again, his foreleg smashing into a spatial wall that bent inward like soft metal.

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