As a result of Michael's duel with the General, the walls of the cave continued to crumble. Being careful to dodge the deadly projectiles, he moved deeper into the abysmal darkness with the alien eagerly following.

It became so dark that had it not been for Perfect Vision, he wouldn't have been able to see where he was going.

"Just die, you annoying cockroach!" The General roared; the fact that it was struggling against a mere Expert annoyed it to no end.

'Even a thousand years of torture will not be enough to satiate my anger!' The being thought, having its judgment clouded by fury.

Slowly, wounds began to accumulate on Michael's body, slowing him down, yet he didn't show any reaction to the pain.

At some point, when his vision began to turn blurry, a panel appeared before his eyes. The feeling of fatigue and pain instantly dispersed, being replaced by power that no Expert should have ever been able to wield.

[Technique: Warlock]

[Rank: Epic]

[Level: 1]

[Description: Going beyond a simple Berserker, now each wound you accumulate will cause more of your mind to be infused with madness, fueling your body with power.]

Without hesitation, he made full use of the technique.

[Warlock activated]

His crimson eyes began to shine brighter, with his attributes massively boosted.

At this moment in time it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he felt like the strongest Expert to exist.

"DIE!" The alien exclaimed, going for the kill.

Yet to its bewilderment, the strike that should have killed Michael didn't connect. Moving faster than before, he got out of harm's way by a hair's breadth.

"This is one useful technique." Michael mused, a smile spreading across his face. Now each wound that had slowed him down fueled him instead.

"Playtime over!" With gritted teeth, the General raised its left hand, causing every single piece of debris around them to shoot toward Michael like bullets.

'Even with the use of Dash and Blink, coming out unscathed is impossible.' He analyzed instantly, making a decision.

Swush!

Dozens of injuries appeared on his body, shallow and deep scratches drawing blood.

Satisfied with its performance, the alien allowed the projectiles to halt. It was by no means an expert in human biology, but it knew that the human before it had lost too much blood.

"Don't think that I will let you die so easily. You will tell me how you got to learn of our name." The General spoke as a matter of fact.

Seeing that the alien was underestimating him, Michael couldn't help but scoff. "No matter the species, you aliens are all foolish creatures. It's high time you learned the consequences of going against humankind."

"Empty words of a broken man." The alien shook its head, certain that Michael was bluffing.

Yet a doubt appeared in its heart, stopping it from moving forward. The human had taken many injuries and was severely overmatched, so why was he still standing unfazed?

Taking a deep breath, Michael waited a few more seconds for Dash's cooldown to end.

"Bear witness to our might."

[Dash activated]

Reaching speeds that the General didn't expect, Michael pounced on it with deadly intent.

BOOM!

Taken by surprise from the increase in force, the alien was flung to the side, colliding with the cave's wall.

"Why is he faster?!" Unwilling to lose to a human, the monster commanded the nearby debris to cut Michael mercilessly. Yet with each injury he sustained, he became stronger.

Slash!

With a vertical slice, he severed the left hand of the General.

"How? HOW? HOW?!" Confused and furious, it intensified its attacks to the limit. The plan of torturing Michael was out the window; now the alien was fighting for its life!

"It's meaningless!" Michael proclaimed, assaulting the being with full force.

By now, the tide of the battle had turned. Despite the alien's best efforts, Michael wasn't slowed down by his injuries, being fueled instead.

"Even if you somehow become stronger after being hurt, you have to feel pain!" The alien reasoned. "How is it that you are still standing?!"

Looking down at the bug under its foot, Michael's chest rose slightly as he chuckled.

"Didn't I say it already? Humankind is not to be played with. You are simply reaping what you sow."

"..."

The being remained speechless, unable to retort.

Crush!

Without hesitation, Michael stomped on its head, killing it for good.

Now with the threat gone, he had to assess his condition.

"My left arm feels numb, my right is broken, I am barely holding Devil's Tongue, my shoulder is dislocated, my ribs have been turned to mush—"

He sighed in dejection. He had yet to reunite with his people, and there were surely more Generals to deal with. He might have survived one battle, but the next would be a death sentence.

"Such… a drag." He complained weakly, glancing at his soul weapon.

"Why are you so quiet? You were pretty certain that I was going to die just a little while ago."

Devil's Tongue remained silent.

"Whatever." Shaking his head, Michael began to slowly limp to the exit.

He had to hurry; he was lucky to be alive, but the same couldn't be said about the crew.

"M—Michael?"

Before being able to take several steps, he heard his name being called out. Raising his head, he glanced upwards to the light illuminating the exit.

There he made out several familiar silhouettes peeking at him from above.

While they were bathed in light, he was shrouded in the abysmal darkness concealing most of his wounded features.

Ava, the one who had called out his name, froze upon seeing his condition. There wasn't a part of his body that wasn't covered in blood. Even more surprising was the corpse that lay a few meters behind him. There was no mistaking it… The corpse of a General.

The others around her understandably doubted their vision.

"Everybody alright?" In the end, Michael was the one who broke the silence.

"Y—Yes." Ava answered sheepishly.

Weakly shifting his gaze to Alice, Michael asked. "The Generals?"

"...Dead." She replied slowly.

"Good." Michael closed his eyes, heaving a sigh of relief.

Thud

At that moment the last traces of adrenaline left his body, causing him to collapse on the spot.

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