The figure wearing Raze's body floated down to the destroyed street, crimson eyes sweeping across the devastation with expression that mixed amusement and contempt. Power radiated from it in waves, presence so overwhelming that reality itself seemed to bend in acknowledgment.

"Fragment," the layered voice said conversationally, speaking to no one in particular. "Only a fragment of what I once was, diluted through this weak vessel. And yet..."

It touched ground, feet settling onto cracked cobblestones with gentleness that belied the power contained within. Then it took one step forward.

Thud.

The sound wasn't loud, barely more than the whisper of a foot meeting stone. But both Gunn and Alex felt it reverberate through their bodies like someone had struck a massive drum inside their chests. The vibration traveled through bone and muscle, bypassing physical defense to touch something deeper.

Their cultivation bases screamed warnings, every instinct developed through years of training recognizing threat on a level that transcended normal combat. This wasn't Master rank power or divine blessing, this was something fundamentally wrong with existence itself.

Neither could react.

Their bodies locked up completely, not from paralysis technique or binding authority but from pure overwhelming presence. Like prey animals freezing when an apex predator enters their territory, every survival instinct demanding absolute stillness.

Then the figure disappeared.

No blur of motion, no activation of movement technique, just instant transition from one location to another. It appeared behind them simultaneously, standing equidistant from both Gunn and Alex with one hand raised casually.

The crimson marked face showed that too wide smile, expression suggesting it found their frozen terror amusing.

Both warriors moved at the same instant, Master rank speed and divine enhancement carrying them away from the raised hand with desperate velocity. They landed twenty feet distant, weapons raised defensively as they tried to process what had just happened.

The figure watched them retreat, then lowered its hand slowly. The movement was deliberate, theatrical, designed to emphasize how little their escape had mattered. It could have struck them, could have ended this confrontation before they'd completed their first movement.

But it hadn't.

The crimson eyes blazed brighter as the figure raised one hand again, this time making flicking motion with its wrist. The gesture was universal, taunting an invitation that transcended language.

Come at me.

Gunn's tactical mind worked frantically despite the fear coursing through his system. He needed blood contact, needed to cut this thing and establish connection for his Binding Authority. His technique had worked on the original Raze, should work on whatever was inhabiting his body now.

One clean hit. That's all he needed.

He moved first, curved blade leading as he closed the distance with maximum speed his exhausted reserves could provide. His approach was direct, no fancy technique or deceptive feints, just Master rank cultivator trying to land strike through sheer velocity.

Whoosh.

The figure's form blurred.

Calling it blur was inadequate, understatement that failed to capture the actual movement. One moment it stood where they'd seen it, the next it was simply elsewhere. Not fast in the conventional sense, more like it had skipped the intermediate positions entirely.

Gunn's blade cut through empty air, his momentum carrying him past where his target should have been. He tried to adjust mid strike but his body was already committed, technique optimized for hitting an opponent who wasn't there anymore.

Slash.

The figure now stood thirty feet away, crimson eyes tracking something beyond the immediate combat. Its attention had shifted from Gunn to Alex, noting the golden radiance that still clung to the boy despite his exhaustion.

"Interesting," the layered voice said, multiple tones speaking in perfect synchronization. "The other one didn't move. Stayed back instead of rushing in with his companion."

The marked face tilted, studying Alex with an expression that suggested recognition of something specific. Black lines pulsed with faint crimson light as power flowed through the patterns carved across its skin.

"That energy you radiate, I know that signature. Divine blessing, celestial corruption wearing a mask of righteousness."

One hand came up, fingers spreading as if preparing to grasp something invisible. The air around those fingers began to distort, reality bending away from whatever force was gathering.

"You reek of them. The ones I hate so much, those gods who cage and corrupt and call it salvation."

Then it sliced through the air with a casual gesture, bare palm cutting through nothing.

The world bled.

Rip.

A line appeared in reality itself, vertical slash that tore through the fabric of existence. The cut was invisible at first, then became visible as space itself began separating along the wound.

Sound followed, terrible screeching noise like reality screaming in pain.

Screech.

The earth beneath the slash tore open, cobblestones splitting apart as if a massive invisible blade had carved through them. The fissure spread rapidly, racing across the destroyed street toward where Alex stood frozen.

Crack crack crack.

Gunn saw it coming and threw himself sideways, Master rank instincts overriding his exhaustion. The spatial tear passed through where he'd been standing, close enough that he felt the displaced air cut his cheek. Blood welled from the shallow wound, warm against his skin.

But Alex was the primary target.

The boy raised his golden blade defensively, divine protection flaring around him in a desperate attempt to intercept whatever was coming. Golden light met the spatial tear in collision that generated an explosion visible from blocks away.

Boom.

Both energies raged against each other, divine blessing trying to purify what it recognized as fundamental wrongness while the spatial slash tried to sever the protection itself. The contest lasted three seconds, neither force willing to yield.

The golden barrier cracked under sustained pressure, fractures spreading across its surface like glass under a hammer. Alex poured everything he had left into maintaining the defense, mana reserves draining toward empty as he fought to survive.

The spatial tear pushed harder, driven by power that transcended mortal cultivation. Divine blessing was formidable but it had limits, especially when channeled through an exhausted Expert rank vessel.

Crack.

The barrier shattered.

Golden fragments dissolved into light as the protection failed completely. The spatial tear continued forward, catching Alex across his torso with force that launched him backward before he could even scream.

The resulting detonation flung Alex backward with impact that would have killed him without partial divine protection remaining. He tumbled through the air, residual golden energy doing what it could to absorb the blow before he crashed into rubble fifty feet from his original position.

Crash.

His body carved furrow through debris, momentum carrying him another ten feet before friction finally stopped his tumble. He lay there gasping, blood seeping from dozens of cuts where broken stone had torn through his clothing.

The figure that wore Raze's face spoke again, that layered voice carrying notes of recognition mixed with hatred.

"You reek of them. The ones I hate so much, those gods who cage and corrupt and call it salvation. I would have loved to kill you, would have enjoyed watching that divine blessing fail as I tore your soul from your flesh."

The crimson eyes tracked Alex's fallen form, power gathering around the raised hand for follow up strike. Energy condensed into a visible sphere, crimson light promising devastation if released.

"But this body doesn't want that. The original consciousness buried beneath my presence protests killing you specifically. How interesting that even unconscious he maintains enough will to influence my actions."

The gathered energy pulsed once, twice, then began to dissipate. The sphere broke apart, power returning to ambient levels as the intended strike was abandoned.

"The vessel remembers you, recognizes you as someone important despite having no active awareness. That emotional imprint is strong enough to constrain even my fragment, preventing me from ending you as thoroughly as you deserve."

The hand lowered completely, gathered energy dissipating without being released.

"Consider yourself lucky, little champion. When next we meet, perhaps the body will have accepted my presence completely and I'll be free to end you properly. Or perhaps you'll have grown strong enough to make killing you actually satisfying."

The attention shifted back to Gunn, who'd managed to regain his feet despite the terror coursing through his system. The Master rank cultivator raised his curved blade defensively, knowing it was futile but unable to simply surrender.

His mind was racing, calculating odds and finding nothing favorable. This thing had just casually deflected an attack that should have killed an Expert rank cultivator, had done so while barely paying attention.

"You," the layered voice said, boredom evident despite the multiple tones. "I'm already tired of you. This fragment of my power won't last much longer in this weak vessel, minutes at most before I'm forced back into dormancy."

The figure began walking forward, each step measured and deliberate. Not rushing, not showing urgency, just moving with absolute confidence that Gunn couldn't escape.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Each footfall sent subtle vibrations through the ground, reminder of that first step's overwhelming presence. Gunn felt his body want to lock up again, survival instincts screaming at him to freeze before the predator noticed him.

But he forced himself to remain mobile, weapon raised and cultivation base cycling despite knowing how inadequate his preparation was.

"So I'll give you one chance to save yourself. One opportunity to survive this encounter through your own capability rather than my boredom."

The figure stopped ten feet away, crimson marked face showing that too wide smile again. The expression was wrong in ways that made Gunn's stomach turn, human features arranged into something distinctly inhuman.

"Make me bleed. Just once. Draw blood from this body and I'll let you leave here alive. Fail and you die where you stand."

Gunn felt the weight of those words settle over him like a physical burden. This was it, the final test that would determine whether he survived the night or died in this destroyed street.

He'd failed his mission completely. The targets he'd been sent to eliminate were either escaped or protected by divine intervention. The woman with the fire ability had been thrown clear by that initial explosion, probably unconscious but alive somewhere in the rubble. The alchemist and the experiment were elsewhere in the city, their broadcast crystals potentially still functional.

The Syndicate would consider this catastrophic failure regardless of the circumstances. Years of successful operations, decades of building a reputation as a reliable asset, all destroyed in a single night.

But he could still live. Could still escape this nightmare and report what had happened. Could warn the organization about what they were truly facing.

All he had to do was land one hit.

His mind raced through options, techniques he'd developed over decades of assassination work. His Binding Authority wouldn't help here, the divine protection had blocked it and whatever inhabited this body now seemed completely immune to such methods.

His normal combat techniques were inadequate, proven useless when the thing had casually dodged everything he'd attempted. Speed wouldn't work, precision wouldn't work, straightforward force definitely wouldn't work.

But he had one final option. The ultimate technique of his clan, forbidden method that came with a terrible price.

Thirty years from his lifespan, sacrificed to fuel sealing technique that transcended his normal capabilities. This wasn't simple binding or paralysis, this was complete erasure. It would seal the target's soul, remove their life force, and eliminate them from the cycle of reincarnation entirely.

The person's whole existence would be sent to the Abyss, erased from reality as if they'd never been born.

He'd never used it before, the cost too high for normal missions. Thirty years was a significant portion of remaining lifespan, not something to sacrifice casually when other options remained available.

But facing death here and now, thirty years seemed an acceptable price for survival.

Gunn began gathering power, his Locke-Vein bloodline activating with intensity he'd never pushed it to before. Dark energy poured from his core, decades of accumulated cultivation channeling into single technique.

His veins began glowing beneath his skin, black lines becoming visible as power flowed through his circulatory system. The glow intensified, spreading from his chest to his limbs until his entire body radiated dark energy.

Hum.

The sealing marks appeared around the figure, hundreds of them manifesting simultaneously. But these were different from his normal constructs, denser and more complex with patterns that hurt to look at directly.

Each mark carried weight that made reality groan, presence that suggested they existed partially outside normal space. They weren't just seals, they were anchors designed to bind soul to specific location regardless of resistance.

Crack crack crack crack.

The marks connected rapidly, forming a lattice that enclosed the entire area. Then they began to compress, tightening around the figure with force designed to crush reality itself.

Gunn felt the price extracted instantly. Thirty years drained from him in heartbeat, his body aging visibly as decades were sacrificed to fuel the forbidden technique.

Lines appeared on his face, creases that hadn't existed moments before. His hair gained streaks of gray, once dark strands losing color as time accelerated through them. His hands became slightly gnarled, skin losing elasticity it would have maintained for another three decades.

But the technique roared to completion, power transcending anything he'd manifested before. This was clan secret developed over generations, refinement of their bloodline's natural ability into something that could challenge even Grandmaster rank opponents.

The lattice compressed to nothing, dark energy collapsing inward with force that should have annihilated everything at its center. The technique was absolute, unavoidable once activated, designed to work even against enemies who could normally escape binding attempts.

Space itself was sealed within that compression, preventing any movement technique from allowing escape. Time was bound within the marks, preventing any temporal manipulation. Even the soul itself was anchored, unable to flee the body before erasure completed.

Boom.

The energy condensed into a sphere smaller than Gunn's fist, containing destructive force sufficient to level buildings compressed into impossibly small space. Everything within that sphere should have been erased, removed from existence as thoroughly as if it had never been.

Gunn watched with desperate hope as the dark sphere pulsed, waiting to see his target eliminated and his chance at survival secured.

Then the figure spoke.

"I know this technique."

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