The specimen’s clawed hand caught him across the chest. Corrupted energy erupted on impact, the strike carrying enough force to cave in ribs.
His Devil Loom Coat flared brilliant white.
[DEVIL LOOM COAT: NULLIFY LETHAL DAMAGE — ACTIVATED]
The damage vanished. The force dissipated. Marcus stumbled but stayed on his feet, completely unharmed.
The coat’s enchantment had saved his life.
[ABILITY ON COOLDOWN — WILL NOT ACTIVATE AGAIN THIS ENCOUNTER]
"Looks like I underestimated you." Marcus frowned, analyzing what just happened. "Somehow something was off with their damage to activate the Loom Coat’s passive."
A burning sensation spread across Marcus’s chest where the claws had touched. The Devil Loom Coat had stopped the physical damage, but something else was working its way into his system. Poison. Corrupted venom.
Marcus materialized a Big HP Potion and drank it fast, feeling the antidote properties fighting against the corruption spreading through his veins. The burning faded to a dull ache, manageable.
The alpha specimen tilted its head, studying Marcus with those too-intelligent eyes.
"Interesssting armor." It circled slowly. "But you only ssssurvive oncccce."
It knew. Somehow it knew the enchantment had a cooldown.
Marcus’s Soul Reading picked up a shift in all four specimens’ emotional signatures. The testing phase was over. They’d learned what they wanted to know.
Now they were going to kill him.
The four specimens attacked as one, perfectly coordinated, moving with brutal efficiency.
And Marcus realized with cold clarity what was happening.
"They’re not just trying to win." He blocked a strike, dodged another, Dagon moving constantly.
"They’re adapting ,Gathering data."
Malachar cleaved one specimen nearly in half. It regenerated and rejoined the fight within seconds.
"Interesting " Malachar muttered, his tone grim.
Marcus went silent. He already knew.
These specimens were prototypes. Failed experiments. But Duskhollow was using them to test combat effectiveness, learn weaknesses, refine his fusion process.
Every move Marcus and Malachar made was being recorded, analyzed, transmitted back to whatever facility created these things.
They weren’t just fighting specimens.
They were fighting a research project.
More reason to end their terror before he escalated furher.
Marcus’s eyes narrowed. "Okay, we’ve wasted enough time. The others might already be waiting."
He materialized Dagon back into his hand after a quick dodge, his mind shifting from defense to offense. No more playing their game.
Time to end this.
"Malachar." Marcus’s voice cut through the chaos. "Focus fire. Alpha first. Don’t let it regenerate."
"As you command, my liege." Malachar’s greatsword began to glow with crimson energy.
The alpha specimen sensed the shift in tactics. Its emotional signature spiked with something that might have been concern. It tried to retreat, putting the other three specimens between itself and Marcus.
Too slow.
Marcus charged forward, using his speed to close the distance. Dagon swept low, forcing one specimen to dodge. He pivoted, used the momentum to launch himself toward the alpha.
The alpha raised its clawed hands to block
Malachar’s greatsword came down from above like divine judgment.
The blade cleaved through the alpha’s defenses, splitting it from shoulder to hip. Black blood erupted. The specimen screamed, a sound that was more human than beast.
"Again!" Marcus drove Dagon into the creature’s chest while it was staggered. "Don’t let the corruption heal it!"
Malachar struck again. And again. Massive overhead swings that shattered bone and tore corrupted flesh faster than it could regenerate.
The other three specimens tried to intervene, but Marcus intercepted them. Not trying to kill just buying Malachar seconds. Precious seconds where the alpha couldn’t recover.
The alpha specimen collapsed to its knees, its regeneration finally overwhelmed by the sustained assault. Its glowing eyes met Marcus’s one final time.
"You... will... fail..." The words came out broken, distorted. "Massster... knowsss..."
Malachar’s greatsword took its head off.
The body dissolved into black ash and shadow, leaving behind something solid. A core. Roughly the size of a fist, pulsing with corrupted energy.
[CORRUPTION CORE OBTAINED — RARE MATERIAL]
Marcus didn’t have time to examine it. He materialized the core into his inventory as the three remaining specimens screamed in rage.
"Malachar!" Marcus backed toward his summon.
"The domain ability. Use it now!"
"Are you certain, my liege?" Malachar’s voice held a warning. "That technique consumes significant energy. I will not be able to maintain my manifestation much longer after."
"Do it!"
Malachar planted his greatsword in the ground. Crimson energy exploded outward from the blade, forming a dome of raw power that expanded rapidly across the clearing.
[CRIMSON DOMAIN — ACTIVATED]
The three specimens were caught inside the dome’s radius. The corrupted energy that sustained them immediately began fighting against Malachar’s domain. Their regeneration slowed. Their movements became sluggish. The hive-mind connection between them fractured.
"Now they’re vulnerable!" Marcus charged the nearest specimen.
Without their regeneration at full strength, the specimens fell quickly. Marcus’s Dagon found vital points throat, heart, skull. Each strike dealt damage that actually stayed, weakening them further.
Malachar’s greatsword carved through the second specimen, splitting it cleanly in two. This time, the halves didn’t rejoin. They dissolved into ash.
[CORRUPTION CORE OBTAINED — RARE MATERIAL]
The third and final specimen tried to flee, its survival instinct finally overriding whatever command structure Duskhollow had implanted.
Marcus threw Dagon.
The blade spun through the air and took the specimen in the back of the neck. It stumbled, fell, tried to crawl away even as its body began dissolving.
Marcus walked up and materialized Dagon back into his hand. One final strike ended it.
[CORRUPTION CORE OBTAINED — RARE MATERIAL]
[VOID HARVEST ACTIVATED][+120 CURRENCY]
The clearing fell silent except for Marcus’s heavy breathing and the fading glow of Malachar’s Crimson Domain.
"Well fought, my liege." Malachar’s form began to flicker. "But I must return now. That technique... drained more than anticipated."
"You did good." Marcus nodded. "Rest."
Malachar faded into crimson light, returning to wherever summons went when dismissed.
Marcus stood alone among the dissolving remains of four Tier 5 specimens. His chest still ached where the poison had spread. His MP was down to 50. His coat’s protection was on cooldown.
But he’d won.