168 DYING TO GRAVITY
Meanwhile, in the real world, frost crept up Damen's body. Ice crystals bloomed across his limbs.
Mojito raised his hands, forming a massive dome of shimmering ice around the immobilized Black Halo.
"Let's freeze that villain for good," Mojito muttered, her breath misting in the cold air.
Within the ice prison, Damen trembled …. not from cold, but from fury.
"Damn it… how the hell do I get out of this ice prison?" he growled through clenched teeth.
Even inside the nightmare, Damen could still feel the weight of his phone in his pocket.
"If this illusion feels real," he thought, "then so will my tools."
He struggled to pull it out, his fingers trembling, and quickly scrolled through the familiar interface of his mining app.
The bullies, Thames and Onda, kept hitting him, their laughter echoing through the classroom. Blood dripped down his temple as he frantically searched the screen.
Then he saw it.
"Blood Core — Inactivated."
Memory hit him like lightning.
After Damen acquired the Source of Unknown, he was no longer afraid of the blood curse eating his mind. So, he left the Core of blood and its Blue Blood Suppression off.
And since the Blue Blood curse no longer clouded his mind, he hadn't seen a reason to reactivate the Core of Blood.
But now….
"If I can suppress bloodlust with the Core of Blood", he thought, "maybe I can suppress fear… even nightmares."
He tapped the toggle.
"Core of Blood, Level 3 — Activated: 4/5"
But the activation of the Core did not break his illusion.
"This is not right, something's wrong," he thought.
Then a warning flashed before his eyes:
[Warning: Too many Cores active. Effectiveness of all Cores are reduced.]
"What does that mean? I can't use too many cores at once?" he wondered, frustration rising.
But this wasn't the time to think—it was time to get out.
A thought sparked. He deactivated the Core of Light. Nothing changed. The illusion still clung to him like fog.
"I must do more."
Next, he turned off the Core of Echo.
To his surprise, the world around him began to fracture—reality flickering in broken frames. But he was still trapped inside.
He shut down the Core of Kinetic, then the Core of the Mind.
The illusion splintered further, collapsing in jagged shards of light.
"I just need a little more…" he whispered—and disabled the remaining active Cores.
Suddenly, the illusion shattered.
The classroom dissolved into smoke and static.
The bullies vanished. Damen's consciousness surged back into the real world. His blue energy flared through the cracks of the ice prison.
"Great, the Blood Core could be used to defend against psychic attacks as well as blood lust", Damen murmured, "but only if there were fewer supporting cores affecting its performance."
In the world outside, Damen began to move.
Moody screamed. "No…how can he break free of my control!?"
With a roar, Damen flexed and the ice shell on his body exploded outward, shards spraying like shrapnel. The blast threw Mojito off his feet, breaking his concentration mid-chant.
"He shattered my ice!" Mojito yelled, crawling backward.
"Don't panic! He's still under my gravity field!" Juggler shouted, amplifying his grip on the gravitational zone.
Damen tried to move but the pull was immense, his boots sinking inches into the ground. His body groaned under the pressure of gravity.
Then he looked up, his eyes locking onto Moody.
The silver halo on his chest lit up in silver light and began to spin.
Moody's face twisted in terror. "No… not again!"
The halo brightened until it was blinding.
A roar of energy followed — pure plasma bursting from the circle in a sun-white beam.
Damen discovered something new.
When he had fewer active cores, the effects on related powers cores were greatly amplified.
Moody's force field flared to life, just as before … but this time it was different- Damen's Halo Judgment was far stronger than before….because his power was enhanced only by the Core of Electricity.
The plasma tore through the force field, ripping Moody's personal shield apart like paper.
Her scream was swallowed by the light.
"Halo's Judgment!" Damen's voice thundered through the park.
"Drain."
Moody's essence unraveled into streams of energy — her psychic power spiraling into Damen's body, merging with his own as the air sizzled, while her presence vanished entirely.
"What's happening!? What do we do now!?" Mojito shouted, panic creeping into his voice.
Moody was gone — burned away, and erased.
She was their leader, their strategist, the mind that held their team together. Now only silence commanded them.
"We finish the job! Even without Moody," Juggler roared, rage twisting his face.
Mojito hesitated for a heartbeat, then clenched his fists.
Frost exploded from his palms, the air turning white with biting cold. Shards of ice formed a storm around Black Halo, sealing him once again in frozen armor.
But before the frost could harden…
The silver halo on Damen's chest ignited.
A searing light burst forth, a column of plasma so bright it turned night into day. It sliced through Mojito's ice, through trees, through everything on its path.
When the explosion faded, smoke rolled over the ruined park.
Mojito staggered, coughing blood, his body charred and trembling. Wisps of his fading force field flickered over his ruined body.
"Forget it, he's too powerful," he rasped. "I'm done with this." He turned to flee…
..but Juggler stopped him. "He's already fired two plasma beams. You think he's still got enough left for another?"
Mojito froze.
It sounded logical… maybe even hopeful.
A skill as powerful as the Halo's judgment required enormous energy to use. Using it twice within a short period was already a miracle.
He took a breath, raised a trembling hand to summon another surge of ice….
Then to his shock and horror, the halo blazed once more.
There was no time to scream.
The next beam struck vaporizing Mojito where he stood.
"Halo's Judgment." Damen's voice echoed through the destruction, low and final.
He extended his arm before the flames died, "Drain."
The last remnants of Mojito's power spiraled toward him, absorbed into his body.
"No… this can't be happening!" Juggler screamed.
Halo's Judgment required enormous amount of power. It was a power beyond his rank.
Juggler wasn't wrong…Damen should've been spent after firing two plasma beams.
But draining Moody had refueled him, the process replenished his meta and blood energy.
Damen glanced at his Command Stat — it was full again.
"Juggler," he said coldly, "it's time for you to die."
A blinding surge of plasma erupted from Damen's chest, smashing into Juggler and hurling him across the park. He hit the ground hard, his body armor flickering and nearly collapsing.
Before he could recover, Damen was already upon him. The brief stun made Juggler lose focus — his gravity suppression faltered.
In that instant, Damen lunged forward.
His hand clamped around Juggler's throat and hoisted him into the air.
"No—!" Juggler screamed as his feet kicked helplessly dangling while the crushing force of Damen's grip holding him aloft.
He writhed like a man being hanged.
"How does it feel," Damen snarled, "to die to gravity?"