"I will devour you."
Black blood trickled down Killian's nose, dropping into the pool of blood gathering at his stomach.
The Knight's right hand had sunk into his side the moment he got close, but the tendrils instantly wrapped around his hand, binding him to Killian.
The Knight took another step backwards, despite his knee bending and his other hand blocking the Void-Bat digging into his skin.
"Don't fucking play with me. You are already breaking." Holy Fire scorched his arms and clothes, as well as the tendrils that wrapped his hand.
He gritted his teeth. "You let the Void control your body. Disgusting."
His hand freed from Killian's sides, and a ball of Holy Fire gathered instantly.
A blast shot forward. Killian moved before it even formed fully, his body staggering to the side as the attack slammed into the cave wall behind.
Stones broke apart and dust rose into the air. The tendrils threaded through Killian's ruined body as if he were assembling his broken limbs.
They pulled him together, forcing his spine back into alignment with a sickening accuracy. His spine shifted under the pressure, correcting his breathing.
Blood slid warm from his nose and ears, and his hand twitched in their grasp. The Void-Bat pulsed.
Killian raised his head, his eyes reverting to his normal white and red pupils. The black receded, but the red streaks remained.
The Knight's eyes narrowed at Killian. He knew something was wrong.
He started a sprint back, to create distance, his eyes following Killian's movements that mirrored to his.
He realized he was being tracked. "Unlocking Void skills while before me! Audacious! Do you take me for some power-up!"
His eyes glowed with luminous intensity as a punch tore forward with crushing force—only to be caught mid-strike by Killian.
The Void swallowed it whole. It was as if it was nothing.
"Yes," Killian said coldly. "You serve as training. And your fire feeds my Void. Your movements are Juda's, and I've seen all his moves."
Killian shifted his hold, twisting the Knight's ankle, enough to make him rush back but not break.
"Bastard." The Knight cursed, holding his injured hand, and still creating more distance.
Slowly, the red marks on his wrist faded, as the wrist moved easily. Killian noticed it. He healed himself.
"You truly underestimate me." the Knight scoffed. "This vessel can only hold one-twentieth of my power. But I will push him further since you are really asking for it."
The heat in the cave dropped to normal. Killian knew he did that for the sake of the body he was in.
Juda's skin had reddened from sweat and burns, and he suffered the same suffocation.
Since he minimised the effect of the surroundings, he would be making more direct attacks.
"Let's finish this," the Knight muttered. His hand raised repeatedly.
Multiple bright spheres formed, hotter, and quickly filling the cave as they shot out in all directions.
The walls were blasted apart and the ceilings gave way to sunlight into the cave.
Killian didn't step back, but instead stepped in fast. He cleanly moved around the sphere, a second before they detonated, and tackled the Knight.
Both of them hit the ground hard, and before the Knight reacted, Killian raised the Void-Bat and slammed it down on his face.
Crack! Blood splashed on the white robe.
Crack! Crack!
The sound echoed, heavy and wet as bone gave way under the repeated hits, his nose breaking as Killian choked his neck beneath him.
With a desperate shove, he threw Killian towards the wall.
Killian's body slammed the wall, but the tendrils bore the full blow of the hit.
If I take a direct hit, I might just faint here.
I have already used a lot of my limited mana.
He slid down the wall, while trying to steady his uneven breath.
The Knight spat blood to the side, his breathing heavier now as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"So you will even hurt your cousin?" His eyes glared daggers at Killian. "And I was thinking you had a bit of humanity."
Killian changed the bat to his left hand, despite the tremor in his arms. "If it's to kill you, Juda will be glad."
The Knight laughed, a manic resigned laughter. "You think this will kill me? This isn't even my body. My glorious self is meditating on my bed surrounded by women."
He pointed at him. "On the other hand, you will definitely be consumed by the Void. Once it eats enough, it will steal your body and your mind. You will become nothing."
"The only one stealing bodies here is you," Killian retorted. "And you mask it as a divine mission. Coward. Hypocritical. Disgusting. Everything you think I am."
The Knight's expression twisted. His hands raised again, and a bright spear drew out from his palms. "Then I will kill you even if I have to break this body to pieces. You killed your own cousin."
Killian paused, and the tendrils around him shrank.
The Knight didn't move, watching him. "I won't fall for anymore tricks—"
He stopped, and turned his head behind him. But he was too late as shadows rose behind him instantly. They snapped forward wrapping around his limbs.
"What—!" He was dragged down, then up and slammed into the ground.
He struggled to get up almost immediately but the tendril tightened around his limbs, and neck. "Y-You marked me? When!"
Killian walked toward him slowly, the flaming Void-Bat dragging slightly at his side. "While you were yapping."
The Knight had a confused expression. He had been yapping the whole time.
Killian stopped in front of him. "Leave Juda's body. If you want to fight me, come in person."
His chest rose and fell harder now. It was getting harder to extract mana for the Fire and Void Element, especially as his new skill combined both.
If he hadn't taken the mana restoration vial with him, he and Juda would've been long dead.
The Knight smiled, despite his bleeding forehead and bloody lips. "No. Kill me. Kill him and I will go."
Holy Fire flared from his body again. It was hotter and more damaging to the skin that wasn't his own.
It burned through the tendrils, forcing them back as the hold weakened. Yet they remained as resilient as their Host, doubling their tendrils on his arms.
Killian clicked his tongue, his fists clenching together. He knew it was going nowhere and with the intensity of the Holy Fire, he couldn't get close.
He's dragging this out till I fall.
He is also ignoring Juda's body exhaustion.
It's a matter of endurance now.