Capítulo 10: The Layer Boss

BOOOOM! ROOOOOAR!

"Damn, it hurts. But seeing the look on your face is truly a satisfying thing to watch." Kael muttered, hovering above.

Looking at his hand, which was slowly growing back, he couldn't help but frown. "Although adding the abyssal energy to my attacks truly makes it powerful, the backlash is something I can't keep up with.

ROOOOAR

The beast let out another painful roar, clenching its mangled hand. Eyes now bloodshot, it stared at Kael baring its teeth at him. Kael watched with a surprised expression as the beast flesh slowly joined together, and in no time, the wound was fully healed.

"He can also utilise the abyssal energy to heal himself? Let's see who's going to be the last man standing!" Blinking forward, he clenched his fist tightly and delivered an uppercut to the beast, sending it staggering backwards.

The beast retaliated with a fierce swipe, which cut through his ribs, sending him backwards. "Ugh," Kael groaned as he slammed into the hard ground accompanied by the cracking sound of his bones.

[Warning! Host health is at a critical level]

[HP: 8/200]

"Don't worry, I don't have plans of dying here," Kael muttered as he rose from the ground, his wounds rapidly closing back. Even if the situation was dire, he could always escape to fight another day.

The beasts' broken and peeled face slowly healed revealing its stormy eyes emitting terrifying killing intent. Kael watched in dread as wisp of flames slowly danced across its claws, rapidly spreading to the upper parts of its body.

"Manipulate fire? I never thought of that." The beast now covered in dark red flames exploded forward, the ground shattering from its steps.

BOOOOM!

The air was set ablaze as a fiery flame rapidly spread across the area. Kael, with a pale face, had instantly teleported far away. "Shit! That was a close call. If that had touched me, my bones won't even be seen by the aftermath."

When he thought he was finally getting a break, it appeared the battle had just taken another turn. The beast continued its rampage, Kael not even taking any chances teleported far away from it.

"Ugh," he groaned, wiping the blood that dripped down his nose. "My body is already past its limit, and I'm barely pushing on. It won't be long before I make a mistake."

The flames around the beast began to dwindle as it paused in its track. Kael could instantly feel something was wrong. The beast face was pale, and Kael could feel a bit of exhaustion mixed with it.

"Here's my chance!" Drawing energy from the abyssal heart, he teleported once more, appearing at the back of the beast's head. Clenching his fist, he throws out a punch, which slammed into the head of the beast accompanied by a large explosion.

The beast roared in pain, staggering from the attack. Blood dripped from the back of its head, revealing its thick skull, which had been hurt.

"I need to finish this now!" It was clear the beast had exhausted himself just from the countless use of the abyssal energy, and then the flames had taken a considerable amount of its energy.

"I can win!" Kael thought, appearing at the sides of the beast clenching his hand tightly. The abyssal energy surged widely within his clenched fist as he prepared himself for a decisive attack.

"It's closing up! So soon! I need to strike that opening before it covers up completely!" Pulling his fist backwards, just as he was about punching forward, he felt a piercing pain in his chest.

"Ugh," he spat out blood as he was lifted high by the large claw, which was stuck in his chest. With a victorious roar, the beast slammed him to the ground, causing a crater to form.

"How... did it... ughhh," he groaned, coughing out blood. The system light blinked over his face as his vision became blurry.

[HP: 1/200]

"Shit! I should have escaped when I had the chance." He thought in regret. "After having a second chance, is this how it ends? Ughhh, how was the beast able to move? I thought its energy had been exhausted."

Blood slowly seeped from his body into the ground. It was becoming harder for him to see as he felt his energy seeping away.

The beast finally pulled out its claw while it stared at him with a victorious grin.

Darkness, he felt his vision getting covered in darkness. "No! I can't afford to die here." He struggled to stay conscious. "Not when I promised to see her again." He thought as the image of a red-haired girl smiling brightly flashed before him.

"No! I won't die here," he thought, gritting his teeth. Luckily, he wasn't a normal human anymore. His human heart had been impaled, so what! He still had his abyssal heart, which was beating fast trying to heal the wounds incurred.

The beast, after confirming he had finally defeated his opponent, slowly opened its mouth wide, hoping to devour him. Maybe it could evolve to another level and finally have the chance of facing the second layer beasts.

"I'm Kael, Kael Ravenwood! I won't die here!" He screamed in his mind as the abyssal heart beat faster. Ever since, he had been using the energy gathered in his other heart in activating his abilities. What if he made use of the abyssal energy? He thought as various images of how the beast had borrowed the abyssal energy in augmenting his strength played in his head.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure it's going to work. I'm about to die after all. Why don't I give it a shot!" Allowing the abyssal heart to take control, his body was flooded in abyssal and his eyes suddenly shot open, emitting a dark glow so fierce the beast had flinched, causing it to miss in its attack.

Kael's figure disappeared from the crater appearing a few metres away. "This…" He could feel it, the energy invading all his senses. He could feel the abyssal energy within the surroundings easily now. Granting the abyssal heart control of his body had boosted his strength considerably.

The blink skill was easy and faster to utilise now. Also, with his void eyes and sense skill activated, he seemed to become one with the abyss.

The beast filled with fury charged at him as flames blazed around its claws.

Kael's eyes had undergone changes as a tinge of purple appeared within the vortex in his dark eyes. "Know your place... scum!" He said with a low voice. Although low, the voice had travelled across the area, and the beast could sense the underlying threat in the statement.

Kael's form appeared before the beast, and clenching his fist released a punch on its chest.

BOOOOM!

The beast was sent hurtling backwards with a caved in chest. 'I see, so that was the reason it was hard for me to control the abyssal energy.' The energy from his normal heart was mixing up with the abyssal energy channelled, causing it to become unstable and explode whenever he used it.

Kael appeared above the beast and slammed his fist down, sending it to shoot towards the ground. Kael appeared to have transformed into another being. His eyes were glowing ominously as he pointed his palm towards the crater.

"I wonder if I would be able to do it now." Dark purplish energy was beginning to gather before his open palms as a wicked smile appeared on his face.