Steel met silence.
A thunderous arc cleaved the dark, cutting through still air like a death sentence. The Hollow Revenant's cleaver howled—metal groaning like a banshee—as it slammed downward, splitting the stone floor with an ear-splitting crack. Dust exploded upward.
Mephisto twisted, body a blur of unnatural grace. He dodged—but only just.
The cleaver missed by inches, tearing a gouge where his skull had been a heartbeat ago.
[Warning: System Instability Increasing…]
[Combat Analysis: Mutated State Detected | Power Surge Unstable]
No time to read. No time to think.
He lunged forward, eyes burning violet.
Hollowfang screamed in his grip as it arced upward, biting deep into the Revenant's chestplate. Sparks exploded. A jet of black ichor burst free, splattering across the floor in sizzling pools.
The beast staggered.
But only for a heartbeat.
A massive, rotted hand backhanded Mephisto across the room. The impact cracked through the chamber like a thunderclap, lifting him off his feet.
He hit the wall hard. Stone exploded. Ribs shattered. The air fled his lungs in a ragged gasp as blood sprayed from his mouth.
[HP: -37%]
[Fracture Detected – Rib Cage]
[System Recovery Inhibited During Overload]
He coughed, groaned—and then grinned through bloodied teeth.
Pain. Beautiful. Vicious. Real.
His vision swam. Bones ached. But none of that mattered.
He stood.
The Revenant came again—massive, relentless. Its cleaver dragged along the floor, throwing sparks as it moved. It wasn't fast.
It didn't need to be.
It was death, walking.
It swung again. Then again. Each strike thundered through the air, colliding with the ground and shattering stone in craters. Misses that would've crushed mountains.
Mephisto moved like sin incarnate—twisting, sliding, rolling through the Revenant's onslaught with balletic madness. He struck low—once across the thigh, then again through the side. Hollowfang sang through the beast's flesh, but—
It didn't bleed like a man.
It bled corruption.
Void ichor oozed from the wounds, thick and hissing like acid. The sludge sprayed across Mephisto's arm.
His skin sizzled.
[Corruption Surge: +9%]
[Threshold Passed – Mutation Risk: 34%]
Reality blurred.
The world pulsed.
The Revenant roared.
A cleaver came down again—aimed to bisect him. This time, Mephisto caught it.
With his bare hands.
His scream echoed as his arms shook under the weight, bones cracking, joints tearing.
But he held it.
Held it.
And snarled back with a guttural roar that tore from somewhere deeper than his soul.
Veins bulged black. His eyes ignited like dying stars. Hollowfang pulsed in response, its runes glowing crimson—a cursed heartbeat in sync with his rage.
And then—he surged.
"DIE!"
He pushed upward, shoving the cleaver aside with inhuman strength. The Revenant reeled. Mephisto spun low, Hollowfang carving through its exposed midsection in a savage upward slash.
Black ichor sprayed in a geyser. The Revenant shrieked—its mask cracked down the center.
Then it grabbed him by the throat.
And slammed him.
Once.
The ground shattered.
Twice.
Blood spattered in a fan across the floor.
A third time.
Skull met stone.
[HP: -19%]
[Damage: Skull Trauma Detected – Critical]
[Pain Tolerance Surpassed – Adrenaline Surge Triggered]
Mephisto didn't move.
He just… laughed.
A hoarse, broken sound that bubbled up through the blood in his throat.
Then—
He rose.
Ribs crushed. Skull split. Fingers twitching. Limbs trembling.
No hesitation.
No fear.
No mercy.
He roared and tackled the Revenant, driving it back with raw fury. He didn't use Hollowfang.
Not anymore.
He used fists.
Flesh met steel. Bone met corruption. He pummeled the beast's face—again. Again. Again. Each blow heavier, louder, rawer. His fists shattered rotted metal. The Revenant flailed, clawing, swinging—but Mephisto was a storm of violence.
He took a hammering blow to the side—ribs caved, blood burst from his lips.
He didn't stop.
He dug his fingers into the Revenant's cracked mask—ripping, clawing, tearing.
He tore it free.
Beneath, the creature's face was no face at all—just a warped skull of voidbone and flickering embers.
He didn't care.
He kept punching.
[Mini-Boss Defeated: Hollow Revenant]
[Void Essence Gained: +134]
[EXP Gained: 875][Level Up: +3 Levels Gained | Stat Points +9]
[Item Drop: Rusted Cleaver (Corrupted) | Voidbone Core x1 | Revenant Mask (Fragmented)]
[Title Unlocked: Revenant Breaker]
But it wasn't enough.
It wasn't dead enough.
He didn't stop.
He couldn't stop.
Fists rained down—cracking, tearing, pulverizing. His own skin split. Knuckles shattered. Blood mixed with ichor, pooling around him in black-red spirals.
The Revenant's skull caved inward.
Mephisto snarled. Growled. Raged.
He punched until the head was no longer a head—just a crater. A void-pulp smear across the floor.
[Corruption Surge: +18%]
[WARNING: Total Corruption at 97% – Mutation Threshold Approaching]
He stopped—eventually.
Only because his arms wouldn't move anymore.
His breathing came in ragged, wheezing gasps.
He looked down at what remained of the Revenant.
There was nothing left to kill.
Just a mutilated husk and silence.
[System: Mutation Delay Enforced – Stabilization Pending…]
[Void Reaction Contained (Temporary)]
[Corruption Stalled: 97%]
[Warning: Next Surge Will Trigger Irreversible Shift]
He knelt in the silence.
Shaking.
Covered in his own blood and the Revenant's corruption.
And then… he smiled.
Wide. Empty. Deranged.
The whispers were gone.
But he still heard them—in the thrum of his veins, in the phantom throb of Hollowfang pulsing beside him.
He looked at his hands.
Trembling. Twisted. Mutating.
Not his anymore.
Flesh cracking.
Nails blackened.
Void-touched.
He wobbled to his feet. Took a step.
Staggered.
Laughed.
A raw, hollow sound.
He'd broken something tonight.
Not just the Revenant.
Something in him.
And there was no going back.
He walked deeper into the darkness.
Toward whatever waited next.