Not even a minute ago, the senior saw Kai being crushed against the wall.

He fell unconscious from the shock or internal damage, and that should be the end of him.

Even until the very end, there are still more than five steel-tusked boars waiting for their turn to have a go at Kai. Fending against that many Awakened Monsters should be impossible for his condition, especially when the shadow golem evaporated the moment Kai passed out.

And yet, Kai was now fighting again.

Despite the damage he had endured, he was butchering the steel-tusked boars with a roar in his throat and murder in his eyes. He kicked one and hurled it to the wall with a thunderous crack. He caught another by its steel tusks, tore one of the tusks, and stabbed it into the poor steel-tusked boar’s underbelly. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

It died by its own natural weapons.

One that surprised the senior the most was the slashes Kai made with his bare hands.

Each swing cut flesh seamlessly, and sometimes, the slice blasted a cleaving crescent-shaped dark energy that severed multiple steel-tusked boars that got in its way. Nothing Kai did right now made sense.

"How is he still standing...?" the senior muttered in shock.

But then, he found another strange thing.

"What is he fighting?" At a window when the steel-tusked boars weren’t attacking, Kai should be using it to take his breath, but he didn’t. Instead, he kept swinging and grabbing at air, like he was fighting something that the senior could see. "Did he lose it? No... He’s really fighting something!"

He saw Kai swipe his arm, and then out of nowhere, his shoulder burst with blood.

Something bit or clawed him.

And like a feral animal, Kai turned to his side and stabbed his open hand forward.

Nothing happened after he thrust his hand, but seeing the pain disappearing from Kai’s face, and the gaping wound on his shoulder began to bleed more naturally, not gushing, it seemed like whatever bit him earlier had been dealt with.

As much as the senior didn’t want to believe what he was seeing, this is real.

Kai was actually fighting something that he couldn’t see.

Darkness swooped in.

Noticing the change, the senior swept his gaze across the chamber; his frown deepened more and more as he watched the light visibly drain away right before his very eyes. It was like the dimness that settles after staring too long at the sun.

A creeping darkness that should only last a few seconds.

Moonlight still filtered through the big opening in the chamber’s roof, pale and silver, but the darkness kept deepening—swallowing the glow faster than it could fall. The senior blinked a few more times, but the light level never returned to normal.

It stayed dim.

"Is this..." the senior sweated at the thought. "A Divine Gift?"

Supernals, no matter the number of Divine Locks in them, would have a clear connection to their Patron God. Each one was somewhat connected to the Patron God, and thus, the Patron God could feel what they felt.

Sometimes, in rare cases, when a Supernal was in trouble, the Patron God would grant help.

That kind of phenomenon was called Divine Gift.

Any Supernal who caught the attention of their Patron God and triggered a Divine Gift would have had fortune smiling upon them, as this phenomenon could help them survive the danger, grant them abilities, objects, or blessings capable of altering the course of their lives forever.

However, each Patron God has their own way or bestowing their Divine Gift.

Some would be a pleasing phenomenon, and some would be brutal.

Kai’s Patron God was Moros—the God of Doom. It came as no surprise that a Divine Gift from such a deity would feel more like a test than a blessing. "But still... how could a Lesser Angel trigger a Divine Gift?" The senior’s brows dipped harder. "He only has one Divine Lock. His Patron God should’ve neglected him entirely."

Only those with above-average Divine Locks would even have a chance to trigger this.

From the appearance of the Blue Void to this moment, there’s practically no one who could do what Kai was doing right now. No Lesser Angels has ever triggered this. And that spread uneasiness inside his chest, "I need to get rid of him now before it’s too late!"

On the other hand, Kai kept fighting. Kept attacking. Kept swinging his arms.

He didn’t know where he dropped the scimitar, but it doesn’t matter.

No more sanity inside his eyes. No more reason. No more kindness. Kai stabbed his hand into the body of a steel-tusked boar and pulled out its intestines, spilling them everywhere. He waved his other arm and shattered a steel tusk before grabbing the second steel-tusked boar’s head and stabbing his thumbs into its eyes.

Kai’s moves are so brutal that it seemed he was an entirely different person.

It became hard to tell now whether there was a human being among this carnage.

With every kill he committed, the second Primordial Lock throbbed in his belly—as if it were excited on Kai’s behalf. It swelled with each death, charging, growing, expanding until finally, it could no longer grow bigger.

No more sensation came rushing down inside him with another kill.

And it was then he sensed a presence.

Above him, right beyond the gaping hole in the ceiling, hung an ink-black orb. A ball of darkness. The mere sight of it pulled at something deep inside Kai—a primal, aching temptation that made his entire body twitch in anticipation.

This was it.

He had to reach that orb to complete the phenomenon.

But that thought was interrupted when a scorpion tail slipped through the crowd.

Kai’s eyes widened as he caught it in time, but the force drove him several steps back. He let out a bellow, pushing aside the scorpion tail, and broke it by slamming his elbow down. From the side, a Nightborn maneuvered quickly and reached behind him.

"You’re not escaping me this time," the Nightborn whispered.

It was the hostile Nightborn he had encountered.

And with a swipe, he was launched to the other side of the chamber and slammed hard into the wall, splintering web-like fissures through the stone as a mouthful of blood erupted from his lips.

He lifted his gaze.

Another Nightborn loomed above, wings spread wide.

But then, something phased clean through its face.

A concentrated stream of water that was fired like a bullet.

Kai has no time to react and gets struck in the chest.

He braced for impalement—but the stream splashed against him instead, coiling around his body like liquid chains. In seconds, he was pinned against the wall—and bound so tightly he could barely breathe.

It felt like he was a dangerous criminal wrapped in a straitjacket of living water.

Inside, Kai called for Perion, but there was no answer.

And at the same time, the flying Nightborn already slammed against him.

Kai bursts from the stone wall and screeches against the mud. He was now outside, and his entire body felt like it was broken in multiple parts. But the fire inside his eyes was still blazing. He exerted his body further and broke the binding with raw strength.

His eyes caught his scimitar on the side.

Frantically, he reached for it.

From above, the winged Nightborn drove at him again.

But this time, Kai was ready.

As soon as his hand closed around the scimitar’s hilt, he launched himself upward, slipping past the tackle by a hair’s breadth. He then stabbed the blade deep into the Nightborn’s back, pushing it deep until the tip touched the bone.

He was dragged across the air.

And from below, the senior was firing more and more water streams toward him.

Panic and concern could be seen on his face.

Considering Kai’s current state right now, he shouldn’t be able to move anymore, but under the blanket of the night, he was stronger. He could still move. He forced the flying Nightborn to listen to his directions, using the scimitar as a handle.

Scree—!

It shrieked in pain and anger.

Kai ignored it, eyes fixated on the orb that was within reach.

But the flying Nightborn sensed his intent and dove sharply. Doing anything it could to make sure Kai couldn’t use it to reach the orb. It slammed into a stone formation with brutal force; the impact hurled Kai from its back.

It fell and crashed onto the ground hard before dissolving into the night.

Like smoke swallowed by shadow.

Kai held on with one hand, almost falling back down to the chamber. He tried raising his other hand to hold on, but he realized it wasn’t listening to him. It was broken; the shoulder sagged unnaturally, making it painful to move it.

Underneath, inside the chamber, something unbelievable was happening.

His eyes bear witness to the disturbing spectacle spat forward from the dangerous corners of the House of Night. Nightborns, all of them, slammed their bodies against each other, creating a mountain of ink-black liquid, which was the combination of all their bodies.

All of them climbed higher and higher, countless dark limbs reaching for Kai.

Kai’s right arm trembled violently as he hauled himself upward.

Every muscle screamed; only sheer will provided the energy to drag his body inch by inch.

But a sharp sting stopped him mid-way, forcing him back down.

"Argghk..." Kai grunted in pain.

Tears streamed down his face as the pain was too much, and his fingers were slipping. Heavy breaths heaved his chest up and down as he watched the Nightborns climb closer. He felt like giving up.

The orb was right above him, and yet, it felt so far away.

Letting go feels better than struggling further.

But he couldn’t accept death. Couldn’t afford to let go—not yet. His vengeance still thirsted for blood, a debt unpaid. Kai squeezed his eyes shut and drew a deep, steadying breath. When they opened again, an ember of cold determination flickered in their depths.

Even if he had to break every bone in his body.

Even if he had to drain all the blood until the last ounce.

Whatever the price for this vengeance, he will pay it. He will pay it all.

Kai bellowed and pulled as hard as he could—he managed to climb up.

Behind, the gnarly growls of the Nightborns were creeping up to him. Firing deadly whispers to mess with his mind. Heck, he could even feel their brush against his ankles, but he didn’t look back.

And the whispers didn’t affect him anymore.

His mind was already numb; tunneled to only focus on one and only one thing.

Instead, he made one last jump and reached out his hand towards the orb.

Midway through, tendrils of living darkness coiled around his outstretched right leg, yanking hard. But before the Nightborn could drag him back into the abyss, Kai’s fingers closed around the orb. The inverted torch blazed to life on his forehead—and the second Primordial Lock detonated with a rippling shockwave of raw power.

Boom—!