During his week of training at the Park residence, Damien had picked up a few new tricks—and this was one of them. By thinking of the blade not as a tool, but as an extension of his body, he could channel lightning through it with far more control.
Despite what that smug voice in his soul said about his intelligence, Damien had made impressive strides. He'd learned the fundamentals—how to control the current, form the lightning blade, and release raw energy from his body, which had paid off. Letting him ascend from the novice rank to basic in just a few days.
Now, lightning surged through his limbs as he dashed across the battlefield, his movements crackling with speed. The world blurred at the edges, filled with the scent of scorched earth and burnt ozone. His boots struck shattered pavement, jolting through his joints like drumbeats.
His confidence surged as he could now keep up with the beasts, even match them.
But they were relentless.
The rabbits moved in eerie harmony, each motion mirrored by the others, like limbs of the same monstrous body. Even with his upgraded stats, every strike Damien attempted was met by a flawless counter. He couldn't find a gap, not a single one.
Rabbit number three lunged. Damien twisted, parried with a crackling blade, then spun to strike back, anticipating an ambush from rabbit number one at his blind spot.
He swung hard, making his blade hiss through empty air.
His instincts screamed.
Then he saw it.
Rabbit number one wasn't attacking him anymore. It had veered off—its hollow eyes locked onto Summer.
She lay sprawled across the broken ground, unconscious and unmoving.
The rabbit was almost on her.
Damien's stomach twisted as a surge of rage lit up inside him like a fuse.
'These bastards are cowards,' he snarled inwardly.
He gave chase instantly, lightning sparking behind him—but the damn beast had a head start. Worse, rabbit number three was still hounding him, forcing him to dodge and weave to avoid getting his back shredded open.
He shot a glance toward Luka.
Luka's fight was nearly over. His opponent staggered, its hide torn open and leaking blackish blood. Luka himself looked untouched, calm, precise, and utterly composed.
"LUKA!" Damien shouted, voice sharp as he pointed at Summer.
No hesitation.
Luka's hand snapped up, gathering a pulse of energy. A green projectile exploded from his sword and cut through the air with a shrill hum.
The blood-crazed rabbit didn't even notice.
Its tongue lolled out, and saliva dripped as it ran faster, its mind lost to hunger.
The projectile collided with its left foot in a flash of light, blowing the limb clean off.
The rabbit shrieked with a deafening sound, sharp enough to rattle bones, but even as blood gushed from its stump, it didn't stop. Instead, it clawed at the ground, dragging its mangled body forward, inching toward Summer like a starving predator chasing its final meal.
Damien's heart pounded.
He was almost there.
He just needed one second—one opening—from the beast still at his back.
'Run wild through my body,' he commanded.
It was risky, maybe suicidal, but he didn't care.
Lightning exploded from within him, enveloping his figure in an electric storm. His veins burned, glowing brighter than before—electric blue light pouring from his skin, tracing jagged patterns down his arms and legs. The energy howled in his ears.
Rabbit three lunged again.
Damien ducked and twisted this time, his blade singing through the air.
The creature's arm flew free, trailing a spray of thick blood.
Before it could scream, Damien planted his foot in its gut and launched it through the remains of a building wall. Glass and rubble collapsed in its wake.
He didn't stop to watch.
The rabbit crawling toward Summer was just a few feet away.
Damien was moving fast — too fast.
He could feel the cost, tendons snapping like overstretched cords, Muscles tearing apart, bones creaking and fracturing under the pressure of his speed. His entire body screamed in protest, but he didn't care.
If he slowed down, even for a second, Summer would die.
So he pushed.
He surged forward with everything he had left, just as the rabbit extended a claw toward her unconscious form.
Damien roared.
Launching himself like a lightning bolt, he kicked the beast with enough force to shake the ground beneath them. Its body sailed through the air and crashed against the invisible barrier that lined the island's edge.
The force of impact splattered it like fruit against a wall.
Blood sprayed across the translucent shield and slowly slid down, painting it red.
Damien exhaled through gritted teeth, his voice cold.
"Did you really think we'd let a disgusting thing like you touch our Summer?"
Then the pain hit.
All at once, the backlash from the lightning tore through him. Muscles shredded from overuse, tendons snapped like whipcords, and Cracks split through bone. His vision blurred as agony rushed up his spine and crushed him to the ground.
He dropped to one knee, gasping.
His body felt like it was imploding.
Damien immediately dismissed the lightning. The glow vanished, along with the numbing energy that had kept the pain at bay.
And that's when he saw it.
Rabbit number three—bloody, broken, and furious—was already on top of him.
Its remaining arm hung limp, and one ear was torn and dangling. It was barely alive, rage flooding its veins like poison, and it only had one goal: to kill Damien.
The beast swiped at his face.
Damien tried to raise his sword, but his arm didn't respond. His shoulder felt shattered, and the blade dropped from his grip.
The claws came closer, gleaming, deadly, inches from tearing open his face.
'Am I going to die at the hands of a grade one monster?'
The thought played in his head vividly
Then a flash of green.
A glowing projectile curved down from above in a perfect arc and struck the rabbit's skull. The light burned through bone and brain alike, slicing the creature's head clean in two.
It collapsed instantly, body limp, dead before it hit the ground.
Luka landed beside Damien with fluid grace, his boots barely making a sound against the broken earth. Without missing a beat, he swept his hair back from his face and plunged Nova into the rabbit's still-warm carcass. The blade cut cleanly through flesh and sinew, and with practiced precision, Luka reached inside the open wound, his gloved hand rummaging through the gore.
The smell hit Damien immediately—thick, metallic blood, hot and cloying, mixed with something wild and musky that made his stomach twist.
With a small grunt of triumph, Luka pulled out a small brown tag, slick with blood, the rabbit's class and name etched into its surface. He casually wiped it off on the creature's fur, then pulled two more tags from his pocket and fanned them out in his palm like playing cards.
Flashing Damien a broad, almost childlike grin. "Thirteen points already. We're killing it!"
Damien stared at him, jaw tight, his eyes burning—not with admiration, but frustration. Or was it anger? Maybe both.
His body screamed with pain, muscles locked and useless, limbs trembling from the backlash of his lightning. Blood ran in rivulets down his arms, staining the cracked ground beneath him.
And this psychopath was smiling?
'I'm sitting here bloody and broken, can't even twitch a finger, and this lunatic's talking about points? Summer almost died, and this is what he cares about?'
But Damien bit down on the urge to yell. His breath slowed, and the fire behind his eyes dimmed slightly. Luka wasn't mocking him—this was just how he was wired. Damien let the silence sit for a moment, watching Luka admire the tags like trophies from a claw machine.
Despite everything, a small smile tugged at Damien's lips. Relief seeped in slowly, easing the panic in his chest.
They had made it.
Their first real battle with monsters—and they'd survived.
"I'm glad we're all safe," he said quietly, meaning it more than he expected.
A faint sound drew his attention—a shift in the air to his right. Leaves rustled lightly, and gravel shifted.
Luka's head snapped toward the noise, instincts already on edge. Nova lifted slightly in his hand, ready to strike. Damien tried to turn, to see what it was, but pain locked his body in place.
It wasn't another monster.
It was Summer.
Her fingers twitched first, then her eyes fluttered open, glazed with confusion as she slowly came to.
'Thank the gods…' Damien exhaled, the last of his strength giving out. 'I definitely need a healer.'