Jack twisted his body on air and whipped his bladed tail. Aiming at the waist of the devil girl. But she blocked it with her electrically charged, clawed hands.
CRACKLE! BOOM!
Both was thrown back by the collision.
The devil girl landed on the ground and slammed both hands forward. From her palms, glowing cracks of lightning energy thread shot out. Weaving together with impossible speed.
Jack immediately understood. This was the [Lightning Web]. The threads expanded in extremely fast speed. Quickly closing all of his escape path. Creating a lethal, electrified cage. He assumed that it was designed to paralyze anything it touched.
The lightning web came closing in. Jack had [Paralysis Immunity], but he didn't want to take a chance. He crouched to the floor and activated his [Shadow Escape].
He instantly melded into the shadow on the ground, Slipping through the gaps of the floorboards just as the lightning web snapped shut above him.
The web surged toward Reina like a living net.
"Hmph!" Reina grunted. She instantly triggered her illusion fog. A thick, grey fog erupted from her position. Obscuring his body.
The lightning web tore through the fog. But Reina wasn't there. She had blinked away again. And this time, she was blanketed by invisibility illusion.
She appeared on the far side of the chamber. Undetected by the devil, she aimed her twin handguns. And pulled the triggers.
Barrage of silenced bullets struck the devil's body. Harming her and making her bleed. But, the wounds weren't deep. The devil's girl resilience was... troublesome.
The devil hissed. Her feline eyes were locked on the invisible-yet-detected Reina. She charged. Using her [Lightning Steps] to strike at Reina. However, her claws passing through the target harmlessly. Reina had used her [Absolute Blink] again.
The devil girl roared in frustration.
Jack saw his opening. He emerged from the devil's shadow and struck with his left hand. The tribal tattoo on his forearm glowed golden. And explosive fire burst struck the devil. [Fire Burst]!
The girl reacted instantly. Blocking the burst with arms coated by lightning. The explosive power failed to significantly injure her. But the power threw her away. Forcing her to crash against the piles of chopped corpses.
Jack was also thrown back. But he managed to land on his legs gracefully.
The devil charged out of the bloody pile. Her face was twisted in rage. Wild lightning sparks covered her whole body.
Jack activated his [Knight Charge]. The golden tattoo on her right leg glowed bright. And as he lunged forward, he turned into an unstoppable force. Scales covered his whole body while he rolled into a tight ball. Spinning like a cannon ball styled armadillo.
He collided against the devil girl and pushed her forward in extreme speed. Plowing through a pile of chopped corpses remains. Sending chunks of flesh and bone fragments flying like shrapnel.
They crashed into the base of the altar. The impact was so loud that it seemed to shake the very foundations of the dungeon.
The devil girl was knocked off balance. For a fraction of a second, she was stunned.
Reina didn't miss the moment. She instantly acted. Her fog thickened around the devil. The grey mist turned into heavy, suffocating ropes. This was her attempt to mix her illusion power and fog manipulation. [Illusion Fog Strangulation].
The devil girl struggled. Her limbs and breath were bound by the both fog and illusion. It wouldn't stop her for long. But, it was enough to delay for a few seconds.
Jack wouldn't miss the chance. He uncurled from his charge. Back to his kamaitachi form. He was right in front of her. His hand shot out. Glowing with the strange, thieving energy of the Phantasmal Rogue, the class his current form belonged to.
"Give me something nice..." Jack muttered.
He touched the devil's forehead. His power reached into the devil's essence. It felt like sticking his fingers into burning coal. Pain shot up from his fingers to his whole body. But he didn't let go.
He felt that the innate power of his class was trying to wrench a portion of devil power away. Tearing the concept of the skill from her soul. And it succeeded.
His system notification blazed...
[TEMPORARY SKILLS ACQUIRED!]
[LIGHTNING WEB… ACQUIRED!]
The devil girl let out an enraged, high-pitched wail. The loss of the skill made her feel something hollow within her. The vicious glow in her eyes dimmed. Replaced by a look of rage mixed with terror.
"You... you thief!" She spat. Her voice cracked.
She tore free from the illusionary fog entanglement and gathered every ounce of her remaining strength. The air in the hall began to hum with a terrifying frequency.
She launched herself at Jack. Her small form was radiating pure hatred. But Jack, using his super speed, easily sprinted away.
The battle raged on. The Hall of Sacrifice was now barely recognizable. The floor was a chaotic mosaic of pulverized stone, splintered bone, and black scorch marks. Some of the pillars were reduced to stumps.
The central altar was damaged. But it still stood strong. Its bloody surface still showed a testament to its dark power.
The devil seemed to avoid damaging the altar. Jack took a special note of that and targeted it instead.
He bombarded the altar with his [Fire Burst].
This made the devil girl enraged even more. She screeched loudly and became even more reckless. She fired a torrent of [Lightning Blasts]. Each one was targeting Jack.
But, with Jack's speed none of them managed to hit him. In fact, many of them had struck the altar and tore its structure even worse.
One particularly potent of [Lightning Blast] collided against Jack's [Fire Burst]. The resulting force was strategically deflected by the kamaitachi. And struck the already battered altar. Sending cracks spiderwebbing across its surface.
As the devil girl released another piercing scream, Reina suddenly appeared behind her. A full-powered combination of illusion power and grey fog control assaulted the devil. It was a vortex of illusionary grey fog that exploded and blasted her out to the altar. [Fog Illusion Blast]. Another skill Reina had recently developed.
The girl struck the side of the altar. It didn't injure her at all. But it placed her in the strategic position... for Jack.
The kamaitachi didn't miss the chance. He instantly launched himself toward her direction. Channeling a massive amount of his energy. He unleashed a full-power [Fire Burst] at the devil.
The devil sensed the immense threat. She screamed and retaliated with her own most powerful attack. A concentrated [Lightning Blast].
The two attacks met mid-air. Another blinding collision of elemental forces. Orange-red flames intertwined with crackling blue-white lightning.
The impact was colossal. A deafening explosion dwarfed all previous sounds. It was like the air itself shrieked in pain. A shockwave rippled outwards. Throwing Jack and the devil girl backward.
When the blinding light faded, and the ringing in his ears slightly subsided, Jack could see the bloody altar lay in ruins.
The structure had already been weakened by the earlier attacks and the prolonged battle. Now, it had finally been completely demolished. It was nothing but scattered rubble. Its dark, menacing vibe was finally extinguished.
The devil child lay amidst the wreckage. Weakened and disoriented. The altar was her source of power evolution and transformation. Its destruction had taken a heavy toll not just from the material loss, but also from power backlash.
The backlash assaulted the devil at the moment. Her body was still thrumming with residual energy. But it was fading away rapidly.
Reina, pragmatic as ever, wasted no time. She raised her dual handguns. In a rapid, fluid motion, she squeezed the triggers.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
A barrage of bullets struck with terrifying accuracy. Converging on a single point in the devil's forehead. Each shot hammered into the same spot. Piercing flesh, bone, and residual demonic energy alike.
The Child of Secret Haven's eyes widened in a silent scream of disbelief and pain. A final, convulsive shudder wracked her body.
The lingering flicker of light in her eyes extinguished. She went limp. And, within a few seconds, she began to dissolve. Turning into a violent vortex of yellow and brown mist.
The vortex spun wildly. Sucking in the aura of fear, pain, and resentment that had reigned in the chamber.
Then, it split. Two streams of concentrated energy shot out. One hit Reina. The other washed Jack's kamaitachi body.
Jack felt the rush. It was like a surge of cool, yet comfortable electricity refreshing his body and mind.
His system notification instantly manifested in his vision. Glowing with new information.
[DEVIL ENERGY ABSORBED...]
[MYSTICISM GAINING SIGNIFICANT BOOST]
Jack quickly checked his status panel attributes...
[Attributes: Physique (93) Mysticism (55) Passion (99) Essence (99)]
Jack's kamaitachi form grinned widely. It was indeed a significant boost. His [Mysticism] was originally only 43 points. It increased by 12 points. Nice!
Reina also looked invigorated. "Dear..." She said. "This time, it's my control over fog power that has been improved. It significantly reduced the mana consumption for me to manipulate fog now. These devils are damned, tricky bastards. But they do provide nice rewards."
Jack transformed back to his human form. In an instant the goggled and caped kamaitachi was replaced by a broad-shouldered mercenary in leather outfits.
"Indeed." He said when the transformation was completed. "Let's go back and join the others."