86 The End

The moment Carelia snapped out of her silent meditation, he would be in a dire situation.

Absorb her out from Star Leaf? No way. He probably wouldn't even be able to flee with his life.

At the moment he still had a chance to win this conflict, slim but he had one: he just needed to manage to reach the body of inside that flame of Ghost Power.

Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem: for Darkscale, eating a great quantity of Ghost Energy was almost a second nature. He had a great experience with that type of power and also had a technique to absorb that specific power in great amounts without any problem.

The problem was that there was too much damn energy. He had no choice, though. He could only try to keep absorbing it.

He did just so, continuously absorbing a great quantity of silver force. More he took, more he was near his objective and less she would have to use even if she recovered.

At the same time, even while trying to consume the greatest quantity of Ghost Energy, the serpent kept his sense alert.

He was incredibly suspicious of the fact that Carelia wasn't reacting in any way to his attack. Not that he wanted her to.

The snake didn't believe for a second that Carelia had only one defensive plan. That wasn't the person she was. Darkscale could tell that she was planning something else.

He could feel it, the looming sense of a mortal danger t that was approaching.

Yes, she should be sure that her energy was too much for him to handle, but that would not be enough for her.

If he was her, he would also try to attack him when he least expected it.

So, he kept an eye open for a possible surprise counter-attack.

'What are you planning, you damned traitorous scum?'

While the snake was considering the situation he was in, he didn't stop absorbing Carelia's power.

Large amounts of the silver energy that once belonged to Carelia was now powering up his vortex, allowing it to consume even more quickly the white flame.

The snake was basically robbing her of her cultivation base and then using that same energy he stole to damage her even further. It was a never-ending cycle.

This method was so effective that Darkscale was actually feeling that his second Core shattering wasn't that far from him. If he continued absorbing Carelia's energy he would surely become a Rank 2 Devil.

'Dammit!'

He could stop using the Breath, cutting himself from the absorption of new power. That would be the thing he would have done in a normal fight, stop until he was sure that becoming a second stage devil would not make him go insane.

Yet, if he did that now he would probably end up dead before the end of the day. He would be completely crushed by Carelia's might once she recuperated her strength.

'There is no other way...'

Darkscale gave a large breath and kept absorbing energy. After a moment of consideration, he had decided that it was better to deal with the danger of losing his mind than to deliver himself to sure death. Because it was clear as the day to him that if he didn't take care of the white flame and then the spirit of Carelia, he was as good as dead.

After a few seconds passed, the serpent felt his Core starting to crack under the internal pressure from the energy he had dumped inside of it. He knew this sensation: his Devil Core was ready to shatter at any time.

Once that happened, if he didn't lose his mind, he would have even more power in the Devil Path. That would be incredibly helpful in the dire situation he was in now.

Calrealia, didn't seem to notice the aura of progress that was propagating from the snake.

The woman kept her head down, doing nothing at all. She didn't even try to manipulate the flame to attack him or to resist the pull of his devouring whirlpool.

Unhindered, the snake continued amassing power in his already full Core.

The cracks on the Energy Container multiplied and worsened, until a loud shattering sound echoed inside Darkscale's mind.

He felt a stinging pain where his Core. The energy that previously was safe inside of the roughly shaped container, now was free to ravage the inside of his body.

Darkscale wasn't ready for this. It was completely different from his first evolution!

The first shattering he had, when he still had a Natural Heart, only caused the energy to disappear inside the fragments of the Natural Heart before reappearing inside his new-forged Devil Core.

This time however, the energy didn't follow the fragments of the Core. It exploded inside his body, starting to ravaging him internally.

The serpent realized at that moment that he wouldn't be able to take control of it. It was too much energy, wild like a tsunami.

Maybe there would have been a chance if he was reading for it, but he didn't even know that it would happen. He wasn't ready at all for the task. Most of his awareness was bound to the vortex that he was using to fight against Carelia.

Even if he wanted to send it all to rein the raging forces inside his body, he wouldn't be able to save himself from a certain death.

The realization that he was done for hit Darkscale. Never before he had been certain that he was going to die and that there was nothing that he could do to stop that.

The Ghost Energy started to burn his flesh from the inside and even attacked his vital organs. His flesh had been strengthened by his transformation into a true devil, but the mass of energy attacking it was too much even for his strong body to handle.

He screamed, unable to maintain the mask of calmness under the incredible pain he was feeling.

He sensed that Ghost Energy that he had worked so hard to absorb killing him from the inside and a feeling of profound desperation overwhelmed him.

"HA HA HA"

A raucous and broken laughter filled the air around him. It was unpleasant, like the sound of a dying bird and metal clawing other metal.

"Lo..w…li..f..e.. peasa..nt"

Darkscale managed to turn his face toward the sound. Even before putting his eyes on her, he knew that she knew. That was why she hadn't tried to stop him.

He wanted to insult her, but he didn't dare to try and gather other energy. The still wanted to cling into the vortex, and he wasn't sure he was going to be able to do that and use energy to speak back at her.

His eyes were full of pain encountered the red ones of Star Leaf.

There was an amused expression on her face while he laughed, spitting black liquid every now and then.

"Did… did you thin..so.. eas…sy?

The woman wearing Star Leaf's face resumed her ungraceful mocking laughter.

If he wasn't in such extreme pain, Darkscale would have been furious. Yet, now the pain he was feeling as the energy continued to destroy him from the inside was the only thing on his mind.

'Am I going to die?'