Chapter 14: Dark Power
"You'll regret ever crossing me. What you sow, you will reap," Sam warned, his voice firm. "You can either stop now or suffer the same fate as your comrades."
"Die," Yami snarled.
In response, he channeled his dark power to its maximum output, recognizing that Sam was not going to be an easy opponent.
The dark power coated Yami's sword with intense dark flames that burned ferociously, yet seemed to leave him unaffected.
Sam was somewhat concerned about this dark power, as he knew nothing about it.
He enveloped his entire body in heroic energy, forming a protective shield.
Yami attacked first, utilizing his speed to its fullest extent.
He appeared in front of Sam and swung his sword, the dark flames morphing as if they had a will of their own.
Sam raised his sword, ready to deflect the strike.
When their blades clashed with a resonant clang, their initial attacks canceled each other out.
However, the dark power intensified and sought its prey.
Sensing danger, Sam jumped back before the dark power could reach him.
Once at a safe distance, he noticed that the heroic energy that had covered his sword was gone.
He didn't have time to ponder this development as Yami, relentless, came at him again, his dark flames burning even more fiercely.
This time, Sam chose to dodge continuously rather than make direct contact with Yami's sword, all the while trying to understand the nature of the dark flames.
Yami swung his sword in a frenzy, unable to land a single blow on Sam.
Frustration mounted, and he began to lose control over his emotions.
Meanwhile, Cedric Warder watched the battle unfold.
He had no intention of interfering; his alliance with Yami was born out of a promise of riches, which he no longer needed as the academy was about to start.
He decided to sever his connection with Yami then and there.
Growing tired of dodging the dark flame-covered sword, Sam once again enveloped his eclipse sword in heroic energy and switched to the offensive.
He began to overpower Yami with sheer strength, pushing him back repeatedly.
Yet, with each clash, the heroic energy covering his sword was chipped away.
Sam narrowed his eyes in realization. "So that's how it is? This dark power feeds off heroic energy and grows stronger. Very interesting."
He also noted that the dark power granted Yami the ability to produce flames significantly more potent than ordinary fire.
Sam deflected Yami's sword before kicking him hard in the abdomen, sending him crashing into a tree.
Not even a second had passed before Yami collided with the tree, and Sam reappeared, hurling him against a nearby rock.
He then punched Yami in the face, breaking one of his teeth.
"Ahh," Yami groaned, trying to get up, but Sam wasn't finished yet.
He punched him again, this time breaking his nose, followed by a series of bone-crushing punches that would have killed an ordinary mortal.
Yami couldn't even scream; every time he involuntarily opened his mouth, it got punched shut. His face now resembled rotten pig meat.
Sam slammed him against the tree trunk again, breaking one of the branches.
He held Yami's palm against the tree and used the sharp end of a branch to pierce through his hand, nailing him to the tree.
"Aaaaahhhhhh.... you bastard...." Yami groaned, his bloodied eyes trembling with pain.
"Don't move, it will only hurt more," Sam said casually and continued his assault.
He then repeated the process with Yami's other hand, nailing it to the tree as well.
"This is your punishment for trying to break my bones," Sam said, lifting Yami's head by his hair. "Now answer my question. Did Yoru Kusanagi ask you to deal with me?"
"Go to hell," Yami spat blood and cursed.
"Heh, you won't admit it, huh?" Sam smiled to himself, then glanced at Yami's hand nailed to the tree.
A small spark of dark flames began to burn on the wound before spreading to the tree branch. The flames were weak, even weaker than normal flames.
"Hmm... would you look at that? The dark flames also heal wounds. I wonder what else they can do?" Sam mused, focusing on the dark power shown on Yami's status.
[Rare Stat: Dark Power]
[Description: A type of energy born from the negative side of the universe. It is powered by negative emotions and is the counterpart of Holy Power from the positive side of the universe.]
[Effects: Ability to produce flames powered by Dark Power, supernatural healing, ability to influence negative emotions, ability to defend against Holy Power, immunity against venoms and poisons.]
"Anyway, it's been nice breaking your faces," Sam waved his hand like an innocent child. "And may we never cross paths with each other for your sake."
Yami couldn't help but feel fear looking into those icy blue eyes.
Not for a second did he believe that Sam was merely intimidating.
He truly believed that if rules hadn't prevented it, he would have died on the spot.
Then something strange happened.
A feeling of intense anger brewed within him.
He felt every negative emotion come over him at once.
In response, the dark power within him spiraled out of control.
Before Sam could react, it erupted and blasted him away.
It painted the area in dark smoke emanating from the dark flames that scorched everything to ashes.
Not even a blade of grass escaped.
"Shit," Sam groaned, looking at Yami and instinctively pointing his sword in defense, but Yami was already unconscious.
It seems that the last outburst of dark power drained him dry.
"Ah..." Sam groaned in pain. Just before the blast of dark power hit him, he was able to create a protective shield using heroic energy, but the dark flames still reached his left arm.
"The flames won't go out." Only an inch of his arm got burned, but the flames slowly, very slowly, continued burning his skin.
No matter what he did, he couldn't extinguish them.
He disappeared from the area and arrived at a place where he noticed a small pond of water.
He tried to extinguish the flames using water, but it was useless.
"Dammit, I was careless," Sam cursed, trying to use his heroic energy to expel it from his body.
But it didn't work; it only made it worse. "What do I do now?"
Sam gritted his teeth, closing his eyes, thinking of everything he knew, trying to come up with a solution while the flames began to enter his flesh.
He opened his eyes and sighed, then pointed his free hand at the wound and activated his unique ability.
[Innate Ability Activated: Extraction]
A bluish energy covered his palm, almost like a wild, blue slime that formed thread-like substances.
They landed on the flame-covered wound, and the dark-powered flames began to be sucked in by these threads, transporting them to his hand and then to his body.
Within a few seconds, all the dark-powered flames were absorbed into his body.
This was the power of Sam's innate ability, Extraction.
It could extract resources from anything and turn them into fuel for his own evolution.
It was both simple and terrifying at the same time.
[Your body absorbed Dark power]
[Dark power is being registered into your Spirituality]
[Your Physiology is evolving to Synthesize Dark power]
[Dark Power Assimilation: 0.005%]