Chapter 34: Serafina Jackson

When Serafina unleashed her true power, the magical energy rippled through Detroit like a stone cast into still water. Across the city, high-tiered figures felt the disturbance; some experienced it as a mere tingle, others as an eerie chill that made them pause mid-stride. Many found their gazes drawn instinctively toward the source of the emanation.

In her private study, Selene Marquis looked up from her leather-bound tome, her fingers still marking the page as she peered through the window into the night. “Hmm…” she murmured, her voice barely audible in the silence.

Throughout the city, the same thought echoed in the minds of those powerful enough to sense it: someone on the Ranked Board was stirring up trouble. Yet none chose to interfere as the matter didn’t concern them directly, and in their world, such restraint often meant the difference between survival and becoming collateral damage.

The killing intent that poured from Serafina and the translucent entity floating behind her was suffocating. The malevolent aura wrapped around Liam’s throat like invisible hands, making him choke and gasp for air. For a terrifying moment, his mind conjured a vivid vision of his own death, so real he could taste the metallic tang of blood on his tongue.

However, he steadied himself, feeling his magic energy surge through his body like liquid fire, preparing for what he knew would be a fight with drastically reduced odds of survival. Before Liam could make his next move, three deep gashes appeared across his torso without warning. He froze, eyes wide with shock as before blood erupted from the wounds and then he collapsed to his knees, wheezing and struggling to breathe.

The cuts began sealing immediately, his regeneration skill working overtime, trying its best to heal the damage almost as quickly as it occurred. If not for his constant regeneration, those cuts would have been way more fatal.

Behind Serafina, the spectral figure of death slowly retracted its massive scythe, confirming it was it that struck. “Tsk, his regeneration is troublesome,” Serafina muttered, stretching her right hand toward Liam as he struggled to regain his footing. In rapid succession, clean cuts severed his right arm, then his left, then his left leg.

Each limb fell to the ground with sickening thuds as Liam collapsed, balancing precariously on his one remaining knee. Notification screens flickered before his vision:

[Warning! → HP Critical]

[Warning! → Player losing significant blood]

[Warning! → Player about to lose consciousness]

[Regeneration skill will halt if consciousness is lost]

Serafina observed the faint vapor rising from Liam’s severed limbs, his regeneration ability attempting to regrow what was lost, though painfully slowly. She raised her index finger and drew a horizontal line through the air. Liam’s head separated from his shoulders as a result, rolling across the ground until it came to rest, eyes still wide with shock and disbelief. Blood pooled around the grotesque scene as his body slumped forward, twitching once.

Serafina’s True Ability—Phantom Reaper; materialized a Shinigami that attacked with graceful precision. Attacks from the scythe defied conventional physics. At this point the entity no longer needed its strikes to travel. Each swing of the scythe caused cuts to appear instantly, as if painting directly onto reality’s canvas. It was an ability that defied common sense in its simplicity and absolute lethality.

“Too bad,” Serafina said, with genuine disappointment coloring her voice. “You would have been a good addition to the Grizzlies.” The specter of death, along with the scythe began fading into the night air, its purpose fulfilled.

Serafina had barely taken a few steps when her senses flared wildly. She stopped abruptly, whipping her head backward. “What?!” she snapped. Dark red magical energy emanated from each scattered body part, including Liam’s torso and severed head. The pieces dissolved into glowing particles that floated upward like embers from a dying fire.

In a brilliant flash of crimson light, Liam’s body reformed completely and whole, no cuts, even his clothes restored to pristine condition as if the battle had never occurred.

Notification screens cascaded before Liam’s vision:

[Nega-Fusion skill complete]

[A soul has been exchanged to reset your own life]

[Player can no longer use the attributes from the extinguished soul]

[Level up]

[Level up]

[Level up]

[Regeneration skill has been upgraded to Lv2]

[+5 stat points available]

Liam descended slowly from where he floated in the air, staring at his hands in absolute bewilderment. Minutes ago, he had literally been at death’s door, but somehow, the skill he’d acquired earlier had granted him a reprieve from death itself.

Serafina stood frozen in shock. She’d witnessed countless battles, fought creatures and humans of every conceivable type, but never had she seen anything like this. Resurrection of this type had never been recorded in human history. Even those bound by contracts with Family Heads weren’t granted true immortality.

The other men watching from a distance couldn’t find words for what they’d witnessed. It felt surreal, like something from a fever dream. Liam looked up at Serafina, and a cocky grin spread across his face, a deliberate provocation.

For the first time in years, she lost her composure completely. “What the hell are you?!” she screamed, her voice cracking with frustration as the Phantom Reaper materialized behind her once more while she stormed forward. Liam, not backing down, charged toward her.

But just then…

A tremendous shockwave suddenly slammed down from above, exploding between them and forcefully blasting both combatants apart in opposite directions. Liam crashed through several structures before coming to rest in a pile of debris. Serafina managed to reposition herself mid-air, landing gracefully with both feet planted and her right arm braced against the ground for additional support.

“That’s enough!” a deep voice thundered across the battlefield. Director Grey descended from above, his fist still extended from the punch that had generated the shockwave. He wore a perfectly tailored suit, but his hands were encased in dark gauntlets engraved with golden patterns, and built from thick, interlocking plates of metal that covered his entire hands and forearms.

He landed in the center of a massive crater created by the impact of his attack. Serafina was the first to recover, having barely lost her footing. “How dare you?!” she yelled, fury blazing in her eyes as she slowly traced her index finger through the air.

As she made the gesture, thin cuts appeared on Grey’s neck, carving across his throat as her finger moved.

Grey stared at her unfazed, his own eyes burning with equal intensity. “You don’t want to fight me, Serafina,” he said, his voice steady despite the blood beginning to trickle from the shallow wounds. “I’m warning you.”

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