Chapter 190: Twin Nightmares

Gray didn’t waste the two seconds.

He drove both Void Reaper’s Lances into the enhanced Imp’s exposed chest, aiming directly for the horns on its head. The void-edged spears tore through flesh and bone, carving deep grooves into the jagged black horns.

[VOID REAPER’S LANCE — 296 DAMAGE]

[VOID REAPER’S LANCE — 288 DAMAGE]

[NETHER IMP (ENHANCED) — HP: 3,376 / 5,200]

[HORNS — CRACKED]

[REGENERATION — WEAKENED]

The Imp shrieked, its body convulsing. The horns were cracked, their regenerative power faltering. For a heartbeat, the creature’s wounds stopped closing.

But the Imp wasn’t done.

It twisted its body with that same impossible flexibility, contorting in ways that should have torn its own muscles. Its bones snapped, its flesh tore, and it forced itself free of Gray’s grip by sheer, violent will. The self-inflicted wounds healed almost instantly, the regeneration surging back despite the cracked horns.

[REGENERATION — REACTIVATED]

[NETHER IMP (ENHANCED) — HP: 3,376 / 5,200]

Gray’s eyes widened.

"Shit!"

He tried to retreat, but the Imp was already moving. It opened its mouth wide, void energy gathering in its throat, a sphere of pure darkness compressing into a single, devastating point.

Gray activated Current Dash on pure instinct, dissolving into the water and reforming ten meters to the left.

But the Imp had anticipated him.

The void beam fired, not at where he was, but at where he would be. The lance of darkness screamed through the air and struck Gray dead center.

[-684 HP]

[CRITICAL HIT]

[GRAY ASHFORD — HP: 1,196 / 1,880]

[VOID CORROSION — 32 DAMAGE PER SECOND]

[PRISMATIC CARAPACE — CRITICALLY DAMAGED]

Gray was hurled backward, his body crashing through a curtain of roots and slamming into the far wall. Blood sprayed from his mouth, his chest a ruin of cracked crystal and seared flesh. The void corrosion was already eating into him, spreading faster than before.

"GRAY!" Cindy’s scream was shrill with panic.

She raised her hands, her silver glow flickering weakly, and cast another Glacial Lance at the enhanced Imp. The spear of ice shot across the chamber, but the creature twisted, its body contorting, and the lance shattered against the wall behind it.

The Imp turned toward her, its pupilless crimson eyes burning.

Lily darted between them, her enhanced body blazing with dark energy. She projected a volley of spines at the Imp, forcing it to dodge, and then positioned herself directly in front of Cindy, her five points spread wide.

The second Imp, the one Lily had been fighting, lunged at her from behind.

But Lily was faster now.

She spun, her enhanced core pulsing, and projected a concentrated void sphere directly into the second Imp’s face. The sphere detonated on impact, tearing through the creature’s skull and sending it tumbling backward.

[LILY — VOID SPHERE — 312 DAMAGE]

[NETHER IMP (2) — HP: 2,840 / 4,500]

[STUNNED — 3 SECONDS]

The enhanced Imp shrieked in fury and lunged at Lily.

But something was wrong.

Its movements were slower now. Its body was heavier, bulkier, the essence it had absorbed weighing it down. Its regeneration was flickering, the cracked horns struggling to keep up with the damage it had taken.

And then Gray saw it.

The enhanced Imp’s body was beginning to swell.

Its flesh bulged in places, its veins pulsing with too much mana, too much energy. The essence it had absorbed was destabilizing, not because it was toxic, but because the Imp had absorbed too much, too fast. Its body was overloaded.

"It’s... it’s overloading," Gray said, his voice ragged.

Cindy’s frills lifted with sudden hope.

"The essence! It absorbed too much!"

The enhanced Imp shrieked, its body convulsing. Its regeneration was failing, the cracks in its horns spreading, the essence inside it tearing through its own flesh. It was fighting a war on two fronts, against Gray and Cindy and Lily, and against the energy inside its own body.

Gray forced himself upright, his chest screaming in protest. The void corrosion was still eating into him, but he ignored it. He had to finish this now, while the Imp was vulnerable.

"Lily!" he shouted. "The horns! Break the horns!"

Lily pulsed once, bright and determined, and darted toward the enhanced Imp. Her five points spun like saw blades, her dark core blazing with void energy.

The Imp tried to dodge, but its body wouldn’t obey. The essence was tearing it apart from the inside. It could only watch as Lily closed in.

Lily drove all five of her points into the cracks in the Imp’s horns.

[LILY — VOID SHATTER — 448 DAMAGE]

[NETHER IMP (ENHANCED) — HP: 2,928 / 5,200]

[HORNS — DESTROYED]

[REGENERATION — DISABLED]

The horns shattered, fragments of black bone spraying through the air. The Imp screamed, a sound of pure, primal agony, and its regeneration failed completely. Its wounds stopped closing. Its body stopped swelling. It was just a creature now, mortal and bleeding.

The second Imp, still reeling from Lily’s void sphere, tried to rise. But Cindy was already casting.

"[Glacial Lance]!"

The spear of ice shot across the chamber and punched through the second Imp’s chest, pinning it to the wall.

[GLACIAL LANCE — 352 DAMAGE]

[NETHER IMP (2) — HP: 2,488 / 4,500]

Gray activated Current Dash, dissolving into the water and reforming directly above the enhanced Imp. Both hands were raised, Void Reaper’s Lance forming in each palm.

The Imp stared up at him, its pupilless crimson eyes wide with something that might have been fear.

Gray drove both lances into its skull.

[VOID REAPER’S LANCE — 312 DAMAGE]

[VOID REAPER’S LANCE — 304 DAMAGE]

[NETHER IMP (ENHANCED) — HP: 2,312 / 5,200]

[SKULL — CRITICALLY DAMAGED]

The Imp convulsed, its body arching, its mouth gaping in a silent scream. Gray didn’t stop. He activated Overcharge, channeling every volt of electricity he had left into the creature’s exposed brain.

[OVERCHARGE — 348 DAMAGE]

[NETHER IMP (ENHANCED) — HP: 1,964 / 5,200]

[STUNNED — 5 SECONDS]

"Lily! Now!"

Lily darted forward, her five points spinning, and drove them into the Imp’s exposed skull.

[LILY — VOID SHATTER — 462 DAMAGE]

[NETHER IMP (ENHANCED) — HP: 1,502 / 5,200]

[BRAIN — CRITICALLY DAMAGED]

The Imp’s body went limp.

Gray didn’t give it time to recover. He raised both hands and fired Cavitation Pulse directly into the wound.

[CAVITATION PULSE — 328 DAMAGE]

[NETHER IMP (ENHANCED) — HP: 1,174 / 5,200]

Cindy’s voice rang out.

"[Glacial Lance]!"

The spear of ice shot across the chamber and punched through the Imp’s chest, piercing its core.

[GLACIAL LANCE — 364 DAMAGE]

[NETHER IMP (ENHANCED) — HP: 810 / 5,200]

Gray drove his fist forward, Void Reaper’s Lance forming around his arm, and punched through the Imp’s shattered skull.

[VOID REAPER’S LANCE — 324 DAMAGE]

[NETHER IMP (ENHANCED) — HP: 486 / 5,200]

Lily finished it.

She compressed every ounce of void energy she had left into a single, concentrated sphere, and fired it into the Imp’s exposed brain.

[LILY — VOID ANNIHILATION — 512 DAMAGE]

[NETHER IMP (ENHANCED) — DEFEATED — 4,800 EXP]

The enhanced Imp’s body went still. Its pupilless crimson eyes flickered once, twice, and then went dark. The essence inside it stopped pulsing. Its flesh stopped swelling. It was dead.

The second Imp shrieked in fury, but it was alone now. Its horns were still intact, its regeneration still active, but its enhanced counterpart was gone.

Gray turned toward it, his golden eyes burning with cold fury.

"One left."

He activated Current Dash, dissolving into the water and reforming directly in front of the second Imp. It tried to dodge, but its movements were slower now, its body still reeling from Lily’s void sphere.

Gray drove both Void Reaper’s Lances into its horns.

[VOID REAPER’S LANCE — 308 DAMAGE]

[VOID REAPER’S LANCE — 296 DAMAGE]

[NETHER IMP (2) — HP: 1,884 / 4,500]

[HORNS — CRITICALLY DAMAGED]

The Imp shrieked, trying to pull away, but Gray didn’t let go. He activated Grip Jaw, his fingers and tentacles locking down, crushing the cracked horns with everything he had.

[GRIP JAW — 82 DAMAGE]

[GRIP JAW — 78 DAMAGE]

[NETHER IMP (2) — HP: 1,724 / 4,500]

[HORNS — DESTROYED]

[REGENERATION — DISABLED]

The Imp’s regeneration failed. Its wounds stopped closing. It was mortal now, bleeding, dying.

Cindy raised her hands one final time.

"[Glacial Lance]!"

The spear of ice shot across the chamber and punched through the Imp’s chest, piercing its core.

[GLACIAL LANCE — 368 DAMAGE]

[NETHER IMP (2) — HP: 1,356 / 4,500]

Lily darted forward, her enhanced body blazing.

[LILY — VOID SHATTER — 456 DAMAGE]

[NETHER IMP (2) — HP: 900 / 4,500]

Gray drove his fist into the Imp’s exposed chest, Void Reaper’s Lance forming around his arm.

The lance punched clean through it. Bone cracked. Dark blood sprayed across his hand and wrist, hot and thick. The Imp jerked once, its tail lashing wildly, then sagged against his arm, its weight dragging him forward half a step.

[VOID REAPER’S LANCE — 332 DAMAGE]

[NETHER IMP (2) — HP: 568 / 4,500]

Gray drove his palm into the Imp’s chest and let the lightning rip. The current tore through its ribs and flooded its heart, cooking it from the inside out. The creature shrieked and its body snapped rigid, every muscle locking at once, its tail whipping uselessly through the air.

[OVERCHARGE — 352 DAMAGE]

[NETHER IMP (2) — HP: 216 / 4,500]