Chapter 203: Borrowed Divinity

[PRIMORDIAL ESSENCE — RESONANCE INTENSIFYING]

[Essence Output: 41% → 58%...]

[HP: 456 / 1,880]

[SELF-INFLICTED DAMAGE: 48 HP/SECOND]

[WARNING: CRITICAL CONDITION — IMMEDIATE RETREAT ADVISED]

An unbearable wave of pain tore through Gray’s body.

It felt as though his flesh was being ripped apart from the inside, every muscle and nerve screaming in protest as the Primordial Essence surged through him. Pale divine light spread beneath his skin, illuminating the cracks that had begun to form across his crystalline carapace. Even his bones seemed to vibrate under the immense pressure.

His fingers trembled.

The arm he had raised toward the Shadow Knight was beginning to lose its shape, its surface breaking apart into tiny fragments of light before desperately reconstructing itself.

’Fuck...!’

Gray clenched his teeth so hard that his jaw ached.

’My body’s still not strong enough to handle this power!’

He had absorbed the Primordial’s essence, but that didn’t mean he could use it without consequences. His body had gained the potential to wield something far beyond his current limits, yet the gap between possessing that power and controlling it was proving to be a very painful lesson.

And judging by the damage accumulating every second, he didn’t have much time left to learn.

[HP: 408 / 1,880]

[WARNING: CONTINUED RESONANCE MAY RESULT IN IRREVERSIBLE CELLULAR COLLAPSE.]

’Oh, shut up! I can see that!’

Gray nearly laughed at the absurdity of it all, though the sound that escaped his throat was closer to a strangled gasp.

He was standing in front of an enemy capable of rejecting the consequences of his attacks, his body was falling apart, and his own power was now trying to kill him.

Wonderful.

Absolutely wonderful.

Yet Gray didn’t lower his hand.

Because the Shadow Knight was suffering, too.

The towering figure stood motionless before him, its greatsword hovering just above Gray’s head. Violet energy flickered violently across its armor, forming cracks in the aura that surrounded its body. Each pulse of divine light from Gray seemed to deepen those fractures, forcing the knight’s dark energy to recoil as though it had encountered something it could neither swallow nor erase.

For the first time since their battle began, the Shadow Knight looked genuinely disturbed.

"No..." it whispered.

The word was quiet, almost lost beneath the rumbling chamber.

Then its grip tightened around the greatsword.

"That essence... Why does it still exist?"

Gray forced the divine light to gather around his raised palm. The pressure nearly brought him to his knees, and another wave of agony surged through his chest.

[HP: 360 / 1,880]

’Just a little more...’

He didn’t need to overpower the Shadow Knight. That was impossible in his current condition.

He didn’t even need to break through its defenses.

He only needed to make the knight lose control for a single moment.

"Hey, tin can," Gray rasped.

The Shadow Knight’s visor snapped toward him.

Gray’s bloodied lips curled into a strained smile.

"Is this what happened back then? The Primordial beat you so badly that even a tiny fraction of its power makes you lose your temper?"

The chamber trembled.

A wave of violet energy erupted from the knight, tearing through the surrounding roots and sending chunks of stone flying. Its greatsword descended with enough force to split Gray in half.

"YOU KNOW NOTHING!"

Gray’s instincts screamed at him to move.

He twisted aside at the last possible instant.

The blade struck the ground beside him, sending a violent shockwave through his already battered body. Pain exploded across his ribs, and he staggered backward, nearly losing his balance.

But the sword had missed.

More importantly, the moment it struck the ground, the violet aura around the Shadow Knight surged wildly before collapsing inward.

For a fraction of a second, its presence flickered.

Gray saw it.

His Predator’s Instinct caught the disturbance before his exhausted mind could fully understand it. The knight’s power wasn’t simply weakening. Its control was becoming unstable whenever the Primordial Essence flared.

The essence wasn’t enough to defeat the knight on its own.

But it could disrupt the very ability that had made the knight untouchable.

A dangerous smile spread across Gray’s face.

’There you are.’

The Shadow Knight wrenched its sword from the ground and turned toward him.

"You dare mock me with that stolen power?"

"Stolen?" Gray coughed, spitting blood onto the stone. "I ate the thing. I think that makes it mine."

It was a ridiculous argument, even by his standards.

But the knight reacted exactly as he had hoped.

Its violet aura flared again, and the cracks spreading through it widened.

Gray immediately pushed more Primordial Essence into his arm.

Agony swallowed his senses.

[HP: 312 / 1,880]

[SELF-INFLICTED DAMAGE: 48 HP/SECOND]

[WARNING: HOST VITAL SIGNS DETERIORATING.]

His arm began to disintegrate from the fingertips upward, the divine light consuming the structure of his body faster than his regeneration could repair it.

Gray’s smile faltered.

’Okay. Maybe eating it doesn’t mean I can use all of it.’

He couldn’t sustain this for much longer. If he kept forcing the resonance, his body would collapse before the knight did.

He needed to end this with what he had.

By making the knight expose itself.

Gray lowered his glowing hand slightly, allowing the divine light to dim. The pressure eased just enough for him to draw a ragged breath.

The Shadow Knight hesitated.

Its sword remained raised, but the violent fluctuations in its aura began to settle.

Gray noticed the change.

So did the knight.

"You..." Its voice dropped into a dangerous growl. "You were deliberately provoking me."

"Congratulations. The armor doesn’t make you stupid after all."

The knight lunged.

This time, Gray didn’t try to outrun it. He didn’t attempt another spell, nor did he waste his strength trying to attack its armor.

Instead, he watched the violet light.

He waited for the exact moment the knight’s killing intent surged, for the instant its hatred overwhelmed its control.

Then Gray thrust his glowing palm forward.

He was aiming for the fracture in its aura.

The pale divine light struck the unstable violet energy.

Then the Shadow Knight’s aura shattered.

The invisible force that had allowed it to reject the consequences of everything Gray did flickered out of existence.

The knight’s eyes widened behind its visor.

"What have you—"

Gray moved with all his might.

Every remaining ounce of strength went into his next action. His free hand tightened around the Void Reaper’s Lance, dark energy gathering along its edge as he drove the weapon toward the opening in the knight’s chest.

For the first time, he wasn’t attacking something the knight could simply deny.

He was attacking while its protection was gone.

And the Shadow Knight knew it.

Its greatsword twisted desperately in an attempt to intercept the strike, but its movement was a fraction too slow.

The lance pierced the gap beneath its breastplate.

A sharp crack echoed through the chamber.

The knight staggered backward, and a burst of dark violet energy erupted from the wound.

Gray’s eyes widened.

It had worked.

He had finally managed to hurt the bastard.

Then the Shadow Knight seized the shaft of the lance with one armored hand.

Its aura began to reform.

And despite the weapon buried in its chest, the knight slowly raised its visor toward Gray.

"You..." it whispered, its voice shaking with fury.

Gray felt his stomach sink.

The knight’s fingers tightened around the lance.

"...will regret that."

The violet energy surged.

Gray had found his opening.

Unfortunately, he was still standing within arm’s reach of a monster that had just remembered how to fight back.

The Shadow Knight twisted its body and slammed its armored fist into Gray’s chest.

"UGHGH!"

The impact sent Gray flying backward. His Void Reaper’s Lance was ripped from his grasp, remaining embedded in the knight’s chest as Gray crashed against a thick mass of ancient roots. The impact shook the chamber, and the roots beneath him snapped with a series of dry cracks.

For several seconds, Gray couldn’t breathe.

His vision darkened at the edges, and the divine light covering his body flickered dangerously.

[HP: 184 / 1,880]

[WARNING: CRITICAL CONDITION]

[ABYSSAL REGENERATION: SUPPRESSED]

[PRIMORDIAL ESSENCE — RESONANCE INSTABILITY DETECTED]

"You’re... kidding me..."

Gray tried to push himself up, but his arms trembled beneath his weight. The pain radiating from his chest made every movement feel like an attempt to tear himself apart.

He had managed to pierce the knight’s defenses.

He had even wounded it.

And now he was one hit away from becoming a very unfortunate stain on the floor.

Across the chamber, the Shadow Knight slowly pulled the Void Reaper’s Lance from its chest.

Dark violet energy leaked from the wound, but the damage was already beginning to close. Its armor shifted, the fractured plates grinding together as the knight’s power restored their original formation.

Yet something had changed.

The knight looked down at the wound before turning its visor toward Gray.

"You forced my authority to falter."

Its voice was quieter now, stripped of the uncontrolled rage from moments ago.

"That essence... even after all this time, it continues to defy destruction."

Gray coughed, struggling to remain conscious.

"You’re welcome. I aim to be memorable."

The Shadow Knight ignored his remark.

It raised its free hand, and the surrounding violet energy gathered into a dense sphere above its palm. The air distorted around it, while the ground beneath its feet cracked under the pressure.

Gray’s instincts screamed.

Whatever the knight was preparing, he couldn’t afford to take it head-on.

He tried to activate Current Dash.

Nothing happened.

The knight’s presence had already begun suppressing the space around him.

’Of course. Why would anything work when I actually need it?’