CHAPTER 105: PURSUE

And then it erupted.

BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A column of blue fire tore upward, splitting the forest canopy as it shot into the sky. The explosion rattled the ground, trees bending away from the force. The shockwave rolled out in every direction, flattening shrubs, scattering leaves, and leaving the earth blackened and cracked where I had stood.

The blast was massive.

Immense.

Ariel staggered back a step, her breath coming hard and fast. The shimmering mirages she had conjured flickered and dissolved, her tails twitching erratically as exhaustion bled through her posture.

That attack had taken a massive chunk out of her.

But her molten eyes still blazed with defiance. She deemed the cost worth it, her gaze locked on the scorched crater where the flames still smoldered.

She was waiting—watching with a hunter’s focus to see if her assault had finally finished me.

But as the smoke cleared, the truth hit her.

Her attack had caught nothing.

I hadn’t been there when the inferno collapsed.

Instead, I stood just behind her, close enough for my words to crawl down her spine like ice.

"All that," I muttered, my tone quiet but sharp, "just to miss your target."

She froze. Her tails stiffened, and I saw her shoulders lock as dread crept into her expression. Slowly, almost unwillingly, she turned.

Her molten eyes met mine.

"You’re quite disappointing, Ariel."

Her breath caught. "You... how did you—"

"Did you unleash that thinking I’d somehow survive?" I cut in, my voice low, deliberate. "Or did you mean to kill me outright?"

She looked dazed, her gaze darting, her mouth opening without words.

I tilted my head, Gravefang glinting faintly in my grip.

"Did your brain just stop working?"

The insult snapped her out of her stupor, anger rushing back into her features like a tide.

"Goblin!" she spat, her aura flaring again, flames snapping to life around her.

Then she lunged at me in fury, but I moved faster. My foot slammed into her chest with a brutal kick, sending her staggering backward across the scorched earth.

The casual blow only seemed to enrage her further. Her aura flared hot, blue fire whipping wildly around her as if she meant to burn the whole forest down with her temper.

So I showed her some tough love.

Gravefang cut through the air, my swings fast and unrelenting. Steel met flesh again and again, carving deep, vicious lines across her small frame.

"Gaaah!"

Her cry rang out as blood sprayed, painting the ground in crimson. She faltered, legs trembling as her body slumped forward slightly under the weight of the damage.

Then Gravefang’s true power began to pulse.

[Venom Slash activated][Venom Slash activated][Venom Slash activated]

Again and again, the weapon’s special effect took hold, the cursed venom seeping into her wounds. Her breathing hitched, her limbs shook harder, and I could already see her struggling against the poison flooding her veins.

With Gravefang’s venom coursing through her system, recovery would be anything but easy.

I leveled Gravefang at her, its dark edge gleaming faintly in the sunlight.

"Get up," I said coldly.

She raised her head.

"I’m barely warmed up."

Ariel bared her fangs in defiance, but the tremor in her body betrayed her. No amount of snarling could hide the weakness bleeding through her stance.

"All that talk," I continued, my voice sharp with provocation, "just to collapse this easily? Get up."

Her growl deepened, low and guttural, though she staggered as she tried to straighten herself.

"Why?" I pressed, tilting my head. "You need your mother to survive."

That hit. Her glare sharpened, molten eyes flashing with fury.

I didn’t let up.

"How are you going to survive in the cruel world, little fox?"

Her ears twitched violently, her tails snapping as her aura flared.

"Goblin!" she roared, the word bursting from her like a weapon.

That one word carried heat and venom, and for the first time, I saw it—my taunt had struck something deeper. A nerve.

It seemed I’d lit a spark she didn’t want to acknowledge.

And then it ignited.

Her aura flared, bursting outward in a blaze so bright it nearly blinded me. The sudden surge of blue-white fire seared the air, forcing me to raise an arm to shield my eyes.

When my vision adjusted, I caught sight of something strange—something that made my grip on Gravefang tighten.

Her flames weren’t just lashing outward anymore. They were seeping inward, crawling over her wounds like liquid fire. The cuts I had carved into her flesh sizzled and hissed, then began knitting back together under the glow.

It was like watching her body stitch itself whole with molten thread.

Like she was on some kind of wolverine shit.

Then the system chimed in.

[Venom Slash has been resisted][Venom Slash has been resisted][Venom Slash has been resisted]

My breath hitched in surprise.

"Oh..." I muttered, a short gasp slipping out despite myself. "So you’ve still got tricks left after all."

The venom that should’ve crippled her had been burned away, purged by the fire that made up her essence.

She wasn’t finished yet.

Ariel sprang up from the ground with renewed ferocity, her tails lashing wide as dozens of fiery quills detonated outward. They streaked through the air like a storm of burning spears, converging on me from every angle.

I slid Gravefang back into its sheath, the blade clicking into place. This wasn’t the moment for steel.

Instead, I dashed straight into the storm.

The quills struck, each one exploding on impact, fireballs blooming around me in deafening bursts. Shockwaves rippled through the forest floor, scattering dirt and leaves.

But I pushed through the chaos, slipping between the detonations, the force washing harmlessly past as [Fractured Existence] bent the world around me.

In the next instant, I was on her.

My fist snapped forward, a brutal punch aimed for her chest.

But she bolted, her reflexes sharp enough to avoid the blow, and my strike slammed into the ground instead, the impact tearing through the soil with a thunderous crack, leaving a jagged fissure where her body should’ve been.

I pursued.