I threw Night to the side and upwards to deprive her of the ability to maneuver and rushed towards Rune, who was currently flying on a chunk of concrete about five meters above the road. But then Hookwolf, already transformed into a wild mix of flesh, steel needles, and hooks, stepped in my way. He even somewhat resembled Night, likely because there was nothing human or even animal-like about his appearance.

We clashed into a single mass and rolled along the road. However, we were rolling towards Rune, which suited me just fine. Hookwolf was tougher than Night, but just as unkillable. With each movement, I tore off chunks of flesh filled with steel inclusions from him, but it didn’t seem to bother him at all.

Timing it right, I again increased in size, threw aside the relatively small opponent, and jumped towards Rune. She was flying at a height of five meters, but my height was now four meters. So, she had no chance to dodge. She tried to hit me with two stones torn from her 'transport,' but I swept them away with a wave of my hand. Next, she attempted to shield herself from me with a whole stream of gravel, but at that moment, one of the replicators, entrenched in the nearby buildings, fired a rifle, hitting Rune in the liver. Or it would be more accurate to say 'shooting off,' because a half-meter diameter hole appeared in her body after the hit.

This was too much for the demon to bear; all the levitating objects began to fall, and I took advantage of this weakness to grab Rune's body with my hand. And then... then my instincts took over, and while my spiritual tentacles devoured her soul, my maw began to tear her body apart and swallow the 'tender female flesh.'

'She actually tastes pretty good' - the thought flashed through my mind. Only judging by the neural network's readings, this thought didn't belong to me, but to the shard.

Spitting out the charred remains, I turned towards the three remaining opponents, two of whom were rushing towards me at full speed. What kind of taste can a human body have when all the meat that gets into my mouth immediately chars and burns? However, such a 'sacrifice' had a positive effect on the shard, and it noticeably strengthened, increasing the durability of my body and strength.

I grabbed the approaching Night with both hands and bit into her with my maw, simultaneously trying to reach her soul. Surprisingly, this had some effect. I didn’t reach the soul, but the cape abruptly jumped back, wrenching itself out of my grasp. Perhaps it was something psychological. It’s hard to stay calm when someone wants to eat you. Besides, the maw was not a vulnerable spot for me at all. On the contrary, it was 'armed' with four rows of teeth in each jaw and the hottest flame I could create.

Hookwolf also retreated, and a second later I felt the space nearby distort, and through a portal-like structure came five more capes. This was Faultline’s group, and such an extravagant way of moving was Labyrinth's work. A second later, the replicators transmitted to me the image of Stormtiger, carrying his entire team through the air, himself included.

“They’ve arrived.” - I grinned, looking at the thirteen villains standing before me. – “Well, at least I won’t have to chase you all down.”

Wasting no more time, I rushed forward. Kaiser was clearly about to say something, but I wasn’t in the mood to listen to his hysterical screams. I decided to take out Labyrinth first, as her ability to manipulate space and create 'pocket realities' was too unpredictable.

Stone walls began to grow around me immediately, Night and Hookwolf rushed to intercept, Kaiser tried to pierce me with his spikes, and Spitfire naively tried to burn me. The most success was achieved by Purity, whose blinding beams I felt as a light tickle. Fenja and Menja were still growing, preparing to join the battle, Stormtiger, Alabaster, and Victor stepped back, looking for an opportunity to attack, and Krieg and Faultline stood directly in front of me, ready to deflect any blow.

The walls of the labyrinth began to distort reality around, trying to confuse and stop me, but at that moment, the replicators intervened again. Labyrinth’s power affected the consciousness of those around. In other words, it worked only on those who had consciousness. And since the replicators didn’t have it, for them, all these walls simply didn’t exist. So, another rifle shot to the liver ended up hitting the target.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

All illusions immediately disappeared. Where my progress had previously been blocked by a wall, there was now a 'gap' in the enemy’s formation, which I rushed into. Skirting around Krieg and Faultline, I casually grabbed Spitfire, who got in my way, and with one leap, I found myself next to the dying Labyrinth. Kaiser roared and tried to shield her with a set of steel spikes, but a light swipe of my hand shattered them like glass. Grabbing the dying cape, I immediately threw her into my maw and began chewing, simultaneously absorbing her soul.

In my left hand, I held Spitfire, desperately dousing me with fire and screeching like a jet engine, while with my right hand, I had to fend off attacks from Hookwolf and Night, keeping an eye on Faultline to make sure she didn’t get too close. Her ability was to destroy any matter, and I was one hundred percent sure she could overcome the Manton Effect and punch holes in me with a single touch.

Spitting out the lifeless remnants of Labyrinth, I tossed the crazed-with-fear Spitfire into my maw. Unexpectedly, I felt a response from my shard. While my soul was devouring the demon's soul, and my body was consuming the capes's body, my shard decided to consume its kin. I watched this process closely, automatically fending off the attackers. Finally, the snack was over, and I realized that my fire manipulation ability had strengthened.

Previously, fire manipulation had been no more than a 'visual effect' for me, as the shard's main power was the ability to turn into an invulnerable monster. Now, however, my ability to control flames had reached another level. I immediately focused all my will on mastering this new aspect, putting into the shard’s consciousness all my ideas about what fire is and how to use it properly.

For the next couple of dozen seconds, I spun like a top, dodging the attacks of the capes swarming around me. Fenja and Menja, Hookwolf, and Night were fighting me in close combat, Kaiser, Purity, Stormtiger, and Krieg were firing from a distance, Faultline tried to strike at least once, but I constantly evaded her or drove her away with thrown stones. Victor and Alabaster nervously smoked on the sidelines, trying to figure out how they could help the others.

From the outside, it might have seemed that this whole crowd had cornered me and was now beating me like a trapped beast. Scales were falling off me in clumps from the constant blows, and armored plates were flying apart in pieces. But in reality, it was all a façade. My real armor was hidden under a thick layer of skin, and the capes had never even managed to reach it, as the skin was also extremely durable. The only relatively vulnerable parts of my body were my eyes, but I could perfectly see without them, so I didn’t even try to protect them.

Finally, when my adaptation to Salamander’s powers was complete, I exploded with fire. A wave of unbearable heat threw back the attackers. Fenja and Menja began rolling on the ground as the burnt skin on their faces peeled away, revealing charred bones. There was no question of preserving their eyes, so these two could be considered out of the fight.

I directed a stream of blazing fire at Purity, who was causing me the most problems. Although she could supposedly shoot 'beams of light,' she couldn’t withstand real fire heated to tens of thousands of degrees. Purity tried to dodge, but my reaction speed was on par with hers, and I could direct the fire in a wide cone, making it nearly impossible to avoid. As Purity's charred body began to fall from the sky, I tried to grab it, but Kaiser was faster. He surrounded the still-living cape with his steel blades, desperately resisting my advance.

I decided to make Faultline my next target. But first, I needed to assess just how destructive her power was. She could turn the stones I threw at her into sand. I pretended to be trying to break through to Purity through the steel forest, and at that moment, Tricky 'cunningly' came up from behind and... hit my tail. I mean, she could only touch my tail, which she did. One touch pierced all layers of my defense, turning a chunk of my body into mush. But most importantly, this power prevented regeneration, continuing to act for a while.

Having learned everything I wanted, I turned my maw 180 degrees and exhaled a stream of fire directly at Tricky. Kaiser again tried to save his subordinate by raising a metal wall, but this time I didn’t hold back, and the wall melted like chocolate in the sun. The stream of fire reached its target and burned both of Faultline's legs. She fell face-first onto the sharp steel spikes Kaiser didn’t have time to remove. I completely turned around, jumped, and landed next to my chosen victim.

A light movement of my claw broke Faultline's neck, completely paralyzing her. Then I plunged all five claws into her body, simultaneously devouring her soul. My shard showed no desire to absorb Faultline's power, so I had to settle for just the demon's soul. However, in her last moment of life, she managed to 'bite' me by using her power to destroy my right hand. It wasn't fatal, but it was quite unpleasant.

After finishing my meal, I stood up to my full six-meter height, looking down at the people in front of me like they were tiny bugs. Maniacal laughter burst from my chest on its own, and the demons wavered. They had given their all, done everything they could, but I was still standing before them, full of strength. The wounds on my body were healing right before their eyes, and it was now evident that all their attacks had failed to harm me.