Struggling to maintain control, Sabrina tried to control the new Qi entering her body. The shadows on her hands trembled, as if they were about to disappear.

Around her, body parts of the demon that dwelled within her began to appear. Spines grew on her hands, horns on her head, wings on her back. Shadow Qi danced around her body, as the parts grew and disappeared.

"Relax, Sabrina. Let me guide us, it will all be over before you know it," said the eerie voice. Sabrina needed to do something. Things were not going well.

The tranquility in the voice only made her realize that all the effort was not being enough. She could feel a different urge in her Qi, trying to overpower her.

Even her meridians were resisting her control, baring her Qi. With all the strength she could muster, she decided to give it her all. For remembering her family, of happy times when everyone was together eating, reading... her heart was squeezed. It was all or nothing

The memories were fuel for her desire for revenge. Opening her eyes, she saw that now the orb of shadows was trying to devour her, sliding over her skin. She was not going to let that happen, for she was darkness.

Accessing her core, she pulled in as much Qi as she could, creating even more shadow hands coming out of her hair, trying to defend her. The young lady new attempt did not take long to have an effect. With her expanded senses, she felt her shadow hands pushing out the Qi that was trying to invade her.

Little by little, she was winning. The Qi appearances were already greatly diminished in intensity. Soon she would be advancing. She could already feel the different Qi circulating in her meridians, more solid.

"Tsc. Haven't you learned anything all this time, child?"

In just a moment, she felt all progress breaking down. Her shadows seemed to have been blown out of existence. She felt her body being completely covered by the monster's Qi. Desperate, she tried everything, but nothing worked.

She had no control over her own body anymore.

Sabrina felt alien Qi entering her nose, overpowering her senses. It wasn't long before consciousness left her, slipping through the fingers of her mind.

--

Dante clearly realized that something was going wrong.

Even if he didn't know exactly what the advance to gold would look like - especially with a demon soul - he could feel it. Sabrina was in danger.

He could see the Qi of the room synthesizing, as if the very absence of light was rebelling against the walls. Even her Qi reacted to the disturbance, causing the room to light up slightly, the energy shining a dark violet.

Dante only became calmer when the battle began to spill over to Sabrina's side. The Qi was finding harmony. He could see a great energy concentrated in the region of her core, shifting through her body.

However, from one moment to the next, everything shattered.

Strange shadows began to appear around Sabrina's body, reminiscent of various monsters that Dante didn't know. A lion with a snake head, a bear with feathers. At the same time that Dante felt the apparitions of Qi were only energy, he also felt a frightening pressure coming from them.

Suddenly, the Qi disturbances ceased. It was as if someone had taken the energy source away, and everything went back to the way it should be.

Almost everything. Dante analyzed Sabrina's Qi again and again. There was something strange there, something... different.

When she stood up and looked into his eyes, he knew that things had definitely not gone well. The one looking at him was not his dear friend, but empty eyes that seemed to devour him with just a glance.

Running her tongue over her lips, Sabrina turned to Dante. "So you're that boy she thinks so much of. And a legendary monster, who knew. I can't wait to taste it."

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Dante's mind was running full tilt, trying to think of what would be the best course of action. He knew that just talking wouldn't solve anything, and there was no point in remaining inert, either.

Isaac. He thought about calling Isaac. Running to the door, he reached for the doorknob and -.

His body flew backwards, slamming hard into the wall.

"Why leave so soon, I bet you wouldn't mind being alone with me for a while either, would you?"

Dante became even more enraged. Monster or not, he knew who Sabrina was. "Get off me. You think a half-assed demon like you is going to get something out of someone talented like Sabrina? Dream on."

Dante then circulated Qi through his meridians. He felt his body strengthening rapidly. The aura emanating when he did this was normally invisible, but there, any light source shone like a lamplight.

With a quick jump, he was going to summon his Qi claws, but he quickly gave up on the idea. He didn't know what damage it would do to Sabrina.

As he ran quickly towards the demon in Sabrina’s body, shadow hands jumped into the air, coming towards him quickly.

Almost instinctively, he increased the circulation of his Qi, focusing on the light aspect. Instead of strengthening his muscles, he focused on emanating a thin layer of Qi around his whole body.

The shadow hands seemed to dissolve when they came into contact with him. At that moment, he saw surprise forming on Sabrina's face. Without wasting any time, he moved quickly. When he was in range, he jumped up with his fists raised. There was only one chance.

When he came within range of Sabrina, the intensity of the shadow hands had increased, as if the density of Qi had changed. When his fist was approaching her, he changed direction and passed both hands beside Sabrina's body.

With all the strength he could muster, he grabbed the girl's body, like a forced hug. "Sabrina, I know you are there! I will hold him out here, stay as long as you need, I trust you to win this!"

At that moment, he knew what needed to be done. Directing all of his Qi into his hands, Dante placed them over Sabrina's core region and released all the energy he could. Light’s Qi gushed from his hands, illuminating the entire room.

As soon as the evil Qi began to recede, he was somewhat relieved. The relief was short lived, however. The more Qi he put in, the greater the intensity of Qi that seemed to surge from Sabrina's core, trying to devour him.

Even though he focused everything of himself, he knew that if he continued like this, it would not be enough.

Afraid of hurting Sabrina, he thought of a strategy. He would have to trust her. Tt was the only way.

Giving a long sigh for the pain that was sure to come, he stopped releasing Qi along his shoulder. Shadow qi seemed to sense what had happened. It wasn't long before he felt the first strikes against his back. At that moment, he remembered his training and smiled. Compared to what he was experienced, this was only a small amount of pain.

Now that he was not trying to defend anymore, his Qi was free. Dante channeled it all into the region of his hands. He could feel his meridians burning, barely able to contain the heat from the amount of Qi passing through.

As if he were summoning his claws, his hands burned into flames. This time he didn't focus on the technique, but rather tried to direct the energy into Sabrina's body, which was shaking in shock.

"You bastard! do you think you'll be able to do anything, so weak? When did the little mouse build up the courage to face the cat?"

Dante felt two stabs in the region of his torso. Looking again, he saw that Sabrina had pierced his torso with her hands.

Closing his mouth tightly, all he could do was hold on. Faced with the attacks on his back and now on his torso, however, he felt his IQ rapidly dwindling.

Hopeless, all he could do was hold on.

Closing his eyes, he tried to visualize his core, extracting every drop of his Qi. Along by his core, he felt a strange sensation... almost like a slightly different Qi.

Hopeful, he tried to access the Qi, extending a metaphorical hand towards it.

When Dante touched the new energy, he felt his body tremble. There was so much anger, so much sorrow. It was as if a lifetime of sorrow was focused on that spark of energy.

At that moment he considered letting go of the energy. However, he was already feeling the difference. His core was rotating rapidly, gifting his meridians the deserved Qi.

"That's the price, child. To have my power, you must feel what I felt, see what I saw," a voice said from within.

After some thought, Dante recognized the phoenix. He was right. That energy should indeed come from his monster soul.

Even in that bad situation, he still felt excited to see how much his ability had increased. It didn't take long for him to realize that he had not been born to be a protagonist of the stories he read as a child. Even the new source of Qi did not take long to dry up.

Resolute determination in his heart, he decided not to run away. He believed in Sabrina, and knew that she needed him. Burning up to his last drop of energy, he decided to stay in position, trying his best to help his friend.

After his Qi ran out, it wasn't long before the pain became too great.

As much as he wanted to stay and fight, his body had other plans. Little by little, the darkness - different from the one emanated by Qi - was taking over her vision.

The last thing he noticed, while embracing Sabrina, was a different moisture on her arm.

Tears?

So, at the moment before he lost consciousness, he knew for sure. Sabrina was still there, and there was no way she would lose to a demon.

He trusted her to win whatever battle was going on inside her core.