At the very moment that Dante's attack broke through Sabrina's restraint, she attacked. Darkness poured out of every minor part of her wings, searching for anything that deserved the cultivator's fury.
In the enemies' vision, the scene looked like an army witnessing an immense arrow hail. The hands of darkness met Qi barriers, and a new battle began.
With her heart clenched with worry, the first thing Sabrina did was check Dante's heartbeat. She sighed when she found a steady, though faint, rhythm there. The enemies' Qi fought against Dante's regenerative powers. As soon as the skin regenerated, the offensive energy would try to destroy it again.
With a bitter taste in her mouth, Sabrina knew what she needed to do. In her right hand, she concentrated Qi until the energy formed a blade-shaped weapon. Since this was not her specialty, the Qi weapon was probably equivalent to an ordinary knife.
However, it would have to be enough. With her eyes closed, she quickly removed the flesh where the corruption was stronger.
The response was immediate. His body shone like a lantern. With nothing to get in the way, his Qi quickly began to won the battle.
Satisfied with the result of her action, Sabrina turned to her enemies. She knew Dante would probably no longer help her in the fight. Not today. He had gone far, but his body and spirit had found their limit.
Sabrina stretched her wings, causing a surge of air in the cave. She closed her eyes and looked at her core. Again, silence. There was no sign of the demon. With her focus directed, she scrutinized her Qi flow.
Then, she fully activated her Oversoul.
Her wings gained new layers of shadow, until they were larger than her body. From her forehead, small horns sprouted. Sabrina felt the power flowing through her body. At that moment, everything seemed easy. Reachable. Defeating the remaining cultivators was a normal feat.
She turned her focus back to her enemies. Three of the survivors possessed Oversoul. They really wanted to capture Dante and her, to send so many resources like that.
With her body fortified by Qi, she jumped towards the enemies. The cultivators attacked armed with Qi of poison and thunder.
Sabrina's hands acted automatically, without direct control of the cultivator. When she was with Oversoul, Sabrina could focus more on her own body. Her Qi followed her intent.
The shadows intertwined with snakes formed by the enemies attacks. Her shadow hands were crushed, and crushed. It was a battle of intent.
She could only fight evenly with over one Gold for they had taken the easy way out. Their Oversoul was not yet complete.
The world was not fair. Not everyone had a private Isaac at their disposal.
She focused on the first cultivator on the left. With a quick jump, Sabrina used her shadows as a shortcut, which increased the cultivator's speed.
Quick and accurate strikes were her specialty. Her physique was not especially strong for brute strength, but she was amazing when it came to Qi fine control.
So, stealing Dante's idea, she wrapped her fists in shadow claws.
Although she lacked Dante's practice, her control over shadows made up for it somewhat. She precisely attacked the cultivator, who tried desperately to dodge.
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Her advantage was that the Draco's power was uncontrollable. The cultivators could not attack her all at once, or they would lose by friendly fire.
When her opponent was first distracted, she attacked. Like a snake's raft, the shadows of one of Sabrina's hands leaped at the throat of the man, who couldn't even scream.
She ignored the first victory. Sabrina couldn't celebrate a death until the evil was rooted out.
When she reached the second cultivator, Sabrina noticed that something was wrong. She noticed too late.
This time, she had attacked with a piercing blow. Her hand pierced the cultivator's torso. At the same moment, however, Qi came out of the cultivator's blood and coiled around her body, like a great serpent.
She tried to fight it all off with her wings. But, her control was still precarious. Although they were an original point for her shadow hands, the aerial equipment alone was not that useful. Not yet.
When she looked at the cultivator in front of her, Sabrina knew the truth. Those men would no longer use her, abuse her, or even listen to her. That battle was to the death. Whatever orders they had received, that gaze was clear. Only one of them would make it out alive.
To concentrate, Sabrina closed her eyes.
When she opened them, however, she was no longer in the cave.
She looked around, terrified. The environment was her internal world. She twisted toward the sounds of footsteps. In the distance, she could see a figure.
"Look who's here. Did you miss me, dear?" said the demon.
As always, the creature was not wearing its own appearance. The monster dressed as Dante. From the bluish clothing to the white hair, the appearance was totally identical.
The demon noticed Sabrina's frightened look. With a sinister smile, the creature ran his hand over his own body, teasing the cultivator.
"Don't worry, that body will still be yours out there," the demon said. "If you got some miraculous help, of course."
"You again! You called me here just for this? To laugh? To use the flesh of those I love again to make me suffer?" cried Sabrina.
She was tired. Tired of not having a normal Monster Core, just like all the others. Tired of having to deal with this every time.
"Suffer? I'm the one suffering here! Do you know how boring it is to watch your insignificant life all the time? To watch you worry about people you've just met, and probably don't care about?"
Sabrina shook her head. She had long ago learned not to take what the demon said personally. "I understand you do not know what it's like to have friends. Do you think I'm happy with the situation? Every day I dream of having a monster who helps me. A lion, a tiger. Heavens, even a rat! Anything is better than you.
The creature turned its head in Sabrina's direction, curious.
"If you're that unhappy, why don't we work out a deal?"
Before Sabrina could say no, the creature interrupted her with a wave of pressure. Not even in her inner world was Sabrina sovereign.
"Before the denial, listen to me. I will not propose something unfair. All I want is for you to let me play a little, once in a while. In return, I will do everything I can to save you and the boy."
Sabrina stared at the monster, suspicious. "How am I supposed to trust you? I don't even know if you actually have enough power to change the situation in any way."
The creature laughed. "My dear, if I were not chained to a weak body like yours, one look would be enough. A glimpse of my power suffices to send all of them to eternal slumber. But since we have limitations, I said I will try. And indeed, I will. So, do we have a deal?"
Sabrina knew what the monster wanted. When she was hunting monsters, now and then she felt an insatiable thirst for the creatures' blood. Demons couldn't deny a fight.
She pondered what to do. She didn't want to give the monster any chance to hurt someone who was important to her. However, she was no fool.
If she did nothing, death would be imminent. At that moment, the decision was obvious. The cultivator looked into the creature's eyes. into Dante's eyes.
"I accept, on the condition that you do not take control without my permission. The first time you do that, I will revoke our agreement."
The creature laughed with greedy eyes. To Sabrina's surprise, the demon changed its appearance, until it took a form Sabrina had never seen before. A man with a cultivator's physique and gray skin appeared. If not for the horns and wings, Sabrina would say that the person in front of her was a Slayer.
"Very good. Contract done. Now it's time to hold up your end of the bargain. Let me play for a while."
And then, before Sabrina could react, the man put his hand on her head. She felt her Qi filling the meridians leading up to her head.
When the buildup of energy became visible, Sabrina passed control to the creature.
For the first time, she would be the spectator.