Cratt...
Rayne pulled out the thorn that was stuck in his chest, and the crack in his armor immediately closed up again, like living flesh devouring its own wound.
Bummm!!
Before he could catch his breath, another attack flew toward him.
Rayne's body slammed into the hard ground—fresh blood gushed violently from his mouth.
Yet, Rayne could always stand back up.
Slashhhh!!
The next attack came in a relentless barrage. A massive claw nearly decapitated him. Rayne ducked, slashing upward. A spray of black blood burst wildly, staining his face. The sword in his right hand moved without pause and without rhythm—only instinct and death guided it.
Dorrr! Dorrr!
The pistol in his left hand roared between his steps. Two bullets pierced another monster's eyes—but it wasn't enough to bring it down.
Rayne spun, parried, then was struck again.
His body was thrown, rolling hard on the ground—stopping against a cracked rock in a kneeling position, blood dripping from his chin.
He stood up.
But the next attack was already waiting.
A massive claw slammed into his chest. His armor shattered partially, but his sword cut through the air, slicing into the enemy's flesh.
Slashhh!!
The sound of metal, flesh, and roars blended into one—a brutal symphony of war.
Another monster charged from behind. Rayne turned, but too late. His body was struck hard, bones cracking. Yet his hand never released his weapon.
He twisted, slashing as he fell.
The monster's neck was torn, blood splattering across his face.
Dorrr!!
Another shot—straight into the next creature's heart, but it only made a shallow wound.
Rayne's hands trembled violently. Veins bulged along his arms, but his fingers still pulled the trigger.
Dorrr!! Dorrr!! Dorrr!!
Golden bullets tore into the enemy's chest one after another, carving deep wounds—yet another strike came from the front.
{DING! Intelligence has increased +1}
Baaakkk!!
A giant claw smashed into his face. Rayne was sent flying several meters, blood covering his entire face and dripping onto the ground.
His legs shook as he tried to stand.
He couldn't.
He forced himself up, gripping his sword with a hand gone numb.
Suddenly, one of the monsters leaped at him.
Rayne ducked, slashing upward.
Slashhhh!!
But instead of cutting the monster, the sound that followed was—crackkk!—the sound of his own hand bones breaking.
Rayne screamed.
But his voice vanished, swallowed by the next explosion.
BOOMMM!!
A ball of energy landed squarely on his body, creating an explosion accompanied by a wave of force that shook the air.
Rayne's body was flung far away. His armor shattered completely but immediately reformed amidst the rising dust and fire.
One leg was broken, one arm crushed, his sword flung somewhere unknown.
As he tried to rise, he collapsed again before even lifting his head.
Bumm... Bumm...
The footsteps of the approaching monsters grew closer.
Rayne's pupils still shone with an extraordinarily sharp killing intent.
The pistol, the sword thrown away somewhere, and his armor vanished—and then suddenly—
His entire body was covered by new armor, wrapped in hundreds, even thousands of long spikes like needles a meter tall.
"Haha... t-this fight... is really fun. I don't regret... anything."
His chin rested on the ground, his vision blurred. He looked at the monsters, who now acted strangely. They stopped. They didn't attack.
But Rayne couldn't tell why—his vision was too dim.
They were only a few steps away, yet all of them suddenly halted, as if afraid.
Rayne didn't know, and didn't care. He simply savored every second before his death.
Without his awareness... something happened.
Right behind him, at the mouth of a dark abyss, a pair of eyes opened—staring with an overwhelming lust for killing.
The monsters froze in place.
Moments later, they scattered and fled, screaming in panic.
Rayne squinted, though he could barely see their faces.
He knew by their movements—this wasn't a normal retreat. It was fear.
Monsters knew no fear. So if they were afraid... it meant what they saw wasn't something ordinary.
Rayne wanted to turn his head, but he couldn't even move a finger.
His vision blurred more and more—until it finally sank into darkness.
His consciousness was pulled somewhere else.
Silence.
He stood in a place that felt familiar.
Before him was a magnificent throne, flanked by two colossal statues—half human, half sword—radiating an indescribable aura of majesty.
Rayne said nothing. He only narrowed his eyes at the throne.
For some reason, he felt calm. This place felt like a space where he could do anything—without limits.
As before, Rayne simply stood still... until his consciousness slowly returned to his body.
His golden eyes opened slowly. Rayne tried to get up, but pain throbbed through every inch of his body.
The spiked armor that covered him vanished as soon as he imagined it gone.
Once the armor disappeared, Rayne's body was revealed—horribly disfigured.
His skin was bluish. Deep cuts and puncture wounds still glistened, covering almost his entire body. Bones from his arms and legs protruded from torn flesh.
Rayne tried to stand once again—but couldn't.
{DING! Vitality increased +1}
The system's voice echoed faintly, but Rayne couldn't hear it clearly.
{DING! Vitality increased +1}
It came again, softer than before.
"S-system... what do you mean?" he whispered weakly.
{DING! Your body is working hard to recover, sir. Therefore, your vitality—or your ability to survive—is increasing.}
{The higher your vitality, the faster and more efficient your body's self-recovery will be.}
Rayne didn't answer. He simply closed his eyes, listening to the notifications that appeared every few minutes.
Behind him, the terrifying pair of eyes had vanished—leaving behind only a faint trace of immense aura swallowed by the abyss.
And Rayne never knew what lurked beneath.
Time passed.
Minute by minute.
Hour by hour.
After about five hours, all the bruises on his body had healed. The large wounds had dried, leaving rough scars that might never fade.
But his broken arms and legs still hadn't returned to normal.
Rayne sat with his legs stretched out, glancing between his hands and legs.
"What should I do now?" he murmured softly.
{DING! You have completely synchronized with the weapon core, Master. You can now form new bones from it.}
"I've thought about that before... but bones aren't weapons, right?"
{DING! In truth, bones are weapons, Master. Bones are the primal form of natural weapons—the origin of all concepts of 'attack' and 'defense.'}
Rayne looked shocked and fell silent for a long time. Then—
"Aaghhhhhh!!!"
A hysterical scream shattered the silence.
As soon as Rayne imagined his bones turning to gold, his body cracked from within. The old bones shattered, followed by the growth of new, golden ones—without changing their original shape.
"Aaaaggghhhhh!!!"
"Gggaaaahhhhhh!!!"
The pain was beyond words.
The golden bones pierced through the broken white ones, reconstructing his body from the inside out.
Rayne felt his whole body being destroyed and rebuilt at the same time.
Time seemed to move incredibly slow.
The groans of pain never stopped.