Shojiro's muscles pulsed with crimson light — 37% Vythra remaining. The hybrids circled him, growling, snapping, moving with a calculated, predatory intelligence he hadn't seen in the previous waves.
He lunged forward, legs coiling like springs, exploding into a jump, slamming a pair of Nyghouls against each other mid-air. The force cracked pavement, but each strike drained more of his precious Vythra.
A Skulker dashed from the shadows — lightning-fast. Shojiro's fists swung out, but his punch barely staggered it. His veins pulsed slower now. 33% Vythra left.
He roared, grabbing the Skulker by the spine, ripping it apart with a brutal twist. Blood and ichor coated his arms, but he didn't stop. Another hybrid charged — a grotesque fusion of a Shrieker and Berserker, claws snapping. Shojiro pivoted, reconfiguring his forearms into shockwave armor.
The claw met his arm — and shattered. 31% Vythra.
"Fuck… this isn't going to last…" he muttered, teeth gritting.
The next attack came fast — two Rendracers converging from above. Shojiro leapt, twisting midair, grabbing one by the throat with his teeth, sinking them in deep. It screamed as he tore a chunk of flesh free, dropping it to the pavement. But the other clawed his side — shallow, but enough to draw pain. 28% Vythra.
He didn't stop. He roared, ripping open a hybrid's chest with his bare hands, reaching inside and crushing the beating heart. Black ichor sprayed over his arms, staining the ground. The sound of bones cracking and sinew tearing echoed through the ruined streets. 25% Vythra.
A massive fusion Berserker lunged with both claws. Shojiro's body moved almost instinctively — he dodged just enough to grab its wrist mid-swipe, tearing it off. The remaining claw slashed across his shoulder, leaving a deep gash. 22% Vythra.
Another hybrid attempted a sneak attack from behind. Shojiro twisted, sinking his hand into its eye socket, gouging the orb out and crushing it. The creature screeched, blood flowing like a waterfall down his arm. He yanked the corpse backward, snapping the neck of a third fusion to use as a makeshift club. 19% Vythra.
A Shrieker attempted a wing strike from above. He caught it by the wing, swung it into a wall, and ripped the limbs off in midair. The force sent shards of bone and black ichor spraying across the street. 15% Vythra.
He staggered, muscles trembling, breaths coming in harsh bursts. His fists were coated in blood, his knuckles cracked, ribs aching, but the hybrids weren't slowing down.
One particularly massive Berserker fusion charged, fangs bared. Shojiro didn't have the Vythra left for a standard explosive strike. He grabbed its jaw with his teeth, clamping down and tearing chunks from the bone, then sank his hand into its torso, rending the organs free and tossing them aside. 12% Vythra.
A hybrid tried to tackle him from the side. Shojiro twisted, slamming an elbow into its skull — but without Vythra to reinforce the blow, the impact barely staggered it. He snarled, gripping the creature's hands, pulling the nails free to use as crude, jagged weapons, slicing open the next few hybrids that came too close. 8% Vythra.
He kicked, lunged, bit, clawed — each move now more desperate, more brutal than the last. Hybrids fell to his teeth, his claws, his fists — but he could feel the drain with each attack. 5% Vythra.
One last surge of hybrids converged — he jumped, twisting, ripping through a fusion with his teeth, gouging its eye and shoving a hand inside its skull to crush the brain, black ichor painting his face. Blood coated his chest, legs, and arms. 2% Vythra.
Shojiro staggered to a halt, sweat and blood blurring his vision. The hybrids still circled him, snarling. He wiped the gore from his lips, heart hammering, Vythra flickering — barely alive.
"Just… one more… one more hit," he growled.
A massive fusion Berserker roared, charging. Shojiro flexed, muscles trembling under exhaustion, 1% Vythra remaining.
Everything past this point would be pure survival — raw human strength enhanced only by Yggdrasil's regeneration and sheer willpower.
Shojiro staggered, his body screaming for relief. 1% Vythra left. Every muscle fiber felt like it was tearing from overuse. His vision was blurry, veins throbbing in crimson pulses, but the hybrids weren't slowing. Hundreds of twisted forms swarming — Nyghouls above, Rendracers darting below, Berserkers charging from all sides.
Near-Death Moment 1 — Broken Neck:
A massive fusion Berserker launched at him from above, its claws aimed for his neck. Shojiro tried to twist — too slow. The claw caught him, snapping his head violently to the side. Pain flared like molten iron through his spine. He collapsed, chest heaving, vision spinning.
Then, Yggdrasil's passive regeneration flared. Vertebrae shifted, neck realigned, torn muscles knitting back together. Shojiro groaned, flexing cautiously, feeling the regained mobility. Instinct took over. He grabbed the creature's jaw with his teeth, sinking deep, and ripped — cartilage and bone cracking audibly. He yanked the neck hard, snapping the spine, then swung it like a club into two more Berserkers, knocking them into the wrecked street. Blood rained down, mixing with ichor.
Near-Death Moment 2 — Impaled Near the Heart:
A Skulker fusion lunged upward, tail tipped with jagged bone. It impaled Shojiro just left of his sternum, sharp bone cutting into his chest. He felt every inch of it, the pain threatening to steal his consciousness. With a desperate roll, he twisted free, leaving only the tip embedded in the asphalt.
Yggdrasil healed him instantly, sealing the puncture, mending ribs and muscle, leaving only the burn of adrenaline and rage. Shojiro's hand dove into the nearest hybrid, grabbing its skull and crushing it from the inside, black ichor spraying across his chest.
Near-Death Moment 3 — Limb Shredded:
A Berserker fusion slammed into him, crushing his left arm under the force. Bones shattered audibly, muscles torn from their attachments. Shojiro's scream split the air as he gritted his teeth. Before the hybrid could capitalize, Yggdrasil reconstructed the arm, realigning bones, repairing muscles and tendons.
Shojiro flexed it experimentally, the weight and pain gone, but his knuckles still stained black. He grabbed the creature's forearm, tore it free, and used its claw as a makeshift weapon, slicing open the next hybrid and reached inside the creature's chest cavity with both hands, ripping organs free, using them to slam the next wave of attackers away.
Near-Death Moment 4 — Skull Crushed:
Another massive hybrid slammed into him mid-leap, ramming his head against the rubble of a fallen skyscraper. Pain exploded across his skull, his vision darkened to red. The impact threatened to crush his brain outright.
Yggdrasil's healing flared again, reforming the bones in milliseconds, repairing damaged tissue, stitching his scalp, and snapping his jaw back into place. Shojiro coughed blood, spit it out, then sank his teeth into the hybrid's shoulder, ripping it open to reveal muscle and tendon, flinging it aside with feral precision.
He rolled off, gasping, muscles trembling, sweat and blood mingling in streams down his body. Every hit, every shred of energy, had been carefully measured — but now, without Vythra, he could feel how fragile he had become.
Still… he was standing. Still breathing.
The hybrids snarled, regrouped, circling him like sharks. Shojiro wiped blood from his mouth, veins dimly glowing from that last 1% flicker of Vythra.
He grinned, teeth bloody, body battered beyond recognition.Shojiro staggered back, chest heaving, blood and ichor dripping from every exposed wound. His muscles shook from overuse, his arms trembling from exertion.
Yet, in the chaos of destruction, his eyes gleamed with a wild, unbreakable fire.