The Death Emissary's roar was a dry, grinding sound. Jack's [Blinding Flash] had done its job. Searing the creature's retinas. But it wasn't harmed much otherwise. Not even close.
The after-effect from the [Blinding Flash] hadn't even fully dissipated when the Death Emissary lunged. Breaking the spectral vine holding it into pieces. It didn't seem to need eyes to find Jack.
It moved with a jerky, unnatural speed. Its mutated bones were clicking. Like a bag of marbles being shaken by a madman.
Jack evaded the lunge. He didn't want to risk his safety by relying purely on his intangibility. He had faced things that could rip intangibility apart after all.
His cape fluttered despite the lack of wind as he moved. He looked like a Victorian stage magician. One who had taken a wrong turn into a floating dance of nightmare.
"Look at you now, Cole. Or whatever is left of you." Jack commented sarcastically. "Trading your humanity for a promotion? Look at you now. A mindless rotting pile of bones."
The Emissary's jagged black talons scraped against the stone floor. Carving deep grooves as it lunged sideways. Chasing Jack with a speed that defied its bulky size.
Jack didn't move to evade this time. With a flick of his will, he activated [Mysterious Anomaly].
Telekinetic force slammed into the Emissary's chest like an invisible freight train. The creature wasn't just stopped. It was lifted off its feet and hurled backward, smashing into the stone wall of the chamber.
The impact should have shattered its ribcage. Instead, the Emissary simply rolled to its feet. The corded muscles in its legs bulging as it prepared for another leap.
"Let's see how you handle another headache." Jack said. The pages of his spectral grimoires flipped rapidly. Glowing with an eerie violet hue.
[Mind Piercing Missiles] was activated again instantly.
Ten bolts of jagged, violet energy materialized in the air around Jack. With a sharp gesture, Jack sent them screaming toward the monster. The missiles ignored the Emissary's toughened skin and bone-plated chest. Striking directly into its skull.
The creature staggered. Its head snapped back. And more of that thick, black ichor leaked from its pure red eyes.
Without waiting for it to recover, Jack launched the next spell. The [Void Cut]. He flicked his [Spirit Torch]. And a blade of pure, black nothingness formed in the air. Creating a deep slice on the monster torso.
It let out a high-pitched, warbling shriek. For a second, it looked like its body had given up and its brain had been turned to mush.
But then, the shriek turned into a laugh. A guttural, mindless sound of insanity. The Emissary's wounds began to knit. The creature regained its power back. Extremely quickly.
"Hyper Regeneration? Fantastic!" Jack remarked sarcastically. "I love a fancy punching bag."
The Emissary lunged again. This time, it was faster. It swung a massive clawed hand. Aiming to shred Jack's spectral form.
Jack flashed out of danger. Using his natural flying speed and a push from his [Mysterious Anomaly] power to shift his position. Several meters to the left. The claws whistled through the air where he had been a microsecond before.
He made another gesture. [Vine Entanglement]!
From the cracks in the stone floor, spectral, glowing vines erupted like striking cobras. Thick and thorny. They coiled around the Emissary's ankles, knees, waist, and elbows. Restraining its limbs. The thorns sank into the creature's mutated flesh. Restraining it even further.
The Emissary struggled. Its muscles were humping into grotesque knots. The spectral vines groaned under the tension.
"Die!" Jack commanded. He raised his hand. And another blade of pure, black nothingness formed in the air. Another [Void Cut]. The spell that didn't just slice physically. It tore the space along with anything connected to it.
With a downward swipe, the [Void Cut] traveled through the air. It struck the Emissary across the neck. There was no resistance...
The creature's head slid off its shoulders. Hitting the floor with a heavy thud. The body went limp. The spectral vines finally holding a lifeless weight.
"Finally, done!" Jack said in relieved tone. Exhaling his breath, although breathing wasn't exactly necessary for a specter like him.
Rune pulsed a steady, cautious yellow. She wasn't convinced.
She was right. The black ichor began to boil out of the stump of the neck. It reached out like tentacles, grabbing the severed head on the floor and dragging it back toward the torso.
In less than three seconds, the head was reattached. The Emissary stood up. Its height increased further. It was bigger. Stronger.
Bony spikes suddenly tore through its skin. Forming a primitive suit of armor. Its eyes was previously red. It was now burned with a hellish orange flame.
"Round two, then..." Jack sighed.
He immediately activated [Mind Piercing Missiles]. The opened page of his floating, spectral grimoire glowed. Multiple bolts of jagged, violet energy erupted from Jack's surrounding.
They flashed and moved in various homing trajectories. Accurately hitting the Emissary's skull with a thudding sound. The creature's head snapped back once more. It was still effective.
The monster let out a roar that sounded as though it went through a throat filled with gravel and blood. It shook its head. Black ichor was weeping from its blazing eyes.
Jack used another [Vine Entanglement]. Spectral, spiky vines, once more coiled around the Emissary's limbs and torso. Pinning its arms to its sides.
The creature struggled. Its corded muscles bulged as it tore the vines apart. But, while he was doing so, Jack had already prepared another spell.
He decided to try something different. [Forceful Frog-morph].
A wave of transformative magic washed over the Death Emissary. For a brief, surreal moment, the undead horror shrank and morphed. Its skin turned green and slimy. Its limbs shortened.
Within a few seconds... a big, mutated toad sat on the floor. Blinking its big, orange eyes in confusion.
Jack didn't waste time. He focused the telekinesis power of his [Mysterious Anomaly]. Lifting the demonic brazier from the center of the room. And slamming it down on the toad with the force of a falling building.
BOOM! The toad was flattened into a puddle of green and black goo.
"That should be enough." Jack muttered.
But, it wasn't. The goo didn't stay flat. It began to bubble. It grew, expanding with a sound like wet leather being stretched. The brazier was tossed aside as the creature reformed again.
This time, it wasn't just a normal zombie-like humanoid creature. It was now a four-armed monstrosity with a chest cavity that remained open. Revealing a pulsing, black heart protected by a cage of jagged ribs.
Its power level had significantly increased. The air in the chamber grew heavy. Smelling of ozone and rotting meat.
Jack frowned. He remembered Cole Kane's words. He described that the Death Emissary got stronger and stronger with each death. He had assumed it was the death of the people killed by it that enforced this power growth. But it seemed... he was wrong.
This creature got stronger every time it died and resurrected itself.
The Emissary roared again. The sound-wave this time was so supernaturally physical that it pushed Jack back.
It moved before Jack could react. Extremely fast. Two of its four arms grabbed him.
As a specter, Jack should be intangible. But, the Emissary's claws were coated in weird undead power. One that could touch the untouchable.
Jack felt the cold grip on his spectral shoulders. The creature began to pull. Trying to tear his essence apart.
"Get. Off. Me!" Jack hissed.
He unleashed a massive burst of [Mind Piercing Missiles] at point-blank range. More than twenty bolts. Focusing all of them on the creature's head. The missiles hammered it hard.
The Emissary's grip loosened as it recoiled. A fountain of black ichor sprayed from its head. Jack didn't stop. He followed up with multiple [Void Cuts] in rapid succession. Cutting its limbs. Carving the creature into several large chunks.
The Death Emissary fell apart. Legs, arms, and torso lay scattered across the chamber floor.
Jack watched as the black ichor tried to bridge the gaps again. It was slower this time, but it was happening. Each time it died, it came back harder to kill. If he killed it a third time, it might become something even he couldn't handle in this form.
"Brute force is inefficient." Jack concluded. "Time to change the rules of the game."
The creature was halfway through rebuilding itself. Its four arms and two legs were twitching, seeking the torso.
Jack didn't use a high-level destruction spell. Instead, he used a low level cantrip. [Water Splash].
A burst of harmless water materialized in the air and doused the creature's torso multiple times.
[Water Splash]! [Water Splash]! [Water Splash]!
Jack's hands moved in a blur. He cast the low-level cantrip dozens, then hundreds of times.
The Emissary, mid-regeneration, was drenched. Its torso and multiple still-reconnecting limbs were wet. The floor surrounding the body was being covered by the rapidly growing pool of water.
The creature almost finished its regeneration and third transformation. It was now a hulking tank of necrotic flesh and bone. Nearly three meters tall. With grey skin that seemed as hard as iron. Its orange eyes locked onto Jack with primal hatred.
"You're big, you're strong, and you're very, very annoying." Jack's voice echoed in the chamber. "But you're also standing on a mirror."
Under the dim light of the dying embers in the fallen brazier, the surface of the water became a perfect reflection.
Jack grinned behind his mask...