Darious did not have the luxury of claiming his trophy. With his skin burned and flayed, he staggered toward his hiding place, hopping and stumbling through the narrow paths. He took a secret route he alone knew, avoiding all chance of being seen.
His dark, fang-like dagger glinted faintly within the mist. There was no way to conceal it, for he was naked now, nearly skinless. Each step was agony. The curling mist gnawed at his exposed nerves, sending violent shivers through his body. He could barely remain upright.
"I will get you, Christopher," he rasped, his voice fractured by pain.
The alley was dark and silent. With every unsteady movement, he heard the wet slush of his own ruined flesh.
Then, beneath that grotesque sound, another noise surfaced, subtle and deliberate, attempting to hide within the chaos. A hunter did not miss such differences.
Darious spun around, raising his dagger before him in a desperate defensive stance.
From the mist, a figure emerged. His stature was average, his eyes hazy at first, then slowly darkening until they became blacker than night itself. Jet-black hair cut sharply through the fog, stark against the pale gloom.
"Five minutes," Rosacer said calmly, counting the time it had taken to complete his resurrection.
That is quite fast.
At the sight of a dead man standing before him, Darious nearly believed the pain had finally killed him.
"What the fuck are you?!" he screamed, the motion tearing at his exposed muscles as his body convulsed in agony.
"Why do you care?"
With that, Rosacer moved.
He had already lost too much blood after his decapitation. Using the Gewehr was no longer an option, and his Blight Burn had been completely depleted. Now, he had nothing left but his fists.
So, he swung his fist.
Despite the grievous wounds, Darious was still a skilled hunter. He suppressed the pain as adrenaline surged through his bloodstream. His burned face began oozing pus, yet the wrinkles did not fade. Instead, they grotesquely shaped themselves into the outline of a human mouth, twisted and obscene.
Crouching down, he thrust his body forward with the knife, using all his strength.
The knife shot toward Rosacer's eyes, aiming to gouge them out. Rosacer had already thrown his punch and could not halt it midway.
"Die, you insect!" Darious roared.
The blade pierced deep. A dark surge followed, forced through the wound. Skull-shaped demonic faces, half liquid and half vapor, flooded into Rosacer's skull, screaming silently as they invaded flesh and bone.
A smirk spread across Darious's face, ruthless and monstrous, etched with cruel satisfaction.
Suddenly, the fist swung again.
It connected squarely with Darious's face. Bone shattered with a sharp, final snap as his jaw broke, fragments tearing through already ruined flesh. His head twisted unnaturally to the side, and he was thrown backward, barely managing to keep his footing.
Leaving the knife lodged for a brief moment longer, Rosacer stepped back. Black ichor poured from his left eye socket as he finally reached up and pulled the blade free. From the gap it left behind, black skull-shaped wisps wriggled outward, struggling like living things before dissolving into the mist with faint, fading shrieks.
Clenching his jaw, Darious glared at the man who had just punched him, then staggered back.
A translucent shimmer unfolded before Rosacer, pale runes assembling themselves into familiar shapes.
[Foulborn has converted the poison into Elixir.]
Another window surfaced immediately.
[Demon-Hunter Mode has been activated.]
[Use of Demon-Slaying Chakra: 3/3]
Rosacer straightened.
A crimson-red aura bloomed around him, dense and suffocating. His vitality surged, power flooding into muscles that had only moments ago been ruined. Along with it came something unfamiliar. Anger. Not rage born of injury or desperation, but a deep, alien hatred that coiled within his chest. A disgust directed at existence itself, toward a being condemned solely by birth.
Darious felt it instantly.
The demon-hunting aura wrapped around Rosacer like a predator's shadow. Darious's eyes widened, terror breaking through the pain.
"A demon hunter?!" he cried, his voice muffled yet unmistakably clear. "What are you doing in this backwater city?!"
No answer came.
The last of Rosacer's wounds sealed themselves. Flesh knit together with wet, quiet sounds, and his left eye returned, whole and unblemished. The crimson aura sharpened, condensing rather than expanding.
Rosacer vanished.
He reappeared in front of Darious, dashing forward with inhuman speed. Demon-hunting chakra surged through his body, magnifying every movement. Though Darious was no demon, the sheer increase in power allowed Rosacer to match him, to keep pace with the hunter's agile form.
Their movements blurred.
Darious slipped through the narrow gaps in Rosacer's guard, fists driving forward with ruthless precision. Rosacer was faster now, stronger, yet his strikes failed to connect. Each attempt was narrowly avoided, each opening exploited.
Then it happened.
As Rosacer committed to a swing, a punch met him head-on.
The impact sent a jolt through his body, a brief shock that rattled bone and nerve alike. For a heartbeat, the world tilted, crimson aura flickering.
Darious staggered back, breathing hard, blood and ichor dripping from his shattered jaw.
Soon, the fight devolved into a crude brawl.
Rosacer's inexperience became painfully evident. He fought with overwhelming strength but little refinement, his movements inefficient and exposed. Darious punished every mistake, hammering blows into him again and again. Were it not for Rosacer's reinforced body, he would have been reduced to pulp, killed a second time within moments.
Rosacer swung once more, his stance too wide, balance compromised.
Darious seized the opening.
He stepped in, twisting his torso to drive a counterpunch straight toward Rosacer's center mass. But before the blow could land, Rosacer surged forward, driving his head toward Darious in a desperate headbutt.
He never reached his target.
Darious's knee came up with brutal precision, slamming into Rosacer's face. Bone shattered on impact. The sound was wet and explosive as facial bones collapsed inward, fragments tearing through flesh. Blood and black ichor sprayed outward as Rosacer was thrown backward, his skull caving beneath the force.
He hit the ground hard.
"Stay dead this time, monster!" Darious said, his voice wavering.