Chapter 202: I Killed Myself to Beat a Champion

Elise saw it.

"You’re still giving orders."

"Yes."

"You’re almost dead."

"Not yet."

Her jaw tightened.

"Why are you doing this?"

Raven took one breath.

It hurt.

"Because if I run again, you’ll keep chasing me."

"Because I need to make sure you’re still you."

"And I need you to understand that you don’t get to decide that without a cost."

Elise lowered Mercy for a moment.

"I don’t want to kill you."

"I know."

"Then stop forcing me closer to doing it."

Raven looked at her.

"That isn’t entirely up to me."

Frustration crossed her face.

That was good.

But dangerous too.

Raven realized it at the same instant.

Elise was tired. Injured. Pressured.

And now emotionally invested.

That could create mistakes.

It could also create excess.

Predator’s Instinct reacted.

Danger.

A lot of it.

Raven looked at Halo.

The rings were closing inward, not around Elise.

Toward Mercy.

Shit.

---

Raven turned toward the final firing position.

The round was there.

The last partial Black Mithril round.

Twelve meters.

He could make it.

Burst Step.

His leg failed on the second impulse.

Not completely.

Enough.

Elise appeared in front of him.

Too fast.

Raven tried to shift away.

Mercy struck.

Not as a slash.

As concentrated light.

The blade never touched his chest.

It didn’t need to.

A sacred spear formed from the tip and punched through Raven beneath the ribs.

Entered through the front.

Exited through his back.

Raven felt heat.

Then nothing.

That was worse.

His body stopped understanding what had happened.

Elise’s eyes widened.

She hadn’t meant to use that much force.

She knew immediately.

So did Raven.

She pulled Mercy back.

Blood followed.

Too much.

Raven took one step backward.

His leg didn’t respond.

Predatory Regeneration tried to activate.

Error.

Too much damage.

Lung.

Liver.

Blood vessels.

Sacred mana inside him.

Radiant Metabolism reacted.

[Foreign Sacred Mana Detected.]

[Concentration: CRITICAL.]

[Metabolic Processing Insufficient.]

Elise dropped Mercy.

"Raven."

He tried to breathe.

Couldn’t.

Blood filled his throat.

The world tilted.

FORGE disappeared.

Predator’s Instinct became noise.

Predatory Regeneration started prioritizing too many things at once.

[Catastrophic Trauma Detected.]

[Multiple Organ Damage.]

[Massive Internal Hemorrhage.]

[Host Survival Probability: 3.7%.]

Raven dropped to his knees.

Elise reached him before he hit the ground and caught him.

"No. No, no, no."

Her voice no longer sounded like a Saint.

Only Elise.

Raven looked at her.

Curious.

He had imagined dying many times.

Not like this.

Not being held by the woman who had spent the last week trying to save him.

Elise pressed both hands over the wound.

Light.

Too late.

Sacred mana entered him.

Radiant Metabolism tried to process it.

Failed.

Raven felt his heart lose rhythm.

Once.

Again.

Nothing.

Then the system appeared.

[Lethal Physiological Damage Detected.]

[Host Survival Probability Collapsing.]

[PENANCE SANCTUARY — AUTOMATIC ACTIVATION.]

[6.0]

Elise froze.

The light changed.

Not hers.

Raven’s.

Pale channels spread across his body. Stonehide vanished, his muscles locked, and his breathing stopped.

So did the bleeding.

Not because he was healed.

Because everything had been suspended.

Elise stepped back.

"Penance Sanctuary..."

[5.4]

Raven couldn’t answer.

Couldn’t blink.

Couldn’t move a finger.

Couldn’t even breathe.

But he could think.

So this counts as dying.

Elise looked at her own hands, then back at Raven.

She understood.

Of course she did.

She had worked with Hounds.

She knew exactly what was happening.

Raven waited for the next attack.

It never came.

[4.8]

Elise backed away.

Of course.

Raven almost would have smiled if he could.

She knew how to counter it.

She wasn’t going to feed the Trait.

Wasn’t going to give it more energy.

But it was already too late.

The attack that had pierced his body was already inside.

All that force.

All that sacred energy.

Enough to kill him.

Stored.

Elise raised Mercy and rebuilt Halo.

She didn’t attack.

Correct.

Intelligent.

Six seconds, Elise thought.

She knew the ability.

She knew she could survive the discharge.

The problem was Halo’s condition.

She had spent too much.

Too many barriers.

Too many Edicts.

Divine Judgment.

Raven had forced her to work throughout the entire fight.

Now she understood the full objective.

He hadn’t been trying to overpower her.

He had been trying to reach a moment where one opening mattered.

[3.1]

Raven remained motionless.

Pain suspended.

Death suspended.

Elise reinforced the frontal barrier.

Mistake.

Not a severe one.

But still a mistake.

Penance Sanctuary released force in every direction.

She knew that.

Instinct still wanted to protect the front.

Raven remembered it.

Even experts had habits.

[2.0]

Valeria shouted his name from somewhere far away.

He couldn’t answer.

Roland didn’t fire either.

Good.

If they attacked, they would feed Sanctuary.

They understood.

[1.0]

Elise planted both feet.

Halo.

Two layers.

Three.

Not stable enough.

Raven saw the oscillation.

The same one as before.

Only larger.

[0.0]

[Stored Force Release.]

BOOM.

The discharge erupted from Raven in every direction.

Stone.

Dust.

Light.

Elise’s own energy came back at her.

The first barrier shattered.

The second lasted barely a fraction longer.

CRACK.

Halo warped.

Elise was thrown backward and slammed into a column.

Mercy flew several meters away.

Raven felt his body again.

Everything at once.

Pain.

Blood.

Air.

Death still waiting nearby.

Predatory Regeneration activated violently.

[Critical Repair Initiated.]

[Manual Regulation Available.]

Raven took control.

Lung first.

Blood vessels.

Then liver.

He didn’t try to repair everything.

Only enough to stay alive.

Elise was already getting up.

No time.

Raven used Burst Step.

His body protested.

He ignored it.

He reached the final firing position, grabbed the round, and loaded the Mk.I.

Elise raised a barrier.

Slowly.

For the first time.

Raven aimed.

Not at her.

At the point where Halo was trying to reconnect.

He fired.

BOOM.

Black Mithril penetrated the first layer and struck the unstable channel.

Halo collapsed.

Elise dropped to one knee.

Raven let the rifle fall.

He didn’t need it anymore.

---

Eight meters.

Raven used Burst Step.

Four.

Second impulse.

Two.

Elise raised one hand.

"Halt—"

Raven was already inside.

Stonehide over his forearm.

He struck her wrist.

The technique broke.

Elise threw a punch.

Raven slipped it by centimeters.

Predator’s Instinct.

Shoulder.

Hip.

Eyes.

Everything.

Kinetic Acceleration in the elbow.

Short strike to the ribs.

Elise blocked.

Raven changed levels.

Sweep.

She jumped.

Raven expected it.

Shoulder strike.

Elise lost her balance and hit the wall.

Raven closed in.

No space.

No Halo.

No Mercy.

Here, level mattered less.

It never stopped mattering.

But less.

Elise struck first.

Palm to the chest.

Raven turned and took the impact against lateral Stonehide.

Pain.

Another broken rib.

He didn’t retreat.

Caught the arm.

Elbow against the joint.

Not to break it.

To control it.

Elise turned.

Too strong.

Raven nearly lost the grip.

He changed.

Knee to the thigh.

Kinetic Acceleration.

Impact.

Elise grunted.

Raven felt a small flicker of satisfaction.

It worked.

She tried to form light in her free hand.

Raven slammed the wrist against the wall.

Once.

Twice.

Her concentration broke.

Elise drove her forehead into his nose.

CRACK.

Blood.

Raven stepped back half a pace, and she tried to escape.

No.

Raven grabbed her clothes.

Pulled.

Knee to the abdomen.

Elise partially blocked.

Raven immediately transitioned to an elbow.

Jaw.

Elise took the hit, turned, and answered with a kick.

Raven saw it.

He couldn’t dodge.

Stonehide.

The impact lifted him off the ground.

But Raven had caught her ankle.

He fell and dragged her down with him.

They both struck stone.

Elise tried to roll on top.

Raven didn’t compete in strength.

He used position.

Hip against hip.

Forearm beneath the jaw.

Weight over the shoulder.

Black Hound.

Don’t fight muscle.

Fight structure.

Elise pushed.

Raven let her.

Changed direction.

She moved exactly where he needed her.

Raven threw one leg over and trapped her arm.

Elise tried to release mana.

Raven struck her biceps.

Kinetic Acceleration.

Once.

The muscle lost strength.

Second strike.

Wrist.

Third.

Ribs.

Elise answered with a mana burst.

Radiant Metabolism screamed.

Raven felt his skin burn.

He didn’t move away.

He already knew how much he could survive.

Elise looked at him.

For the first time, there was fear.

Not because she thought Raven was stronger.

Because she understood that Raven was willing to pay with pieces of his own body to maintain position.

He’s insane.

The thought came before Elise could stop it.

No.

Not insanity.

That was worse.

He knew exactly what he was doing.

Raven saw the change in her eyes.

Doubt.

Her expectations had shifted.

After impaling him, part of Elise had assumed the fight was over. After Sanctuary, she had assumed the discharge would be his final surprise. After the shot, she had assumed Raven would create distance.

She hadn’t expected him to close in.

Hadn’t expected a man with a hole still sealing through his torso to choose close combat.

Raven exploited every one of those expectations.

Elise tried to turn toward Mercy.

Raven saw her look.

Mistake.

He struck the wounded shoulder.

Her strength faltered.

Raven drew the knife.

Elise caught his wrist.

Strong.

Much stronger.

Raven didn’t try to overpower her.

He let go of the knife.

Elise looked down.

Raven caught it with his other hand.

Stonehide.

Forearm strike to the throat.

Not to crush it.

To interrupt.

Elise coughed.

Raven moved behind her.

Arm around the neck.

Knee behind hers.

Kinetic Acceleration.

Elise dropped.

Raven went down with her.

She tried to invoke Sacred Edict.

Raven slammed her temple against the stone.

Once.

Not enough.

Twice.

Elise lost the words.

Raven recovered the knife and placed it against her throat.

Silence.

Both of them were breathing badly.

Raven much worse.

Blood ran from his nose, and his side was soaked. The wound from the sacred spear was still closing slowly.

Elise’s lip was split, one eye beginning to swell, and her shoulder was bleeding again.

Halo was gone.

Mercy was out of reach.

Raven held the knife.

Elise didn’t move.

She could.

Maybe.

But she knew what would happen.

So did Raven.

Predation reacted.

[High-Value Sacred Vessel Within Acquisition Range.]

[Target Condition: WEAKENED.]

[Assimilation Pathways Available.]

[Current Host Survival Estimate Remains Critically Low.]

Raven looked at the window.

Then at Elise.

She held his gaze.

No fear now.

Acceptance.

"Do it."

Raven didn’t move the knife.

Elise breathed with difficulty.

"You won."

Raven thought about that.

No.

Not really.

He had needed Valeria, Roland, the terrain, days of preparation, specialized ammunition, the Mk.I, every Trait he possessed, one mistake from Elise, and an automatic ability that only activated because she had quite literally killed him badly enough for his body to decide six seconds of complete immobility were preferable.

That wasn’t superiority.

It was survival with good planning.

Raven pressed the knife lightly against her throat.

Elise closed her eyes.

Predation continued waiting.

So did Raven.

For one second, the entire world narrowed to a decision.