Chapter 159: Headless

’Sturdy Bastard.’

Eden poured even more Essence into Ferocious Evolution.

[Blackout: 16%]

The notification flickered.

[Blackout: 20%]

Until it reached—

[Blackout: 25%]

A surge of power coursed through Eden’s body.

The black scales covering his arms thickened, spreading further across his shoulders and chest. Their surface hardened, forming overlapping layers that resembled the armor of some monstrous creature. His muscles tightened beneath them, and the Essence circulating through his body grew increasingly dense.

Eden slowly clenched his fist.

The air around his knuckles trembled.

’That’s better.’

He could feel the difference immediately.

His physical attributes had increased considerably, and the strain of maintaining his transformation was still manageable. Twenty-five percent was nowhere near the skill’s limit, but he could already sense the growing pressure building beneath his skin.

Luka tilted his head.

"Talk about a buff! Your entire Vibe somehow changed."

Eden finally looked at him.

"Unfortunately for you."

Eden vanished.

Luka’s body folded around Eden’s fist.

The impact sent him flying across the courtyard, tearing through a concrete wall before crashing into the remains of an abandoned building. The entire structure shuddered, its already weakened supports giving way.

Before the rubble could settle, Eden was already there.

His purple Essence Blade appeared in his hand.

He swung.

A crescent of purple light tore through the dust, slicing the building apart and exposing Luka’s battered body beneath the debris.

Eden followed with another strike.

Then another.

Each blow landed with enough force to pulverize concrete and send shockwaves through the surrounding structures. The ground cracked beneath their feet, and fragments of shattered masonry rained down from above.

Luka tried to counterattack.

He barely managed to raise his arm before Eden caught his wrist, twisted it aside, and drove a knee into his stomach.

The impact launched him upward.

Eden followed with Burst-Step, appearing above him and bringing his heel down.

Luka was driven into the ground.

A crater formed beneath his body.

Eden landed at its edge, his expression unchanged.

For a moment, there was no movement.

Then the black substance began to stir.

It flowed across Luka’s damaged torso, pulling broken pieces of flesh and bone back together. His chest expanded again, his ribs returning to their original positions as the black liquid crawled beneath his skin.

A few seconds later, he stood up.

He looked down at himself.

"...Jesus."

He brushed some dust from his shirt.

"You’re really not holding back."

Eden frowned.

"Tsk."

He had expected Luka to regenerate. That much was obvious by now.

But the speed was absurd.

Even after sustaining several attacks that should have left him incapacitated, Luka continued moving as though his body had suffered little more than a temporary inconvenience.

Eden’s earlier assumption had been that Luka was consuming his Dark Matter reserves to repair his injuries.

That wasn’t entirely wrong.

He could see the substance diminishing whenever Luka suffered particularly severe damage.

But something else was happening.

The Dark Matter wasn’t simply circulating through his body.

It was integrated into it.

There was no distinction between Luka’s flesh and the black substance anymore. His Dark Matter had become an intrinsic part of his physical structure, almost as though his body had been reconstructed around it.

And that changed everything.

’I can slow the regeneration down... but I can’t make it stop.’

Eden’s gaze sharpened.

’Not unless I get rid of the Dark Matter itself.’

Luka noticed his expression.

"Something on your mind?"

Eden raised his blade.

"Shut your damn mouth."

The next exchange was even more violent.

Luka lunged forward, his right arm transforming into a massive black blade. The weapon extended several meters, its jagged edge cutting through the air as he swung toward Eden.

Eden leaned aside.

The blade passed close enough to tear through his clothing, but his scales absorbed most of the impact.

He stepped forward and drove his fist into Luka’s face.

The man’s head snapped backward.

Before he could recover, Eden grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the ground.

The entire courtyard fractured.

Eden lifted him again and continued to slam him down repeatedly.

By the time he released him, the surrounding concrete had been reduced to rubble.

Luka’s face was barely recognizable.

His jaw hung at an unnatural angle, one eye had been crushed, and the entire side of his head was caved in.

Yet he was still smiling.

The black substance crawled over his face, slowly reconstructing what had been destroyed.

Eden’s expression grew increasingly irritated.

"Does this Bastard not feel pain?"

Luka’s jaw clicked back into place.

"Not particularly."

Eden’s eyes narrowed.

Then he swung his blade.

The purple Essence edge passed through Luka’s neck.

His head separated from his body and flew several meters away, bouncing once before rolling across the courtyard.

The body remained standing for a moment.

Then it staggered.

Eden watched as the black substance began flowing from the neck, crawling upward toward the severed head.

He didn’t wait.

He rushed forward and drove his blade through Luka’s chest, pinning the headless body against a concrete pillar.

The pillar shattered.

The body collapsed.

For a brief moment, Eden considered whether that might finally be enough.

Then the severed head began laughing.

"...Hahaha!"

Eden stared.

The mouth moved despite being separated from the rest of the body.

The black substance gathered around the neck, slowly rebuilding the missing connection. The body twitched, then began moving again, even as the head remained several meters away.

Eden’s expression darkened.

The headless body reached for him.

He stepped aside and kicked it through another wall.

Eventually, Luka’s head had stopped trying to create a connection to his body.

For a second, Eden genuinely believed that this would be it.

Until Luka’s body crawled out the rubble, a brand new head on his shoulders

The reason he stopped trying to create a connection was because he just regenerated his entire head instead.

’How does that even work?!’

Luka rolled his neck and smiled.

"Seriously?! Cutting off my head?"

"Ah well. I get it, that’s usually the part where people start celebrating, thinking they’ve won."

He brushed his hair away from his eyes.

"Bit embarrassing when it doesn’t work, isn’t it?"

Eden stared at him.

Then he exhaled.

"...You talk too much."

Eden glanced at the black scales covering his arms.

Twenty-five percent Blackout.

He could maintain it, but he was beginning to understand that the skill’s potential was considerably greater than what he had initially demonstrated.

His gaze shifted toward Luka.

The man was standing amid the rubble, looking as though he was enjoying himself.

Eden remembered Lucy’s bloodied face.

And the way Luka had grabbed Obsidian, slowly absorbing his Dark Matter as though he were nothing more than a convenient source of energy.

Eden’s expression became completely blank.

"No use in pulling my punches."

He poured more Essence into the skill.

[Blackout: 25%]

[Blackout: 38%]

[Blackout: 52%]

[Blackout: 70%]

The transformation accelerated.

Black scales spread across nearly his entire upper body, extending over his shoulders, chest, back, and arms. Their edges became sharper, and the gaps between them glowed faintly with crimson Essence.

His physical attributes surged.

The air around him grew heavy.

Even the surrounding rubble began trembling as the pressure emanating from his body intensified.

Luka’s smile gradually faded.

"...Huh?"

Eden took one step forward.

The ground cracked beneath his foot.

Luka instinctively raised his arms.

Eden disappeared.

He reappeared directly in front of him.

Before Luka could react, Eden’s fist struck his stomach.

The impact sent him flying.

He crashed through the remains of the building, crossed the courtyard, and smashed into the far wall of the abandoned complex.

The entire structure shook.

Luka barely managed to pull himself out of the rubble before Eden appeared again.

A knee struck his jaw.

A fist followed.

Then another.

Luka’s body was thrown around like a ragdoll.

He attempted to retaliate, but every movement was interrupted before it could be completed. Whenever he tried to raise an arm, Eden broke it. Whenever he attempted to retreat, Eden caught up.

The difference was overwhelming.

Luka was no longer fighting.

He was being beaten, abused and toyed with.

Eden drove him through another wall.

A second strike sent him crashing into the ground.

A third impact shattered the concrete beneath him.

Luka’s body regenerated again and again, but it didn’t matter. Eden was moving too quickly, hitting too hard, and giving him no opportunity to recover properly.

’What the hell?’

He tried to raise his arm.

Eden caught it.

A sharp twist.

The limb snapped.

Before it could regenerate, Eden drove his elbow into Luka’s face.

The man’s head jerked sideways.

’How?’

Another punch followed.

’How is this possible?!’

Luka’s body was thrown backward.

He had been told that this power would let him pass the threshold to S-Rank.

Eden was a mere A-Rank, and Luka was an A-Rank Awakened himself too.

Their ranks were supposedly the same.

’How is there such an absurd difference between us?!’

He had undergone countless experiments. His body had been modified, reconstructed, and infused with Dark Matter until there was barely anything ordinary left.

He had survived injuries that would have killed most Awakened instantly.

And yet this man was treating him like an insect.

’What kind of monster is this guy?’

Eden appeared above him.

Luka barely had time to look up.

A fist descended.

The impact buried him beneath another layer of rubble.

Eden landed in the center of the courtyard.

His breathing remained steady.

The black scales covering his body shifted as Ferocious Evolution continued circulating Essence through his muscles.

[Blackout: 70%]

He glanced at the rubble.

Luka’s body was already beginning to regenerate again.

Eden clicked his tongue.

"Seriously?"

He had tried everything.

Blunt force. Cutting attacks. Crushing injuries. Even completely separating Luka’s head from his body.

None of it had produced lasting results.

He could keep beating him into the ground, but that wouldn’t accomplish anything.

And while Eden could maintain the advantage, there was no reason to waste time.

His eyes narrowed.

’Let’s see how you handle this.’