Lupa viciously landed her claws, impaling the nine remaining sharp claws in the empty patch of the Demonic Beast's back. The patch of bloody hardened flesh from plucking too many rocks was like a bullseye to the falling angered wolf girl. *Shriek The Demonic Beast shrieked in pain. But Lupa didn't give it a chance to breathe. She swiftly prepared to swing her claws without the wish to stop. [If you can hear me, now is the perfect chance while Lupa is distracting it.] Vincent stood up. He noticed Lupa on the Demonic Beast's back. The feeling of watching her be the next person to get hurt made his body tremble in anger to move. His eyes didn't want to see another person he liked in pain. Vincent charged, blinded by rage at the distracted Demonic Beast. He punched the horn with all he strength had while combining the momentum to the rush. *Bam The horn penetrated deeper inside. The Demonic Beast contorted its face even deeper while tilting forward. It tried to swing its arms at Vincent, but Lupa didn't allow it to do so. Lupa remained on the Demonic Beast's back while she furiously swung her arms at its weak spot, slashing and tearing its flesh, but it came with a cost. Lupa lost a claw from each finger in the process. She swung her arms without any care, striking the Demonic Beast with great force. However, at the end of each swipe, her claws found rocks. After hitting them with all her might, she tore two of her claws apart, leaving seven claws remaining to fight with. Lupa didn't care about this pain. The anger caused by watching Ester get hurt felt more painful than the pain sent to her brain receptors. Lupa then impaled her remaining claws to keep her balance from falling. She wanted to ride the Demonic Beast and allow Vincent the opportunity for another strike. The hunted wanted to become the hunter. But this situation didn't last long. The Demonic Beast swung its upper body violently for a few times, throwing Lupa on the ground. Lupa "ARGH!" Lupa screamed as an immeasurable sense of pain rushed to her. She lifted her trembling red furry hands colored by blood, but no claw was in sight. The missing weapons were stuck inside the Demonic Beast's back. The moment Vincent heard Lupa scream in pain, he felt something break inside him. A momentary flashback of his parents about to get attacked, Ester lying on the ground, and Lupa possibly gravely injured flashed before his eyes. 'Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill!' A single thought repeated in his mind as if it had a voice of its own. His legs began walking on their own, fueled by an intense wild devouring bloodlust his body couldn't control. However, Overload didn't activate yet. It seemed to be something else. *Crack *Tsss Suddenly the sound of two objects cracking burst out of nowhere. Simultaneously, followed a discharge sound of hot green steam resembling the steam exiting a kettle. Both these sounds originated from his forearms as Vincent could see two smoke trails bursting before his intense shining eyes. He suddenly felt the strange anger subside, returning his rationality back to normal. 'Huh? Why am I here? what is happing to my mutated hardened skin?' Vincent gazed down to check what was happening to his arms. The green burning fire seemed to get absorbed rapidly inside the mutated skin as it inflated, becoming thicker. 'On the back on my hands are cracks. Am I about to lose my reason and get engulfed from the corrupted Overload ability?' He thought while noticing two brightly glowing crack-like slashes on the back of each hand. The mutated skin soon stopped inflating. They appeared similar to a pair of gauntlets. A cloud trail of green steam rose from the two new cracks after calming from its violent outburst and returning to normal. They had a similar appearance to what escapes from his mouth. Not only that, but the tips of his fingers seemed a bit pointy like a barely sharpened tip. [Overheat has mutated to stage one.] [Mutation effect changed from 100% stat increase to 75% stat increase and 3 stat increase per every [Blessed Retainer]] [Current total stats - Strength 13.5, Agility 13.5, Perception 12.75, Mana 9] [Inspection is now available to mutate with Soul Power.] [Soul Dimensional Storage is now available to mutate with Soul Power.] Vincent barely batted an eye at the notification window in front of his eyes. He could feel more power surging through his body as he could hear, smell, and see better. That's when his increased sight picked Lupa with tears in her eyes. Fortunately, she wasn't hurt as gravely as Ester was. Vincent felt relieved and glared at the Demonic Beast with a pair of shining green eyes filled with devouring bloodlust. The mutation process finished while leaving the oppressing scent of its nature lingering in the air. The Demonic Beast felt a sudden burst of overwhelming presence. The mutation of the first stage of Overheat made Vincent appear a great threat to the Demonic Beast. Its body momentarily shivered. But the signal of a potential threat that could endanger its life and steal its treasure made the Demonic Beast choose its next course of action. The Demonic Beast became filled to the brim with the urge to kill Vincent as soon as possible. The injured cornered prey suddenly became an injured predator. "I'm going to shank you to death!" With a sinister grin on his face and cold penetrating glowing gaze, Vincent looked upon the Demonic Beast, sending a powerful murderous gaze. Demonic Beast wasn't the only one who could feel the killing intent, but Lupa as well. Her ears twitch, and the muscles on her legs tightened, ready to run away from the overwhelming predator that suddenly emerged. Her wolf instincts produced a signal of danger. A sign to escape from what was in front of her. Lupa moved her shivering eyes and picked Vincent with steam exiting from his hands and bloodlust filled glare that could pierce the soul. Her animal instincts told Lupa to run away, but she trusted Vincent more than what her body displayed. Ignoring her survival instinct, she grinned while standing up. Her body couldn't feel any pain, thanks to the fear emitted from Vincent. Vincent charged with the power-up of the anger that previously consumed him. The Demonic Beast regained its senses quickly and plucked two rocks from its back. It then threw them at Vincent, who wasn't very far. [Store the rocks! That's the only way to dodge them!] Kazumi gave Vincent a suggestion which he ended up instinctively following. He raised his injured, trembling arm to touch and store the rocks. The weakness of the Soul Demensinional Storage became apparent in this deadly fight. Only touched objects could be stored. *Whoosh One rock after the other approached deadly close to Vincent. The first rock touched his hand, but the force remained while it dematerialized. His hand flung backward from the impact, breaking his guard. Vincent didn't have time to follow with another maneuver. Using his increased cognitive sense, he used the recoil's momentum to twist his body and dodge the second rock by a hair. As this happened, the first rock finished storing in his palm. [1x Small Earth Demonic Beast Rock (Rare Quality) gained.] Vincent extended his fingers, revealing five pointy fingers ready to stab. He sprung forward with is uninjured arm extended, intending to impale the wounded chest. Vincent shot his hand forward, using the momentum to penetrate the injured Demonic Beast's chest with ease. Blood gushed everywhere, forcing The Demonic Beast to growl in pain. The Demonic Beast furiously extended its arms forward, pushing and knocking Vincent on the ground. But Lupa didn't let this opportunity go to waste. "Ambush!" She shouted as she lept as high as she could. This action was followed by lunging and stabbing the Demonic Beast's back with two swords. A few moments ago, Lupa noticed two soldier corpses, each holding a sword. An idea to use them quickly sparked in her mind. She couldn't fight without her claws anymore. Her only option was to use the two weapons on the ground. Vincent heard the signal followed by the cries of the Demonic Beast. He understood what it meant and quickly pulled himself up, ignoring all the pain his shoulder sent his way. 'I have four heals. But I can't use them on me. Ester needs them more.' Passed through his mind while Vincent grit his teeth to endure as much as his body could. Vincent noticed the Demonic Beast twisting its body to fling Lupa. She was swinging from its back as if she was on a swing while nimbly moving her body accordingly to dodge the pair of large threatening hands. However, hanging while evading the attacks became too risky for Lupa to continue. She promptly used her legs to push herself away, evading the Demonic Beast's arms. [You better hurry! Time is about to run out! It's now or never!] Kazumi urgently notified. Overheat was running out, and the ability to fight back disappearing along with the fast flow of time. Vincent had to immediately deliver the final blow, but the Demonic Beast seemed far from dying anytime soon. Vincent gritted his teeth, raising a cold glare at the Demonic Beast. He ignored the pain as he decided to do whatever he can to survive another day. *Growl Vincent sprang forward with all the strength left in his legs. A second later, his blood gauntlet pierced into the Demonic Beast's chest. The Demonic Beast growled in agony at the second hole in its chest. However, Vincent wasn't satisfied as it was far from dead. He shoved his injured shoulder against its chest, pushing his body away to unstuck his hand as quickly as possible. Vincent arched his fingers, forming a claw. He swung his sharp finger-like claws with a fast motion, ready to tear the Demonic Beast stomach apart. The claw slash landed, and it was a critical hit at that. The vicious slash opened up a massive wound in its stomach. But at the end of his swing, Vincent noticed a green trail of ash floating in mid-air. "Its green ash!" Vincent mumbled. The worst possible situation arrived. Vincent jumped back, creating some distance between them. The ten minutes were up, and he became an ordinary powerless human. The unbreakable blood gauntlet bristled like sand being blown by the wind. Their only hope of survival was now in the last critical hit. If it was enough to kill the Demonic Beast or not, time could only tell. The Demonic Beast growled in pain with a deep contorted face. It became blinded by rage at the sight of its own blood seeping from the wound.