Cryptomining Supervillain

281 HER INNER DEMONS?

A barrage of thin, filament-like metal streamed from behind Eryn's back, unfurling so wide and long it arched over her like a gleaming sail of steel.

This was her Annunakin inheritance — living metal drawn from the source of her corrupted blood, obedient to her will.

"Crimson Sails"

Across from her, the man cloaked in darkness answered.

More than a dozen tendrils of shadow lashed outward from Acyros' body, thick and coiling, writhing like abyssal serpents tasting the air.

Eryn's filaments shot forward.

Hundreds…. No…. thousands against dozens.

If this were a contest of numbers, she would have crushed him instantly.

But Acyros was no ordinary opponent.

He was an S-Rank.

His tendrils rose higher, swelling midair into massive columns of condensed darkness. They crashed into her advancing strands with explosive force.

Metal screeched and shadow roared. The crater trembled as steel and void intertwined, grinding against each other in a storm of sparks and black lightning.

Thousands of silver threads tangled against towering pillars of night.

Neither yielded.

"This is not a game of numbers!" Acyros thundered, his voice echoing through the writhing mass. "Your tiny filaments are no match for my darkness!"

Eryn said nothing.

She closed her eyes.

The chaos around her dimmed.

"Grandmother…" she whispered — not aloud, but inwardly, into the recesses of her mind.

A voice answered, distant yet intimate.

"Eryn… you must be strong."

"What should I do now?" she asked.

There was hesitation.

"There is something you can do to defeat him… something I would rather you did not."

"What is it?"

"Reach deeper into the Source of the Unknown. You have not taken all that it offers. Draw all of it to empower your crimson sail."

Eryn frowned inwardly with reservation. "Grandmother, you stopped me before from taking more…. Why is that? Why would you rather I not draw more from the source?"

"Because the more you take, the more it takes from you. Its influence will grow. You stand at the threshold… where your inner demon may awaken."

"Inner demon? What is that?"

"It is like a fracture within your mind. You can consider it as your greatest weakness."

Eryn did not hesitate.

"I don't care. Whatever it is — I'll face it."

A soft sigh echoed through her consciousness.

"Very well. I will help you."

Then it came.

A violent surge.

The well behind her erupted — not outward, but toward her. Water surged up in a spiraling torrent, not spilling, but flowing as if gravity itself bent to deliver it. It struck her back and poured into her like a flood breaching a dam.

Power washed through her veins.

Her senses shattered.

Every heartbeat in the city rang in her ears. Every drop of blood beneath the earth pulsed against her skin. The force was overwhelming — intoxicating — suffocating.

It felt like drowning.

"What are you trying to do now, bitch?!" Acyros roared as the pressure around him intensified.

Eryn's metal strands responded first.

They thickened.

Then multiplied.

One became two.

Two became five.

Five became thousands.

They split and branched like fractal veins of silver lightning, doubling and tripling until the air itself seemed woven from steel.

Acyros' darkness tendrils began to buckle.

"You— how are you growing so strong?!" Acyros shouted, his pillars of shadow cracking under the strain.

Eryn opened her eyes.

They glowed faintly, a glow that was out of this world.

"You're not the only one who can boost your power mid-fight," she said softly. "I can boost mine too."

Her filaments surged.

They bypassed his defensive tendrils, slipping between cracks in his shadow constructs like needles through fabric. Then they struck.

Into his shoulders.

His chest.

His abdomen.

His limbs.

"ARGHHH!"

Thousands of razor-thin strands pierced into him simultaneously, anchoring him in midair like a specimen pinned to a board. Each filament vibrated with concentrated force, drilling deeper, shredding both flesh and shadow alike.

His darkness flickered and then collapsed.The tendrils dissolved into smoke.The veil around him evaporated.

For the first time, Acyros was visible — not a demon of shadow, not a force of annihilation….. but just a man who is bleeding.

"No…" he rasped.

The final wave came.

Every strand tightened at once.His body jerked violently …. and then went still.

The metal withdrew.

Acyros fell, lifeless, to the fractured ground…. Dead.

Silence returned to the crater.

The well's water receded.

Eryn stood alone amid drifting dust and fading echoes.

Slowly, she closed her eyes.

But somewhere deep within her mind…

Something stirred.

------

The climb had felt endless.

The walls of the abyss seemed to stretch forever upward, as though the well did not want to release him. But at last, his hand gripped broken marbles instead of ancient rock…. He was at the top of the alien well.

He pulled himself over the edge and collapsed onto shattered concrete.

He lay there for a breath — then two — staring at the open sky.

Around him, an enormous crater had devoured several city blocks. Buildings had been sheared in half. Glass and steel littered the ground like fallen teeth.

Damen pushed himself up and scanned the skyline.

He recognized the twin spires of the Arcadium Towers. The fractured dome of the Civic Hall.

He exhaled.

"Great… I'm still back in Silver City."

For a moment, real relief washed over him. In the abyss, he had feared the other side of the well would open into some alien wasteland — or worse.

But this was home.

Then he saw her.

Eryn stood at the center of the crater, unmoving. Thousands of thin metal strands covered her body, layered over one another like a living cocoon of silver thorns. They shimmered faintly in the daylight, twitching as if responding to something only they could sense.

"What the hell are those things on you?" Damen asked, rising quickly.

He moved closer, cautious but relieved. There was no visible wound on her. No blood. No enemy pressing down on her.

She looked… intact.

Just dazed.

Then he saw the other… a body. The body of Acyros.The S-Rank lay crumpled against fractured stone, his once-imposing presence reduced to a lifeless form.

And kneeling beside him… was Dr. Revive.

The doctor's gloved hands glowed faintly as he attempted to recover what remained of Acyros.

"These bastards again," Damen growled.

In a blur, he accelerated forward. His boot connected squarely with Dr. Revive's ribs.

The doctor flew across the crater, skidding through debris before scrambling upright.Dr. Revive hesitated only a fraction of a second.

"There's no way I'm staying behind to collect Acyros' essence with that boy attacking me", he thought.

Then survival instinct won…. Dr. Revive fled.His life wasn't worth reclaiming Acyros' corpse.

Damen didn't pursue.

He already had what he wanted.

He walked toward the body of Acyros, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Devouring during battle had always been dangerous. There could be a backlash.

"What am I going to do with this damn body?" he murmured.

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