Chapter 294: Feed!
The massive, pulsating organ loomed beneath him, every beat sending a shudder through its slick, shadow-wrapped form. Its surface throbbed against his armor, as if it were breathing him in.
It was fighting Diaz, Sasha, and Jack. But most of the work was done by Vaelira and her giant army of summons. The Heart was getting damaged repeatedly from a thousand angles at once, but it kept counterattacking and healing its injuries.
Kaiden’s fingers dug into the slick, pulsing flesh. The only thing between him and a bone-shattering death that would likely come from falling to the depths below was his own grip, and right now, that grip was failing.
The shockwave had wrecked him.
His ribs ached with every breath, each inhale rasping as if knives were scraping his lungs. One shoulder burned with a stabbing pain that told him something had torn, and his left arm trembled uselessly. His back felt like someone had driven a battering ram into it. Every heartbeat sent a warm trickle of blood down his side. Internal bleeding, maybe worse.
But he couldn’t let go.
Not now.
Not when everything was balancing on a knife’s edge.
He knew the cold and cruel truth. The Countess wasn’t just dangerous because of her power. She was dangerous because of time. She was still just a spoiled, grasping child with a monster’s body and borrowed might, but every second she survived, her instincts sharpened, her borrowed power became more fluid. And her stats... her stats were far above theirs by a wide, terrifying margin. If she began utilizing them properly...
No. He shook his head. That can’t be allowed.
Letting her live was letting her adapt. And letting her adapt meant death.
He clenched his teeth, forcing his mind to steady despite the pain. And that’s when it hit him, a deep, throbbing *Badump!* in his ears, so heavy it almost rattled his teeth.