Depthless Hunger

Zae Zin Nim crossed the distance between them so quickly that Kai couldn't take action to help. It also wasn't necessary: she struck Anaelina with such fury that she was sent flying backwards, nearly falling into the poison cloud.

The large warriors closed on her and Zae Zin Nim focused entirely on one of them, knocking aside his sword to hit him with a palm strike. It was strange for her to be so focused on one opponent, because the others were closing on her from behind, swinging their own weapons. Kai generated a Tyrant's Claw and hesitated at the last second.

When the weapons struck, they were blocked by the Coldfire Corona. But while Zae Zin Nim had used that defensive strategy many times in the past, what followed was completely different. She reached out to stab her hand into one of the bulky men, lifted him by his chest with one hand, and then plowed him directly into the others. They tried to gang up on her, but now that she had them grouped, she attacked them all with fierce blows. These were no longer just palm strikes to damage inner organs, he heard ribs snapping when she struck.

So that was what the Pure Yin Shroud did.

Since Zae Zin Nim could clearly take care of herself, Kai hurled his Tyrant's Claw at some of the soldiers trying to flank them on the steps to the building. The resulting massacre would hopefully keep the rest from following, and also keep the monks out of their way. There weren't many civilians left within the circle, so it was getting easier to fight.

Instead of worrying about the other soldiers, who Zae Zin Nim was blowing through, Kai leapt to help Omilaena. Both she and the demoness had cut one another, but they both seemed able to resist the other's poisons. When Kai swept in with another Tyrant's Claw, the demoness was finally forced onto her back foot.

They battled her a little further back before her veins glowed brighter green. The demoness tossed a number of emerald shards into the air and they began to spin around her, apparently controlled by her chakra. When Omilaena tried to throw a needle through the pattern, they shifted in order to deflect it.

Then it was time for overwhelming force. Kai released a huge gout of Baleful Breath, intending to consume the demoness and all her emerald shards. But she flipped overhead with startling speed, spinning toward him even while he was still expelling the smoky flames. He tried to cut off and pull back, but he was a second too late and emerald shards cut him in multiple places.

Each was coated in poison, or perhaps they were pure poison. Kai staggered back, focusing on Behemoth's Heart to fight through it. He was growing more resistant to this poison, but this demon was extremely powerful, so it would still take time.