Chapter 313: Playing With Onca The Kitty
While I waited, I quietly transferred all the stored Essence into the Null Heart.
The process was smooth, practiced. And I needed one new soul shackle. A new bond was coming, and the space-themed soul I’d chosen would need a clean slate.
The Essence Engine stirred to life, humming gently in my chest as it began absorbing energy from the surrounding air, steadily refilling my inner storage.
My max limit was 290 units of Essence, so I figured three full charges and a little extra would be enough to form a new shackle.
Barely a minute passed before I felt a ripple in the domain. Dante had returned.
Just like before, I couldn’t fully see him. It was only a shimmering outline in the air, like a heatwave twisted into the shape of a man. But this time, he wasn’t alone.
A black panther floated behind him, caught mid-pounce in the air, frozen in the most awkward position—limbs outstretched, jaws parted, eyes wide with shock. It was like someone had hit pause just as it lunged for a kill.
The first thing I noticed was its size. The creature was big, easily nine feet from snout to tail, and almost five feet tall at the shoulders. Its sleek black fur seemed to absorb the light, making it look more like a shadow made real than a living being.
But even with all that grace, it was unmistakably an Abomination.
The details gave it away.
A jagged horn of black bone jutted out from the center of its forehead, slightly curved and sharp like a broken spear. Its claws were wrapped in the same bone-like substance, thicker and more brutal than anything I’d seen on a natural beast.