Soul Devour

Xeron slammed into Yara, tackling her to the ground just as the Gu worm expanded.

The energy was a physical pressure, a star collapsing inside her chest.

"Xeron, run!" Yara begged.

"Shut up," Xeron growled.

He didn't shield himself. He grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her.

It wasn't a kiss of romance. It was a seal.

"Forbidden Art: Soul Devour."

Xeron inhaled.

Yara felt the explosion inside her chest—the burning, acid heat of the Gu—being ripped out. Xeron was sucking the poison, the energy, the detonation, straight out of her meridians and into his own.

His skin turned black. His veins bulged. He screamed against her mouth, a sound of pure agony, but he didn't break the seal.

The energy transferred.

Yara went limp, the pressure gone.

Xeron pulled back. He was glowing with unstable, violet energy. He looked like a demon on the verge of nuclear collapse. He stumbled, turning to face the Elders.

Elder Jian’s smile faltered. "What... what did you do?"

Xeron grinned. His teeth were stained with black blood. His eyes were no longer red; they were white-hot.

"I took the bait," Xeron rasped. His voice sounded like grinding stones. "But you forgot one thing, Elder."

He took a step forward. The ground melted beneath his boots.

"I am a glutton."

Xeron raised his hands. He didn't suppress the explosion. He aimed it.

He channeled the chaotic energy of the Gu, mixed it with his own demonic cultivation, and compressed it into a sphere of pure annihilation between his palms.

"You wanted a boom?" Xeron roared. "HAVE IT!"

He fired.

The beam of energy was silent. It erased the air. It hit the Elders before they could even raise a shield.

There was no scream. There was just a flash of white light.

The cliffside where the Elders stood vaporized. The blast continued, carving a trench through the mountains behind them, obliterating the viewing platform the Righteous Sect had set up miles away.

The recoil threw Xeron backward. He collapsed onto the stone, smoking.