An enormous pressure surged from Viran's body, stronger even than that of the insectoid at the beginning of the battle. The man's body trembled for a moment as his muscles spasmed under the burden of the Spiritual Energy crawling under his skin. Finally, the glow of the stone diminished until it completely disappeared.

 

Taking his hand out of the wound, the rock Viran was gripping was now covered in red, and its radiance had entirely dissipated. The warrior squeezed the object in his grasp and the stone crumbled into dust. Red's spiritual veins shivered from the energy emitted by the man's body.

 

The creature, likewise, became wary of Viran's transformation. However, it didn't deign to leave its opponent any more time to prepare. The monster's hand glowed and a barrage of green spiritual bolts shot forward in the human's direction. This time, though, the man didn't dodge the attack.

 

Charging in the insectoid's direction, Viran clashed directly against the bullets. They all hit the target but simply exploded upon contact with his skin, leaving minimal damage behind. The monster was shocked at the results, but it didn't have time to think before Viran was upon it.

 

Another crack rang out as an uppercut sent the creature's body smashing into the ceiling. It tried to recover as it fell, but a thunderous kick sent it flying once more. Red had to move out of the way in a hurry as the insectoid bounced against the floor leaving a trail of green blood behind.

 

Viran's feet dug into the ground and the man suddenly shot forward in pursuit. Before the monster could even hit the other side of the chamber, another blow struck it down.

 

CRUNCH

 

The creature's shell fractured under the bombardment of attacks. Whenever Viran moved, Red could see a white mist coming out of his skin. The flow of the mist was fast and intense, yet it only slowly sapped the energetic glow in Viran's spiritual veins.

 

The old soldier threw a barrage of punches upon the downed insectoid. Even without his weapon, it seemed as if the sudden injection of Spiritual Energy had given his body a boost in strength and the man's fists sounded more like hammers as they clashed against the monster's frame.

 

CRACK

 

Its armored torso splintered with a loud snap. The creature desperately tried to shield itself with its arms, but even they started to gradually break down. Frantically, the insectoid reared its head back and Spiritual Energy started to gather in its throat.

 

TCHRI-

 

The sound was suddenly cut off by a well-placed punch to the face. The monster's head bounced against the hard-rock floor in a daze. Viran continued to relentlessly punch the monster, but his pace also slowed down as the effort took its toll on his physique.

 

Red didn't know how Viran had managed to inject so much Spiritual Energy directly into his body. Still, the boy had guessed this didn't come without its consequences, or else Viran wouldn't have waited until he almost died before doing it.

 

Even as his speed diminished, the warrior still didn't give the insectoid a second to breathe. Even if his fists were not as effective at cracking armor as his weapon, the man's increased strength more than made up for it. More and more fractures started to appear in the monster's exoskeleton and its movements were starting to get heavier.

 

Just as Red thought that Viran had the battle under his control, out of the corner of his eyes he noticed something. A green mist trail had started to move towards the combatants, and the boy had to narrow his eyes to even notice it. Tracing it back to its origins, Red saw the vapor was coming from the moonstone he had dropped on the floor before the fight had begun.

 

Narrowing his eyes, the youth noticed more of these trails traveling from the connecting tunnels into the chamber. Ten, thirty, fifty, a hundred of them! They were faint enough on their own, but when they gathered like this their brilliance became prominent.

 

They took the same color of the Spirit Energy the insectoid was using.

 

"Something is happening!" Red yelled.

 

Quickly enough, these mist trails were too many and too bright to ignore. Viran had noticed the phenomenon, but he didn't stop attacking, instead redoubling his efforts. Shortly the first of them reached the two combatants and they were sucked immediately into the insectoid's body.

 

More specifically into its six lined eyes.

 

The two outer ones started to glow far brighter than the others and suddenly they went completely dark. Viran was shocked. With no warning, a small bolt of energy pierced straight through his gut. The man fell back instinctively, looking at the monster's right hand where the shot had just come from.

 

In the past, this technique would have taken more time to prepare and the gathering of spiritual energy was evident, which was how Viran had managed to dodge them. However, before the man could even react the creature had gotten the projectile off. Looking over at the green mist lines traveling into the creature's body, the reason why was soon evident.

 

Red was reminded of what Viran had taught him earlier. That the moonstones contained some traces of Spiritual Energy and that he should keep them close to him during his practice. Despite following his instructions, the boy never felt a marked improvement in his acupoint opening speed even under the presence of dozens of moonstones.

 

It seemed, however, that the creature was somehow able to absorb all that energy into itself. Perhaps one or two moonstones wouldn't have made a difference, but who knew how many of these things were in the mine and from how far away the monster could call upon them.

 

The man must have noticed the same thing, but now it was too late. The insect’s two middle eyes started to slowly glow brighter and brighter. Viran did his best to move out of the way but the many holes in his stomach made the task challenging.

 

The brightness in the insectoid's eyes reached a peak and suddenly they went dark. Its arm was swiftly covered in green light and the creature waved it in front of itself. A blade of light formed out of thin air, ready to shoot out and cut the man in half. At the last moment, however, Red's weight crashed into the monster's frame, knocking it ever so slightly out of balance.

 

The blade light still shot out. Another deafening boom rang out and rock dust rose into the chamber. Looking over, the boy saw Viran gasping to the side, having managed to dodge the attack. Red felt as if the man was missing something though.

 

It wasn't until a thudding sound caught his attention that he saw it. The warrior's left arm was cut off his body, the price he had paid to successfully escape the attack with his life. His gaze moved back to Viran, and he saw the man looking back at him with an nervous expression.

 

"Watch out!"

 

Red felt a premonition of danger. Out of instinct, the boy ducked down, just in time for one of the insectoid's claws to miss his skull. He dashed back, trying to put some distance between himself and the monster. The creature, however, didn't chase him. It simply stared at the boy with its two remaining glowing eyes. It pointed one of its claws in his direction and spiritual energy started to gather in it.

 

Red felt terrified, but he wasn't nearly as fast as Viran. The green bolt hit him straight in the chest and the boy was sent flying against the rock wall.

 

"FUCKER!"

 

The creature turned around just in time for a fist to send it stumbling back. However, the glow in Viran's skin had diminished considerably. With his heavily wounded body, the man couldn't gather the same strength as before.

 

Still, with his one remaining hand, the warrior hammered down on the creature's head. During this whole process, the green trails of mist continued gathering into the insectoid. Blocking the opponent's desperate attacks with its raised arms, the monster bid its time.

 

Viran raised his hand one more time when suddenly, the monster moved. Its legs whipped around to hit the man's side, but the human saw it coming. Moving quickly, he managed to grab its ankle before it reached him, trapping it in his grasp.

 

The thing panicked and tried to free itself to no avail. Even in his state, Viran's strength was still greater than the insects'. Swinging the creature around, the soldier hit it furiously against a wall again and again like a ragdoll. The weight of the monster seemed to be negligible under his rage.

 

Finally, the man threw the thing against the wall with one final strike, before lunging over to finish it off with a hammering punch. The insectoid however was able to put up both of its arms, blocking the attack. Viran didn't let up though, pressuring his opponent to give way, and kept on pounding down against its exoskeleton.

 

The creature slowly lost ground and was forced to kneel on the ground as its carapace started to crack under pressure. There was some hesitation in the insectoid's actions, but they disappeared just as quickly as they came. The mists started to enter its two remaining glowing eyes at a much faster rate, and their light started to increase.

 

Finally, the brilliance reached its peak, and its last pair of eyes went dark. The monster's hand started to light up in an instant, and it lowered its guard to attack. That was when the insectoid was met with a mist of glowing blood to its face, full of concentrated Spiritual Energy. The liquid exploded on contact.

 

The shot went wide, and the creature fell back as it felt its eyes burn from the blood Viran had spewed on its face. Another hammering blow made the insectoid’s head crash down onto the floor.

 

"I'll show you fucking bug-"

 

THUD

 

"Why they call me-"

 

THUD

 

"THE FUCKING RED HEART!"

 

The back of the monster's skull started to crack and green fluid flowed down from it. Desperately trying to protect itself, Spiritual Energy started to gather on its throat and another screeching sound attack came from its mouth.

 

TCHRIII

 

The scream was very short and not even half as effective as the ones from before. But Viran, having lost a lot of blood, felt his vision darken as his senses were attacked. For a moment he stumbled on his feet.

 

His opponent wouldn't let the chance go. Shooting up, the monster's claw stabbed into the man's midsection. This time however it didn't manage to pierce all the way through. The jolt of pain snapped the soldier out of confusion and he swung his raised fist down against the creature's head to try and finish it.

 

The insectoid, however, was prepared for it. Its other hand grabbed the man's wrist stopping the attack midway. Viran still struggled to get himself free and with the only weapon available to him, the warrior headbutted the monster straight between its six eyes.

 

CRACK

 

More shattering noises. The monster didn't let go, though. Viran hit it again. At this point, blood flowed down his forehead and partially blocked his vision. Right as he was about to go for the third headbutt, the man felt a sharp part shoot up his body. His opponent pressed its claw deeper into his midsection.

 

The insectoid took this opportunity and opened its mandible wide, biting in between Viran's chest. It tore into flesh and bone and managed to grip tightly around its foe. At that point, the pain didn't even seem to register in the soldier's mind, and he struggled to get free.

 

What seemed like a river of blood started to pour down from the man's body. Life slowly slipped from his figure as his strength left him but the light in his eyes didn't diminish. Suddenly, he noticed something out of the corner of his vision, and a wide smile came across his expression.

 

"HA- cough... Haha." Viran laughed, spitting blood. "It's time to play your part, kid..."