The violet thorn erupted from Paula’s throat with brutal precision, forcing the corpse backward before the finishing blow could land.

Mesmer stumbled.

Not hurt.

Just slightly inconvenienced.

Paula’s ruined head tilted, torn throat leaking thick black fluid instead of blood.

"Still conscious?"

The demon’s voice carried mild annoyance rather than concern over the body or himself.

"Impressive."

Aura rose from the rubble where Mesmer had thrown her earlier, horns fully visible, demonic energy radiating off her in violent purple waves.

She said nothing.

No banter.

No threats.

She just attacked.

Violet Garden flooded the chamber.

Thorns erupted from every surface – walls, floor, ceiling – converging on Paula’s corpse from a dozen directions at once.

The possessed body moved.

Awkwardly at first, limbs bending weirdly, joints snapping to unnatural angles as Mesmer forced the damaged vessel into motion.

But he adapted quickly.

Paula’s arm twisted backward, dodging a thorn that should have pierced through her spine.

Her leg folded unnaturally, pivoting on a broken knee to avoid another strike.

Aura pressed harder.

More thorns. Faster attacks.

She pinned one of Paula’s arms to the wall with three overlapping vines, then shredded the other arm completely when it reached for Ronan again.

The corpse collapsed.

But Aura didn’t stop.

She tore Paula apart with methodical, precise violence, ripping through dead flesh and shattered bone until the body looked less human than the monsters they’d killed earlier.

Ronan watched through pain-blurred vision.

She’s winning.

For a moment, he actually believed that, despite knowing who she was fighting.

He quickly realized the truth, however.

Aura was going all out.

Mesmer was not. He was still adapting to his new body, figuring out how to use it.

Each time she struck, his control over the corpse increased. Paula’s broken body moved less like a puppet and more like a tool, bending and folding in ways that would make anyone’s stomach twist.

Black tendrils erupted from the ruined corpse.

Not one or two.

Dozens.

They met Violet Garden in the center of the chamber, shadow and thorn clashing with force that cracked stone and sent debris flying.

Aura’s attacks were sharp. Violent. Precise.

But Mesmer’s were heavier.

And they, too, were violent and precise.

Even trapped in a weak vessel, he pushed her back.

"The Acheron bloodline..."

Mesmer’s voice drifted through the chaos, almost conversational, showing how much control he had over the fight.

"Always talented. But they always lacked something. They lacked proper caution, believing themselves better than the rest. That arrogance got them killed."

Aura snarled.

Her demonic energy flared brighter, thorns growing thicker and faster.

But less controlled, and the control was what was keeping her alive so far.

Mesmer saw the opening it eventually made.

He allowed one of her attacks to land, letting a massive thorn pierce through Paula’s chest.

Then he wrapped shadow tendrils around the vine and pulled.

Aura flew forward.

Mesmer caught her mid-air with a backhand strike that sent her crashing across the chamber into the far wall.

Stone cracked on impact.

Aura slumped.

Still conscious, but stunned.

Mesmer turned back to Ronan immediately.

Shit–

A shadow tendril shot toward Ronan’s exposed heart, no time wasted.

But the attack didn’t land.

A red ribbon burst from his chest and intercepted it.

The Demon Leech moved on its own.

Not obeying Ronan.

Not protecting him out of any sense of loyalty.

Just defending the body it planned to fully assimilate.

Mesmer paused.

Paula’s ruined face tilted again, studying the red ribbon with genuine interest.

"Fascinating."

He attacked again.

The parasite blocked again.

Barely.

The ribbon trembled under the pressure, thinner and weaker than Mesmer’s shadows.

"Instinctive defense. I can tell it’s recently assimilated with you, but it is still able to possess such power."

Mesmer withdrew slightly.

Paula’s broken mouth twisted into something approximating a smile.

"How inconvenient."

Black energy gathered around the corpse, heavier and denser than before.

Ronan felt it pressing down on the chamber like a physical weight.

He’s done playing.

Before Mesmer could strike, Aura forced herself upright.

Blood dripped from her mouth. Her left arm hung useless.

But Violet Garden erupted again anyway.

At the same moment, Ronan’s body stopped obeying him.

He stood.

What–

More red ribbons burst from his chest, his arms, his back.

They moved without his command, attacking Mesmer with desperation and killing intent.

Violet thorns and crimson ribbons flooded the chamber together.

For the first time, Mesmer retreated.

Paula’s corpse stumbled backward, shadow tendrils working to deflect the combined assault.

The parasite wasn’t helping him.

It was protecting itself.

The body it needed. The vessel it would eventually consume.

But right now, that worked in his favor.

Maren appeared from the rubble near the basin.

Shaken. Bleeding.

But she looked determined now.

She raised her hands, gathering what little mana she had left–

Mesmer didn’t even look at her.

One casual tendril swatted her into the wall.

She crumpled.

The temporary advantage collapsed.

Mesmer adapted to the parasite’s rhythm within seconds, cutting through red ribbons one by one.

The ribbons started moving differently now.

The attacks grew slower.

Weaker.

Aura tried to cover the openings, but she was too injured.

Too slow.

Mesmer bound her limbs with shadow tendrils, then crushed her against the ground with enough force that the stone beneath her cracked.

Her demonic energy flickered.

It didn’t go out entirely, but close enough.

She was done.

Paula’s body suddenly collapsed like a puppet with cut strings.

Ronan’s vision swam.

Is he gone–?

But then the corpse suddenly jerked upright again.

Less controlled this time, Ronan could tell by the way its body slumped slightly."

"My time in this vessel is almost over."

Mesmer’s voice sounded distant now, like a distant echo.

"I’ll finish this immediately."

Instead of a tendril, shadow gathered into something new.

A serpent.

More alive than the previous attacks, and Ronan could tell it was far more deadly.

It formed slowly, dimming the chamber as it took shape. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Ronan felt cold.

Aura forced her head up, eyes widening when she saw the serpent.

She tried to move–

But she was too slow.

Too injured.

The serpent launched.

The Demon Leech sent every remaining ribbon to intercept it.

Red met black in the center of the chamber.

But the attacks were futile.

The serpent devoured the parasite’s ribbons.

One by one.

The parasite’s panic flooded through him.

Not his fear.

Its fear.

The serpent ignored everything else.

It struck directly at Ronan’s chest.

Dug through skin.

Through muscle.

Through bone.

And wrapped around his heart.

Ronan couldn’t scream.

Couldn’t breathe.

Couldn’t think beyond the sensation of something pulling–

The serpent ripped his heart out.

"Unfortunately the ritual failed, but I am pleased I killed a future threat."

Ronan barely heard Mesmer’s voice before his vision turned black.

And his body went completely limp.