Rune's distorted voice echoed through the warehouse, carrying a deadly menace that froze Seraphina in place. She scrambled backward, her emerald eyes wide with terror, fixed on the colossal humanoid mass with its writhing bone-and-flesh tentacles. This wasn't the Rune she knew – powerful, yet still somewhat human. This was a primal monster, born from hatred and limitless ability.
Valerius, having been flung aside, struggled to his feet amidst the wreckage of crates. He groaned, but his cold eyes recognized the lethal danger. He knew he couldn't confront Rune in this state.
"Seraphina! Retreat!" Valerius roared, his voice hoarse. He raised his sword, creating another, larger spatial rift beside Seraphina, an escape route.
Seraphina, though still utterly terrified, was spurred to action by her survival instinct. She lunged towards the spatial rift, but Rune was faster.
One of Rune's massive bone-and-flesh tentacles shot out with horrifying speed. It wasn't meant to kill, but to capture. The tentacle coiled tightly around Seraphina's leg, pulling her back with such force that she shrieked. Rune began to tighten his grip, the small bone spikes on the tentacle digging into her flesh, causing her agonizing pain.
"You... won't escape," Rune growled, his voice deep as thunder.
Seraphina struggled desperately. "Let me go, monster! I can...!" She tried to use her ability, making Rune's blood boil again, but he was prepared. The bio-armor on Rune had grown too thick, too hard for her to directly affect. He still felt pain, but it was a mere scratch compared to the torment she was now enduring.
"Your experiments... Show me," Rune said, not tightening his grip further, but beginning to manipulate. With his will, he felt the blood flowing within Seraphina's body. He wanted her to taste the very horror she had used to torment others.
A horrifying scream burst from Seraphina. The veins on her arms and face suddenly swelled grotesquely, forming a tangled web of blue and purple, like tiny snakes coiling beneath her skin. She felt her blood flowing backward, being twisted. Rune's Blood Vessel Manipulation ability wasn't just resisting; it was a direct counterattack, reversing her own power onto her own body.
Valerius saw the sight, his face contorted in shock. He'd never seen Rune do this. He knew he couldn't stay. With one final swing of his sword, he created a large spatial portal and vanished in a flash of dark light, leaving Seraphina behind.
Seraphina was still writhing, her face purplish, her eyes bulging. Her own ability was tormenting her, under Rune's brutal control. He pulled her closer, putting his face close to hers, making her look directly into his blazing red eyes.
"Speak," Rune growled, "Where is Vorn? And what are these 'experiments'?"
Seraphina, too much in pain to resist, finally broke. "He's... he's in the Dark Spire... in the central district... The experiments... are to create... high-level mutants... he needs them... to open... the Eternal Gate!"
"The Eternal Gate?" Rune repeated, a cold curiosity stirring within him, but he didn't release her. "Who is supporting Vorn? Where are the others?"
Seraphina continued to spill information in desperation, weak whimpers escaping her lips. She spoke of secret alliances, special supplies, and even more horrific truths about the experiments aimed at controlling the "blood vessels of the world" – ancient energy currents deep beneath the earth, the very cause of the apocalypse.
Rune listened, his eyes growing colder with each revelation. This information was far bigger than personal revenge. It concerned the apocalypse, the destruction of the world itself. He had uncovered something far darker and more vast.
When Seraphina had revealed everything she knew, her body was utterly depleted, almost an empty husk. Rune looked at her, without a shred of mercy. "You were part of this destruction," he said, his voice deeper now, "and you will be one of the first stones on my path."
With one final, sickening squeeze, Rune ended Seraphina's existence, transforming her into an amorphous mass of organic matter to be absorbed. Energy surged through Rune's body, making him stronger, more terrifying. Now, he had the information. He knew his next target.
The Dark Spire. Where Vorn awaited. And where the secret of the Eternal Gate was hidden.
Rune turned his back on the ruined warehouse, vanishing into the night. The hunt had changed. It was no longer just about revenge. It was about discovery. And destruction.