Facing Lynn's question, Natasha shook her head weakly.
Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth—the wound left by the tentacle that had struck her earlier.
"There's a bomb in the car," she said, glancing toward the S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicle outside. Her brows furrowed. "But we can't get out. The moment we step outside, we'll lose all strength and become sitting ducks."
As she spoke, Lynn's Super-Senses suddenly flared a warning.
He turned sharply—watching as the Power of Death within the Horned Demon, now fused with Professor Wilson, began to surge violently.
The monster's massive arm reached toward Ronak again.
Lynn knew that if the demon successfully merged with Ronak, it would become nearly impossible to defeat.
He wasn't afraid of dying—his Undying Body made sure of that—but that didn't mean he wanted to end up chewed and swallowed alive.
Taking a deep breath, Lynn helped Natasha to her feet and glanced at Steve.
Meeting his gaze, Steve raised his shield and wiped the blood from his lip. "I can do this all day."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Lynn said with a dry laugh, turning back toward the chaos.
Below the Horned Demon, Ronak was desperately dodging its claws—his tentacles being ripped apart one by one as his screams echoed through the room.
Lynn grabbed Natasha with one hand and Steve with the other, hurling them both toward the window.
Glass shattered with a crash, and the three of them burst through, tumbling out of the second floor and landing hard outside.
The resonator's magnetic field immediately activated, pressing them down with crushing force.
The numbness and weakness hit at once—Steve and Natasha struggled to get up but collapsed back to the ground with a heavy thud.
Lynn, however, forced the Power of Death to circulate through his body, resisting the field's suppression long enough to drag the two of them, inch by inch, toward the S.H.I.E.L.D. car.
Finally shoving them both inside, he turned to Natasha. "Where's the bomb?"
"What are you planning to do?"
Hearing that tone, Steve frowned. "You're not thinking of blowing yourself up with the resonator, are you?"
"Oh, come on."
Seeing the hint of admiration in Steve's eyes, Lynn gave a lopsided grin and grabbed a bundle of explosives. "I'm lazy, greedy, and a shameless lover of good food and pretty women. I've got way too much waiting for me to die a hero."
Without another word, he slung the bombs under his arm and headed straight back into the villa.
Watching him disappear through the doorway, Steve clenched his shield tightly, ready to charge after him.
He would rather let his comrades climb over his body to cross barbed wire than watch them sacrifice themselves for him.
But the overwhelming pressure of the high-dimensional magnetic field—strong enough to crush steel—kept even Steve, with all his super-soldier strength, pinned to the ground.
Natasha lay slumped in the car, barely able to lift her head. Her eyes followed Lynn's fading figure through the shattered window.
Steve's fists clenched helplessly before he finally loosened them. "He's a hero," he said quietly.
"A person's worth isn't measured by what they say or do every day—but by what they're willing to sacrifice when it truly matters."
Natasha opened her mouth, wanting to speak, but no words came.
Why had both she and Steve lost all strength… while Lynn, though slower than usual, could still move freely?
That man clearly carried secrets—many of them—and the visions she'd seen from the resonator must have been real.
Back inside the villa, Lynn glanced at the rapidly draining Power of Death gauge and felt a pang of frustration.
Fuck it… I've got an undying body, so why not go all out?
With that thought, Lynn set the bomb's timer to three minutes.
Then he sprinted straight toward the laboratory.
Inside, the Horned Demon had already seized Ronak's body. Despite being impaled by countless tentacles, it still clung to him tightly.
Seeing this, Lynn rushed forward, slammed the detonator button, and attached the bomb to the resonator.
Then, with firm resolve, he leapt onto the Horned Demon's back—his fingertips glowing with the Power of Death as he drove them into the creature's neck.
[Harbinger of Death absorption progress: 7%]
[Harbinger of Death absorption progress: 8%]
[Harbinger of Death absorption progress: 9%]
The progress bar, which had dropped after his earlier expenditure, now shot upward again at astonishing speed.
The Horned Demon howled in agony, clawing frantically at its own back. But under the precision of Lynn's Super-Senses, every strike was effortlessly dodged.
In a surge of fury, the demon's massive head twisted all the way around to face him.
The demon's head twisted a full 180 degrees, its molten-red eyes locking onto Lynn.
With a sickening crack, its spine split open, and from the gaping wound, countless skeletal arms shot outward, clawing toward him.
"Damn it—is its body connected to the Hell Dimension?"
Using the recoil from his last strike, Lynn kicked off and leapt clear of the monster's back.
He glanced at his system interface—Harbinger of Death progress: 17%—the Power of Death was still surging wildly into him.
On the resonator, the bomb's countdown showed fifty seconds remaining.
Lynn hesitated for only a moment before gritting his teeth and charging back toward the Horned Demon.
He had an undying body—so why not take the gamble?
The bold get rich; the timid starve.
Opportunities like this didn't come twice. If he missed it now, it could take years to make up for the loss.
Activating Phantom Spirit, a burst of spectral energy flared around him.
The skeletal arms emerging from the demon's spine froze mid-motion—then, as if confused, began attacking each other instead.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Lynn vaulted onto the Horned Demon's back once more, his fingertips glowing with dark light as he resumed his frenzied absorption of the Power of Death.
Controlling skeletons was one of Lynn's Phantom Spirit abilities. He could communicate with the undead and manipulate skeletal remains, forcing them to serve him.
Unfortunately, his current level was still too low—he could only command these mindless, lesser skeletons.
If the ability ever reached its peak, being able to control the Horned Demon itself would have been ideal.
Lynn continued greedily absorbing the demon's Power of Death, while Ronak, having barely caught his breath, lashed out with his own tentacles, joining the assault.
The bomb's countdown on the resonator ticked steadily downward.
When only five seconds remained, Lynn leapt off the Horned Demon without hesitation, crashing through the lab's back window and sprinting out of the villa.
BOOM—!!!!
A deafening explosion erupted behind him, and the blast wave hurled Lynn more than ten meters through the air.
The shockwave tore the villa apart; as the resonator detonated, the purple vortex collapsed inward, sucking the Horned Demon and Ronak into another dimension entirely.
Lynn landed hard on the dry grass outside, watching the burning villa as flames devoured it from within.
He exhaled, checked his system panel, and grinned.
[Harbinger of Death progress: 23%]
Seeing the number, Lynn couldn't help but laugh.
He'd hit the jackpot—absorbing this much Power of Death was worth more than what he'd gained from hundreds of undead combined.
_______
Finally!! []~(￣▽￣)~*
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