Chapter 16: Hit the Jackpot!
In response to Lynn's question, Natasha struggled to shake her head.
A trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth from the hit she'd just taken.
"There are explosives in the car!"
She glanced at the SHIELD car outside and frowned. "But we can't get out there. The second we go outside, we'll lose all our strength and be helpless."
Just as Natasha was speaking, Lynn's Super-Sense screamed a warning.
He turned his head. After merging with the demon, Wilson's death energy was skyrocketing.
Its other giant hand was reaching for Ronak.
Lynn knew that if it merged with Ronak, it would be even harder to deal with.
He had immortality, so he wasn't afraid of the thing.
But even so, Lynn had no desire to be chewed up and eaten like food.
At this thought, Lynn took a deep breath, helped Natasha up, and looked at Steve.
Meeting Lynn's gaze, Steve tightened his grip on his shield and wiped the blood from his mouth. "I can do this all day."
"Yeah, I know, I know, alright!"
Lynn saw Ronak, who was screaming as he desperately dodged the demon's claws, his own tentacles being ripped off.
Lynn grabbed Natasha with one hand and Steve with the other, and slammed them both through the window.
The sound of shattering glass echoed as the three of them crashed outside.
The resonator's special magnetic field instantly made all three of them collapse.
The aching, draining numbness made Steve and Natasha try to push themselves up, only to fall back to their knees.
Lynn, however, forced his death energy to counteract the field. He started dragging the two of them toward the SHIELD car.
He finally managed to haul them into the car and said to Natasha, "Where are the explosives?"
"What are you planning to do?"
Hearing Lynn, Steve frowned. "Are you planning to sacrifice yourself to blow up the resonator?"
"Give me a break."
Seeing the look of respect in Steve's eyes, Lynn grabbed a bundle of explosives. "I'm lazy, greedy, and I love women. There's way too much good food and too many beautiful women waiting for me. Become a hero? Not part of the plan."
With that, Lynn took the explosives and headed back into the villa.
Watching Lynn's retreating figure, Steve gripped his shield, wanting to go after him.
He was the kind of man who'd let his comrades crawl over him to get past barbed wire; he would never watch a teammate sacrifice himself.
But the powerlessness from the dimensional field… even with the super-soldier serum, Steve couldn't get to his feet.
As for Natasha, she was slumped in the car, struggling just to lift her head and look in Lynn's direction.
Steve clenched his fist weakly, then let it fall. "He's a hero."
"A man's character isn't what he says, or what he does day-to-day. It's about whether, at the critical moment, he's willing to sacrifice himself for what he's protecting."
Hearing Steve, Natasha opened her mouth.
She was full of questions, but didn't know how to ask them.
'Why did she and Steve both lose all their strength...'
'...but Lynn, while a little slow, could still move around like normal?'
'It looked like he really was full of secrets. The future she saw... it must have been real.'
***
Back inside the villa.
Lynn watched his death energy rapidly draining and winced.
'Damn it. Whatever. I'm immortal. Time to go wild.'
At this thought, Lynn set the bomb's timer for three minutes.
Then he sprinted for the lab.
In the lab.
The horned demon had grabbed Ronak's body.
Even with all of Ronak's tentacles, the demon held him fast.
Seeing this, Lynn quickly slapped the bomb onto the resonator and armed the timer.
Then he steeled himself, leaped onto the demon's back, and plunged his death-energy-wreathed fingers into its neck.
[Death Energy Absorption: 3%]
[Death Energy Absorption: 4%]
[Death Energy Absorption: 5%]
The progress bar, which had just dropped, was now shooting back up.
The demon roared in pain and swiped at Lynn, but with his Super-Sense, Lynn easily dodged every move.
Enraged, the demon's head snapped all the way around.
A full 180-degree turn to face Lynn.
Its crimson, magma-like eyes stared at him.
Its spine suddenly split open, and a mass of skeletal arms shot out, grasping for Lynn.
"Shit, it has a portal to a hell dimension inside it?"
Lynn kicked off and leaped away from the demon.
He checked his progress. The [Emissary of Death] bar had reached 17%.
Only fifty seconds left on the bomb.
Lynn hesitated for one second, then charged the demon again.
'I'm immortal anyway. Let's do this.'
'Fortune favors the bold.'
'An opportunity like this is rare. If I let it go, it could take years to make up for it.'
He activated his Phantasm power. The skeletons pouring from the demon's back froze.
Then they began to attack each other.
And Lynn leaped back onto the demon, absorbing its death energy like crazy.
Controlling skeletons was part of his Phantasm ability. He could communicate with and control spirits, skeletons, and the like.
A pity the level was still low; he could only control these mindless skeletons.
'If it were max level, it'd be great to just control the demon itself.'
As Lynn greedily absorbed the death energy, Ronak, who had caught his breath, also began lashing out at the demon.
The bomb's timer kept beeping.
When the countdown hit five seconds, Lynn didn't hesitate. He leaped off the demon and crashed through the lab's back window, flying out of the villa.
BOOM—
A massive explosion erupted. The shockwave sent Lynn, who had just landed, flying another ten meters.
The blast completely destroyed the villa. And with the resonator gone...
...the horned demon and Ronak were sucked into the portal's vortex as the purple light vanished.
Lying on the dry grass, watching the villa burn.
Lynn let out a breath and checked his panel.
[Emissary of Death Progress: 23%]
Seeing the progress bar had broken 20 percent, Lynn grinned.
'Jackpot. I absolutely hit the jackpot this time. This is more than absorbing hundreds of spirits!'
----
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