They reengaged.Horus struck with brutal precision, each blow landing like a piston-driven hammer.
Nathaniel absorbed them—some he blocked, some he shrugged off, others he narrowly avoided. But it was clear: he was being outpaced.
When he retaliated, his strikes met talon-like claws, bladed with unnatural sharpness. Horus's eyes narrowed, the hawk-like gaze tracking every motion with surgical intent.
A long gash tore across Nathaniel's arm and chest.Blood spurted—bright against the dark resin—then hissed as it mixed with it, cauterizing chaotically under the lingering heat. But it wasn't enough.
He was still bleeding.
Still hurting.
Pain flared through his body. Dozens of smaller cuts ran down his limbs like fissures. The interface pulsed in warning:
Health: 48%
His breath was laboured. Movements slower. Muscles screaming for rest.
He barely slipped under a straight hook, the wind from the blow brushing his face. But the follow-up slash from Horus's wing-like cowl grazed him—steel-tipped and merciless. A white-hot line of pain tore across his ribs.
He stumbled, then reset his stance.
He spat out blood, knuckles cracking as he surged forward again. The onslaught had nearly broken him—but not quite.His dull silver eyes reignited, burning cold cyan. The black of his irises thinned to slits, locking onto Horus with predator focus.
Muscles spasmed, bracing for more.
Springload Fibre: Engaged.Kinetic Muscle: Engaged.
In a flash, he blurred—velocity multiplied. The dark blue resin burst from his limbs, layering over gauntlets he'd manifested, hardening like crystalline armour around his fists.
Skill Activated: Kinetic Impact Cascade.
He let loose a roar and began the barrage.
Each strike landed with explosive compounding force——targeting joints, hands, and exposed limbs,—avoiding direct contact with Horus's flame-soaked frame.
Every blow lifted the massive figure slightly into the air, momentum stacking with brutal intent.
His blades manifested mid-sequence—only to clash violently against Horus's talons.Sparks flew.He aimed for the seams between armour plates, driving deep, testing the integrity of divine anatomy.
But he was burning again.
Horus struck back, one burning clawed foot stomping him into the ground, crushing pain into his chest as the interface chimed coldly:
Health Remaining: 30%
His breathing hitched.Blood dripped from his mouth in threads.Still, something had changed.
The uratsu within him surged—It pulsed like a second heartbeat, faster, stronger—concentrating beneath his sternum.
A memory surfaced.
A forgotten page… an auxiliary technique for low-ranking knights under extreme duress… forcing power flow under stress.
No. That wouldn't be enough.
He needed something more.He had to force a new path.
He screamed—no words, just raw defiance—and forced all the remaining uratsu within his body to converge.
The sensation was like igniting a second biome.
INNATE TECHNIQUE UNLOCKED: CORE RELEASE — BREACH
The world greyed.
Colours desaturated as if reality recoiled.His makeshift uratsu core ruptured outward, behaving like a biome core—pulsing, raw, untamed.Energy blasted through his system like tree roots expanding through stone.
Every blocked channel burst open.Every limit was overridden.He no longer felt the burden—only flow.
Uratsu output tripled.
His limbs crackled with dense energy as he charged in one last time——tearing through the thick armour of Horus—ripping deep grooves into divine shell—screaming against the heat and weight of resistance.