The knife wasn't enough.
Alex knew it before he even raised his hand.
Twenty centimeters of ordinary steel against a level 78 exorcist with thirty-two thousand HP and passive regeneration.
It wasn't enough.
But the Fragment had other ideas.
---
It started in his right hand.
A tingling. Then heat. Then something that wasn't exactly pain but wasn't its opposite either.
The black energy that had been pulsing around his knuckles began to move.
Up his arm.
Across his shoulder.
Up his neck.
[CORRUPTION: 80.5% → 82%]
[WARNING: Critical threshold exceeded]
Alex felt the exact moment something changed.
Not dramatically.
Not with an explosion or a shout.
Just... a step back.
As if the part of him that was still calculating, still hesitating, still wondering should I do this? simply leaned back.
And made room for something older.
---
Matthias noticed it first.
"Ah," he said quietly. "There it is."
Alex tilted his head.
