CHAPTER 224: 223. DROPPING THE MORTAL DISGUISE

Asher’s throat constricted in panic, watching the lifeless body of Tama before him.

She can’t die like this! Not after betraying her! Not after atoning for her betrayal!

"Hah!!" Hades cackled with a sneer. "She’s dead, brat! And you’re next!!"

With a snap of his fingers, more zombie-like members of the Blackcat Clan emerged from the room behind him, their movements slow and jerky. As they stepped outside, their bones cracked grotesquely as they transformed into tiger zombie beasts, reeking of rot with hollow eyes. Asher immediately realized that these were the actual corpses of the Blackcat Clan. They hadn’t just been killed and buried. They’d been turned into monsters.

But he had no time to deal with this shit!!

"Rex!!" he called out firmly through telekinesis to his hellhound. "I need you here! NOW!!"

Within seconds, a massive shadow unfurled behind him as Rex emerged from Asher’s shadow, instantly assessing the threat before his master.

"Tear that bloated toad apart. Don’t let anything touch me while I’m working."

Rex grinned, teeth jagged as broken swords. "Yes, Master."

The ground trembled as he dropped his mortal disguise. His bones shifted, popping loudly as his form grew larger, darker, unstoppable. The transformation was thunderous, his body bulking with demonic muscle, rising to a monstrous 8’7. His fur gleamed black under the blood-red sun, every strand bristling with fury. It had been a long time since he had taken his true form. Maintaining a normal dog form had been exhausting. Now that he had gotten permission to transform, he was ready to go all out. Too bad there weren’t a lot of enemies to tear apart.

Hades paled and shrieked at the sight of Rex. He stumbled backward in horror, eyes wide.

"W-what the heck is this?" he muttered, his own shadow trembling before he did.

Rex didn’t bother answering nor did Asher.

Rex let out a thunderous ROARRRRR, and the wind alone from his maw made insects and pests drop dead instantly. Hades barely lifted a hand before Rex’s massive claw tore through him, ripping ribs clean off his chest like firewood, exposing a grotesque cavity of spurting blood and writhing organs.

With one razor-sharp claw, he shredded all the man’s clothes, leaving him naked and vulnerable. Then, in one swift move, Rex scooped him up like trash and tossed him into his mouth

One bite, Hade’s scream muffled inside the jaws of death.

CRUNCH...

His nones snapped. Blood gushed. Flesh was minced between razor fangs. Rex spat out the spine with a growl of disgust. "Tastes like moldy frog guts."

Surprisingly, the black cat beasts kept moving even after Hades died.

With blood dripping from his maw, Rex rose on two legs, howling into the heavens like an Alpha Werewolf. His claws slashed the air, and from their arc came waves of darkness, razor-sharp slashes of demonic shadow magic that tore through the horde like a chainsaw through paper, slicing through the beasts instantly and scattering broken limbs across the clearing.

**

Meanwhile...

As Rex fought, Asher focused on saving Tama.

"I was a doctor once... and having patients die on me... it never got easier. Some nights I’d still see their faces. But not Tama. I won’t let her die. Not like this! Not now!"

He swallowed back panic, forcing his breath into a steady rhythm. His healing potion sat useless beside him. It had failed, but there was one more thing to try, his last resort.

"Back in my old world, they called it defibrillation. An electric jolt to the heart to bring someone back. But now the only difference is... I don’t have a machine anymore. I have magic!!"

He looked down at his palms. Lightning crackled faintly beneath his skin.

He placed his hands firmly on Tama’s chest and let the current surge from him into her.

CRACK!

The first bolt struck her chest like a whip, arching her back violently. Her body convulsed, but then fell limp.

Nothing.

"Come on. Don’t do this to me..." he muttered, frustrated.

CRACK!

Another jolt ripped through her and tbis time, her muscles twitched. Blood bubbled from her lips.

Then stillness.

"Damn it!!"

Asher’s voice cracked. His fury swelled, and the lightning in his palms turned volatile, wild and unstable, surging with raw emotion.

"Tama!! I swear on the god who gave me a second chance at life in this cursed world...

BREATHE!!"

BOOOOOOOM!

The final bolt exploded outward like a bomb, shaking the earth. A blast of light burst from them, vaporizing the blood around her.

Then silence.

Asher stood, blinking through smoke. Had he killed her? Had he burned her into charcoal?

Then—

Thump.

He froze.

Thump-thump.

His eyes widened. He dropped to his knees, pressing two fingers to her neck.

There was a pulse.

Faint. Fragile. Sluggish.

But it was there.

Her lips parted. Her chest rose, shaky, and shallow. A wheezing breath escaped her throat.

"Master...?" she croaked, barely audible.

A broken sound escaped Asher, part sob, part laugh. He dropped to his knees beside her, wrapping his arms around her trembling frame.

"You stubborn, stupid kitty," he choked. "You came back. You actually came back."

He held her tighter, the storm inside him finally breaking.

He understood now why she betrayed him. She didn’t do it out of lust like the betrayal that killed him in his past life. She did it because she was promised the chance to see her mother again. Her past. A second chance to see her clan members. She thought she could save everyone.

He laughed bitterly through tears. "You idiot."

Then he felt it.

That ominous presence again.

His eyes snapped up but he only caught a wisp of black smoke trailing off into the clouds.

Someone, or something had been here the whole time. Watching. He let out a breath, eyes locking with Rex, who had just finished pulverizing the last beast.

"Stay in my shadow," he growled, his voice hard again. "Come out the moment anything feels off."

"Yes, Master," Rex replied from the pool of shadow, shrinking back into his dimension like a loyal beast of war.

Asher looked down at Tama. Still breathing.

Then from his right on the other house, he saw a few women, probably Hade’s sex slaves peeking out. He’d killed their master. They’d do whatever they wanted now. He had no time to deal with them.

He took to the sky, Tama’s body cradled in his arms, trailing blood in the wind as he shot back toward Veyna’s estate where he could take care of her.

TBC