Destroy.

  The word echoed in Cassian's mind like a mantra, simple and absolute. Not a conscious thought. A directive. Something deeper than reason, rooted in pure instinct.

  Destroy the threat.

  Her fist smashed into the centaur's face with force that cracked bone. Black blood sprayed from its broken nose, splattering the frozen ground. The creature staggered backward, hooves slipping on the thin layer of ice now spreading for several meters around Cassian.

  That's it. Fall. FALL.

  The centaur slipped, its hind legs buckling beneath it. It collapsed heavily onto its side with a groan of pain and rage.

  Cassian gave it no time to recover.

  She leaped, blonde hair streaming behind her like a war banner. Her knee slammed into the centaur's jaw as it tried to rise.

  CRACK.

  The jaw dislocated, hanging at a grotesque angle. The centaur howled, a sound halfway between a horse's whinny and a human roar.

  More. It's not enough. It can still fight. You have to...

  Destroy.

  "Argh!" The centaur swung its axes in a desperate arc, aiming for Cassian's torso.

  She saw them coming in slow motion. Ducked, the metal whistling over her head. Then she straightened, hands clamping onto the centaur's wrists.

  The weapons. Take the weapons.

  She pulled. With all her mana-amplified strength. The centaur's muscles tensed, resisting. Its fingers stayed locked around the axe handles, refusing to let go.

  Then I'll take everything.

  Cassian shifted her grip, seizing the arms themselves. She planted her feet in the frozen ground, took a breath, and yanked.

  The centaur realized too late what she was doing.

  RIIIIIP.

  The sound was obscene. Muscle tearing. Tendons snapping. Bone separating from joints.

  Both of the centaur's arms detached from its torso in a fountain of black blood.

  The scream it let out chilled the blood. Even in her altered state, a buried part of Cassian shuddered at the sound.

  But she didn't stop.

  She hurled the severed arms away, axes still clutched in their dead fists. They landed ten meters off, sliding across the ice before stopping.

  The centaur collapsed fully, stumps bleeding profusely. It gasped, yellow eyes fixing on Cassian with something that looked like...

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  Fear. It's AFRAID.

  Good.

  ---

  Somewhere, in a corner of her consciousness, Cassian watched.

  It was like seeing someone else act through her eyes. She felt every blow, every movement, but didn't truly control them. Her body moved on its own, guided by something primal.

  What is this feeling?

  She didn't hate it. Quite the opposite.

  This power. This absolute domination...

  The centaur groaned beneath her, pathetically trying to push her off with its legs. She grabbed one.

  Let's see how you fight without balance.

  She twisted brutally.

  SNAP.

  The joint gave, the leg bending at an impossible angle. The centaur screamed, thrashing wildly.

  But something strange was happening.

  The black particles constantly leaking from its body began converging on its wounds. The arm stumps smoked, blackened flesh slowly knitting back together. The broken leg realigned, millimeter by millimeter.

  It's... regenerating?

  A wave of irritation swept through Cassian.

  Unacceptable.

  She didn't know how much time had passed. The sun had barely moved in the sky—maybe ten minutes? Fifteen?

  But she'd figured out the pattern.

  No matter how severe the injury, the centaur regenerated. Slowly—ten minutes or so for major wounds—but inevitably. The black particles emanating from it were the source. They converged, rebuilt, healed.

  Then I'll just have to break it faster than it can repair itself.

  The centaur had regrown its arms. They were still weak, trembling, but functional. It crawled toward its abandoned axes, black blood dripping onto the ice.

  Cassian sprinted.

  Her shoulder rammed into its flank like a battering ram. The impact boomed like thunder. The centaur was literally lifted off the ground, hurled several meters. It tumbled, limbs twisting unnaturally.

  She was on it before it stopped rolling.

  Her fists rained down like hail.

  BAM. BAM. BAM. BAM.

  Face. Torso. Face. Torso. Nonstop. No slowing. Each blow pounded the creature deeper into the frozen earth.

  The centaur weakly raised a hand, trying to block.

  She stood, seized the centaur by its intact hind legs, and lifted. Its massive body left the ground with obscene ease.

  Then she swung it.

  Into the ground. Once. Twice. Three times.

  BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

  Each impact carved a shallow crater. Chunks of ice and dirt flew everywhere.

  More. It's not enough.

  She spun the centaur in a circle, building speed. One rotation. Two. On the third, she released.

  It flew through the air like a projectile, crashing into the house ruins with force that collapsed what remained of the wall.

  Cassian walked calmly toward it, bare feet crunching on the ice. The temperature around her kept dropping. Her breath formed white clouds. Moisture in the air crystallized into tiny flakes drifting slowly down.

  The centaur tried to rise. Arms shaking. Legs refusing to support it. But it tried.

  Tenacious. I'll give you that.

  She grabbed its head with both hands.

  And smashed it into the ground.

  CRACK.

  Again.

  CRACK.

  Again. Again. Again.

  The skull cracked. Shattered. Black blood pooled, freezing instantly on the ice.

  But the black particles were already converging, desperately trying to repair the damage.

  No. You won't heal.

  An idea crossed her mind. The mana swirling in her—this pure energy—could be absorbed. She'd done it from the environment. Why not from it?

  She slammed her hands against the centaur's torso and pulled.

  The centaur's mana began flowing into her. Black. Corrupted. Different from the clear, pure ambient mana.

  And immediately, something went wrong.

  A burning sensation exploded in her chest. Not fire—wrongness. Like swallowing pure poison. Every cell screamed in rejection.

  DANGER. DANGER. DANGER.

  Instinct took over. Her body violently expelled the corrupted mana, rejecting it with force that staggered her back several steps.

  This mana... it's toxic. My body can't handle it.

  The centaur took advantage of her momentary distraction to lash out with a desperate hoof kick.

  It connected.

  No. It should have connected. But Cassian dodged at the last instant, body pivoting with superhuman fluidity. The hoof passed a hair's breadth from her face.

  You're slow.

  Her uppercut slammed into the centaur's jaw with force that lifted it off the ground. All four hooves left the earth. It hung in the air a fraction of a second—long enough for Cassian to see the surprise in its eyes.

  Then it crashed down, heavily, on its back.

  She straddled its torso, fists raining down.

  BAM. BAM. BAM. BAM. BAM.

  Uncontrollable. Merciless. A continuous barrage leaving no respite.

  The centaur stopped defending itself. Arms hung limp. Legs twitched weakly. Black blood coated its face until it was unrecognizable.

  But it was still breathing. Its black particles still worked, regenerating desperately.

  Why won't you die? WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!

  Cassian kept punching. Again. Again. Again.

  ---

  And then, like flipping a switch, something shifted.

  Clarity flooded back into Cassian's mind like a cold wave.

  Her fists froze mid-air, trembling.

  She looked around. The scene was a nightmare. The ground was covered in frozen black blood. The house lay in ruins. And beneath her...

  The centaur was barely recognizable. Its face was bloody pulp. Limbs twisted at impossible angles. Its breathing was a wet, painful rattle.

  And Cassian... Cassian was covered in blood. Her hands. Her arms. Her face.

  The centaur stirred weakly beneath her. Its yellow eyes—barely visible through the blood—fixed on her.

  There was no rage left in them. Just... resignation. And perhaps, strangely, relief.

  Then she felt it.

  The exhaustion.

  It crashed over her like a tsunami, so sudden and total she nearly collapsed on the spot. Every muscle screamed in agony. A dull pain exploded in her chest and stomach, like someone had replaced her organs with broken glass.

  "Ah..." She clutched her chest, grimacing. "Fuck... that hurts..."

  Her vision went strange. Too bright. Colors oversaturated. Object edges danced and doubled.

  A high-pitched ringing settled in her ears, drowning out nearly everything else.

  The cold radiating from her began to fade. Ice on the ground cracked, starting to melt. The mana particles swirling around her dissipated like smoke.

  The centaur groaned weakly. Its black particles intensified, working faster now that Cassian wasn't attacking anymore.