088 DRAIN
The air twisted like a living thing as Dan was yanked off his feet, dragged toward the creature once known as Kurt.
Ivory hovered midair, blood tendrils spiraling around him like the arms of a demon god. They pierced into Dan's flesh, black-red energy surging as his body jerked violently.
"Is this the strength of a Rank C?" Dan muttered through clenched teeth.
Every muscle in his body scread as his power was being taken.
"He's two ranks above . I can't overpower him… I'll be drained dry in seconds," Dan complained.
The tendrils pulsed greedily, sucking at his blood and ta essence. It was a sensation he knew too well—Kurt had done this to him once before, back when he was still human.
Only now, Ivory's hunger was monstrous.
Below, the SIA soldiers were bound by the sa crimson binds, their screams swallowed by the roaring vortex of blood around them.
One by one, their bodies began to pale and wither.
"Think, Dan Dark. Do sothing—before he drains everyone," he growled inwardly.
And then it hit him.
A piercing whine erupted through the air as a blast of sound rippled outward from Dan's body. The walls cracked. Windows shattered.
The very air scread.
It was his Sonic Wave, an evolved ta technique assimilated by his mining app. The skill was assimilated by Dan through taking over the Ring of Power.
This wasn't the ordinary sonic wave ta that Green Crab and his friends used- this was a far more advanced version of the ta.
The blood tendrils around him burst apart into fine mist efficiently destroying them.
Dan dropped to the ground, panting hard.
Ivory tilted his head, amused. "You think that little trick will save you? How many more tis can you use it before your ta runs dry?"
The Sonic Wave ta was extrely strong but Ivory was right, he couldn't fire another shot. He was completely drained of ta power.
"You're right," Dan rasped. "It's not enough… but they'll handle the rest."
The soldiers who were previously stricken by the blood tendrils were now freed from their binds by Dan's sonic ta.
They quickly raised their ta cannons at Ivory. Barrages of searing energy tore through the smoke causing the warehouse to explode in white-hot light.
Ivory roared in pain as his body glowed with molten cracks. The ta blasts from the soldiers' cannons scorched through his armor.
"You bastard humans—!"
The onslaught wasn't killing Ivory fast enough, but it gave Dan what he needed- Ti.
Dan glanced at his phone screen.
"I have one chance to do this. Its do or die for ."
The identify glyph on his app was locked onto Ivory's right hand before finding its intended target- the Ring of Greed.
"Cease your fire!" Dan shouted to the soldiers, dashing forward as they hesitated and paused their firing.
Ivory laughed, mistaking the move for desperation. "Are you rushing to your death so eagerly?"
Blood tendrils lashed out again, this ti wrapping Dan in a cage of crimson. There was no escape for him this ti. His veins bulged. His Skin darkened.
His life force was drained away like water through sand.
"You can't use ta now, nothing can save you now," Ivory sneered, dragging him close. "What else can you do but die?"
Dan's voice was low, almost a whisper. "Co closer…"
Ivory leaned in, savoring his victory, opening the tendrils enough for his hand to reach his neck.
"Any last words, little hero?" he asked.
Dan smiled faintly, "Yeah. It's about ti."
His thumb pressed on his phone screen- Assimilate.
The Assimilation process was activated.
The Ring of Greed scread—literally scread—as cracks spiderwebbed across its surface. Its golden luster turned black, molten, before erupting in a shockwave that flung both n apart.
"What is happening to my ring?" Ivory scread.
The ring shattered.
Ivory's tendrils disintegrated. The vortex of blood collapsed. The monster crashed to the ground, his body twitching and smoking.
The soldiers didn't hesitate—they surged forward, firing restraints and ta chains that bound him in layers of glowing steel.
When the dust settled, Dan stood unsteadily, his phone glowing faintly in his hand. The ring's energy had been absorbed—now sealed within him.
Ivory's broken form twitched, his eyes wide with disbelief. "You… stole my ring?"
Dan looked down at him, blood running down his arm. "No, Ivory. I assimilated it."
Dorin and Lander crashed into the warehouse just in ti, operatives fanning out and moving to secure the wounded cultists. They reached Ivory as the SIA n forced him down and snapped heavy restraints over his wrists.
"Do you think this is over? I'll tell them everything about you…all your secrets," Ivory spat at Dan, his eyes burning with fury.
Dan felt the words like a knife.
Kurt knew too much—about Sienna, the Alliance of Psyche, probably even about the phone app. Any one of these things could destroy him.
A single thought burned clear and cold in his mind: "Ivory must die."
But not here, not now. Ivory was already subdued. There were officers everywhere. There'd be trouble if he killed him now in front of everyone.
Dorin covered Ivory's head with a hood, hauling him to his feet. The hood muffled his babbling which was good for Dan- they don't have to listen too much to his confessions.
"Good work," Dorin said to Dan, her voice clipped and led the captive out for processing.
Dan sagged to the floor as operatives dragged the survivors away. Dust and the tallic sll of blood hung heavy in the air.
He fumbled for his phone and opened the app.
Ivory's profile was still locked in his scanner. But sothing had changed—the Acquire button that was gone appeared again.
"I thought I lost the Acquire function
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