Jet dodged a rustling torrent of haze and slashed at it with her sword, obliterating another unfortunate specter.
Sadly, these specters were not actual beings, but instead parts of the Great Devil — therefore, destroying them did not replenish her essence.
Essence exhaustion was one of Jet's fears… perhaps even her only true fear. For all other Awakened, losing all of their essence simply meant enduring a period of powerlessness and not feeling well. But to her, it meant death — true death, the final and irreversible obliteration of her being.
What was worse, Jet wasn't sure that she would be able to control herself when facing this slow and excruciating dissolution. The few times she had come close to exhausting all her essence… well, she didn't really want to remember them. She had done a few shameful things.
Unsurprisingly, pushing her the limits to battle a Great Devil consumed an ocean of soul essence.
Jet wasn't panicked yet, because her reserves were many times deeper than those of most other Saints. More than that, five powerful souls were bound to her mist blade — if push came to shove, she would consume them one after another, postponing the Inevitable.
Still, even if she miraculously won today, the sea of soul essence she had accumulated would be all but spent. Jet would have to collect it again, drop by drop.
«Such a chore…»
Killing had become a chore a long time ago, for her. Sometimes, she dreamt of being free of her Flaw and living a peaceful life somewhere where there was no need to ever spill the blood of living beings.
Not that there was such a place anywhere in the two worlds, for someone like her.
Those dreams were rare and silly, though. Most of the time, Jet was quite content with her life.
…Not at the moment, though.
She evaded another attack nimbly and delivered a ruthless strike to the abomination, then jumped back, phasing through a melting wall. The sand followed.
Despite the harrowing might and vile powers of the Great Devil…
She was still holding her own.
She was still fighting, full of resolve to see the fiend die.
Why wouldn't she kill him? She had killed countless bastards who thought that they were stronger than her, and were stronger than her, already.
Strength didn't decide who lived and who died.
Jet did.
«Come, come... Follow me more… hurt me more… waste time on me more…»
If there was one blessing about this excruciating fight, it was that the curse of lethargy affecting the Heart of Kanakht was slowly accumulating. Its effects were not significant yet, and yet Jet could feel that the devil was struggling a little to maintain his unceasing assault.
Ignoring the pain, Jet felt a dark grin twist her lips.
She retreated, one step at a time.
Perhaps she was not powerful enough, yet, to slay the Heart of Kanakht…
But luckily, she wasn't alone.
Just like the devil had a legion of souls to protect him, she had an army, too.
She had Effie and Kai.
So, she just had to preoccupy the bastard until they arrived.
Surrounded by smoke and flame, suffering the assault of a Great Devil, Jet smiled viciously and laughed.