BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted, light swallowing everything for a moment. The pocket spaces collapsed inward, absorbing the blast. When the smoke cleared, I was on one knee, gasping. My entire right arm was gone, ripped clean off and the chain lay severed from its base, cracked and dissolving.
"You're an idiot, kid." Dante's whisper reached me through the haze. I looked up, only to see the corruption spreading faster across his body, consuming what little was left.
I immediately sent my Essence into him, forcing it through his body, trying to cleanse the taint but it was useless. The corruption was in his soul and I could not reach it.
"It's useless," he muttered, voice faint. And I knew he was right. I couldn't save him.
"North," he whispered.
I looked at her. She was trembling, blade in hand, tears blurring her sight.
"Do it," Steve said, his voice hoarse, his knuckles white around his weapon.
