The [Blood Arts].
Unlike his other powers, the [Blood Arts] didn't draw from mana, nor were they imprinted into his spirit alone, they demanded real, physical blood.
A material cost.
A cost that could not be faked, could not be replicated by something that lacked the essence of life.
And the nightmare Alex, flawless and terrifying as it was, could not bleed.
The realization hit him harder than any ability.
If the nightmare Alex couldn't bleed, then it couldn't use the [Blood Arts] either.
The faintest, dangerous smile formed on Alex's bloodied lips.
Hope, slim and razor-thin, sparked within him.
As a test, he quickly formed a [Giant Blood Blade] from his still-fresh wounds and hurled it with brutal force toward the nightmare.
He watched carefully, his heart hammering, as the nightmare Alex shifted aside but did not respond in kind.
No retaliation with a superior blood blade, no mirror attack.
That absence confirmed it, the nightmare couldn't mimic his [Blood Arts].
