Pain became fuel.
Any normal body would have collapsed the instant the Withering Law touched it. Even Rank Three beings of equal strength would avoid direct contact with that gray domain.
Michael did not.
The blackened cracks on his forearm spread for a heartbeat.
Then they reversed.
Blood surged backward through his veins. The crumbling flesh thickened instead of thinning. New muscle formed beneath ruined tissue, denser and tighter, as if his body was learning how to survive the attack in real time.
The gray-robed man's eyes widened.
Michael stepped forward.
The Withering Law gnawed at him again, trying to hollow him out from the inside, and Brutal Rebirth answered.
The closer his arm came to destruction, the more violently his body pushed back. Pain did not weaken him but sharpened him, and every moment of loss became force.
Michael threw another punch.
The gray-robed man retreated instantly.
He did not allow Michael to close the distance again.
