No More Pain For This Villain.

[Ren Hilton's POV]

Extending my hand, I sensed the fiery sphere whirling around my sternum, an unfamiliar yet oddly natural sensation that coursed through my body.

The internal manipulation of elements was a foreign concept, one that brought with it an unexpected discomfort. As I shut my eyes, engulfed by the swirling fire within, a strange instinct took over, dictating my actions without conscious thought.

The searing blaze roared within, under my control, but within moments, a tumultuous turmoil erupted in my stomach. It was an overwhelming eruption of internal heat, blood boiling within, emitting an acrid scent of singed flesh, a sensation both peculiar and inexplicable.

Following Blaze's guidance, I absorbed the mana orb, encapsulating it within a shield, triggering a peculiar shift within my physicality.

Instinctively, my wings extended to their utmost breadth, and my body's pulse seemed to slow, muffling the ambient sounds around me.

"Three," Blaze's voice echoed, signaling the final count.

In response, I propelled the entire spell through a curious pathway, a sequence that felt like an intricate dance through my anatomy—from the sternum, sliding along the collarbone, traversing down to my hand, ultimately culminating at the extended index finger.

When I opened my eyes, my sight beheld a sight that struck me as profoundly peculiar.

Hovering in front of my index finger was a small, translucent box, defying gravity with a serene suspension above the ground. Simultaneously, a peculiar rift manifested in the atmosphere, granting a glimpse of Blaze's head peeking through the other side—a surreal moment frozen in time.

The tiny bird in a bit distance—its flapping wings seemed to slow down to a rhythm where each beat was discernible, as if time itself had warped around its flight.

I shifted my gaze back to Blaze, whose head touched the box, triggering an unforeseen reaction.

The box seemed to arch backward momentarily before a luminous strand of white energy emerged—an unmistakable manifestation of raw mana.

These streams of mana rapidly latched onto the shield, intertwining and multiplying in number, resembling an intricate web weaving its way around the shield's surface. They pulled at the shield's edges, as if coaxing and transmitting an unrestrained influx of energy.

A surge of potential energy surged through the air, triggering a series of transformations. The strings of mana not only repaired the shield but also injected an excess of mana, overloading its capacity.

In response, the box expanded, stretching into a larger shield, now five times larger than my form. Blaze, positioned behind the shield, was abruptly thrust backward by the sudden expansion.

Strangely, amidst this apparent chaos, there was an eerie silence—a realm of muted sounds and slowed time, an existence in a hushed and dilatory state.

"Shoot the fireball outside!" Blaze's voice reverberated in my mind, breaking the silence.

Redirecting my focus inward, I manipulated the spinning fireball within me. Its speed increased drastically beyond my intent, transforming into a blazing white hue, dazzlingly bright in its intensity.

I let it out just like a mana shield, but the moment it came to the tip of my finger, I felt and saw the vacuum.

What vacuum? The impact of the shield had caused and created a vacuum that had pushed the atmospheric mana out of the path between me and Blaze and a bit farther. It was hollow of any mana—suffocating.

The fireball that was created outside of my body was big—giant, but I didn't feel like letting go of it.

I just thought there was something more, so I tried something. I looked for mana inside my core—it was dry, not enough.

I couldn't get mana to conjure lightning—I can't leave this fireball like this.

I looked through myself until a small flame—the azure one. How could I forget about this one?

The soul watcher shaped itself at my will when I got it out of me, and—

I applied the same method that I used to push internally formed spells outside me to pull and control the soul watcher. It worked.

Not fully, but a few flames got out of myself.

I saw a constant barrage of red notification panels, flashing incessantly in front of my eyes, warning after warning, repeating like an unending nightmare.

Until... a small portion of the soul watcher touched the fire, and it stabilized itself, albeit just a bit.

Shaping it into something that emerged abruptly in my mind, a weapon perhaps? Because the fire now seemed more like a material than an element.

Blaze said something, and I responded without comprehending my own words until—

"Shoot it!" His shout snapped me out of my trance, and I just let it go.

Suddenly, everything returned, all at once—the sound, my senses, even my breath hit me in a single moment.

I collapsed to my knees. The next thing I heard was an explosion—a colossal one, shaking and quaking the ground beneath me.

When I managed to open my eyes again, I was met with a gaping hole in my chest, a sight that somehow started to repair itself, and Blaze with an almost severed leg, dragging limply on the ground.

Beside me, a system notification flashed:

[System Notification: 24 organs damaged, substantial blood loss, 70% of bones broken, 50% loss of vision.

Attempt of self-harm detected.

Immediate healing recommended! Owner is informed!]

I wanted to chuckle, but I couldn't. I felt... crippled. I could see, but only up to the hole in the ground. My vertebral column felt powdered, shattered.

My chest began to slowly knit itself together, sinew and flesh intertwining in a grotesque display of regeneration. The skin crept back, overlapping like a puzzle coming together, forming a grisly patchwork over the hollow that had been carved out.

Each breath I took seemed to stitch the remaining tissue tighter, sealing the wound with an eerie speed. It wasn't seamless; the scar tissue formed irregular lines, almost as if my body was in a hurry to mend itself, unconcerned with cosmetic perfection.

The pain gradually waned, fading to a dull ache that lingered, a constant reminder of the brutality my body had endured. Yet, despite the discomfort, the wound closed, leaving behind a jagged but closed chasm where moments before there had been a void.

My vision cleared slowly, and I could feel the strength returning to my limbs, the fractured bones reforming and mending themselves with an unsettling sensation akin to bone crunching and knitting back together.

First thing I spoke from my mouth was,"What is the name of this technique?"

'Partial Self destruction,'...so he did set me up huh.