Kill the Sun

BANG!

Nick pulled the screaming Taren away.

Both of his arms had been severely injured.

However, only his right arm was comparable to Nick's damaged arm.

That was because Nick had to pull Taren out after only two seconds since the other arm had been in there for one second already.

If he kept the arm in there for longer, it might be unsavable.

Nick put Taren's arms under the faucet and pressed the button.

One drop of liquid came out, and Taren rapidly rubbed it across both of his arms.

Taren's arms almost completely recovered within three seconds.

They were only a bit red.

Naturally, as a Peak John, Taren didn't need as much Recovery Liquid as Nick.

One drop was enough for both his arms.

Taren took a deep breath and sighed in relief.

His arms still hurt, but it was nothing compared to before.

"If you want, you can do that once per day per appendage," Nick said. "Recovery Liquid counts as foreign Zephyx, and if you use it too often on the same part of your body, your control over your Zephyx will permanently lower. Your body needs about 20 hours to fully assimilate the foreign Zephyx and make it its own."

Taren looked with surprise at Nick. "I didn't know that," he said.

Nick nodded. "It's not common knowledge since it's not relevant to many people. Not many Extractors need to use Recovery Liquid on a daily basis."

Of course, the two didn't even consider not using the Recovery Liquid.

The pain was crippling, and without the Recovery Liquid, they would be paralyzed with pain for hours.

Taren looked at the Blaze for a while.

The first time was always the most difficult, and now that the ordeal was behind him, he wasn't that much against working with the Blaze again.

"Once per day per appendage," Taren said.

Then, Taren looked at his legs.

But he shook his head.

Maybe tomorrow.

"I think I will work with it from time to time," Taren said.

Nick nodded.

"Boss," Taren said.

"Yes?" Nick asked.

"Could you help me again if I need it? Just like today?" Taren asked.

"Sure," Nick answered.

"Thanks," Taren said.

After that, the two of them left the Containment Unit, and Taren went back to his job as one of Dark Dream's two team leaders.

Meanwhile, Nick looked at the Containment Unit a bit more.

The city hadn't told Dark Dream the background of the Blaze, but Julian knew that anyway due to his connections.

A bit more than 25 years ago, people regularly vanished and reappeared.

Yet, when they reappeared, they were completely different from before.

They barely talked, got startled by every loud sound, and, especially interesting, they were absolutely terrified of fire.

All of them barely had any recollection of what was going on.

They only remembered parts, and these parts were filled with absolute fear, terror, and suffering.

Eventually, the origin of these disappearances was uncovered.

The Mistress, a Fanatic.

The Mistress had created a cult of normal people and even a couple of Extractors.

These people abducted citizens for the Mistress.

And, well, the Mistress gained power by causing pain.

The abducted people were put through the worst torture imaginable to satisfy the Mistress.

The only reason why the people weren't killed on top of that was to not anger the government too much.

If they killed every person they abducted, the Manufacturers and government would search much harder for the disappearances.

But in the end, Kugelblitz took care of the Mistress and her cult.

Ever since then, the Mistress has been contained within Kugelblitz, and she also gained a new nickname.

The Bitch.

Working with her was not fun at all.

Two years after the Mistress had been captured, the city found the Blaze.

An Adult Possession Specter.

Quite valuable and rare.

However, the existence of the Blaze had also given more credibility to Ghosty's theory regarding the origin of Possession Specters.

Apparently, the burning stick had been a torch that had been used to torture the people the Mistress' cult had abducted.

And back then, the burning stick had not been a Specter yet.

Based on Ghosty's theory, countless people had feared the torch, which had surrounded it with negative energies.

Not many objects had caused so much suffering in Crimson City, which was why this object had materialized as an Adult.

At least, that was the theory.

Ghosty's theory seemed quite credible.

Maybe a person had been put into a coffin and then thrown into the sewers, which could have created the Screaming Coffin.

Maybe the Glasses had caused an influential person to make many horrible mistakes in the past.

Maybe many people got injured while kicking the Can before it became a Specter.

These levels of suffering could correspond with the powers of the Possession Specters.

Of course, out of all these Possession Specters, the Blaze had caused the most suffering, which also made it the strongest.

'Maybe the Spilling Bottle was once used to poison someone,' Nick thought. 'That would explain why it's so weak.'

After looking at the Containment Unit for a bit more, Nick checked the Zephyx container again.

He wanted to know how much Zephyx Taren had produced.

'49 grams,' Nick thought. 'That's for both of his arms.'

'If we deduct the Recovery Liquid, that's about 39 grams of Zephyx in profit.'

Nick took a deep breath.

'No wonder the city gave us this Specter. While its potential is frighteningly high, effectively working with it is so difficult that it has a below-average output in relation to its power.'

'If Taren and I use it with both of our arms per day, it will come to about 220 grams of Zephyx per day, but we also need to deduct 30 grams for the Recovery Liquid.'

'190 grams a day is less than the Dreamer, which is an entire level lower.'

Nick closed the Zephyx container again.

'I don't think anyone else inside Dark Dream has the will to work with the Blaze.'

'I guess it's only Taren and I working with it.'

'Anyway, I should look at the other two Specters.'