996 My Counterattack Is Just Beginning

"No shit, Sherlock! Yeah, as if I didn't notice the previous three disintegrations." Jake's words dripped with heavy sarcasm as he laughed with the desperate intensity of a man teetering on the edge of madness.

"I get your sarcasm, but remember, I'm on your side," Xi chided, her finger jabbing sternly at his chest.

Jake's face hardened before a sheepish smile crinkled his features. "Sorry, Xi. I'm a bit on edge…" he apologized, inhaling deeply to regain composure.

Just as he was about to offer a more genuine apology, his vision blurred horrifyingly. Not just blurred, but accelerated so fast it became a chaotic jumble of color and light. Nearly instantaneously, Jake was once again engulfed in a blinding whirlpool of plasma.

"Hsssshhh!" This time, he felt the disintegration as his eyes instantly melted away.

With a final desperate effort, Jake activated his Purgatory spell, but not before his pineal gland had eroded by over a third of its initial mass.