I almost fell to my knees.
Almost.
Greedily sucking in sharp breaths, I felt the pain burn through my chest and gut.
Those two hits I took from that summoned Essent — one in the sternum, the other in the stomach — would have put anyone else out of commission.
In fact, I think most C-rankers wouldn’t have survived.
Thankfully, my Essence Circulation technique had strengthened my body just enough, giving me the monstrous endurance needed to tank those killing blows.
But even then, I was so outmatched that the fact I survived at all felt like a miracle.
A perfectly planned miracle — one I pulled off myself with a carefully crafted and well-timed strategy.
But a miracle nonetheless!