Just as Cain and Ikari prepared to resume their duel, the rhythm of battle was interrupted.
From one of the crystalline corridors leading into the chamber, a new presence emerged — silent yet unmistakably powerful.
A young woman stepped through the shimmering mist. She was clad in a long black coat trimmed with white fur, its seams laced with golden sigils that glowed faintly like molten veins beneath ice. A smooth, featureless mask covered her face, two spiraling green eyes pulsing faintly from within it — like twin stars caught in perpetual motion.
Not even a fraction of a nanosecond after her appearance, Ikari reacted. The knight turned on his heel, his body flickering into a blur of light as he darted toward one of the crystalline passages leading out of the chamber.
The man did not hesitate — not even for a heartbeat.
