She brought the brand down like a hammer. Black chains fused into a collar midair and dropped. If it set, the next thing I cast would become Arakhel's.
I raised my circles, not to throw power, but to set the room's baseline. "Azure Field IX," I said. Not a domain—Radiant doesn't do domains. A field. A fairground. Rules: equal friction, honest weight, no stolen endings.
The collar hit the field and stalled like an engine taking bad fuel.
I didn't stand there admiring it. I attacked where her contract needed to breathe.
Nine circles spun. "Blue Sever IX." A straight-cut spell—no flourish. It's only job: cut a binding without exploding the person wearing it. The blade of it wasn't steel. It was a blue line that wanted to be kind and wouldn't apologize for not being cruel.
I aimed at the thin strand from brand to crown.
Evelyn saw it, of course. She shoved the strand sideways with a black rose, turning the cut into a miss. The rose hissed as it took the hit and healed.
