With that, Lucien moved.
A silver blur. Whisper arced from low guard to high slash in a single heartbeat, cleaving toward her exposed flank with surgical precision.
She didn't block.
Her body curved.
A ripple of motion, a serpentine tilt of her torso that bent impossibly backward as Whisper's edge hissed past, close enough to shave a layer of skin. She flowed under the blow, not with haste but with grace so refined it mocked aggression.
Her laugh came low, breathy, teasing. "Now, that felt more like a hello."
Lucien followed through without pause. He twisted his hips, brought Whisper into a tight backhand slice.
"Veilglass: False Horizon Edge."
The slash shimmered, aimed short but bent light to strike from the side.
Her heel rotated, shadow sliding like a ribbon beneath her. She dipped, tilted, slipped beneath the angle. The blade sliced air beside her temple. Her hand shot up, two fingers extended like a spear—jabbing directly for Lucien's throat.
He faded.
"Veilglass: Hollow Mirage Step."
Her jab passed through light. Lucien reappeared two paces to her left, one foot sliding across blood-dark soil. He adjusted Whisper into a narrow thrust.
She smirked, watching him.
"You're fast," she murmured.
Lucien didn't answer. His boot dug in.
"Bloodglass: Glass Fang Lunge!"
Whisper compressed into a filament-thin tip. The thrust was a pinpoint death sentence.
Her eyes sharpened.
"Seed Point."
She slapped her own thigh where Lucien's shadow fell.
SHWOOP!
She vanished into herself.
Lucien's thrust met nothing. His momentum overextended him forward.
Behind.
A whisper of displaced air. Her breath grazed his ear.
"Missed me."
Her knee sank into his spine. Not to break, but to buckle. He staggered.
She grabbed his wrist.
"Second thread."
Lucien spun, elbow flaring out. Whisper circled.
"Skyglass: Fractal Bloom."
Five versions of Lucien erupted outward in spirals. One real. Four fakes. All struck simultaneously.
She darted into them.
Arms whipping. Legs weaving. A ballet of misdirection.
SLASH!
One Lucien caught her side.
"Mmm... real."
She brushed his shoulder mid-twist.
"Third thread."
Lucien's limbs locked for a heartbeat. His ankle twitched wrong. Elbow misfired.
"Duskvine Marionette."
Her voice was a murmur. Her body coiled around his like a ribbon.
Lucien grunted, struggling for control. Every gesture betrayed him by half a second.
She guided his arm up, made him strike high.
Whisper arced uselessly.
"You're not even driving anymore," she cooed.
Lucien growled. Forced a breath.
"Veilglass: Parallax Step."
Two Luciens flickered for half a second.
The vine snapped.
She blinked as both shimmered. Her hand passed through one—then the other.
Lucien reappeared behind her, blade descending.
She twisted. Bent like a willow. The blade grazed her collarbone.
A red thread bloomed.
"Ooh," she hissed, backing off, licking the blood from her shoulder. "You do have a bite."
They circled. Soil churned. The distant trees creaked under mounting pressure.
Lucien's breaths came shallow.
"If you're this strong," he muttered, "why didn't you help that smelly thug?"
She chuckled, brushing hair behind her ear. "Because I got turned on watching you fight."
Lucien stiffened. She smiled wider.
"I wanted you all to myself."
"So you let your comrade die?"
"Don't twist it, baby boo," she purred, stepping closer. "We're not comrades. Just capable people serving the same devil."
She traced a line on her arm where Borak had fallen. "Of course, saying we're capable doesn't mean much after you killed Borak and his... was it a cat? Dog? Either way, surely you're entertained."
Lucien's voice was cold. "Who even are you?"
Her grin turned savage. "Have a one-night stand with me and I'll tell you."
Lucien moved. Whisper slashed upward.
She deflected with her palm. No parry, just a slap redirecting the arc. Her leg curled around his ankle. Tripped him.
He rolled.
"Skyglass: Reflection Drift."
Light scattered into mirrored Luciens across wet bark and blood puddles.
She turned.
One Lucien approached.
Another flanked.
She danced between them. Her heel kissed real flesh.
Lucien winced.
"Fourth thread."
She clapped his jaw.
"Fifth."
Lucien gritted his teeth.
"Veilglass: Prism Snare!"
She looked.
FLASH.
She froze. 0.3 seconds.
"Bloodglass: Raylace Spiral!"
Lucien spun.
Molten threads cut outward.
She unfroze.
Too late.
Three gashes appeared across her ribs and waist.
She stumbled back, breathless.
Touched the blood.
Smiled.
"Getting closer..."
Lucien stepped. Slower. Hurt. Breathing hard.
She rotated her shoulder.
"Let me show you real tempo."
"Accelerate."
She vanished. Reappeared inside his guard.
Two strikes. Elbow to ribs. Palm to neck.
Lucien staggered.
She tripped his knee. Mounted his back.
"Sixth thread."
Lucien gasped.
"Glassfold Shroud."
He shimmered.
She fell through him.
He reappeared above.
Whisper plunged.
She twisted. The blade cut her thigh.
She landed hard. Bloodied. Breathing quick.
Still smiling.
"Oh darling," she said, rising with a sway. "You're giving me so much to play with."
Lucien glared. "You won't win."
She purred. "I'm not even trying."
Then she moved again.
Lucien's boots as he lunged—Whisper slicing a gleam across the space she'd just vacated. Nothing. Not even wind. His eyes narrowed.
"Veilglass: Reflection Drift."
Lucien vanished into the pool of shadowed blood, scattering three duplicates across the mirrored surface of the trees. The woman was already weaving between them—twisting, ducking, flowing like water in silk.
THNK!
One of Lucien's afterimages shattered with a slap of her heel. The real him appeared just behind her.
"Glass Fang Lunge"
Whisper's tip shrieked forward, a sliver of light meant to pierce her back.
She arched, spine rolling in slow motion, Lucien's blade gliding over her navel. "Missed me, baby."
Her heel slammed into his stomach with a brutal crunch.
Lucien grunted and slid back. She didn't let him recover.
"Lurking Bloom."
Her foot stamped into a smear of blood behind him.
The ground yawned open—vines dragging his ankle.
"Parallax Step"
Lucien triggered, splitting between two mirrored poses. She punched through both.
CRACK!
Her elbow caught his jaw on re-entry.
Lucien crashed to one knee, breathing hard.
She leaned in, voice like breath against his temple.
"Down again, pretty boy? I love you on your knees."
"False Horizon Edge"
Lucien lashed out, a flicker of Whisper at a deceptive angle. She smiled and tilted.
The blade hissed past her ribs.
"Tsk." She slapped him hard with open palm across the cheek.
"Do it again. I might start moaning."
BAM!
A knee into his chest sent him sprawling. Again, on one knee.
"Haaa… you really like kneeling for me. I could get used to this."
"Amber Bloom."
Lucien took out an orb detonated in light.
She rolled through the burst, shadows wrapping her.
THWACK!
Her heel smashed into his shoulder.
He stumbled. She grinned.
"You're so tense. So coiled. Bet you've never had someone unravel you properly."
She wrapped a leg behind his and swept him. His back slammed to the dirt.
She stood over him.
"On your back again. You keep this up, I'll ride you into oblivion."
She grabbed his collar with one hand, dragging him up.
"Mirror Entrapment."
Her hand met resistance—not flesh, but cold glass.
Her expression twisted.
"Wha—?"
A second Lucien erupted from her right—Whisper already slashing.
She twisted, but he grazed her thigh.
Her eyes sparked.
"Fractal Boom"
Lucien advanced with five spiraling selves charging.
She moved within them—twisting, dodging, touching one… two… three of them.
"Duskvine: Marionette Spiral."
Lucien's limbs twitched. His slash was half a second too early.
He parried himself.
Her fist crashed into his gut.
"You're so easy to puppet."
Lucien gritted his teeth. "Glassfold Shroud."
His body shimmered, blending into the reflections around her.
She spun.
Too slow.
"Sunfire Guillotine"
A blade of burning light erupted from Whisper—cleaving downward.
She backflipped midair.
Still—RIIP!—the burning blade kissed her ankle.
She winced. Landed on her toes.
"You cut me again. Naughty."
Lucien didn't pause.
"Solar Bloom Execution."
The shadow beneath her glowed—light pillars surged up—
BOOM!
She blurred—shadow-warped out just in time. Reappeared inches from his face.
Her fingers traced his jaw.
"You're getting hotter. Is this your idea of flirting?"
Lucien's eyes narrowed. He slashed—
She caught his wrist.
"No no no. Use your mouth, darling."
She slammed him to the ground.
Again.
Lucien gasped, breath knocked out. His whole body ached.
Her face hovered over his.
"Your techniques are clever. But you? You're just… delicious."
"Prism Snare".
She looked down—
FLASH!
She froze.
0.3 seconds.
Enough.
Lucien spun up—
"Raylace Spiral."
Light-threads laced from him—cutting a storm around her.
Her skin sang with shallow slices.
She grinned, lips blood-specked.
"Ohhhhhh… now that's a love bite."
She surged forward
Whisper blocked one strike.
The next was a kick to his ribs.
A hand to his neck.
A twist of his arm.
His knees buckled.
Again.
"You're mine now."
And she wasn't even breathing hard.
She advanced with languid grace, hips swaying as if dancing to an internal rhythm. Her fingers curled, cracked, the knuckles soft pops in the quiet aftermath of motion. Lucien was on one knee again, panting lightly.
She smiled down at him, slow and sultry. Her shadow stretched far behind, vines coiling.
"Are we nearing your grand finale, handsome?" she purred.
Her voice was velvet soaked in sin. "I've made you kneel how many times now? Six? Seven? You might as well start calling me Mistress."
Lucien didn't speak. He rose, barely.
She sauntered forward, shadow clinging to hers, her body relaxed but dangerous.
Just as her hand reached for his face, ready to finish it—
THWIP—THUNK!
An arrow hissed through the air and slammed into the ground between them, splitting the silence and spraying dirt against their legs.
She halted, eyes narrowing.
From the treeline, high on a crooked branch, a figure stood—bow in hand, hood half-pulled. His cloak rustled softly in the breeze.
"Nyx," he called, voice low but sharp. "What exactly are you doing here?"
She rolled her eyes and turned slightly, weight cocked to one hip. "Oh come on, I was just playing. Didn't go far."
The man exhaled, slow and irritated. "Can you please reduce your troubling and annoying behavior for once? What if you had actually killed him?"
Nyx grinned wickedly, teeth gleaming. "I never intended to go far, handsome. Just a taste."
He sighed and adjusted the bow against his shoulder. "Just leave. Go back to your post. We both have our assignments. This isn't one of them."
Nyx pouted. "So serious."
He continued, tone sharp. "This is Borak's post. He failed it. That doesn't give us any reason to intervene unless we're told to."
His eyes dropped to Lucien, then back to her.
"Besides, we both know He has a plan. That's why we were given specific instructions. Don't tell me you've started being disobedient, Nyx."
She gave a mock-gasp. "Disobedient? Me? Oh, you wound me."
She bounced lightly on her toes and leapt from the root, landing near the man with an acrobat's grace.
"Fine, fine," she sighed. "I'll be a good girl."
She turned back to Lucien, grinning. "Bye-bye, handsome." She blew him a kiss. "See you later."
Lucien, bloodied and standing firm, finally spoke.
"It's the fact that both of your puny brains actually think you can kill me that's funny."
The man said nothing. He simply turned and began walking.
Nyx pouted dramatically. "Is that how you say goodbye after everything we shared? The intimacy? The sweat? The panting?"
She turned to follow, but paused halfway.
Her expression shifted—amusement draining, focus returning.
Her tone was low, deadly serious. "See you next time, Lucien."
Her violet eyes narrowed slightly.
"And fight seriously, will you? Because if I'm ever given the go for the kill... you won't even last fifteen seconds."
Then she was gone, slipping through the shadows behind the archer, their forms swallowed by the forest's edge.
Silence returned.
Lucien stood still, breathing deeply. Then, finally—
He exhaled. A quiet, tired sigh.
"The gamble with the uncultured woman worked," he muttered.
He straightened, brushing dirt from his coat.
"Seems like she never intended to kill me. Would've been such a hassle to go all out... not when I still have zero leads on Caelum, Charlotte, Mira, or that Vathyls bastard."
With a final glance toward the bloodied soil, Lucien turned and walked
One quiet step at a time towards the crimson-red palace on the horizon.