Ivan's grin was cold, teeth dripping crimson. His hand rose slowly, deliberately, and the swirling vortex of blood around him obeyed instantly. Ribbons, droplets, shards of red energy—all bent toward his palm, converging into a dense, spinning sphere that hovered between his fingers. The sound of coagulating blood was faint but menacing—a wet, resonant hum that filled the corridor like a heartbeat of doom.
> "Still hiding…?"
> "Alright, if you wish, you can keep hiding," he said, his voice low, impossibly calm despite the chaos. "In shadows, slipping through cracks just like the vermin you are… it doesn't matter. Hide in the dark or in the walls, in the cracks between atoms for all I care."
The sphere pulsed, feeding off every ounce of blood in the hallway. The smaller blades of dark matter twined around it, forming into larger, sharper shapes, trembling in anticipation.
> "If I can't get my hands on you," Ivan continued, eyes narrowing, golden pupils scanning the void like twin searchlights, "I'll simply end you where you hide. No corner can keep you from me. You've danced around my attacks long enough."
The sphere rotated faster. Its heat rippled through the air, making the shadows shrink slightly in fear. The edges of the blood blades shivered, eager for release.
> "And as for you…" His voice dropped lower, cutting like steel. "You should consider it an honor—an insect like you should be grateful that it's even possible to see me. That you get to gaze upon power like this before it shreds you into nothing. Few vermin get to witness their own execution."
Elliana's form flickered in the shadows. Her silver eyes glinted briefly—cold, calculating—but Ivan didn't flinch.
> "Hiding and watching doesn't make it cleaner when I strike," he whispered, almost to himself. "Because you will die where you stand. Wherever you breathe… wherever you crawl… I will find you."
The vortex of blood condensed further. The spinning ball shrank into a dense, almost metallic core, hovering between his fingers, glowing dark red and humming with lethal intent. The smaller blood blades around it aligned, pointing outward like the spokes of a wheel.
Ivan extended his index finger slowly, pressing it against the core. The hallway froze for a fraction of a heartbeat, the blood sphere stabilizing with sickening tension.
> "And now…" His voice was low, deliberate, and final. "Now you can see, as it reaches you, where you hide. Every shadow you crawl into… every corner you claim as sanctuary…"
A pulse exploded from the ball. Silence shattered.
Flash.
The blood sphere erupted. Dozens—no, hundreds—of massive blood blades shot outward from the core in every direction. They tore through the corridor walls, the stone screaming and cracking under the force. The storm of crimson blades bent and twisted as they surged, moving with terrifying intelligence, shaping themselves into savage patterns, striking corners, pillars, ceilings—obliterating everything in their path.
Outside the castle, the effect was apocalyptic. What had looked like a simple hallway now became a fountain of blood blades bursting upward and outward. Walls shattered, towers groaned, and the castle's silhouette became jagged with hundreds of crimson spikes jutting in every direction. It looked as if the fortress itself were infected by a living, violent infestation.
Inside, Ivan stood alone amidst the chaos, the blood sphere still between his fingers.
> "I've given you a glimpse," he said, voice cold as ice, almost reverent. "A chance to witness power beyond your comprehension. But it won't save you. It will only let you watch… as you are ripped apart."
The storm of blades moved as if alive, seeking, thrashing. Shadows and light twisted around it, unable to contain the raw, destructive force. Somewhere in that maze of carnage, Elliana would have to emerge—or be annihilated without ever having a chance to strike.
Elliana stepped through the carnage like a ghost given form.
One heartbeat she wasn't there—
the next, she coalesced from a ripple of shadow, standing directly in front of Ivan. Her silver eyes glinted, jaw tight, breathing slow and deliberate despite the bloodstorm tearing the world apart around them.
Ivan's eyes narrowed at the sight of her, and for a moment, his fury flickered into something sharper—a grin sharpening the instant he saw her.
Half delight.
Half challenge.
All cruelty.
> "Still alive," he murmured, teeth stained deep crimson.
"Of course you are."
The blood sphere between his fingers pulsed, vibrating with predatory hunger.
> "I didn't expect anything less from a dark-elf pest. Shadow magic… is persistent."
His grin widened, vicious, sharp.
"But persistence only stretches out the inevitable."
A flick of his fingers.
Just a flick.
The entire maze of blood responded like an army taking orders from a god.
THHRRAAAM—
Every blade—every shard—every sliver of crimson steel bent toward the Elliana standing before him.
They shot forward in a synchronized assault.
Hundreds of blades converged from every angle—
from the floor, the walls, the ceiling—
impaling the dark-elf form in an instant.
A grotesque symphony of wet cracks.
Her body was torn apart so fast the air didn't have time to scream.
Blood, shadow, and smoke exploded outward in a violent burst.
Ivan's smile curled, victorious, savage—
—and then froze.
Because her "body" didn't fall.
It collapsed into dark mist, dissolving into nothing but black vapor curling around his ankles.
A whisper of movement. Above him.
Before Ivan could react, another Elliana appeared. Her body was upside-down like a spider descending on prey, suspended in midair, shadow streaming behind her like liquid darkness. Silver eyes locked on him with lethal intent.
Her leg swung down in a blinding strike.
A whisper brushed his ear.
Not behind him. Above him.
Ivan's eyes snapped upward—
Even as the fading shadow of her torn body vanished, her remaining leg slammed into his barrier with the force of a battering ram. The impact made the sphere wobble in his hand, red light rippling outward as the blood blades faltered for the briefest fraction of a heartbeat.