Draven raised his hand slowly.
Seraphine was already moving again, wind gathering around her limbs, sonic pressure beginning to build—
But Draven suddenly brought his hand to his mouth.
He placed a finger between his teeth.
And **pulled.**
**RIP.**
Bone tore free.
Blood sprayed across his lips as the finger ripped clean from his hand.
Seraphine's charge slowed for the briefest instant.
Draven spat.
The severed finger dropped into his palm with a wet sound.
Already—
Another finger had regrown in its place.
Without hesitation, he placed the new finger between his teeth again.
**CRACK.**
Another violent pull.
Another finger torn free.
Blood ran down his chin as he spat that one out as well.
Both severed fingers fell into his hand.
Fresh fingers had already regrown where they once were.
Draven calmly picked them up.
One finger in each hand.
Seraphine's eyes narrowed.
"…What are you—"
Draven didn't answer.
He simply raised both hands.
And pushed the severed fingers into his ears.
Deep.
The blood-slick digits forced their way into the ear canals.
Then—
He drew his arms back slightly.
And **slammed them inward.**
**THUD.**
The fingers drove deeper into both ears.
Blood trickled down the sides of his neck.
Pain exploded through his skull.
It hurt.
Badly.
But Draven had endured far worse.
For a brief moment—
His vision wavered.
Then—
**Silence.**
The ringing—
Gone.
The vibrations—
Gone.
The world fell into complete, perfect quiet.
Draven slowly lowered his hands.
Blood ran from his ears.
But his expression changed.
Relief.
Focus.
Control.
Across from him, Seraphine stared.
Draven rolled his shoulders once.
He could still see her lips move.
Still feel the pressure of wind shifting through the air.
But the sound rune—
Now it meant nothing.
His red eyes sharpened as he looked at her.
Then he spoke calmly.
"Let's continue."
The ground cracked beneath his feet.
And Draven vanished forward.
---
The ground shattered beneath Draven's step.
He shot forward like a released arrow.
Seraphine's eyes sharpened the instant he moved. Wind exploded around her body as she launched forward as well, her cloak snapping violently behind her.
They collided in the center of the ruined street.
**BOOM.**
Their fists met.
The impact sent a shockwave tearing through nearby buildings, shattered glass and broken stone blasting outward.
Seraphine twisted instantly, her leg snapping upward in a vicious kick aimed for Draven's ribs.
Draven's arm dropped to block.
**CRACK.**
The force still pushed him back half a step, boots grinding against the stone.
She didn't stop.
Her fists began flying.
Fast.
Blindingly fast.
Each strike carried crushing wind pressure, the air detonating around every punch like miniature sonic booms.
**BOOM — BOOM — BOOM**
Her hands blurred as they hammered toward his head, throat, ribs, heart.
But Draven moved.
Without the ringing destroying his concentration, his body flowed through the attacks.
He slipped past one punch.
Tilted his head aside as another skimmed his cheek.
His hand snapped up, redirecting her wrist.
His elbow drove toward her jaw.
Seraphine twisted away, wind bursting from her feet as she slid aside and countered with a spinning strike aimed at his temple.
Draven ducked under it.
His fist slammed into her ribs.
**THUD.**
The blow sent her sliding backward several meters, boots carving trenches through the stone.
But she smiled.
Then vanished.
Wind tore through the street as she reappeared in front of him.
Her fist came like lightning.
Draven met it head-on.
Their arms blurred.
**BANG
BANG
BANG**
Fist against fist.
Block.
Counter.
Strike.
Their bodies moved like two storms colliding.
Seraphine ducked low, sweeping his legs.
Draven jumped.
Midair she followed, fist rocketing toward his chest.
He caught her wrist.
Twisted.
Her body spun through the air—
But she used the momentum, flipping and driving her knee toward his face.
Draven leaned aside, the knee grazing past his cheek as his fist slammed into her shoulder.
She hit the ground hard—
Then exploded back up instantly.
Wind roared around her again as she launched another barrage of strikes.
Draven stepped forward this time.
Not retreating.
Pressing her.
His fists now moved faster.
Sharper.
More brutal.
A punch cracked against her guard.
Another slammed into her forearm.
A third slipped through—
**THUD.**
Her head snapped slightly to the side.
Seraphine slid back, boots skidding across the ground.
For a brief moment—
They both stopped.
Standing several meters apart.
Dust swirled through the ruined street.
Blood ran from Draven's ears.
Seraphine rolled her shoulder slowly, staring at him as a grin spread across her face.
"Well…"
Wind began gathering around her again.
"…now you're actually fighting."
Draven exhaled slowly.
Then—
A thin thread of mana slipped from his core.
It spread through his body like liquid fire, flowing along his veins, strengthening muscle, bone, and nerve. His movements became lighter… faster… sharper.
His eyes narrowed.
*I didn't want to use mana,* he thought.
Every drop he had gathered was precious. Once it was spent, it was gone until he absorb again.
But Seraphine wasn't someone he could drag a fight out with.
*This needs to end.*
Wind roared again as Seraphine shot forward.
Draven stepped in to meet her—
—
High above the town.
The sky had become a battlefield.
Aldric twisted through the air, barely dodging a blade that tore through the space where his neck had been a split second earlier.
The strike carved through the clouds behind him.
"Persistent bastard," Aldric muttered.
He flicked his fingers.
Blood gathered behind him, twisting and stretching before hardening into multiple **chains tipped with spearheads**.
With a wave of his hand—
They launched forward.
The blood chains shot through the sky like living weapons, spear tips screaming toward the armored commander.
The commander moved instantly.
His blade flashed, cutting through one of the chains in a single clean swing. The construct split apart midair.
But Aldric wasn't watching him anymore.
His red eyes shifted past the warrior—
Landing on another figure in the sky.
A mage.
Robes fluttered violently in the wind as glowing mana circles spun beneath his feet, holding him suspended in the air.
Aldric's smile widened slowly.
"Ahhh…"
He pointed lazily.
"So that's it."
Another blood chain lashed forward, forcing the sword master to dodge again.
"You're cheating."
The armored commander said nothing.
Behind him, the mage raised a hand.
Multiple glowing spell circles ignited across the sky.
Aldric sighed.
"…How annoying."
The air trembled as elemental energy gathered above him.
Then he grinned.
"Well…"
Blood surged behind Aldric in massive quantities, twisting and condensing into dozens of weapons.
"…now it's getting interesting."
The sky above the town trembled with power.
Wind howled between the hovering airships while mana flared across the battlefield like lightning trapped inside glass.
Dozens of spell circles rotated behind the floating mage.
Fire.
Lightning.
Wind.
Each circle layered over another as the spell neared completion.
Below them, the armored commander shot forward again, his blade gleaming as it cut through another of Aldric's blood chains.
The spear-tipped construct shattered into crimson fragments.
Aldric watched it break apart and sighed.
"Honestly…"
More blood rose behind him like a living ocean.
"…this is starting to feel unfair."
The mage finished the spell.
His hand dropped.
"Fire."
The sky exploded.
A storm of elemental attacks tore downward.
Spears of lightning cracked through the air.
Massive fireballs roared like falling suns.
Blades of compressed wind sliced through the sky.
Jagged ice lances followed behind them.
All of it aimed at a single target.
Aldric.
The cultist beside him froze, eyes wide as the sky collapsed toward them.
But Aldric simply rolled his shoulders.
"…Finally."
Blood erupted outward from him.
Not a shield.
Not a barrier.
A **storm**.
Hundreds of blood constructs formed at once—spears, blades, chains, shields, spikes—spinning around him like a crimson galaxy.
Then he lifted his hand.
"Go."
The blood weapons shot upward.
The sky became chaos.
Lightning shattered blood spears.
Fireballs detonated against crimson shields.
Wind blades tore chains apart while new ones formed instantly to replace them.
Explosions rippled across the sky like thunder.
The commander burst through the chaos.
His sword flashed.
A single strike cut through multiple blood constructs before slamming directly into Aldric's barrier.
**BOOM**
The crimson shield rippled violently.
The cultist gasped as the impact shook the air around them.
Aldric glanced at the blade pressing against the barrier.
"…You again."
The commander's voice was calm and steady.
"You seem very relaxed."
Aldric smirked.
"I am."
His red eyes drifted downward toward the town.
"Because this…"
More blood gathered behind him.
Thicker.
Denser.
More violent.
"…isn't even my fight."
His smile widened.
"But since I'm already here—"
The blood behind him condensed rapidly.
Forming something much larger.
Much sharper.
Much more dangerous.
"…I might as well enjoy myself."
Behind him—
A **massive blood spear**, larger than a ballista bolt, finished forming.
The air around it warped under the pressure of condensed mana.
The commander's eyes narrowed slightly.
Aldric tilted his head.
"Let's see how strong a *Sixth Star* really is."
Then he snapped his fingers.