The battlefield below had become a storm of broken stone and violent motion.
Draven didn't stop.
With his hearing sealed by the bloodied fingers lodged deep in his ears, the world had fallen into a strange silence. No ringing. No vibration. Only movement. Only killing intent.
Seraphine rushed in again, wind bursting around her legs as she crossed the distance in a blur.
Draven stepped forward to meet her.
Their fists collided—
**BOOM!**
The shockwave blasted dust and shattered tiles across the ruined street.
She spun instantly, her leg whipping toward his ribs like a blade.
Draven shifted his weight and slipped inside the strike. His elbow snapped forward—
**CRACK**
It slammed into her jaw.
Seraphine's head snapped sideways, but she used the momentum, twisting midair as wind gathered beneath her feet.
Her heel came down like a hammer.
Draven raised his forearm.
**BOOM**
The impact drove him a step into the ground, stone cracking beneath his boots.
But he was already moving.
His hand shot forward, gripping the back of her head. Then—
He drove his knee upward.
**THUD**
Her body folded slightly.
Draven spun with the motion and launched a brutal kick.
His boot caught her temple.
The force sent her crashing downward—
He didn't release his grip.
Still holding her hair—
He **slammed her head into the ground.**
**BOOOOM**
The street exploded.
Stone shattered outward in a crater as her skull struck the earth. Dust and rubble blasted into the air.
Draven stood over the impact point, cloak whipping behind him.
Blood ran down the side of his face.
Seraphine's hand suddenly shot out from the crater.
Wind detonated.
**BOOM**
The blast hurled Draven backward across the street.
He flipped once in the air and landed smoothly, boots skidding across broken stone.
Seraphine rose from the crater.
Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
Her eyes burned with excitement.
Wind gathered violently around her again.
She wiped the blood away with the back of her hand.
Then she smiled.
Draven tilted his head slightly, studying her.
Even without hearing—
He could read the movement of her lips.
**"Good."**
She bent her knees.
The air screamed around her.
Her rune flared brighter.
Draven rolled his shoulders slowly, mana threads tightening through his muscles.
Then—
They moved at the same time.
Two blurs collided again in the middle of the shattered street.
Fists flew.
Kicks followed.
Each strike carried enough force to shatter stone and collapse walls.
Seraphine's fist slammed into Draven's ribs—
**CRACK**
The bone dented inward before instantly healing.
Draven answered with a spinning elbow.
**BOOM**
It smashed across her cheek, sending her sliding across the ground.
She flipped mid-slide and launched forward again immediately.
A punch.
A kick.
A knee.
Draven dodged one, blocked another, slipped beneath the third—
Then his foot lashed out.
**THUD**
The kick struck her chest and sent her skidding backward, boots carving deep trenches into the earth.
Dust rolled across the battlefield.
Both of them paused for half a second.
Breathing steady.
Bodies tense.
Neither looked close to finished.
Seraphine straightened slowly.
Draven wiped blood from his chin.
He pulled the blood-soaked finger from his left ear.
Sound flooded back into the world.
Wind.
Cracking stone.
Seraphine's voice.
His earring flickered faintly as the connection activated.
Vaelith's voice came through immediately.
"My lord."
Draven wiped blood from the side of his face, breathing steady.
"Report."
"They've left the town," Vaelith replied calmly. "We're already moving to the next position."
Draven nodded slightly.
"Good."
"We'll be there shortly."
The connection cut.
Silence returned—though now only his right ear remained sealed.
Draven glanced forward.
Seraphine had been speaking the entire time.
"…looks like I was right," she said, eyes sharp. "You've been holding back this whole time. Barely using mana. Not once using magic."
Her smile widened slightly.
"Do you consider me not worth it?"
Draven stared at her.
He hadn't heard a word she said before pulling the finger out.
Now he had.
And he looked unimpressed.
He slid the bloody finger between his teeth for a second before flicking it aside.
"Shut the **fuck up.**"
His voice was calm. Cold.
"Fighting you is a waste of time."
Seraphine's smile faded.
Draven rolled his shoulder and cracked his neck.
"Even without mana…" he continued, staring straight into her eyes, "…it will take a while, but I'd still kill you."
He tilted his head.
"You're weaker than you think."
The air around Seraphine stilled.
For half a second.
Then she laughed softly.
"Is that so?"
Wind spiraled around her body again.
Her eyes burned.
"Then let me see you try."
She stamped her foot—
**BOOOOOOM**
A violent burst of sound exploded outward.
The street shattered instantly.
Stone cracked like glass as a shockwave tore through the earth in all directions.
Buildings trembled.
Walls fractured.
The ground vibrated like an earthquake.
Dust shot into the sky.
The shockwave rushed toward Draven—
His cloak snapped in the pressure.
But he didn't move.
His eyes watched her—
Calm.
Unimpressed.
His foot shifted slightly.
The ground beneath him cracked—
And his body **vanished forward.**
The explosion behind him hadn't finished spreading when he appeared directly in front of her.
His fist already moving.
A straight punch aimed at her face.
The air **detonated** from the speed of the strike.
Seraphine reacted instantly.
Wind burst around her head—
**BOOM**
Her arm snapped up, barely catching the blow before it crushed her skull.
The impact still sent a shockwave tearing through the street.
The ground beneath them **collapsed**, cracks racing outward like lightning across stone.
Seraphine slid backward several meters, boots grinding through the broken earth.
Draven didn't relent.
The moment her feet slowed—
He was there.
His knee shot upward toward her ribs.
She twisted, redirecting the strike with her forearm—
**CRACK**
The force still blasted her sideways into a shattered wall.
Stone exploded outward.
But before the debris finished falling—
Wind erupted again.
Seraphine burst from the dust like a missile.
Her fist screamed through the air.
A **sonic boom** exploded behind it.
Draven tilted his head.
The punch tore past his face—
And destroyed the building behind him instead.
He stepped inside her guard instantly.
His elbow drove toward her throat.
Seraphine's palm slammed into his arm—
Wind compressed between them—
**BOOM**
The shockwave blasted both apart.
Draven slid back across the street, boots carving lines into the stone.
Seraphine flipped once before landing lightly on the broken ground.
For a moment—
Neither moved.
Dust drifted between them.
Seraphine wiped blood from her lip.
Her eyes gleamed.
"…So you can move like that without mana."
Draven didn't answer.
His stance lowered slightly.
Seraphine's smile returned.
"Good."
Wind spiraled violently around her body.
Not just wind.
Sound.
The air vibrated unnaturally as both runes pulsed together.
The ground beneath her feet cracked from the pressure.
Draven's eyes narrowed.
Seraphine vanished.
The sonic boom shattered every remaining window on the street.
She appeared behind him instantly.
Her leg came down like an executioner's axe.
Draven twisted—
The kick grazed his shoulder—
And the street exploded.
A massive crater opened in the ground.
Chunks of stone blasted into the air.
Draven was already moving.
He spun low and swept his leg toward her ankles.
Seraphine jumped—
Draven's hand shot up.
His fingers caught her collar midair—
And he **slammed her down.**
**BOOOOOOM**
The ground collapsed beneath them.
Seraphine bounced once off the stone before twisting and kicking off.
Her heel struck Draven's chest.
The blow sent him skidding backward across the ruined street.
For the first time—
He actually slid several meters before stopping.
Seraphine stood slowly.
Her breathing was deeper now.
Blood trickled down her temple.
But she was smiling wider.
"You said I was weak."
Wind screamed louder around her.
"So why are you still standing so far away?"
Draven brushed dust from his coat.
His expression didn't change.
"…Because," he said calmly,
"I'm still deciding how I want to kill you."
The air between them went silent.
Seraphine's smile twitched.
Then the wind around her **exploded again.**
"Try."
She launched forward—
And the entire battlefield erupted once more.