The silence shattered.
The clone lunged first, his wings folding inward as he shot across the cracked street in a blur of blood-red light. Mob raised his sword to intercept. Their strikes collided with a muted thunderclap, shaking shattered windows along the ruined avenue. Sparks of golden divine light and flickering crimson shadow scattered into the air, falling like dying fireflies around them.
The clone spun low, sweeping Mob's legs out from under him. Mob flipped mid-air, wings flaring to halt his fall, and swung his sword in a downward arc. The blade burned blue-white, its light cutting a line across the clone's shoulder, splitting flesh down to the collarbone. Blackened blood sprayed across the ground, sizzling where it landed. But the clone didn't flinch. His hand shot up, claws curling around Mob's throat, lifting him effortlessly into the air.
