The Second Pillar moved.
There was no warning. No shift in posture, no breath drawn before the strike. One moment she was standing there, chains hanging in their unnatural stillness, and the next the air around Noel exploded with motion.
Chains tore forward from every direction at once.
Noel barely had time to register it. Revenant Fang came up on instinct, shadow and steel colliding with the first chain in a violent spark that rattled up his arms. The impact jarred his grip, numbing his fingers as the force carried through his stance and into his shoulders.
Another chain slipped past.
It scraped across his side, tearing cloth and skin alike. Heat flared, sharp and immediate, followed by the wet sensation of blood spilling free. Noel hissed through his teeth as he twisted away, boots skidding hard across stone.
'Twenty percent less?' The thought flashed hot and furious through his head. 'This is bullshit.'
He didn't get time to dwell on it.
