We all moved at once.
Lisa sprinted forward, her demonic aura flickering like unstable flame.
Elena swung wide to the left, her mana gathering sharply around her blade.
And I charged straight in, my aura-wrapped sword cutting through the air with a sharp hum.
Three angles.
Three simultaneous attacks.
There was no way Clarisse could handle all of us at once—
"Not a chance."
Her cold voice cut through our momentum like a blade.
In the next instant, her shadow beneath her feet rippled.
Then—
Burst!
Several arms—sharp, long, pitch-black silhouettes—erupted from the ground like monstrous roots.
Dozens of them, twisting and coiling, moving with impossible fluidity.
They intercepted us effortlessly.
My blade clashed with one of the shadow arms—
CLANG!
It grabbed my sword perfectly, stopping it dead in its tracks.
"Tch—!"
I tried pulling back, but it held on with inhuman strength, the darkness tightening around the blade like a metal vice.
