Steel clashed against raw, burning power. Allison's flame-forged sword sang as she struck, each swing lighting up the battlefield with arcs of molten light. Across from her, the silver-eyed man deflected with terrifying grace, his blade whispering through the air like death itself.
"You fight with her understanding," he said, his voice smooth, unnerving calm. "But you still don't understand it."
Allison snarled, pushing forward, her pendant pulsing with ancient flame. Her blood boiled, her veins carrying the weight of a thousand forgotten battles. "Then teach me!"
His silver eyes flashed—mocking, perhaps even approving. He vanished, reappearing behind her in a blink. His sword grazed her cheek, but before he could cut deeper, Alexa's windstorm roared into their battlefield, dragging ghouls between them like shields.
The silver-eyed man only smirked, stepping through the chaos as if it were smoke. "Even the storm bends to my hunt."
Allison tightened her grip, her sword flaring brighter. Sparks lit her hair like a crown of fire. "I'm not your prey."
The ghouls shrieked as Alexa cut between the them with one devastating spice of wind. And Allison and the silver-eyed man clashed again, destiny against predator.
The silver-eyed man's blade sparked against Allison's flaming sword, heat erupting in waves. His movements were predatory, graceful, unyielding-each strike precise, each step relentless. Allison's breath came ragged, but her flame only roared higher, her pendant pulsing like a second heartbeat at her throat.
"You burn brightly," he murmured, his eyes gleaming with something unreadable. "But every flame burns out. You are no exception."
"Then you'll choke on my ashes," Allison spat, driving her blade forward in a searing arc.
The ground beneath them cracked, flames licking upward as if the earth itself recognized her powers.
Not far away, Alexa spun in the air like a tempest incarnate. Her silk dress whipped around her, glowing faintly with glyphs of storm magic. With each twist of her wrist, blades of wind cut through ghoul flesh.
"Ugly things," she hissed, her voice carrying over the shrieks. "But you'll find the wind doesn't forgive."
Dozens of ghouls lunged, jaws snapping, claws tearing at the dirt. With a single sweep of her hand, Alexa unleashed a tornado that ripped them apart, blood raining as shredded corpses thudded to the ground. She landed gracefully, her eyes flashing.
Her storm eyes met Allison's furry eyes on the battlefield's edge, sisterly bond threading unspoken between them.
The earth trembled beneath Yevana's command. Vines shot upward, sharp as spears, wrapping around Elarian's arms and legs. The nature goddess's hair whipped wild, eyes glowing green as the grass itself became her army.
"You betrayed me," Yevana's voice cracked with grief and rage. "With her. With that girl."
Elarian smirked, even as the vines tightened, slicing into his flesh. "And yet you still can't kill me."
"I don't need to kill you," Yevana snarled, yanking the earth upward until roots dragged him into a cage of thorns. "I just need to make you hurt."
His laughter echoed, low and bitter. "Your love always hurt more than your wrath. I miss seeing this part of you."
Aila, the very girl whose lips Elarian once claimed in betrayal, rushed forward, black daggers glinting with poison. She snarled at Beatrice, recognizing in her an executioner.
"You'll die here," Aila hissed, voice wild. "He'll never be hers. Elarian is mine!"
But Beatrice only narrowed her eyes. Her body moved like a shadow, her blade sweeping in one silent arc.
Aila froze. Blood welled from her throat where Beatrice blade had cut clean through.
Her daggers clattered to the ground. She tried to speak, to scream Elarian's name, but only a gurgle left her lips. Her eyes dimmed with disbelief.
"Pathetic," Beatrice whispered coldly, wiping her blade as Aila's body crumpled. "First blood is yours. Elarian will mourn you, if he can." She snickered.
The earth seemed to hold its breath as Aila's corpse hit the ground.
Amid the destruction, Li Anya faced Lucian, her beauty twisted with fury. Shadows danced around her, whispering promises of power.
"You never understood me," she hissed, her eyes burning with envy as she ripped away the cloak covering her arms. From her palms, a pair of black-feathered wings unfurled-severed, bloodstained remnants preserved by dark sorcery.
"These are yours, Lucian. Wings you tore from yourself for her bloodline. Wings you gave up when you chose Allison's destiny over yourself. Wings that belonged to you."
Lucian gaze hardened, his aura surging dark and unrelenting. He didn't flinch.
"I don't care for wings, I let you know the first time," he said quietly, his voice laced with ice. "I never did. They were chains, not freedom. If you think you can wound me with them, Anya, you've already lost."
Anya's fury broke, her scream tearing through the battlefield as she hurled the wings forward like cursed spears, dark energy trailing in their wake.
He caught it and with the swift of his hands rocks were formed as they crashed into her.
Ren's eyes found Beatrice across the chaos, shaken, yet unbroken. They did not speak, but their bond was carved deeper in the silence, in the vow of survival they carried together.
The air thickened. Sand spiraled around Lucian's boots, pebbles rattling upward as if called by an ancient force. Li Anya looked disheveled with dust and cracks on her lips.
" Don't you understand?" She spat, voice raw as blood dripped from her lip. "I was your equal. I loved you and yet you threw me away for her."
Her hand flicked, summoning a jagged whip of dark flame that lashed across the space. Lucian caught it in his palm, skin blistering but refusing to yield. His glare was like a sharpened blade.
"You never loved me," he said flatly, his voice a death sentence. "You loved possession. You loved victory. Not me."
Her laughter cracked.
The ground beneath them split like glass. Stone pillars erupted at Lucian's command, smashing toward her with merciless speed. She spun, her flames searing, deflecting some, shattering others. But the earth was endless under his command, every grain, every stone, every buried vein of mineral bent to his fury.
"I don't care about the wings," Lucian snarled, his aura roaring like a storm. "Not then. Not now. Not ever."
Desperation leaking into her fury. She hurled flame after flame, her voice breaking.
"Liar. You will crawl back to me again, once she sees what you really are a heartless beast. When Allison rejects you, you'll come to me!"
The ground surged upward, swallowing her words. A jagged wall of stone slammed into her chest, hurling her across the ruined battlefield. She skidded, blood trailing, but still dragged herself up, her fire burning wilder with her madness.
"You can't kill me," she screamed, hair whipping around her.
Lucian stepped forward, the weight of the earth trembling under each stride. His gaze was merciless, a god of war draped in human flesh.
"Then I will bury you alive if I can't kill you," he said coldly.
His hand plunged through her abdomen, fingers curling with merciless precision.
Her body convulsed.
For a moment, the world stilled. The battlefield, the ghouls, the storms, they all hushed as if the universe itself watched.
Li Anya's gaze dropped to the hand inside her, coated with her blood. She wheezed, her voice trembling with disbelief. "Y...You'd kill me... for her?"
Lucian leaned close, his voice a deadly whisper against her ear.
"I killed you the day you betrayed me. This... is just the burial."