The air cracked apart before any of them could move.
A line of frost exploded across the ground, white light tearing through the mist—Frost Collision. The shockwave slammed into them, throwing Mira and Kael to the side. Elira barely caught her footing, her sword trembling in her hands as the cold stung her skin.
Selene stood in the ruin's doorway, eyes pale blue and unfocused. Her breath rose in slow, frozen clouds, the air around her alive with thin veins of ice. She didn't look human anymore. She looked like something that had been awakened too early, bound to power that wasn't her own.
"Selene!" Elira's voice broke through the ringing air. "It's me—stop! Please!"
Selene didn't answer. She raised her hand again, and a dozen shards of frost spun into being, streaking toward them like glass arrows.
Mira threw up a wall of shimmering water, the barrier hissing as the ice struck. "She's attacking—Kael, backline!"
Kael anchored his boots into the ground, his hands glowing faintly as he triggered Pulse Vault, the pulse-ring pushing the shards away with a sharp metallic hum. "She's not in control!" he shouted. "Something's driving her—Elira, don't get too close!"
But Elira was already moving. Wind coiled around her legs, lifting dust and snow. She swung Lumeveil in a wide arc, the blade clashing against Selene's frost blade. Sparks of cold light burst between them, heat and ice colliding in a sound like breaking glass.
"Selene—wake up!" she cried. "It's us! You know me!"
Her plea was met only by another attack. Selene moved with impossible grace, her strikes emotionless, efficient, deadly.
"Her chant—she said something about the Dust Ruin," Mira called, forming another watery shield. "It's pulling her power higher!"
"Then we end it fast," Kael growled. He slammed another pulse-ring into the ground, the earth rippling as it met Selene's next strike.
Elira's arms ached. Her breath fogged in front of her as she forced herself forward, parrying blow after blow. "Selene, please!" she screamed again. "You're hurting us!"
Lumeveil's voice whispered faintly through her mind: Keep the light, Elira. Don't let the dark rise.
"I'm trying!" she gasped, blocking another freezing slash. The shock numbed her fingers; her sword arm trembled.
Selene's expression didn't change. Frost built beneath her feet, spreading in veins of white light. With a final motion, she unleashed a surge of energy—pure, blinding cold that shattered the air.
The blast threw Elira back. Her sword struck the stone floor and stayed there, buried deep, humming with dim light. Elira fell to her knees, tears freezing against her cheeks.
"Selene… please… stop…"
The air fell silent except for the wind. Mira staggered upright, Kael barely keeping balance.
And then—
from beyond the frost and dust—
a voice spoke, deep and familiar, echoing from somewhere unseen.
"Shadow Flame."
A pulse of black-red fire burst through the cold, swallowing the light.