Reece staggered back onto his feet, shaking the cracked dust off his shoulder. His breaths came rough now, but his stare was razor-sharp. "You realize your friends are in trouble too, right?" His voice twisted mockingly. "The moment you give up, I can tell them to stop."
Sosuke didn't answer right away. His eyes flicked toward the broken pieces of his blade scattered across the floor. His face stayed unreadable—but his jaw clenched.
"I know how your ranks work," he finally said, voice low. "Imperial Knights don't follow commands out of loyalty. They follow them because they want to." His gaze hardened. "You think I haven't fought enough of you to learn that? Especially, back in the Blight Dimension."
Reece's fingers curled into a fist. "You don't know anything!" he snapped. "You want to play calm? You think you've changed?" He pointed a trembling hand. "I know what you are! You cried in that prison. Every night. Begging for someone to show up. Pathetic."
Sosuke stepped toward the fragments. Lightning sparked along his arms, not wild—controlled. It climbed from his fingers, weaving like silk thread through the air, linking the two halves of the shattered weapon.
"You're right," Sosuke said, tone steady. "I did cry. I was weak… But that's not who I am anymore." The pieces began to float. The air hummed as lightning danced between them, drawing sparks from the very stone beneath.
"I had to become something new. For something greater."
Reece flinched as a pulse of thunder shook the chamber.
"What the hell are you on about?" he shouted, his voice almost cracking. He flung his arm toward the distant sounds of battle. "Your friends, they're all going to die! Levi, Nico, Mira—they're monsters. You're wasting time!"
But Sosuke didn't look at him.
The hilt formed first—obsidian black, wrapped in a textured grip with a trailing ribbon of black and gray that fluttered from its pommel like smoke made solid. The guard curled outward in elegant silver arcs. The blade itself burned a deep violet, streaked with living lightning—etched, not forged, into the steel.
Sosuke reached out.
The blade didn't drop into his hand. It chose him.
His fingers closed around the hilt. The energy calmed. The weapon gleamed with a storm's quiet fury.
"It was never mine," he murmured, lifting it. "The katana I used before. It belonged to someone else."
He turned back toward Reece, the tip of the new blade leveled with perfect aim. "You talk about their strength, but I believe in my friends. I've seen what they're capable of. It's time I started trusting them to their own battles."
"You want to talk about composure?" Sosuke said. "You're the one falling apart."
Reece barked out a laugh, too sharp, too loud. "Falling apart?" His arm jerked to the side, and the wind answered. "I'm more calm than I've ever been!"
The air shifted. The ground trembled.
Wind twisted upward around Reece's body in violent coils. It didn't just swirl—it screamed, rising into a double helix of sharp-edged mana and compressed atmosphere. Debris lifted off the ground and vanished into the storm.
A miniature tornado began to form between them, spinning faster with every second. The force behind it could've torn stone from cliffside.
Reece stood at the center, arms wide, eyes blazing.
"Let's see that 'faith' carry you through this! I'll grind you down to atoms!"
The spiral lunged.
Sosuke didn't flinch.
He moved.
A single step forward—and then a violet flash lit the space between them.
Lightning howled.
The new katana sliced clean through the heart of the storm. The vortex cracked down the center, unraveling with a thunderclap. Wind lashed in all directions before dispersing into the sky like mist breaking at dawn.
When the dust settled, Sosuke stood just feet away from Reece—his blade resting by his side, humming softly. He let out a breathless laugh, staring at the sword with quiet awe.
Reece stared. His wind couldn't touch him. His control—broken. But only for a moment.
"Oh, I see," he muttered, voice low. "You don't quit."
Reece exhaled—and the air itself bent.
He vanished in a gust and reappeared behind Sosuke in a blink, slicing the wind into bladed crescents that curved from every direction. They came fast—too fast to track.
But the blade moved faster.
Sosuke spun. Lightning sparked mid-air, each arc of the blade canceling out a wind slash before it could land. Sparks. Wind. Light. Metal. A dance of impossible reaction speeds.
Reece roared and shot upward, forming a dome of spinning wind high above them. He clapped his hands—and the dome collapsed downward like a massive press.
Sosuke leapt.
Mid-air, he twirled once, and slammed his katana into the center of the falling wind mass. Lightning exploded outward—inside the storm—detonating its core. The dome shattered in a spray of wind, vapor, and violet.
Sosuke landed hard, crouched.
Reece landed opposite him—armor scratched, hair wild, lips curled back in a grin that was all teeth and spite.
"Just give me what I want," he said. "Surrender."
Sosuke stood. His blade still hummed, the ribbon behind it swaying in the still air.
"I refuse."
———
Reid's fist shot upward, slamming under Levi's chin with a crack of bone and wind. The massive knight staggered back, dirt flying up beneath his boots as he crashed into a wall.
"Are you guys really Imperial Knights?" Reid asked, rolling his shoulders, a spark in his eye.
"Not to mention assigned to protect Lance Sterling," Ren added. Blood dripped from his lip, but he still grinned, flipping his sword once in his grip.
Nico raised both hands. Hundreds of knives, etched with glowing runes, materialized in the air behind him. In an instant, they fired like a storm of arrows.
Ren's feet shifted. He deflected a stream with tight, calculated parries. Sparks danced across his blade. The rest slammed into the earth—until his palm hit the ground. A rock wall surged upward, shielding him from the next volley.
"Maybe Lance never trusted them to protect him in the first place," Reid said, watching as Levi pulled himself from the wreckage.
"I scored the highest in strength of all the knights!" Levi bellowed. Veins bulged across his arms as the wind around his fists began to twist and roar. "Of course he trusts me!"
Nico glanced his way. "Levi, you idiot. They're clearly baiting you. This is why you probably scored lowest in intelligence."
Levi didn't care. He slammed both fists into the ground—twice. The air pressure burst outward in a shockwave, tearing the rock wall apart and sending Ren flying through the air.
Reid dashed through the dust. He ducked under a wild punch, then leapt and drove his elbow down into Levi's spine. Levi grunted but didn't fall. Instead, he grabbed Reid by the leg mid-air and flung him like a hammer.
Reid hit the ground, rolled, and came up laughing. "God, you hit hard."
Across the clearing, Nico spread his fingers. The shattered knives reassembled into a spiral of steel, forming a dome above Ren. Then, with a flick, they plunged downward all at once.
Ren grit his teeth and stabbed his blade into the ground. A burst of ice exploded outward. Shards deflected the incoming knives and froze several mid-air. He dashed forward, cutting low toward Nico's legs.
Nico danced back, knives forming in his hands, blocking and countering. Sparks flew with every clash, Ren's frost-covered blade grinding against Nico's magic-forged daggers.
Levi cracked his knuckles. "Let's see if the smart one can take this!" He launched himself at Ren mid-duel, forcing the frost-user to dodge and disengage.
Reid came back into the fray like a lightning bolt, slamming his heel into Levi's jaw again. The knight staggered, but this time caught Reid with a shoulder tackle that sent them both skidding across the dirt.
"Ice boy, switch!" Reid barked.
"Alright!" Ren leapt toward Nico again, blade spinning in his hands like a wheel of frost.
Nico barely ducked the strike. One of Ren's kicks landed square in his chest, knocking the wind from him. He flew back, stabbed a dagger into the ground to stop himself, and coughed blood.
Levi spun toward Reid, fists glowing green with compressed mana. He charged. Reid charged back.
Their fists collided mid-air with a thunderclap that split the dust and sent rocks flying.
Reid's punch landed with a sickening crack, Levi's hand snapping back from the force. He crashed into the dirt, groaning as he clutched his wrist.
"Agh—stop! Stop! I give up!" Levi rolled onto his side, face twisted in pain. "It hurts!"
Reid halted mid-swing, fist hanging in the air. "Seriously?" His brow furrowed. "That's it?"
"Yes, just please stop!" Levi crawled back, scooting away on his elbows.
Reid blinked, stunned. "What kind of Knight just—" He turned quickly, attention locking onto the others nearby.
⸻
Mira planted her staff into the ground, its black-metal frame pulsing faintly as the blue crystal at its tip gleamed. The ground trembled. Then it split.
Twisting, snarling beasts—their bodies stitched from stone, mana, and shadow—clawed up from beneath, shrieking as they charged forward.
"That crystal—" Rin stepped back, her eyes narrowing. "I've seen it before…"
Clyde moved in beside her. "What is it?"
"I don't know. But it's bad." Her breath hitched.
One of the creatures lunged. Clyde shoved Rin aside and took the blow instead. It slammed him down, claws tearing at his coat, skin peeling in strips beneath its talons.
"Clyde!" Rin thrust her palm forward. Black fire roared from her hand, scorching the monster and blasting it off him. It shrieked as it burned, collapsing into smoke.
Mira tilted her head. "Your core techniques won't save you. Astoria's arcane supremacy renders resistance meaningless." She drove the staff deeper into the dirt. A glowing arcane star formed behind her, rising slowly like a false sun.
Rin's gaze locked onto it. "It's channeling something. Elowen—behind me."
Golden beams shot from the star above. Rin crossed her arms, a wall of black flame rising around them. The lasers struck the flame barrier and dissolved into absorbed energy, the residual mana bleeding into her skin.
Clyde weaved through the rain of light, one beam grazing his cheek and drawing a thin red line. Elowen raised her staff toward him.
"Duck!"
A sigil flared in front of her, blasting apart a beast lunging for Clyde's side. He glanced over, nodding as he caught his breath.
"Thanks."
"We need you." Elowen steadied her stance.
Clyde lifted his ethereal bow, already stringing a glowing arrow. His eyes narrowed as he drew it back. The shot whistled into the swarm, slicing clean through the nearest cluster. Bodies dropped.
Rin pressed her palms to the earth. The black flame gathered around her, thick with raw mana. With a burst of force, a wave of scorched earth and fire erupted from beneath her, swallowing the last of the beasts and tearing across the battlefield, straight for Mira.
Mira swept her staff across the scorched earth, wind exploding outward to smother the aftermath of Rin's flames. The force of it cracked stones and blew away the smog—but her grip faltered. Sweat beaded down her temple. A flicker of light shot past her vision.
The crystal atop her staff—shattered.
She blinked in disbelief.
Across the field, Clyde lowered his ethereal bow, its fading glow the only evidence he'd fired. He stepped forward, hand outstretched—not toward Mira, but past her.
Mira backpedaled instinctively, then froze.
A sharp, wrenching pain hit deep in her chest.
"My core… what are you doing to it?" Her voice cracked as she turned to him, clutching her ribs.
Clyde held his hand tight, a glowing spectral chain pulsing between his palm and the space around her heart. The line trembled, taut with magic. "You've buried yourself so far in cruelty, I don't think there's anything left to save." He pulled. Mira staggered toward him.
"Now, Rin!"
A burst of air howled beside him—Rin rushed forward, her hand aimed high.
"Black Flame Cannon!"
Mana twisted around her arm, warping the air into a spiral of heat. Her palm unleashed a violent torrent of flame, the blast surging toward Mira like a shriek from hell itself.
Flames swallowed her.
Smoke cleared. Mira stood charred and breathing heavily, her right side seared raw.
But she wasn't alone.
She held Elowen by the neck, suspended in one arm. "You missed."
"Damn it," Rin muttered, eyes wide. "Elowen—!"
"I'm sorry," Elowen rasped out between gasps. She gripped Mira's arm, face red and strained.
"It's okay. She's done." Clyde stepped forward, blood still trickling from a cut across his cheek. "You can barely stand, Mira. Let Elowen go and we can end this without more pain."
Mira's gaze was steady, even as her skin blistered. "I didn't make it this far by trusting empty promises."
"Clyde." Rin moved closer, whispering sharply while keeping her eyes locked on Mira. "Reid's behind her. He's getting into position."
Mira smirked.
"Why not pull on the chain again?" she said, stepping just out of range. "Oh wait—you can't. You're out of options." Her hand flicked open, a dagger forming in a shimmer of blue light. She raised it to Elowen's throat. "If you'd surrendered to Astoria from the start, none of this would've happened. You started this war, not us."
Clyde didn't move. His hands shook.
"I never wanted this war," he said. "It's built on greed, not justice. But I'm not strong enough to end it. I can only stop it from getting worse."
Mira's voice turned cold. "Then let me help."
She dropped Elowen and spun, dagger slicing backward—aimed at Reid.
The blade drove into his chest.
He gasped and stumbled back, blood spilling down his coat.
"Reid!" Rin's scream cut through the battlefield. Flames erupted from her palms, but Clyde shouted over her.
"She's out of your range!"
He raised his bow again. Mira twisted aside, sidestepping the shot. She closed the distance in a blur of speed, ramming into Clyde. They crashed into the dirt.
Clyde tried to reach the chain again, but she slammed his hand down, her own glowing with mana. She reeled back for a final strike.
"You think you've won?" he growled. "After what you did to Reid, you've already lost."
Mira's fist slammed down.
Once.
Twice.
The ground split beneath them. Clyde's blood splashed across the stone.
Then—
Rin tackled Mira from the side, knocking her off balance. Both women tumbled across the battlefield.
Rin landed on top, eyes blazing. Her hands caught Mira's throat, black flames crawling down her arms. "How does it feel?! Huh?!" Her voice cracked, not with rage, but something deeper—raw memory.
Cain's hands. That suffocating darkness. Not again.
Mira smashed her forehead into Rin's. The blow knocked her loose. Rin collapsed onto her side, dazed.
Mira rose over her, staggering, her breaths shallow. She reached behind and unsheathed a sword.
"Glory to Astoria."
She lifted the blade above her head—and brought it down.
Clang.
The sword hit the dirt.
Mira's eyes widened as agony bloomed in her gut. She collapsed to her knees.
Behind her, Clyde stood with blood dripping down his face, one hand stretched forward. The chain between them trembled.
"I don't feel proud doing this." His voice was low. Flat. "Every time I snap one of these, I'm reminded the world isn't fair. That good people get swallowed by it."
He pulled.
The chain shattered.