Without warning, without even a flicker of movement, Kael vanished.
He became lightning.
In a blink, he reappeared before Nerissa, scythe already in motion. The air cracked with force as he swung downward, so fast and sharp that violet streaks burned across the space behind the blade, painting the air with trails of fury.
The strike was aimed straight for her neck.
Lethal. Precise. Merciless.
And yet… Nerissa didn't even look at him.
She remained in her bath of blood, serene and undisturbed, as if nothing, not even death, could interrupt her ritual.
But just before the blade reached her….
One appeared.
Like a shadow pulled from nothing, he manifested between them, intercepting the strike with his own black sword, forged from void and malice.
BOOM!!
Steel met steel.
The sound of the clash echoed like thunder, shaking the chamber with its fury.
But it wasn't enough.
