The man fell quiet. His eyes darkened, calm as a frozen abyss. Slowly, he adjusted the white cloth over his eyes once more, fingers steady despite the chaos around them.
"Human," he called, voice low and steady. "What's your name?"
Althric stood tall, shoulders squared. In a voice cold as steel, he answered, "Althric."
"Althric," the man echoed, a faint smile touching his lips. "What a heroic name. In our world, it's tradition—when we face an opponent strong enough, we take their name to honor them before unleashing our true power. I am Faelion Starbane. Call me Faelion."
The words lingered in the dust-choked air like a death sentence. Before Faelion could advance, a groan cut through the silence from the far wall.
The girl pushed herself up, clutching her shattered wrist. Silver-white hair matted with blood and dust, she hissed through clenched teeth. Golden eyes blazed with fury as she rose, dragon-scale blade scraping across the floor.
"Pathetic insect," she spat. "You dare interrupt our mission? I'll carve out your heart and feed it to the void."
She blurred forward, faster than before. Her broken wrist knit together in golden threads. The blade ignited with crimson fire as she slashed at Althric's throat.
He didn't dodge.
Althric stepped inside the arc, catching her wrist mid-swing. Steel rang against steel. Her eyes widened in shock.
"Impossible—"
He twisted. Bone snapped louder this time. She screamed, but the cry died as his elbow slammed into her sternum, lifting her off the ground. He drove her back into the wall with crushing force. Plaster exploded. Cracks spiderwebbed across the concrete.
The blindfolded man moved at last.
Faelion drew his sword in one fluid motion. Golden threads erupted from the blade like living veins. The air thickened, temperature plunging as reality warped around him.
"You are no ordinary human," he said, eerily calm. "But you will still die here."
He attacked without hesitation.
His sword carved golden trails through the air like razor wire. Althric parried the first strike, sparks flying. The second shattered the remaining windows. The third sent shockwaves through the room. Faelion's blindfold glowed brighter with every clash, seeing every move before it happened.
There is something strange about your power. It is not the same as that one.
Althric stayed locked on him, guard never dropping. You said I am different. You are right. I am a failed knight who couldn't defend his comrade and arrived too late.
Behind them, the girl healed in seconds, wounds closing under golden light. Faelion pulled back, releasing the blade lock.
"Faelion, he's no ordinary human," she growled. "He's different. We have no choice. I didn't want to use that technique, but… buy me time. Forget the corpse—we've done our job. With him here, we can't take the body. The queen will be furious. I'll handle the rest. Let's escape and report back."
Faelion stepped aside, letting her take the lead. Without lowering her guard, she attacked again. She vanished and reappeared in bursts, striking from every angle.
Althric blocked each blow, thunder ringing with every clash. He felt her power building, something far deadlier coming.
Then she stopped mid-air.
The girl raised her dragon-scale blade high with both hands. Golden threads from her cloak ignited, flowing upward and turning pitch-black mid-flow. The room froze. The blade reshaped into a spectral dragon's maw. A deafening roar—ancient elven chant fused with a dragon's dying cry—shook the floor.
"Eternal Veil: Dragon's Lament!"
She slashed downward.
A black-gold beam exploded like a falling star. On impact, it burst into hundreds of lament shards—razor dragon-fangs of pure golden darkness. They phased through Althric's armor and skin as if he were smoke.
The shards burrowed deep.
His eyes widened. A primal growl tore from his throat. His own shadow rebelled.
Black thorns erupted from inside him, ripping through muscle and bone. One punched out his shoulder in a spray of blood. Another tore from his thigh. A third burst from his chest, cracking ribs. Golden threads coated each thorn, drinking his life force and feeding it back to the girl. She grew stronger, eyes glowing brighter.
The pain was hell—fire and ice tearing through every nerve. Thorns twisted deeper with every twitch, shredding organs. Blood poured from his mouth, ears, and fresh wounds. His vision flashed white. Knees buckled.
Althric dropped to one knee, sword clattering beside him. Thorns wrapped his spine like barbed wire. Breathing came in wet, ragged gasps. Each inhale drove them deeper; each exhale sprayed more blood.
The girl landed lightly, smiling with savage triumph. "Feel it, knight. Your shadow is eating you alive. The more you fight, the more it kills you. Stay down."
Faelion stepped forward, sword raised. "It's over. You bought us the time we needed."
Althric's hands shook. Blood dripped from his chin. Thorns pulsed, draining him faster. Yet his crimson eyes burned with something darker, far more dangerous.
A low, broken laugh escaped his bloodied lips.
"…That all you got?"
The lights flickered violently.
His shadow surged, covering the room like a living eclipse. A chill crawled down the elves' spines. The thorns shattered and dissolved into harmless wisps. Althric rose, radiating raw ancient energy that made glass tremble. Crimson light blazed in his eyes.
"You said it's over," he growled, voice thunderous. "But I think it's just beginning. Hey, blindfold… you said I feel different. Yes. But not the way you think."
His body healed in an instant. Every wound sealed. Golden threads burned away like paper in fire. I am a knight who would protect his king, his queen, and his comrades—even if it costs my own life.
Faelion smiled coldly. "Admirable… but futile."
He untied the blindfold. Pitch-black eyes swirled with golden galaxies, staring into fate itself. Golden threads surged outward, forming a massive rotating sphere of black-and-gold energy around the office. Time stuttered. A cosmic hum filled the air.
Faelion swung his sword in a horizontal arc.
"Eternal Veil: Starbane's Eclipse!"
A golden eclipse wave exploded in a perfect 360 degrees. Invisible Starbane Chains phased through Althric's armor, skin, and bones, wrapping his soul. Muscles locked. Mind stayed conscious.
Pain crashed like a collapsing universe.
He couldn't scream. The chains forced him to relive Daiki's death—blade through the heart, blood spraying, final tear, body hitting the floor—over and over. Each loop stretched into hours. Blood seeped from his eyes, ears, pores, golden-tinged.
The true horror was the poison. Golden galaxies left a venom of starlight and void in the chains. It seeped into his veins like liquid fire and ice, burning away healing. His shadow fought, but the poison spread faster, infecting muscle, organs, bones. Every heartbeat brought fresh agony.
Vision blurred. Knees gave out. Althric crashed down, paralyzed, blood pooling beneath him. The chains tightened, then shattered, leaving him broken.
The girl exhaled in relief. "It's done. Even he couldn't resist that."
Faelion retied the blindfold. "He survives… for now. The Starbane poison will ensure he never fully recovers. Let the Ninth King feel this loss."
Althric lay there, chest heaving in shallow, tortured breaths. Poison burned deeper, relentless. Yet defiance still flickered in his crimson eyes.
The elves stepped back into thickening shadows, the realm between worlds opening. "Mission complete," Faelion whispered.
Before they vanished, Althric's body moved on pure will. A weak blade forged from shadow lashed out, carving a shallow scratch across Faelion's arm.
Faelion turned, retying the cloth. "I must say, you are a formidable foe, Althric the knight."
Silence fell over the office, broken only by Althric's ragged breathing and distant sirens wailing below.
A single drop of poisoned blood hit the floor, hissing like acid and eating through the carpet.
The night was far from over.