As the creeping black energy finally dispersed, Lena felt as though a heavy shackle had been lifted from her body.
Her breathing steadied.
Her balance returned, followed by her speed, flowing back into her limbs as naturally as blood through veins.
When she stepped forward, light and precise like she always had, she heard it—a faint, cheerful sound, almost like a bell ringing in the distance.
Lena stopped and lowered her stance.
With this speed… she could catch it.
That hateful black thing.
She was still suppressing the foreign energy clawing at her body, forcing it down with everything she had. Because of that, her strength was only slightly stronger than usual.
But it didn't matter.
That power was never hers to begin with.
"…Ah."
A strange sensation welled up inside her chest.
It felt like she could do it again.
Like she could replicate that day's strike.
Her fist felt light.
Too light.
The memory surfaced vividly—
The cave.
The suffocating darkness.
