Long Chapter. Enjoy✌️
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[Dominic's POV]
The man tried to pull his blade back.
It didn't move.
Not even a millimetre.
The man's grin twitched slightly.
"…Huh."
For a brief moment, there was something almost human in his expression.
Surprise.
Not fear.
Not yet.
Just recalibration.
Like the world had briefly violated an expectation he had relied on for too long.
I tilted my head slightly, still holding his blade between two fingers.
The metal continued to strain under my grip.
It wasn't just steel.
It was layered—reinforced with enchantment, compression seals, and something that felt disturbingly close to spatial anchoring.
And yet—
it still didn't move.
"Is that your full swing?" I asked calmly.
Silence.
Behind him, one of the seven shifted slightly.
Another rotated their blade once, slower now.
Observation replacing boredom.
The leader finally exhaled through his nose, grin returning—but thinner.
