The sun continued its ascent over the horizon.
The light pierced through the dust that still hung over the fortified passage.
Extensive cracks ran across the stone.
Fragments remained scattered across the ground.
In the distance...
BOOOOOOM!
A thunderous boom echoed through the passage.
The stone trembled under the impact.
Even so...
None of the four figures moved.
The wind passed through the space between them.
Tazir calmly removed the pipe from his lips.
His eyes passed over Selvaria.
"Winter Valkyrie."
A thin stream of smoke escaped his lips.
His eyes settled on Roven.
"And eyes..."
Tazir paused briefly.
His gaze lingered for an instant over the right side of his face.
"No."
A small smile appeared on his lips.
"I suppose I should call you Gray Eye now."
Roven did not answer immediately.
His single eye remained fixed on Tazir.
For a few moments...
A brief sigh left his lips.
"I didn't know the servants of the Temple placed so much importance on titles."
His voice came out low.
Almost indifferent.
"Perhaps they serve better than I imagined."
Tazir smiled.
A small smile.
Almost satisfied.
He placed the pipe back between his lips.
"Unpleasant personalities..."
His eyes passed over Roven.
They slid toward Alaric.
"I'm beginning to believe it's a characteristic of men who serve great causes."
Selvaria's eyes shifted briefly toward Tazir.
Roven's narrowed slightly.
Alaric did not move.
Only his gaze slowly slid toward Tazir.
"Choose more carefully what you decide to say aloud."
His voice came out low.
Cold.
"And limit yourself to what you were sent here to do."
Tazir's pale gray eyes held Alaric's.
For a few moments...
Neither of them said a word.
Then...
Tazir removed the pipe from his lips.
"You're right."
His hand lowered to the katana.
His eyes turned toward Roven.
For a few moments...
He simply watched him.
Roven's single eye remained fixed on him.
Tazir smiled faintly.
"We'll see if the mind of the man whose intelligence is said to be surpassed only..."
His fingers wrapped around the sword's hilt.
"...by the Marshal of the Silent Storm..."
SHING...
The blade slowly left the sheath.
"...is truly as sharp as they say."
The steel emerged beneath the light of dawn.
Silver.
Almost white.
The perfectly polished edge bore not a single mark.
Small inscriptions ran along one side of the blade.
Ancient.
Delicate.
Almost imperceptible from a distance.
Symbols associated with truth, justice, and judgment.
Tazir slightly tilted the blade.
The light of dawn ran along the edge.
In the next instant...
It disappeared.
FWOOSH!
Behind Roven...
The katana was already cutting toward his neck.
CLANG!
The blades met.
The metallic sound tore through the passage.
A few centimeters from Roven's neck...
The two edges remained pressed against each other.
His left eye opened.
Under the morning light...
The dull-brown pupil revealed itself to be slit.
Slowly...
His gaze slid toward the corner.
Tazir's body was slightly inclined.
In his left hand...
The pipe remained between his fingers.
A thin stream of smoke rose beside his face.
A small smile remained on his lips.
"It would be a shame to discover the answer only by talking."
Roven did not answer.
He discreetly adjusted his fingers over the hilt of the blade.
Then...
He twisted his wrist.
CLANG!
Tazir's katana was deflected to the side.
At the same instant...
The second blade was already coming from the other side.
FWOOSH!
Tazir pulled his body out of the line.
The edge passed close to his neck.
His foot slid backward.
Roven advanced with him.
The first blade returned.
CLANG!
Tazir intercepted.
The second came from beneath the contact.
Tazir twisted his hips.
SHHK!
The edge passed in front of his abdomen.
His foot slid out of the line.
Roven advanced with him.
The first blade came before Tazir could regain the front.
CLANG!
Tazir intercepted.
The impact pushed his katana close to his shoulder.
Roven's second blade was already coming from below.
Tazir saw the edge rise.
He twisted his wrist.
SCREEECH!
His katana slid out from the pressure of the first blade.
At the same time...
He retreated diagonally.
SHHK!
The second edge passed in front of his ribs.
Roven occupied the space left behind.
One step.
Then another.
Tazir continued yielding along the side of the passage.
Roven continued pressing him.
The first blade advanced again.
Tazir deflected the edge with his katana.
CLANG!
He twisted his wrist.
SCREEECH!
He let Roven's blade slip past the side.
And answered.
FWOOSH!
The katana came toward his neck.
Roven tilted his body.
The edge passed over his shoulder.
Tazir advanced into his own strike.
He tried to recover the space he had yielded.
Roven crossed the second blade in front of him.
CLANG!
Tazir was forced out to the side again.
His foot touched the stone.
He pushed off.
FWOOSH!
This time...
He did not yield.
He entered.
The katana advanced through the opening between the two blades.
Roven closed the line.
CLANG!
The edges met.
Tazir spun outward.
Roven followed.
FWOOSH!
CLANG!
Another contact.
Tazir changed the angle.
Roven took the space.
CLANG!
Another step.
Several more meters fell behind them.
Tazir attacked.
Roven intercepted.
CLANG!
Roven answered.
Tazir left the line.
FWOOSH!
The two continued advancing through the passage.
One pressing.
The other yielding.
Then reversing.
CLANG!
CLANG!
Until...
The next sound came from farther away.
CLANG!
In the distance...
Roven and Tazir continued exchanging blows.
CLANG!
The wind passed between the two who remained.
Selvaria's silver cloak moved slowly behind her body.
A few strands of her long black hair crossed her face before being carried away by the wind again.
The light of dawn traveled across the ivory-white armor.
Revealed the deep dents.
The cuts that crossed the plates.
Even so...
Her posture remained impeccable.
The Claymore rested in her hand.
The tip of the long blade hovered near the destroyed stone.
Her ice-blue eyes did not leave Alaric's.
He held her gaze.
"I confess that I no longer remember the last time..."
He paused briefly.
"...that we stood face to face, Selvaria."
Selvaria remained silent for a moment.
Her eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.
"It has been thirteen years since Lysara's burial."
Her voice came out low.
"But I suppose it is difficult to keep the memory..."
A strand of her black hair crossed her face.
She did not move it away.
"...of something you never loved."
Alaric remained motionless.
No change appeared on his face.
"I understand."
His voice remained as calm as before.
"Kaizer also came to demand answers in the name of the past."
Alaric's blue eyes remained cold.
"I did not imagine you would choose to repeat his mistake."
Selvaria remained silent for a moment.
Her fingers discreetly tightened around the hilt of the Claymore.
"There was a time..."
Her voice remained serene.
"...when you did not need to hide behind the weakness of others, Alaric."
"Your sword was enough."
Alaric remained motionless.
His eyes shifted away for an instant.
In the distance...
Roven and Tazir moved through the passage in a succession of rapid strikes.
His gaze lingered on Roven's figure.
"Seems this time you decided..."
His eyes returned to Selvaria.
"...not to leave the past entirely in the hands of its owners."
Selvaria did not answer immediately.
She began to walk.
The tip of the Claymore followed her steps,
hovering just above the destroyed stone.
Beneath her feet...
A thin layer of ice began to spread through the cracks.
Slowly.
Following each step.
"I believe you now know where the comparison ends."
The ice advanced across the destroyed stone.
Small crystals formed between the fragments of rock.
The air grew colder.
"What you found in Kaizer will not be waiting for you this time."
Alaric's expression did not change.
He followed her approach in silence.
His voice came out low.
"Sól."
The word left his lips amid a thin white mist.
The light of dawn seemed to answer.
Small luminous fragments detached themselves from the air around his fingers.
They slowly converged into his right hand.
A golden glow began to condense.
First...
The outline of a hilt.
Then...
A blade elongated from it.
Until a sword of light rested in his hand.
Alaric began to walk.
Selvaria did not interrupt her own steps.
The ice continued advancing beneath her boots.
One step.
Another.
Then...
FWOOSH!
The two disappeared.
CLAAAAANG!
The golden sword met the Claymore diagonally.
The impact exploded between them.
The two blades remained crossed.
At the point where the edges met...
Small crystals began to form over Alaric's sword.
Slowly...
The ice advanced along the golden blade.
Between the crossed edges...
Golden light reflected across the steel covered by a thin layer of ice.
Selvaria's ice-blue eyes met Alaric's.
Neither of them yielded.