He tried to tear her apart with doubt, forcing her to face every death she felt responsible for, every night she questioned whether she had chosen the right path.
She closed her eyes.
And instead of defending, she decided to act.
She stepped forward,straight into his mind.
Corvin froze.
"What are you… doing?"
"You doubted too," she said quietly.
"You just learned to hide it."
A crack rang out in the void.
His form shuddered.
Outside, the black mass began to split into two unequal parts.
Corvin snarled and tried to push her away, but Anna had already woven herself into his stream, disrupting the rhythm, shattering his focus.
"You rule through fear," she continued, her voice sounding inside him.
"But you're terrified of becoming unnecessary. Terrified that one day they'll choose someone else."
Those words struck harder than any attack.
The outer vortex flared brighter.
A sharp, explosive clap rang out,and two figures tore free from the black mass back into the material world.
Anna landed on one knee, breathing heavily, hair disheveled, a thin trickle of dark blood running down her temple.
Corvin staggered back several steps.
Dark blood appeared on his lips.
He looked at her,and for the first time wild aggression flashed in his eyes.
Anna slowly rose, wiping the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand.
Corvin wiped the dark blood from his lips with the back of his hand and gave a slow, mocking smile.
"So you really want to consume me," he said quietly, all traces of polite society gone from his voice.
Anna gave no answer.
She simply took a step forward.
And the stage beneath their feet cracked,a long, zigzag fracture raced across the wood, as though the space itself could no longer withstand the tension between them.
He attacked first.
Corvin vanished.
Not completely,his body fragmented. His legs remained solid and heavy, while the upper half of his torso dissolved into a flowing black stream.
He surged forward, leaving a trail of living darkness behind him, and materialized at Anna's side,his elbow already flying toward her temple with force enough to shatter stone.
Anna was ready.
Her head dissolved into diffuse Luft for a fraction of a second; the blow passed through her like smoke. In the next instant she solidified again and countered,her palm, hard as steel, slammed into his chest.
A dull, wet clap echoed.
Corvin flew backward but didn't fall,his back dissolved into black mass at the moment of impact, absorbing the force of the blow.
He glided through the air and landed softly, as though gravity had lost its hold over him.
"You've gotten faster," he said, genuine surprise in his voice.
"You've become predictable," Anna replied calmly.
He launched himself without another word.
Their bodies moved so fast that the human eye saw only blurred shadows and flashes of black smoke.
Corvin struck straight at her torso.
Anna caught his arm, but his forearm instantly turned to fluid smoke, slipped from her grip, and rematerialized behind her back.
He attempted a chokehold.
Anna dropped low, turning her shoulders to Luft; his fingers closed on empty air. She spun on her heel and drove her foot into his knee.
Bone cracked loudly and sickeningly.
But the fracture immediately filled with black mass,the joint dissolved and reformed, whole again.
Corvin stepped forward, no longer careful. He raised his arm,and the entire limb from shoulder to fingertips turned into a dense, elongated mass of darkness, sharpened like a spear.
He swung it in a wide arc.
Anna barely dodged; the edge of the "spear" sliced the air an inch from her face, shearing off a lock of hair. She grabbed his forearm,part of the limb simply dissolved.
Corvin disintegrated completely.
The black vortex soared upward, spun beneath the ceiling, and crashed down behind her.
Anna turned too late.
A knee strike to her back hurled her toward the edge of the stage. Boards splintered with a crack; she slid downward, but in mid-fall her body became almost weightless,Luft canceled the inertia.
She pushed off the floor and soared upward.
In mid-air their bodies collided.
Anna caught him by the throat and, using the momentum, threw him over her shoulder.
During the throw her arms became solid and heavy as steel, while his back turned diffuse to soften the impact.
Corvin rolled and immediately attacked with a rapid series,elbow, knee, spinning heel kick.
Anna blocked, but each block required perfect timing,if she made any part of her body too solid, it would become vulnerable to the next strike.
He closed the distance sharply and struck with an open palm to her chest.
This time Anna didn't fully dissolve in time.
The blow landed on flesh.
She staggered back one step; dark blood appeared on her lips.
Corvin seized the moment,his body split into three dark streams that for a fraction of a second looked like three silhouettes. They encircled her.
And materialized simultaneously.
Three strikes.
Anna shielded herself with her arms, but one still found its mark,blood sprayed brighter.
A restrained, frightened murmur rippled through the hall.
Elizabeth clenched her fists, eyes blazing as she watched Corvin.
"He's overwhelming her with speed…" she whispered.
Gérard watched without blinking.
"She's learning," he said quietly.
On stage Anna straightened.
Her breathing steadied.
She closed her eyes for just a second.
When she opened them, a thin, perfectly even halo of darkness flared around her.