My blade locks with Kane's.
For a brief moment, confusion crosses his face. His eyes flick to my weapon, as if trying to understand where it came from, how it even exists.
Then it's gone.
Focus returns.
His grip tightens. His stance steadies.
He pulls back and strikes again.
This time, I am ready.
I meet his blade with less effort. The impact travels through my arm, but it feels… lighter than before. I shift, deflect, and counter.
He blocks.
I grit my teeth.
It isn't enough.
Not yet.
He pauses for only a breath, studying me now.
"You're stronger than you look," he says, voice controlled but strained. "I underestimated you."
A grin spreads across my face, sharp and unnatural.
"Indeed."
I move.
I rush him.
My blade comes down again and again, relentless. Each strike feeds something inside me. Every clash, every deflection, every parry—
it builds.
I feel it returning.
Power.
Not fully. Not completely. But growing.
Faster.
Stronger.
I press harder. My swings become quicker, heavier, less controlled. Precision fades, replaced by something more primal.
I am no longer fighting.
I am consuming the moment.
I lose myself in it.
There is no Kane. No room. No watching eyes.
Only the clash.
Only the need to strike again.
And again.
And again.
My final swing comes with everything I have.
Kane raises his blade to meet it—
Our weapons collide.
His sword shatters.
The sound cracks through the room.
He stumbles back, shock breaking through his composure.
"How—"
He doesn't finish.
I drive my foot into his chest.
The impact sends him crashing into the wall behind him. Stone fractures on contact. His body slumps forward as blood spills from his mouth.
He gasps—
"Ignis—!"
The word barely leaves him before the mage moves.
She steps forward sharply, hands rising.
Energy forms instantly.
Chains burst from her hands, snapping through the air and wrapping around me—arms, torso, legs. They tighten with unnatural force, pulling me back, restraining, binding.
For a moment—
they hold.
Silence falls.
Then—
something inside me breaks.
My blood surges.
Heat floods my body, violent and overwhelming.
How dare they.
The thought cuts through everything.
How dare they bind me. Restrain me. Reduce me.
My breath turns ragged.
A low growl builds in my chest.
Then I roar.
I step forward.
The ground beneath my foot cracks.
The chains strain.
The mage stumbles slightly, dragged forward by the force.
Her expression falters.
"That… that's not possible…"
I take another step.
The chains tighten, digging in—but they no longer hold the same certainty. The mage's confidence begins to fracture.
The remaining warriors rush in, grabbing the chains, trying to anchor me in place, adding their weight to hers.
"Hold him!"
"Don't let him move!"
Their voices are tense now. No longer controlled. No longer certain.
Their fear is rising.
And I feel it.
It feeds me.
My anger sharpens.
"I will kill you all," I snarl, voice breaking into something raw. Spit and breath spill with the words, uncontrolled.
I take another step.
Dragging them.
All of them.
"I will not be denied."
I pull harder.
The chains strain to their limit. The warriors dig their feet into the ground, desperate to hold me back.
Then—
it happens.
The pressure inside me overflows.
For a moment—
everything stops.
My body goes still.
The chains hold.
The warriors freeze.
Relief flickers across their faces.
They think it's over.
They think they've won.
Then I move.
A single motion.
The chains shatter.
Fragments scatter across the ground like broken glass.
Silence.
Disbelief floods the room.
Before they can react—
I am gone.
And then—
I am in front of Kane.
He is still against the wall, weakened, struggling to breathe.
I stand over him.
My blade rises.
My eyes are empty.
Cold.
Unforgiving.
I bring it down—
"STOP!"
She moves.
Aphrodite throws herself between us.
Her body shields his.
Her arms spread as if that alone could stop me.
Tears stream down her face, uncontrolled.
"Please—don't!"
Her voice breaks.
Her entire body trembles, but she doesn't move.
She doesn't step aside.
Behind her, the others shout.
"Aphrodite, move!"
"Get away from him!"
"Now!"
She doesn't listen.
Her eyes stay locked on mine.
There is fear in them.
But more than that—
there is something else.
Desperation.
Not for herself.
For him.
For me.
My blade stops.
Just short.
The bloodlust is still there. Roaring. Demanding.
But her voice cuts through it.
Her tears—
they reach something.
Something buried beneath the violence.
My grip tightens.
Then loosens.
The blade trembles.
For the first time—
I hesitate.
The moment stretches.
Then—
I lower it.
The weapon dissolves into nothing.
The silence that follows is heavier than the battle.
I step back.
The hunger is still there.
But it is quieter.
Contained.
For now.
The warriors rush me again, tackling, grabbing, trying to force me down.
This time, I do not resist.
They push against me, struggling, thinking they are holding me in place.
I let them.
Their effort means nothing.
But I allow it.
Because for the first time since the battle—
I am not moving forward.