The air trembled.
Lira stepped forward.
Yuwen didn't move.
Didn't dodge.
Didn't retreat.
His grin remained—
Wild.
Unshaken.
"…Come," he said.
Lira nodded.
"…Okay."
She punched.
No wind-up.
No hesitation.
Just—
Punch.
BOOOOOOOOM.
The world broke.
Not cracked.
Not split.
Broken.
The ground collapsed beneath them.
A crater formed instantly—
Then expanded—
Then erased everything within it.
The shockwave tore through the forest.
Flames vanished.
Trees disintegrated.
Even the sky seemed to ripple.
At the center—
Yuwen blocked.
For a moment.
Just a moment.
His arm held.
His stance firm.
Then—
CRACK.
Something gave.
His bones.
His guard shattered.
The force went through.
Not around.
Not past.
Through.
His body bent.
Twisted.
Launched.
He disappeared into the distance—
Faster than sound—
Carving a line through the land itself.
Mountains in the far horizon—
Shook.
Then—
BOOM.
Impact.
Silence followed.
Complete.
Even the battlefield forgot how to move.
Lira blinked.
"…Oh."
She looked at her fist.
"…Strong."
Far away—
At the end of destruction—
Yuwen lay in a crater.
His body—
Broken.
Not injured.
Not damaged.
Broken.
Bones shattered.
Organs failing.
Breath barely there.
For the first time—
The General of Wrath…
Couldn't stand.
"…Ha…" a weak laugh escaped him.
Blood filled his mouth.
"…So this… is death…?"
His vision blurred.
Darkness creeping in.
That overwhelming force—
Still echoing through his body.
"…One punch…"
His fingers twitched.
"…Just one…"
Back on the battlefield—
Kael stared.
Speechless.
"…That was…" a soldier whispered.
"…just one hit…"
Kael didn't respond.
Because even he—
Had underestimated it.
Not her strength.
But the gap.
Between her…
And everything else.
Lira looked around.
"…Finished?"
Kael snapped out of it.
"…No," he said immediately.
She tilted her head.
"…No?"
"…He's not dead yet."
Lira blinked.
"…Oh."
She turned—
Preparing to walk.
"…Finish?"
Kael's eyes widened slightly.
"…Wait—"
Too late.
She took a step.
The ground cracked again.
Far away—
In the crater—
Yuwen's eye opened.
Barely.
But enough.
He felt it.
That presence.
Coming closer.
Death—
Walking toward him.
And for the first time—
The General of Wrath felt it clearly.
Not excitement.
Not battle hunger.
But something far more human.
Fear.
"…Heh…" he rasped weakly.
"…So this… is what it feels like…"
Lira arrived.
She looked down at him.
"…Still alive."
She raised her hand.
Simple.
Casual.
"…Finish."
Yuwen stared up at her.
Broken.
Bleeding.
Dying.
And smiled.
"…Do it."
No fear now.
Only acceptance.
But before she could move—
"LIRA."
Kael's voice cut through everything.
Sharp.
Absolute.
Her hand stopped.
Mid-air.
"…Don't."
She blinked.
"…Don't?"
Kael stepped forward.
Eyes locked on her.
"…Stand down."
Silence.
Lira looked at Yuwen.
Then back at Kael.
Thinking.
Slowly.
"…Okay."
Her hand lowered.
Yuwen exhaled.
A breath he didn't think he'd get.
"…Saved… by a command…"
He laughed weakly.
"…Pathetic…"
Kael stood over him.
"…No," he said coldly.
"…You're lucky."
Yuwen closed his eyes.
"…Yeah…"
Far away—
Something stirred.
A presence.
Watching.
Because a General had fallen.
Not defeated.
But brought to the brink.
By a single punch.
And the war—
Had just changed.
To Be Continued…