The younger brother studied Eric carefully, head tilted slightly as if examining a specimen that had refused to die when it should have.
“You should be unconscious.”
Eric rolled his shoulders despite the tearing pain in his back. Something in his spine protested sharply, and his burned palms throbbed with every subtle movement. He ignored it.
“I get that a lot.”
The elder brother’s sharp gaze narrowed, calculating, observant. There was no anger in his expression—only cold assessment.
“You’re still standing,” he said softly. “Why?”
Eric flexed his blistered fingers. Weak flames flickered over charred skin, trembling but alive, thin streams of fire coiling around his knuckles like stubborn serpents refusing to extinguish.
“Because,” he replied hoarsely, “I haven’t decided to fall yet.”
The younger brother lifted his chain again. The links scraped lightly against stone, a metallic whisper that carried through the clearing.
“This time,” he said calmly, “I’ll break your spine.”
Eric spat blood onto the dirt and bared his teeth in something between a grin and a snarl.
“Try it.”
Kael stepped up beside him, posture straight despite the tension hanging heavy in the air.
“I think the elder one can foresee attacks,” Kael said quietly.
Eric didn’t take his eyes off the brothers. “Explain.”
“He reacted before your fire bullet appeared. He knew I was connecting shadows before I finished. He’s not just fast. He’s predicting intent.”
Eric’s jaw tightened slightly. “So he sees the future?”
“Not exactly. It feels closer than that. He reads killing intent. Movement before movement.”
“That makes sense…” Eric muttered. “But how does that help?”
Kael’s eyes sharpened.
“We switch. I’ll take the younger. You take the elder. If you keep attacking him nonstop, he’ll focus on reading you. That distraction gives me an opening.”
Eric’s grin widened despite the blood at his lips.
“A team-up, huh? Fine. As long as I get to beat someone’s face in, I don’t care.”
The younger brother flicked his wrist without warning.
The anchor dagger shot toward them again—fast, precise—meant to disrupt their coordination before it fully formed.
Kael vanished sideways in a blur of black and silver.
The blade carved through empty air, splitting a tree trunk cleanly behind them.
In the same breath, Kael dashed straight toward the younger brother.
The chain snapped back and lashed outward like a striking serpent, but Kael weaved through it with impossible timing—steel passing within inches of his ribs, close enough to tug at his clothes.
Lightning crackled violently in his palm.
A spear of condensed lightning formed instantly, its tip vibrating with compressed power. The air around it hummed.
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Without slowing—
He hurled it.
The younger brother crossed his crescent anchor blade defensively. Sparks burst at the point of impact.
BOOM.
The explosion of light and force blasted outward. The younger brother’s boots carved two long trenches into the earth as he was driven backward nearly thirty meters. Smoke rose from the surface of his blade, faint scorch marks marking its otherwise pristine steel.
He licked his lip slowly, eyes gleaming with something close to excitement.
“Now we’re talking.”
He adjusted his grip, chain tightening around his forearm.
Kael was already in front of him.
Their weapons clashed in a blur—steel grinding against shadow-forged blades that formed and dissolved in Kael’s hands. Each strike rang sharp, the tempo accelerating rapidly.
The younger brother spun low, the chain whipping around Kael’s ankle.
Kael twisted mid-motion and sliced it free with a shadow edge before it could constrict.
The anchor blade expanded mid-swing, doubling in size without warning. Kael ducked just in time; the enlarged edge shaved off strands of his hair and split the air with a heavy whoosh.
“You’re quick,” the younger brother remarked, pivoting smoothly.
The chain contracted instantly, then shot forward again in a stabbing thrust. Kael parried with a shadow blade, but the anchor split into two smaller arcs mid-flight. One scraped across his sleeve, slicing fabric and grazing skin.
Blood dotted the air.
The younger brother pressed aggressively now, shifting the chain’s size unpredictably—small and precise, then suddenly massive and crushing. Each transformation forced Kael to adjust distance and angle rapidly.
A spinning kick from the younger brother connected solidly with Kael’s ribs.
The impact thundered.
Kael slid backward several meters, boots skidding across the dirt. Pain radiated through his side, but he steadied immediately.
“Is that it?” the younger brother taunted.
Kael exhaled slowly.
His shadow thickened beneath his feet, deepening like liquid ink spreading across the clearing.
When the chain shot forward again—
It dipped slightly into the darkened area.
Just enough.
A brief hesitation.
A mistake.
Kael stepped inside the younger brother’s range, closing the distance before the chain could build full momentum.
His elbow slammed hard into the younger brother’s ribs.
A sharp grunt escaped him.
At the same instant, a shadow spike erupted upward and grazed the younger brother’s shoulder, slicing through cloth and skin. Blood spilled down his arm.
The younger brother hissed and leapt back, chain retracting protectively.
Kael didn’t give him room to breathe.
Lightning-coated fist—
Impact against forearm.
Shadow blade—
Slash across the thigh.
A shallow cut opened, drawing more blood.
The younger brother was forced back again, boots skidding, balance adjusting under constant pressure.
Meanwhile—
Eric charged the elder brother without hesitation.
His first punch split the air where the elder brother’s head had been a fraction of a second earlier.
Kick—
Dodged by a subtle shift of weight.
Flame-coated elbow—
Avoided by less than an inch.
Every strike Eric threw was devastating—heavy enough to break bone, fast enough to crack stone—but the elder brother shifted just enough each time.
Not hurried.
Not panicked.
Precise.
“You’re predictable,” the elder brother said calmly, stepping aside from another explosive punch.
Eric growled low in his throat.
He changed rhythm abruptly—two quick jabs, then a delayed heavy hook.
The elder brother leaned back, letting the hook graze past his chin.
Eric followed instantly with a knee strike—
Blocked.
The elder brother’s crescent blade flashed free in one fluid motion.
He stepped in.
A clean, lethal arc aimed for Eric’s neck
Eric saw it but it was too late to dodge.
Before the blade could connect
Kael’s shadow shot across the ground and snapped around Eric’s ankle.
In a blink
It pulled him sideways.
Eric reappeared at the elder brother’s blind spot.
The elder brother’s blade sliced through empty air.
For the first time, something flickered in his eyes—miscalculation.
Eric didn’t hesitate.
He twisted his hips and drove his fist—packed with condensed explosive force—straight into the elder brother’s face.
CRACK.
The impact sounded like stone shattering. The elder brother’s head snapped violently to the side. Blood sprayed from his mouth as his body was launched across the clearing.
He hit the ground hard.
Rolled once.
Twice.
Then skidded to a stop several meters away, carving a shallow trail in the dirt.
Silence lingered for half a breath.
For the first time—
He had been hit.
Eric exhaled heavily, shoulders rising and falling. Blood dripped steadily from his chin. His burned hands trembled faintly.
Kael stood several paces away, shadow retracting slightly after the maneuver.
The younger brother wiped blood from his shoulder, eyes narrowing as he glanced toward his fallen sibling.
The elder brother slowly pushed himself up from the ground.
Blood ran from the corner of his mouth, but his expression remained eerily composed.
He touched his cheek lightly.
Looked at the blood on his fingers.
Then his gaze lifted to Eric.
“…Good,” he said quietly.
Eric cracked his neck, ignoring the sting.
“Took you long enough.”
The elder brother adjusted his grip on the crescent blade. " This going to be fun".
