---
The air cracked like thunder as Korrin was sent flying, crashing into the wall of the mansion with such force that dust burst from the bricks like an explosion of ash. The wall cratered under the impact, but Korrin landed on his feet, sliding back as he steadied his breath. Blood trickled down the corner of his mouth, but he smiled.
"You've grown, Asher," Korrin said, voice echoing with pride and something more dangerous—excitement. "Faster. Stronger. You've finally stepped out of the shell of your fear."
Asher hovered in the air, his body glowing faintly with gravitational aura. His once crimson eyes now shone a brilliant white, mirroring Cassandra's mystical glow. Energy pulsed around him like a living storm, warping the ground beneath his feet, making pebbles float and distort in midair.
"I didn't grow stronger," Asher replied. "I just stopped holding back."
With a roar, Korrin lunged, vanishing into a burst of shadow. He emerged behind Asher mid-strike, his dagger aimed for the back of Asher's neck. But Asher twisted just in time, grabbing Korrin's wrist and spinning around, launching a gravity-charged punch into Korrin's ribs. The force sent ripples through the air like a meteor crash.
Korrin coughed but recovered instantly, slamming his foot into Asher's knee. Asher staggered but rebounded with a spiraling kick, reinforced by gravitational compression. Korrin deflected it with his shadow dagger, the blade glowing faintly with shadow runes.
Then, in an instant, their speed doubled.
They clashed across the battlefield in a flurry of strikes too fast for normal eyes. Korrin's shadows spiraled, forming wolves of darkness that lunged for Asher. Asher countered by compressing the wolves into marbles of energy, tossing them back like grenades.
Boom. Boom. Boom!
Each mini-gravity marble exploded midair, sending shockwaves in every direction. Korrin blurred from one shadow to another, appearing beneath Asher and slashing upward. Asher parried with a gravity-forged blade, locking the dagger mid-air.
"Impressive," Korrin whispered. "But not enough!"
From his other hand, a tendril of pure shadow wrapped around Asher's leg, using his shadow to drag him into the ground. But Asher has already foreseen it using Cassandra's power which he absorbed.
Asher responded by releasing a burst of gravitational inversion—flipping the gravity beneath him to launch himself into the sky. The tendril snapped with a shriek.
Asher then raised both hands. "Collapse."
The space behind Korrin distorted violently. The very fabric of reality began to fold inward, creating a gravitational anomaly—a black hole, small but immensely dense.
Korrin's eyes widened.
"Not again—!"
The black hole collapsed on him with the pull of a dying star. Time and light bent toward it, drawing in debris, dirt, and sound. But Korrin spun midair, his dagger glowing as he slashed upward—cutting space itself.
With a scream of cosmic defiance, the black hole shattered, torn apart by Korrin's blade. The resulting explosion lit the entire territory in brilliant, violet light. The shockwave flattened trees, burst windows across the mansion, and cracked the earth in a hundred directions. It was seen by every living soul under Asher's rule.
Inside the mansion, paintings fell off walls, chandeliers swayed violently, and the sound of distant roaring made even the guards tremble.
Asher barely managed to survive the blast by generating a gravity dome—a shimmering bubble that cracked under pressure, forcing him to kneel as his body bled from the strain.
Even after all that, Korrin landed gracefully, sliding on one knee, his clothes torn but his grin still in place.
"You really almost got me," Korrin chuckled. "But now I'm even more interested in pushing you further."
Asher stood, panting. He felt the demon within stir.
"HIS TOYING WITH US" The inner voice growled. "IF WE CAN'T GET A DROP OF BLOOD FROM HIM THEN TRY GETTING A STRAND OF HAIR FROM HIM THAT WAY WE CAN MATCH HIS SPEED"
"Fine," Asher replied mentally. "I guess I can do that?"
Asher rushed towards Korrin even though he knew that was a disadvantage.
Now they both were fighting close combat and Korrin had the upper hands but not too long.
---
Inside the Mansion…
The chaos outside echoed through the walls like the wrath of the gods. Dust fell from the ceilings as the walls trembled. Darian, bleeding heavily from the earlier clash, supported himself on a spear in one hand and his silo in the other, his face grim.
Talon was trembling, staring at Elias's lifeless body lying nearby, eyes still open, the life drained from them by Whisper's arrows. Fury bubbled in Talon like lava. Without warning, he screamed and charged.
"TALON! NO!" Darian shouted.
But it was too late.
Whisper stood calmly, her silver bow glowing with ethereal light. Talon came close, aiming a flaming punch. Whisper sidestepped, as another assassin general aim at his back .
Darian saw it before Talon did.
He dove.
The sword struck Darian in his spine causing fatal injuries.
Time slowed.
Talon's eyes widened in horror as Darian gasped, blood pouring from his mouth. He crumpled in front of Talon, shielding him from death. Darian looked up with a fading smile.
"Don't... be rash… idiot."
And then he fell, motionless.
"No… no…" Talon dropped to his knees, gripping Darian's shoulder. "This is my fault…"
Whisper stepped forward, her steps quiet and haunting. "He died for nothing."
She raised a dagger, preparing to strike.
But the blade never reached Talon.
CLANG!
A surge of sparks flew as the dagger was deflected mid-air by a whip-like blade.
Cassandra.
She stood tall, bloodied but alive, her white cloak torn, her arm still wrapped in Korrin's stabbing wound—but her eyes burned with purpose.
Whisper's mouth parted. "How are you still—? You should be dead."
Cassandra smiled darkly. "You think I'd die so easily?" She yanked off her coat, revealing a band of enchanted armor beneath—a gift from my teacher, reinforced with anti-shadow runes. " korrin stabbed my illusions."
Whisper's eyes narrowed. "So be it."
They lunged at each other, blades clashing in a blur. Whisper's speed was incredible—arrows flying mid-combat, daggers swinging in-between—but Cassandra matched her step-for-step, deflecting strikes with fluid elegance.
As they dueled, Talon knelt beside Darian's still body, whispering, "I'll fix this. I swear I will.As he tried to give Darian Ashers potion with a shaking hand but it didn't work.
Whisper's dagger struck Cassandra again. Blood spurted from fresh wounds as steel bit into her abdomen. Another slice opened along her thigh, and a third buried itself deep into her shoulder.
She staggered. She was bleeding—profusely.
And yet…
Cassandra smiled.
"You think I'll fall just because of a few stabs?" she said, eyes flickering with a radiant glow. "Do you know what it takes to kill a Seer?"
Whisper narrowed her eyes.
Cassandra took a slow step forward, dragging her blade, leaving a trail of blood behind her. "As long as my heart and brain are intact… this body will keep moving. I've seen a thousand futures, and in most of them—you fall."
Whisper's expression twisted in irritation. "Then let me carve a new future."
She lunged, both blades flashing. Cassandra intercepted one but allowed the second to stab her—on purpose. As it lodged itself into her ribs, she pivoted, locking Whisper's arm and kicking her back, yanking the blade free from her own body with a wince.
Blood poured. But she didn't stop.
Whisper leapt back, only to be tackled from behind by two large figures clad in regal military armor.
"Took you long enough," Cassandra muttered as two generals arrived—Captain Delmos and Commander Hayrik. Both were known as war-hardened beasts, each of them once battlefield legends stronger than even Whisper.
"You sure know how to throw a party," Hayrik said, cracking his knuckles. "We heard you were fighting alone and figured, 'Why let the lady steal all the glory?'"
Delmos nodded. "And we owe the young lord."
Whisper slashed at them, disappearing into the shadows—only to be caught mid-vanish by Hayrik's axe. His weapon was enchanted with light pulses, locking shadows in place.
"You can't hide here," he said, slamming her to the ground.
But Whisper didn't come alone.
From the ceiling, black tendrils snaked down to entangle the two generals. A mass of shadow emerged from the darkness, a summoned creature made entirely of liquid void. Whisper smirked as she backflipped into the beast's mass and began tearing through the two generals, overwhelming them with her combination of stealth and agility.
Then a voice rang out.
"Talon," Lyria whispered, grabbing his shoulder.
He was still kneeling, fists clenched, jaw trembling, staring at Darian's body.
"It's my fault… I let him die…"
"No, it's not," Garek said firmly. "But if you stay there sulking, you'll let more die."
Lyria stepped forward. "We need you. Cassandra is outnumbered. She won't last much longer."
Talon looked up, eyes shimmering with guilt… and then fury.
He stood.
"I'm going to kill her."
Lyria smiled softly. "There's the idiot we know."
Together, the three charged.
As Whisper summoned a new swarm of shadow daggers, and some assassin squared leader made more shadow attacks.
Talon burst through the mist with flames roaring from his fists. He moved like a meteor, targeting her head with a flurry of fiery strikes. Whisper dodged, flipping backward—only for Garek to appear beneath her, swinging his earth-forged hammer.
BAM!
The attack was blocked by an assassin using shadow force.
The force sent garek through a stone pillar.
he barely recovered when Lyria slashed at the assassin with water blades, cutting off her escape route and forcing her into a defensive spin.
Whisper tried to whistle again—her signature technique, a sound-based spell that could distort enemy balance and memory.
But the air fell silent.
She whistled again.
Nothing.
Her eyes widened.
Lyria summoned a sound spirit her palms glowing faintly with light-blue energy. "My silence spirit is active," she said, her voice calm but cold. "No one can hear your tricks now."
Whisper cursed in anger.
Now Cassandra returned to the front, one hand pressed to her wounds, the other holding her blade steady. "You had your fun," she said. "Now it's our turn."
Whisper and the assassins fought like a demon.
Shadow swimming—they disappeared into one soldier's shadow, appearing behind Lyria. But Lyria spun just in time, locking blades with one of them. The two danced through the hall, blades ringing in a symphony of violence. Every time Whisper tried to sneak into a shadow, Garek stomped the ground, sending light-infused shockwaves that disrupted her path. Talon, meanwhile, kept her from getting any breath, fire erupting with every swing of his fists.
The mansion trembled from the force of their combat. Cracks appeared in the ceiling. Stone debris fell.
But Whisper and the assassins ware losing.
Outnumbered. Her teams were being eliminated. Her tricks, neutralized.
And finally, as she tried to dive into Cassandra's shadow—
Cassandra struck her in the leg.
Whisper collapsed.
"Checkmate," Cassandra muttered, standing above her, soaked in blood but smiling as her eyes glowed.
---
Meanwhile… Outside
The battle between Korrin and Asher was still going—but it had reached another level.
Asher's breath came in short gasps. His vision blurred. The ground beneath him was cratered, as if small bombs had gone off with every movement. Debris floated in the air, caught in erratic gravity pulses.
Korrin stood just feet away, shirtless now, muscles laced with veins glowing black. His skin shimmered with dark energy, and his movements had gone from fast to… inhuman. He was vibrating at speeds Asher's eyes could barely register.
Each strike from Korrin now carried enough force to break stone.
Even as Asher grew faster—he couldn't keep up.
"LET ME CONSUME ANY PART OF HIS BODY AND I WILL GIVE YOU HIS POWERS"the inner demon whispered.
"I know, but he is too fast." Asher muttered.
"JUST A PIECE OF HIM.A FRAGMENT. A STRAND OF HAIR WILL DO."
Asher's eyes flared with resolve.
Korrin vanished—appearing above him like a falling star. Asher braced, taking a full-force kick to the chest. He flew backward, bouncing against the dirt like a pebble across a lake.
Before he hit the ground again, he activated a gravity shift—stopping mid-air—and used the pull to launch himself forward with deadly precision.
"Now!"
Asher focused on a single strand of Korrin's long silver hair, which fluttered like silk behind him.
Time slowed.
Gravity bent.
A tiny thread was plucked by sheer gravitational pressure—caught in a stasis field mid-air.
Got it.
Asher absorbed it instantly. The strand vanished into his core.
And everything changed.
His speed doubled.
No—tripled.
His muscles surged, fueled by the encoded power and genetic memory in the hair. He could suddenly read Korrin's micro-movements. He could feel the exact timing of his attacks. He knew which foot he would pivot on, what his breathing pattern meant, even the slight tension in his muscles before each strike.
" NOW LETS SHOW THAT BASTARD; WHEN A PREY BECOME'S THE PREDICTOR"
But with it came at a cost of flooded information—memories.
Cassandra and Korrin memories stormed into Asher's mind.
A dark memory of Korrin mixed with light memory of Cassandra at once.
The influx was overwhelming. Asher staggered.
"No… not now…"
"UH OH"
Korrin saw the hesitation and struck.
Asher barely deflected it.
The distraction nearly cost him the fight. More memories crashed into his mind—moments of pain, rage, betrayal. Korrin's hatred of his own reflection. His desire to surpass himself.
His belief that Asher… was the key.
The two continued to fight, but slower now. Each was exhausted.
Their strikes were still sharp—dagger meeting gravity blade. Fist meeting jaw. Blood dripping.
Korrin smiled even as he staggered. "You're stronger than I imagined."
Asher replied between breaths. "So are you…"
At the same time, their final blows came.
Gravity and shadows collided—two ultimate forces clashing one last time.
Then silence.
The winds stopped.
Their bodies crashed to the ground, each landing sideways, stretched out… the tips of their fingers only inches apart.
Both unconscious.
Both smiling.
A draw.
---