The air is burning.
Each second stretches, distorted by heat and adrenaline.
Energy blasts tear through the space, crackling like whips of light.
The SCOD Knights march forward, methodical.
Their boots hammer the scorched ground.
Their black armor gleams under the explosions.
They show no doubt.
They think everything will crumble.
But they still don't know one crucial thing.
Tonight... they're the ones who'll fall.
Érode strikes.
Ésha moves before the hit.
A blur of shadow. A breath.
Her Khanjar blades flash in the dust,
slicing the air like silver comets.
CLANG.
A parry.
Then an opening.
Her blade grazes his throat.
Érode steps back.
Too slow.
A slash opens on his arm.
Blood bursts—dark and sharp.
— Ésha (through a frozen breath):
"You made me a promise, mercenary.
And I fully intend to keep it."
Érode roars.
A blast of energy erupts beneath him.
Ésha is flung, slamming into a steel plate.
A red splatter stains the metal.
But she rises.
Her eyes burn.
No fear.
Only pure, concentrated rage.
The duel continues.
Faster. More savage.
From my side—
Adrenaline pulses.
My heart's pounding like a piston.
I close my eyes for just a second.
BEEP.
A cold click at the base of my neck.
A chilling heat rushes through my veins.
I load an energy core into my slingshot.
A purple sphere.
It pulses.
Like a nuclear heart.
FIRE.
BAM!
A Knight collapses.
Body smoking. Electrocuted.
Again.
BAM! BAM!
Two more.
Struck down before they can even process.
— William (thoughts):
It's… like I see every move before it happens…
Everything slows down.
The chaos becomes predictable.
I'm inside the Matrix.
Every shot lands.
Every impact is lethal.
The Knights panic.
They're lost.
They came to crush a nest of insects...
But they walked into a den of war gods.