The assassins unleashed their Second First Flames.
A surge of pressure blanketed the chamber—like gravity doubling. Heat shimmered in the air. The four assassins around Liam and the four surrounding Kaela ignited with raw, elemental force—not fire or lightning, but something deeper. Their forms pulsed with distinct aetheric resonance—each uniquely deadly.
Kaela felt it in her chest—the hum of rising tension. Liam clenched his fists as the atmosphere crackled with impending violence.
And then—they responded.
Kaela's eyes flared with golden-red light as her aura erupted outward like solar fire. Her wounds began to seal, the blood on her fists evaporating in a flash of heat.
"Solstice Ember," she whispered.
A burning halo surged around her like a miniature sun. Her hair whipped upward from the force. The ground beneath her feet scorched black.
At Liams house
Liam's body lit up in streaks of deep violet and black as pure kinetic energy wrapped around him like a storm.
"Eclipsing Vigor."
His frame straightened, muscles pulsing with new might. Cuts sealed, bones realigned, and fatigue vanished—replaced by sharpened clarity and surging strength.
Both of them… reborn.
The assassins responded in kind.
One by one, the first assassin before Liam activated Shatterpulse—his body vibrating with shockwave energy, each movement causing the air around him to fracture with concussive bursts.
The second, a lithe figure, ignited Spectral Fang—his limbs elongating slightly, and a ghostly silver mist cloaking him. He blinked in and out of sight, faster than the eye.
The third drew her blades and whispered Crimson Bloom—petal-shaped aether bloomed around her in razor-sharp clusters that floated and followed her will.
The fourth, standing motionless, inhaled deeply and activated Stonewake. His skin turned granite-gray, layered with veins of luminous blue. His body doubled in density—immovable, unbreakable.
Kaela's opponents flared with equal intensity.
The first erupted with Voidlace—tendrils of dark aether wrapping around his limbs like threads of shadow, allowing him to strike from unnatural angles.
The second channeled Glass Reverb—each movement trailing in a crystal echo that mimicked his attacks seconds later.
The third whispered Frostveil—his body cloaked in mist, movements concealed beneath bursts of sudden cold, his steps leaving trails of brittle ice.
The fourth simply screamed—and fire exploded from his joints as he activated Ashmantle, his body engulfed in smokeless flame, immune to pain and heat alike.
The second clash began.
Liam moved first—rushing Shatterpulse. He ducked under a shockwave and launched a thunderous strike into the assassin's side, cracking his rib. Shatterpulse retaliated with a concussive palm, but Liam caught it mid-air, tanked it with gritted teeth, and twisted the man's wrist—slamming him into the floor with augmented force.
Spectral Fang reappeared mid-strike behind Liam—but Liam, now synced with Eclipsing Vigor's ambient feedback, leaned just enough to avoid the slash. He retaliated with a sweeping elbow, only to hit air.
Crimson Bloom struck from the side—her petal blades whipping forward like a cyclone—but Liam dropped low, pivoted, and sent a shockwave-infused kick that scattered the petals before they could pierce his skin.
Stonewake came last—slow but overwhelming. He brought both fists down like twin meteors. Liam rolled away just in time, but the impact cratered the ground. Liam's eyes narrowed.
"I'll need to break him last," he muttered.
Meanwhile—
Kaela became fire itself.
Voidlace struck from behind—shadow tendrils wrapping around her arm. Kaela twisted and ignited the flare of Solstice Ember, burning the tendrils to ash. She spun and kicked, her heel a comet of force that sent Voidlace crashing into a wall.
Glass Reverb came next—his mirrored trails throwing deceptive punches from every direction. Kaela absorbed a strike to the ribs, twisted mid-spin, and elbowed the real one in the throat, breaking his stance.
Frostveil loomed in the mist. He hurled icicles. Kaela punched one mid-air—her strike burning so hot it vaporized the projectile. She dashed through the mist, eyes flaring, and caught Frostveil with a double strike—one to the stomach, the other to the neck.
Ashmantle roared and charged—body blazing. His flaming fists clashed with Kaela's burning aura. Blow for blow, flame against flame, they struck each other with devastating speed—until Kaela ducked, rose with a twisting uppercut, and blasted him backward with a flareburst of heat.
Liam—
He caught Spectral Fang mid-blink with a sudden pulse from Eclipsing Vigor—tracking the air pressure and striking into empty space. The man materialized mid-stagger, stunned. Liam grabbed him, flipped him over his shoulder—and slammed him down hard.
Shatterpulse returned, fists vibrating with pent-up force. Liam didn't dodge—he stepped inside and struck his chest three times in succession, nullifying the buildup—then landed a rising kick to the jaw that sent him airborne.
Crimson Bloom launched her petals again, this time in a precise arc—but Liam spun through the barrage with preternatural movement, closing the gap and striking her center mass. The petals dropped as she gasped for air.
Only Stonewake remained.
He charged like a fortress. Liam ducked, rolled, jumped, and danced around his blows. Each punch cracked the air—but Liam's footwork kept him just out of reach.
And then—Liam drew in energy, eyes glowing.
"Apex Drive."
He struck—a palm straight to the assassin's chest. The impact exploded like a silent bomb—lifting Stonewake off the ground and sending him flying across the chamber.
-