Rael's sword cshed against Lu's twin daggers in a rapid exge of steel on steel. The masked assassin moved like liquid shadow—every twist and lunge uable, his footwork blurring the liween instind artistry. Rael parried a sweeping strike aimed at his ribs, pivoting as Lu vanished from sight and reappeared at his fnk.

  Shadowmeld.

  Rael's instincts fred. He twisted just in time to block both daggers, but the impact sent a jolt up his arms. His HP dipped slightly—Lu's ons chipped through his defenses faster than expected.

  The assassin pressed the advantage, his strikes ing into one another with uny fluidity. A curved bde sliced toward Rael's shoulder, followed instantly by a thrust at his abdomen. He blocked the first but had to twist away from the sed, feeling the air shift as the dagger grazed past.

  Rael's HP ticked down again—a shallow cut along his side. Not deep, but Lu's momentum was relentless.

  I 't match his speed head-on.

  Rael Soulstepped backward, creating distan a blink. The urmured, but her fighter paused. Lu surged fain, daggers fshing as he closed the gap in a heartbeat. Rael sidestepped and swung his sword in a trolled arc, aiming to force Lu baly for him to duck low and twist beh the bde with uny grace.

  Rael barely mao block the retaliatory strike, but the impact drove him back a step. His HP dipped below eighty pert.

  He's too fast. I o force him into a predictable pattern.

  Pivoting on his heel, Rael lunged forward with Ruinous Strike. Lu twisted aside, the dark energy grazing his shoulder but failing to nd ly. Before Rael could recover, Lu closed in—daggers blurring in a rapid of blows aimed at his vitals.

  Rael's sword intercepted the first two strikes, but the third nicked his shoulder, draining more HP. Gritting his teeth, he deflected ahrust and tered with a swift ssh aimed at Lu's side. Lu twisted away, but Rael followed with a quick step forward, closing the distance before Lu could fully retreat.

  Their ons cshed in rapid succession—steel ringing out in sharp bursts as they traded blows across the arena. Lu's footwork was uable, but Rael began notig subtle patterns in his movement: a slight pause before each dagger thrust, the faint shift of his shoulders telegraphing his attack.

  There it is.

  Feinting a ssh to the right, Rael baited Lu into dodgihen instantly Soulstepped behind him, sword already desding in a swift arc. Lu twisted mid-motion, raising both daggers to intercept the strike. Steel cshed with a burst of sparks, but the force of Rael's blow drove him back several steps, breaking his momentum.

  The csh of steel against steel echoed across the arena as Lu's daggers met Rael's sword in rapid succession. Their movements blurred with speed, each exge faster tha. The crowd's awed murmurs grew louder with every strike.

  "How is he keeping up with Noctus?" someone gasped.

  Kaiden's voice crackled through the air, amplified by his h camera orb. "This is ihat guy's pressure is relentless—and Noctus is actually getting pushed back!"

  Rael slid to the side, narrowly dodging a downward ssh. His HP had dipped below half from the dozens of shallow cuts Lu had nded. Every time Rael thought he'd found a rhythm, Lu would twist his body at an unnatural aurning a predictable attato a sudde.

  It's like fighting a beast, Rael thought, his grip tightening around his sword.

  They cshed again, sparks flying as metal scraped against metal. Rael twisted his wrist, parrying Lu's strike and tering with Ruinous Strike. The dark energy burst from his bde, smming Lu backward with enough force to scatter dust across the courtyard.

  Lu skidded to a halt, crouched low with his daggers scraping against the stoo slow his momentum. His hood fell back slightly, revealing the full visage of his oni mask—the hollow eyes, carved in a sorrowful gaze, seemed to weep shadows as faint wisps of haze began to seep from its surface.

  "As expected of you," Lu muttered, his voice low and steady.

  Rael's breath caught in his throat as he reized the shift in atmosphere.

  The eyes of Lu's boeel daggers began to glow with a deeper, blood-red hue, as if awakened from slumber. His posture ged—lower to the ground, shoulders slightly hunched, his fingers curled around the hilts with a predatory stillness.

  Then, almost too quietly to hear, Lu whispered, "Feral Hunger."

  The air seemed to thrum with invisible tension.

  "Wait—what's happening?!" Kaiden's voice cracked through the silence. His stream chat exploded into a flood of messages:

  "WTF is that effect?!""Those daggers are glowing?!""Yo, his stance just ged—he looks like he's gonna pouhis fight just hit a whole new level!"

  Lu's foot scraped against the stone as he unched forward. His movements were no longer precise but feral—erratiges, uable swipes, and sudden bursts of speed. Rael barely mao deflect the first few strikes before Lu vanished from his line of sight.

  Behind!

  Rael twisted, raising his sword in time to parry a ssh aimed at his back. The impact jarred his arms. Lu's movements were faster than before, his attacks ing together with no pause.

  Rael gritted his teeth, falling into full defense as the assault intensified. His stamina dipped with every step he took to evade the whirlwind of daggers. Lu struck from impossible angles—low sweeps aimed at Rael's legs, quick jabs toward exposed gaps in his armor, and uable leaps that forced Rael to waste stamina dodging rather than parrying.

  "e on, Noctus!" someone shouted from the crowd.

  But Rael had no time to hear them. Another series of sshes forced him back, and Lu was already closing the gap. Soulstep fred beh Rael's feet as he teleported behind Lu, but the moment he reappeared, Lu twisted mid-air, reag with unnatural speed and driving a dagger toward Rael's stomach.

  Rael barely deflected it, but the sed dagger raked across his side. His HP dropped by another fifteen pert.

  If this keeps up, I'll get overwhelmed.

  Lu didn't give him a sed to breathe. His relentless assault was like fighting a wild predator—a creature driven by instind bloodlust. Yet beh that savage rhythm, there was undeniable skill. Lu wasn't just attag wildly—he ushing Rael toward a er of the arena where evading would bee harder.

  Rael's eyes narrowed as realization hit. He's herding me. He's still in trol.

  A burst of movement from Lu forced Rael to parry two quick strikes in succession. His endurance was draining fast, and Lu's attack speed showed no signs of slowing. Each successful hit only made him faster, like a predatrowing more frenzied with every taste of blood.

  I o break his momentum…

  Rael ducked beh a horizontal ssh, shifting his stance as his sword fred with dark energy once more. Timing it precisely, he lunged forward with Ruinous Strike just as Lu itted to his attack.

  The shockwave sent Lu flying back again, but this time, Rael charged after him before he could recover.

  Lu suddenly ducked low, vanishing into shadow once more. Rael pivoted, anticipating Lu reappearanly to feel a sharp sting as Lu struck from the opposite side, bypassing his guard. Rael's HP dropped past seventy pert.

  Rael surged forward the instant Lu hit the ground, his boots skidding across the stone as he closed the distance. Lu rolled mid-fall, nding low on one knee. His boeel daggers fshed as he intercepted Rael's strike with a harsh scrape of metal. The impact forced Lu back a step, but he retaliated without pause—his movements still a blur of speed, aggression, and instinctual precision.

  The crowd barely had time to react before the two cshed again, their silhouettes a blur of motion across the courtyard. Each time Lu struck, Rael deflected or narrowly dodged, but his HP tio chip away—small cuts stag up with every missed parry. Lu's Feral Hunger was still active, and Rael could feel the pressure mounting as the assassin's speed greer with every exge.

  "He's not slowing down—how long octus hold out?!" Kaiden's voice rang out from somewhere above.

  Not long.

  Rael could feel it—the strain in his arms, the heaviness creeping into his legs. His HP had dropped dangerously low—barely above twenty pert. His stamina was just as depleted, each swing of his sword costing more than it should.

  Lu pressed the advantage. His movements were uable—leaping forward with jagged sshes, only to vanish mid-lunge and reappear from anle.

  "Soulstep!" Rael vanished, barely evading a fatal blow, but Lu adjusted faster each time—predig where Rael would appear and closing the gap before he could retaliate.

  "Soulstep!" Another dodge, another swift pursuit. Each time Rael called out the skill, Lu closed in with sharper precision, whittling down the space between them with relentless pressure.

  Their footsteps echoed against stone as they circled each ain, both breathing heavily. Rael's sword trembled slightly from fatigue, but his grip remaieady. His mind worked furiously behind the calm mask of his expression.

  Almost there.

  Lu's head tilted slightly, as if sensing the shift in Rael's stance. Without a word, he lunged forward—daggers fshing as he sshed in rapid succession. Rael ducked beh the first strike, pivoting on his heel as he narrowly deflected the sed. Lu pressed forward—faster, stronger, more relentless with every strike.

  Rael's HP dropped further—fifteen pert, then twelve. The crowd's cheers mixed with sharp intakes of breath as they watched Noctus teeter on the edge of defeat.

  Lu's movements blurred into a single fluid assault—sshes that came from impossible angles, leaving Rael with no room to breathe. His breath hitched as another ssh grazed his side—ten pert HP remaining.

  The strike could end it.

  And then—

  "Soulstep."

  The word cut through the air, clear and deliberate.

  Lu's eyes fred with anticipation as he shifted his momentum instantly, anticipating Rael's teleportation. His stance lowered, ready to react the moment Rael reappeared—daggers poised to strike the instaerialized.

  But Rael didn't teleport.

  He never activated the skill.

  Lu's breath hitched—a fra of a sed too te—

  "Ruinous Strike!"

  Dark energy burst to life along Rael's bde as he lunged forward. With Lu caught mid-step, his defense faltered. The sword ected squarely against his chest with a thunderous impact that echoed through the courtyard.

  The force sent Lu hurtling backward, his body tumbling across the stoil he skidded to a halt he arena's edge. His HP , directly plummeting to one.

  Silence.

  For a heartbeat, the arena was utterly still.

  Then the crowd erupted.

  "NOCTUS WINS!"

  "He faked his blink—holy crap, that was genius!"

  "He baited him—he baited that guy right into that Strike!"

  Kaiden's voice cut through the chaos, breathless with excitement. "Unbelievable! Noctus just pulled off one of the craziest mind games I've ever seen! The masked guy had him down to the wire, but Noctus tur around in the final sed—what a finish!"

  Rael stood still, his sword still extended from the final strike. His breath came hard and fast, his HP bar fshing critically low.

  But he didn't smile.

  Slowly, he lowered his sword and turoward Lu's fallen form, expression unreadable.

  At that moment, a system notification echoed within Rael's mind:

  [Duel cluded. All bat statuses have been refreshed.]

  Lu stirred, slowly pushing himself upright. His breath was uneveh the eerie visage of the desote oni mask, yet his posture remained posed despite the defeat. For a moment, he simply stood there, the faint glow of his boeel daggers inguished. Then, without a word, he reached into his iory and withdrew the on. The faint gleam of dark steel peeked from beh the cloth as he approached Rael, stopping a few paces away.

  "As agreed," Lu said, his voice low and steady. He extehe on without hesitation. "Here is your reward."

  Rael accepted the scythe with a slight furrow in his brow. Before he could speak, Lu stepped bad turned sharply on his heel. His footsteps echoed against the stone as he walked past the stunned crowd, disappearing beyond the courtyard's edge without a backward gnce.

  Rael's fiightened slightly around the scythe's shaft as he watched Lu vanish into the throng of spectators. His grip loosened a moment ter, shoulders subtly rexing as a faint exhale slipped past his lips.

  plicated.

  He gnced down at the on in his hand, turning it slightly so the dark steel caught the sunlight. The faint curve of the bde gleamed with a muted sheen, its edge razor-sharp even without testing. The craftsmanship was undeniable.

  "...Now what do I do with you, huh?" he muttered under his breath before sliding the scythe into his iory.

  The crowd was still buzzing with excitement—some calling his hers discussing the duel's final moments. Ign the noise, Rael turned his gaze back toward the arena. His voice carried clearly above the lingering otion.

  "Anyone else want a challenge?"

  A ripple of anticipatiohrough the spectators at the decration.

  * * *

  Beyond the gss walls stretched a coastlihed in amber hues. Waves rolled in steady rhythm beh the sun's fading light, their distant murmurs lost beyond the thick gss. The city skyliood in the distance—majestic yet distant, as though the world outside beloo someone else entirely.

  Within the office, the faint hum of eleics apahe muted csh of ons from a holographic s mounted beside the window. The duel between Rael and Lu pyed on loop—yet the maed in the leather chair paid it little mind. Shadows veiled his face, obsg all but the faint gleam of his eyes.

  Before him sat a chessboard of polished ebony and ivory, pieces arranged mid-game. His fingers hovered briefly over a bight before withdrawing, as if residering.

  A soft chime broke the silence. Without hesitation, he answered.

  "Cipher."

  The voi the other end was low and direct. "The situation in Vash'kar… What's the step?"

  Silence lingered, broken only by the distant hum of the city beyond the gss. Then Cipher spoke—calm, deliberate, as if measuring each word.

  "A single spark ighe prairie bze.The arrow strikes before the war drums sound.Victory blooms in shadows unseen—For the master of war holds the final thread."

  The words settled like the faint echo of distant thunder. Cipher tilted his head slightly toward the holographic s, where Rael's final strike repyed in slow motion.

  "Krieg, do you know what this poem signifies?"

  A pause. Then a low chuckle crackled over the line. "You know I've never uood those poems of yours."

  Cipher's smile was faint, yet unmistakable. "It means strength alone decides nothing." His fingers grazed the bck queen. "...The wise choose when to strike. And when to wait."

  "...So?"

  Cipher didn't ahe faint hum of the city stretched into the sileil the caller exhaled, uanding the versation was over.

  "Right. I'll be ready."

  The call ended with a faint beep. Cipher leaned forward, tapping a and on the sole. The s shifted, dispying a detailed map of Vash'kar—streets and districts marked with faint gridlines, pyer activity indicated by shifting clusters of soft blue and red blips.

  For a moment, Cipher simply watched, his gaze refleg the city lights beyond the gss.

  Then, without hurry, he reached forward and grasped the bck queen, moving it into position with a soft click.

  "Your move, Noctus."

  * * *

  Rael leaned back against the couch, the faint hum of traffic filtering through the cracked window. The distant rhythm of waves pping against the shoreline mixed with the faint buzz of city life, muted by the walls of his apartment. City lights shimmered faintly against the gss, their refles flickering across the floor like distant fireflies. The soft glow of his phone s cast faint shadows across his fingers as he scrolled through the message he'd sent Elias—on stats gleaming in system text.

  Across from him, Elias sat cross-legged on the carpet, leaning back against the coffee table with his phoilted toward the ceiling. His eyes sed the s, eyebrows slowly raising as he skimmed through the scythe's attributes. A low whistle slipped from his lips.

  "Yo… this thing is sick. Hollow Requiem, huh?" He tapped the s twice as if bo the message. "Man, you'd look badass with this."

  Rael smirked faintly, log his phone and tug it into his pocket. "Maybe. I usually stick with swords sihey're more adaptable, but I'm not picky. If the scythe works, I'll use it."

  "e on, you've already got that whole edgy aesthetic going—bck armor, dark abilities, mysterious telep moves." Elias waved his hand vaguely. "A scythe would plete the whole 'silent reaper' vibe."

  "Edgy, huh?" Rael chuckled under his breath, shaking his head. "I'll test it out first. No point using it if it doesn't mesh with my build."

  "Fair enough," Elias relented. He leaned back against the coffee table, tilting his head toward the ceiling with a ptive hum. "Still, that match paid off. All those system tracts mean you start throwing your weight around oerritorial fights kick off."

  "Exactly," Rael replied, his tone more thoughtful. "With those tracts, even the bigger guilds will think twice before trying to push us out. Influence is everything oies open up for pyer governance."

  Elias nodded, his gaze drifting toward the window as if gathering his thoughts. "Yeah… though we've still got a long climb. Most top guilds are already log down dungehts. Without a dungeon of our own, rowth's gonna hit a ceiling sooner or ter."

  "It's only a matter of time," Rael replied calmly. "Dungeon cims have to be defended eventually. The first wave of owners will get tested hard oher guilds start making moves."

  "True," Elias agreed, tapping his phone against his knee. "Oh, speaking of that—have you checked the market boards tely? Prices have been kinda weird."

  Rael gnced over. "Weird how?"

  "Dunno, maybe just more petition than usual. Are catalysts, mana cores, some bcksmithing stuff—they're getting scooped up faster. I was gonna buy a few things yesterday, but they were already gone." Elias shrugged, already moving on. "Guess everyone's gearing up tely."

  "Yeah, with guilds prepping for dungeon cims, demand's bound to spike."

  "Yeah." Elias waved it off with a casual motion. "Anyway, enough guild talk. When are you logging ba? I wanna see you swing that scythe around."

  "Soon." Rael's smirk returned, faint but unmistakable. "Just try not to blow yourself up with your traps in the meantime."

  "Pfft, please. Only twice st week. Progress, right?"

  "Progress is progress," Rael replied, the edge of amusement in his tone.

  Their ughter blended with the distant hum of the city as the versation drifted toward lighter topics.