This time, Draven didn't hesitate.
He **went for Kaela**.
The distance between them vanished in a blink, shadows tearing after him as he crossed the gap like a fired round. His fist was already moving—
**BOOM.**
It slammed into the barrier.
The remaining cracks **exploded outward**, spiderwebbing violently as the shield screamed under the impact. Light flared, distorted, then—
**SHATTERED.**
The barrier burst apart in a spray of broken mana, fragments of light dissolving into the air.
Kaela froze.
One hand still clamped to her bleeding neck.
Eyes wide.
Breath hitching.
For half a heartbeat, she didn't move.
Then instinct crashed in.
Her grip snapped tight around her sword, knuckles whitening as she wrenched it up and **swung**, a desperate, furious arc meant to take his head.
Draven didn't flinch.
His focus was absolute.
He slipped inside the swing, the blade screaming past his face, close enough to shear air from his cheek. He kept moving, closing the distance—
Kaela's eyes widened.
She twisted hard, reversing her grip and bringing the sword down in a brutal vertical cut.
Draven didn't stop.
His hand **snapped up**.
Bare.
Gloved.
He caught the blade.
**CLANG—!**
Sparks detonated as steel met flesh. The force drove his arm down, bones **shattering** with a wet, violent crunch. Pain ripped through him, white-hot and blinding—
—but he held.
He stopped the blade **dead**.
Kaela froze, disbelief flashing across her face.
"—What…?"
Draven bared his teeth.
Blood ran freely down his arm, dripping from his shattered hand, but his grip didn't loosen.
Too slow.
His other hand was already moving.
The dagger drove forward.
Fast.
Clean.
Merciless.
Straight toward her throat.
Kaela gasped, eyes flaring as she tried to pull back—
Too late.
The tip **pierced**.
Not deep.
Not yet.
Just enough.
She choked as blood welled around the blade, hot and dark against the steel. Her sword slipped from her fingers, clattering uselessly to the ground.
Draven leaned in, voice low and lethal, right in her ear.
"You should've just died from the beginning."
He **drove it in**.
Kaela convulsed, a wet, broken sound tearing from her throat as the dagger slid deeper. Holy light flared wildly around her, spasming, trying to respond—
—and failing.
Her knees buckled.
Draven didn't let her fall.
He stepped in, pressed close, shadows curling tight around them, and **twisted** the blade.
Her body jerked violently.
Blood poured freely now, running down his hand, soaking into his sleeve, splattering the ground between them. Her eyes fluttered, wide with shock, then unfocused.
Her lips parted.
No words came.
Draven held her there, staring into her face, crimson eye cold and unblinking.
"This," he said quietly, almost conversational, "is what happens when you get on my **nerves.**
Damn bitch."
He yanked the dagger free.
Kaela collapsed.
She hit the ground hard, body slack, holy light sputtering and dying around her like a guttering flame.
Draven straightened slowly, blood dripping from his fingers, chest rising and falling hard.
Behind him—
He felt it.
Movement.
Rage.
Lightning.
Cedric.
And the captains.
But for a single heartbeat—
Draven stood over Kaela's body.
Breathing.
Bleeding.
Unbroken.
Then his head tilted slightly, a crooked grin pulling at his lips.
"Alright," he muttered.
"Who's dying next."
---
He didn't even get a second to breathe.
The instant Kaela's body hit the ground, the air **exploded**.
Both captains moved.
Together.
No signal.
No warning.
Just rage.
Steel screamed from either side as they charged, killing intent radiating off them like heat. Draven's grin vanished. His eye sharpened.
*Shit—*
He twisted, barely slipping between the first strike, felt the second blade slice his coat as he pivoted. Sparks burst inches from his ribs.
He ducked.
Rolled.
Came up inside one captain's guard and slammed his shoulder into her, knocking her sideways—
—but the other was already there.
A blade came down.
Draven raised his forearm—
**CLANG—!**
The impact rattled through him, bone screaming. He snarled and shoved her back, shadows flaring as he skidded away.
They didn't let up.
Not for a heartbeat.
They pressed, blades flashing, movements tight, coordinated, furious.
Draven dodged left—steel cut through where his head had been.
Dodged right—felt the wind of a blade graze his cheek.
He spun, kicked, blocked, ducked.
No space.
No rhythm.
No mercy.
*Damn it… even with her down, this isn't over.*
His eyes flicked up.
The **knights were moving**.
Armored figures stepped out of the treeline, holy light glinting off their weapons, forming a tightening ring. Boots crunching. Shields rising.
They were closing in.
Surrounding him.
His jaw tightened.
*Great. Just great.*
A captain lunged—high.
Draven ducked—low.
The other swept—horizontal.
He jumped, shadows snapping around his legs, flipping over the blade and landing hard. Dirt sprayed as he slid.
They turned instantly.
Relentless.
Draven's breath came heavier now, chest heaving as blood dripped from his knuckles, his shattered arm hanging wrong at his side. Regeneration was working—but slow. Sluggish.
*I'm running out of room…*
Then—
Lightning roared.
Draven's head snapped up.
Elliana.
She was already moving.
She slammed into Cedric in a clash of steel and shadow, daggers crashing against his lightning-wreathed blade. Sparks and electricity detonated as they collided, both skidding back a step.
Cedric snarled.
"Get out of my way—no… it looks like the situation's changed. Now I'm going to make sure you don't leave."
Elliana didn't answer.
She attacked.
Fast.
Sharp.
Merciless.
Her daggers flashed in a vicious cross, forcing Cedric to block high—
—then low—
—then twist as a blade cut for his throat.
Cedric deflected it, lightning flaring as he shoved her back.
Draven saw it.
His mother was **engaged**.
Which meant—
*I'm alone with these bastards.*
The first captain lunged again, blade stabbing for his chest.
Draven twisted, the tip scraping across his ribs instead of piercing through. He hissed and countered with a knee to her gut, folding her forward—
—but the second captain took advantage instantly.
Her blade came down.
Draven snapped his dagger up—
**CLANG—!**
The impact drove him to one knee, dirt spraying as he skidded. His arm screamed. His vision blurred.
*Crap—*
He forced himself up, shadows surging, and slammed his fist into her chest, sending her staggering back.
But the ring was tightening.
Knights closing.
Shields up.
Blades ready.
Cedric fighting Elliana.
Captains pressing him.
Draven's teeth bared.
Blood dripped from his chin.
His eye burned.
His breathing was ragged.
And something **dark** rose in his chest.
Not fear.
Not panic.
Fury.
Pure.
Cold.
Unrestrained.
He straightened slowly as both captains reset, blades raised, eyes burning with hate.
"You really don't learn," Draven muttered, voice low and dangerous. "I just killed your commander."
The second captain snarled. "You'll pay for that."
Draven's grin spread.
Crooked.
Sharp.
Unhinged.
"Yeah?" he said quietly. "Get in line."
The knights closed in.
Cedric and Elliana clashed again in a burst of lightning and steel.
And Draven—
Draven **stepped forward**.
Not retreating.
Not yielding.
Meeting them head-on.