The crystal cave where the groups had taken refuge breathed a bluish, icy light, while tiny luminous particles floated in the air like snow that never touches the ground. The silence there was dense and oppressive, cut only by the rhythmic sound of Emanueru's magic, his hands emitting beams of white light that stitched, fiber by fiber, the open wounds across Kaelyn's body.
Seated on a rough rock, the leader of the other guild kept her eyes fixed on her own bandaged hands, which still trembled slightly — not from pain, but from a frustration that seemed to warm the air around her.
Before her, spread in a semicircle, were the two groups — Ethan's and hers. Boros rested the golden shield on the ground at his side, while Riven checked his gear. Jay, Marcus, Sienna, Elenya, and Ethan listened in silence, attentive.
Kaelyn was the first to speak.
— He fights… — she said through clenched teeth — …like a bored duelist. Not like a boss. Not like a monster. Like someone who's won so many battles he doesn't care anymore.
Marcus crossed his arms, the Sunbreaker resting on his shoulder.
— Attack patterns?
Kaelyn took a breath and pointed to her own torso.
— Like you saw. Full armor. Black. Not metal. It looks like polished obsidian. Black glass, but tougher than steel. When I hit his chest… my arm almost broke.
Boros confirmed, his deep voice echoing through the cave.
— And his strength is absurd. He threw me into a wall with a slap. A slap.
Riven raised a hand, still self-conscious about the recent fracture.
— And his sword… that isn't steel. It's like… solidified light shaped into a blade. Thin, red, vibrating. He doesn't block. He doesn't raise an arm to defend. He just… moves a centimeter. And the strike misses.
Ethan frowned.
— No area magic? No special technique?
Kaelyn shook her head.
— None of that. He just walks. Elegant. Precise. Without emotion.
Sienna, chin resting on her hands, murmured:
— He's arrogant.
Kaelyn looked at Jay, then Boros, then Marcus.
— That's the problem. He's too arrogant to defend. He never raises a shield. He never dodges enough to avoid getting hit. He lets you land blows because he believes you can't hurt him.
Marcus smirked.
— So he leaves himself open because he thinks he's invincible.
Kaelyn answered with bitter irony:
— And you think we didn't try to exploit that? We hit him for hours. Hours. Until Boros and Riven went down. After that, I fought him for two days. Two days. And the most I managed was breaking my own fist, my ribs… and in the end, being saved by you. I should've pulled back.
Ethan stood. The blue light reflected off his face like the omen of a war council.
— We've got two walls now… — he said, looking at Jay and Boros — …and two fast strikers: Marcus and Kaelyn.— We've got area magic and control — he pointed to Sienna and himself.— And elite support — he concluded, looking at Emanueru and Elenya.
He took a breath.
— Lucian is strong. He's arrogant. But he isn't immortal. He bleeds. We're going to show him that.
The campfire flared briefly, as if answering his words.
The night that followed was short and restless. While the others tried to steal a few hours of sleep, the silence of the cave filled with the quiet anxiety of those who knew tomorrow could be the end of the line. Sienna couldn't close her eyes; she kept running a whetstone along her daggers over and over, the metallic sound echoing softly. The thought of facing someone Kaelyn described as "untouchable" made her stomach twist — a mix of raw fear and the thrill of staring down the peak of this world's power.
At dawn, the air felt denser and thinner all at once.
The group geared up in absolute silence. The walk to Lucian's citadel became a procession of armor brushing lightly and controlled breathing. As they advanced, the scenery changed dramatically: the streets widened, the marble turned whiter, and the statues grew more imposing, all of them facing the central castle. There were no monsters on the road. Lucian didn't need guards; his very existence was the final warning.
The castle rose before them like a cathedral of absolute white marble. The main hall opened into a vast expanse of perfect columns, so polished they reflected the dust on the adventurers' armor. In the center of that opulent emptiness, with his back to them, stood Lucian.
His black obsidian armor was so dark it looked like a vacuum at the center of the world, swallowing the light that streamed in through the stained glass. The red cape, heavy as coagulated blood, fell down the steps. The crimson sword rested beside his body, touching the floor with an almost offensive elegance. He didn't move when the bronze doors boomed shut.
— Persistence is a virtue in animals, but a tragedy in fools — Lucian said. His voice was velvety, yet carried an authority that seemed to make the castle walls vibrate.
— I am the axis this city turns on — he declared, lifting his chin. — Why should I care about the noise you make in my hall? You think you can at least entertain me, but you don't even have the dignity to belong in my field of view.
Marcus raised the Sunbreaker Rael. The blade shone like a newborn sun.
— We didn't come to entertain you. — He planted his feet. — We came to bring you down.
Lucian's smile was as thin as the blade he wielded.
— Then come.
Marcus lunged like a golden bolt. Kaelyn followed right behind, like blue thunder. They attacked from opposite sides — a downward slash and a horizontal punch.
Lucian took a single step.
Marcus's strike scraped the armor, throwing orange sparks. Kaelyn's punch cut through the space where his head had been a millisecond earlier.
— Slow — Lucian murmured.
He flicked his wrist.
VUUUUUM.
A red arc of energy spilled from the sword in a crescent shape. Marcus rolled. Kaelyn leapt. The wave sliced through an entire pillar behind them, cutting stone like hot butter.
Lucian surged forward like a phantom, a black-and-scarlet blur. Marcus wouldn't have time to raise his sword.
But two shields snapped into place in front of him like living walls.
Jay, with the Aegis of Retaliation.Boros, with the Golden Shield.
They slammed shoulder to shoulder.
Lucian brought the red sword down with both hands.
KRAAAAAANG!
The sound was like an iron tower crashing into a planet. The floor ruptured. Chunks of marble flew. The two tanks' knees nearly buckled under the weight.
— HOLD! — Boros roared.
— I'M HOLDING! — Jay triggered the pistons, orange sparks bursting around him.
Lucian watched, calm.
— Impressive — he tilted his head slightly. — Two cockroaches… holding up a boot.
His eyes shone with absolute pride.
— NOW! — Ethan shouted.
Sienna spun her hands.
— LUPUS MINOR!
Three ethereal wolves shot forward like living arrows, biting into Lucian's legs.
Ethan focused his mana.
— Fireball. Maximum compression!
The sphere of fire struck his helmet, coating the black armor in soot.
Elenya drew her bow.
— Penetration!
The arrow cut through the air like a sniper shot, aiming for a joint in the armor.
Lucian stepped back.
A single step.
But that was already a victory.
He rolled his shoulder, shaking off the soot, and studied the small crack where the arrow had landed.
— You think this is fighting? — he said, raising the sword. — Allow me… to teach you.