Kael vanished from where he stood.
Elira vanished at the exact same moment.
The boom from their takeoff exploded outward, sending a shockwave through the forest and flattening the grass in a perfect ring. Leaves and branches scattered into the air like a tornado had struck. In the next moment, they clashed.
A streak of shadow and a streak of blood-red light collided mid-air, swords ringing like war drums. Kael gritted his teeth as their blades met again and again, neither giving an inch. Their speed? Mach 2. Blindingly fast. Ordinary people wouldn't even see them only the destruction left in their wake.
Kael's feet dug trenches through the earth as he was pushed back. He grunted, flipping mid-air, rebounding off a tree, and launching back at her.
Elira was right there to meet him.
Every movement she made was clean, practiced almost effortless. Her crimson rapier flowed like silk, but struck like steel. Every parry, every slash, every shift in weight was executed with a ruthless elegance. Kael's Shadow Arts, though unpredictable and graceful in their own right, were being read like an open book.
She's not just strong. She's experienced, Kael thought, eyes narrowing as their blades sparked against each other once more.
It's that damn Morvayne training… tough enough to break monsters. She must've been fighting elites since she could walk.
Elira smiled faintly, catching his blade with a twisting flick of her wrist and narrowly avoiding a side kick that would have shattered her ribs. The clash sent them flying backwards through rows of thick trees, smashing through bark and trunk like paper.
They reappeared again above the treetops.
Kael launched a powerful kick mid-air to close the gap. She ducked beneath it, twisted, and countered with a horizontal slash that barely missed Kael's throat.
Their battle raged across a kilometer of forest in less than thirty seconds. Trees fell like dominoes. Craters formed where their feet landed. Sparks and streaks of red and black danced through the air like twin comets tearing apart the sky.
Kael's lungs burned. His muscles screamed.
She's not even out of breath.
"Shadow Arts Form 2," Kael muttered. "Crescent Fold!"
In a blur, he swung his blade in three rapid arcs.
Three black, crescent-shaped slashes roared through the air, each one vibrating with compressed mana and slicing through the landscape. The air itself screamed from the pressure.
But Elira didn't flinch.
Her rapier became a blur of motion. With terrifying precision, she deflected all three slashes redirecting their force into the air, where they exploded harmlessly.
Kael landed, eyes widening slightly. That technique… was meant to tear through advanced barrier spells. She didn't even use a barrier just her sword.
Elira's feet touched the ground softly, like she hadn't been part of the chaos at all.
Then she exhaled.
"I guess," she said, slowly raising her hand behind her, "it's time to go serious."
Behind her, the air thickened.
Blood real blood, floating blood rose, curling like ribbons before forming into sharp, needle-like constructs that hovered in the air. Dozens of them. Then hundreds. Each one pulsed with her intent. Her aura spiked, turning the space around her heavy.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
A chill ran down his spine not from fear, but from the sheer killing intent. It wasn't rage. It wasn't hatred.
It was joy.
Elira smiled softly, but it wasn't warm. It was like the calm smile of a surgeon… just before a cut.
"Don't blink," she whispered.
Kael tightened his grip on his blade.
If I do… I'm dead.