The first clash sounded wrong.
Not loud.
Wrong.
Like two laws had struck each other and the world hadn't decided which one to obey.
Lucifer's blade came in low and vicious, angling for Michael's ribs. Michael turned his own sword just enough to catch it, pale gold grinding against dark steel. Sparks didn't fly. Light bent. The floor beneath them cracked in a perfect line.
Then both of them vanished.
Gabriel stood up without realizing it. "No…"
Ariel's good hand clenched against her knee. "I can't even track them."
Exousia narrowed her eyes. "Watch the fractures."
Khaos didn't speak.
Lines started appearing through the stage. Thin at first. Then deeper. Then spreading.
Lucifer reappeared first, already mid-swing. He drove his sword down hard enough to split the place Michael had just left, but Michael was already above him, blade coming down in a clean arc aimed straight for the neck.
Lucifer caught it with the flat of his own weapon. Their faces were inches apart.
