The fractures across the ground had already spread far beyond the old circle.
Crooked lines.
Deep.
Spreading beneath both their boots like cracks forced open by constant impact.
Fragments of stone covered part of the hall.
One of the chains had collapsed in the corner of the room.
The twisted metal still vibrated faintly against the floor.
Whirok remained standing a few steps ahead.
Chest rising slowly.
Far too relaxed.
Thin blood running from the cut on his neck without him seeming to care.
Brianna kept both daggers raised.
Low.
Precise.
But now her breathing came slightly shorter.
Her left forearm trembled almost imperceptibly beneath the accumulated pressure of the blocks.
Whirok noticed.
The crooked smile slowly widened.
"You're getting slower."
The voice came out low.
Satisfied.
He started walking.
Without hurry.
Boots crushing fragments of stone along the way.
"I honestly expected more from a lady of the Hive."
The red gaze traveled across her body.
Bruises beginning to surface beneath the light armor.
The small tear near the ribs.
Blood running down the side of her mouth.
"But I guess in the end you break just like everyone else."
Brianna spun one of the daggers between her fingers.
Repositioning her stance.
Her eyes never left him.
"Funny."
The voice came out controlled despite the uneven breathing.
"I was thinking exactly the same thing."
Whirok let out a short laugh through his nose.
Then disappeared.
The advance crushed the floor on the first step.
Far too fast.
The fist appeared aiming for her ribs.
Brianna dodged by centimeters—
the impact struck the wall behind her.
Stone exploded across the side of the hall.
She was already spinning with the movement.
The first dagger slashed low.
Whirok pulled his leg back at the exact instant.
The second came in the same flow—
neck.
Eyes.
Artery.
Clean sequence.
Pure technique.
Whirok leaned his body backward.
The blade passed grazing his face.
And then the knee came.
Violent.
Brianna crossed her arms on reflex—
The impact tore through her guard.
Her body slid several meters across the fractured floor.
The soles of her boots ripping stone apart along the way.
Whirok was already on top of her again.
No space.
No pause.
His hand grabbed her right arm—
and the head came right after.
The headbutt exploded against Brianna's guard with a dry impact.
Her arm gave for half a second.
Enough of a mistake.
The elbow drove into her ribs.
Brutal.
The air was driven from her lungs all at once.
The light armor cracked near the impact.
Whirok twisted the trapped arm in the same movement—
and hurled Brianna against the floor.
The impact burst across the stones with a hard crack.
"Hhk—"
The air failed in her throat.
Whirok smiled the instant he felt that.
"There it is…"
The voice came out almost soft.
Almost gentle.
His knee pressed her abdomen against the cracked ground.
"That sound."
His fingers tightened around her wrist hard enough to crush the joint.
"I was waiting for it."
Brianna breathed shortly.
Pain.
Pressure.
Weight.
Enough to make anyone panic.
But her eyes remained cold.
Analyzing.
The trapped arm suddenly relaxed.
Not resistance.
Not strength.
The weight of her own body sank together with his knee for half a second.
Whirok realized too late.
Brianna's leg shot straight into his shoulder—
the other locked behind his neck.
And then she spun.
Explosive.
Using his advance and weight against his own axis.
The world flipped in an instant.
Whirok was ripped from the ground—
and violently thrown against the wall.
The impact opened a new crack.
Brianna had already rolled back to her feet before the dust settled.
Daggers raised once more.
Short breathing.
Blood running from her mouth.
Whirok remained motionless for a second amid the debris.
Then started laughing.
Low.
But this time there was something wrong in the sound.
Something more feral.
More unstable.
He ran a hand across the corner of his mouth.
Watching the blood on his fingers.
"Ahh…"
His head tilted slowly.
Eyes locked on her.
"You're far more interesting than you look."
Brianna wiped the blood from her own mouth with her thumb.
Eyes still studying him.
Cold.
Attentive.
"The more you talk…"
She adjusted her stance once again.
Low.
Precise.
"the more it sounds like you need to prove something."
Whirok's smile diminished almost imperceptibly.
Brianna noticed.
And continued.
"I've seen people trying to carry things bigger than what they could endure."
Small pause.
"They always did this."
Silence.
Her eyes locked onto his.
"So tell me something…"
Her voice came out calm.
Direct.
"Are you trying to convince me…"
Small pause.
"or trying to convince yourself?"
The hall became still.
Whirok didn't advance this time.
The smile remained on his face—
but smaller.
Eyes fixed on her.
Calculating.
"…"
His finger slowly slid across the blood on his own mouth.
Then he laughed low.
Without humor.
"Careful."
One step.
Slow.
"People have died for saying things like that in front of me."
The voice came out lower now.
Heavier.
Brianna held his gaze without retreating.
Blood ran from the corner of her mouth.
But her posture remained firm.
Her fingers tightened around the dagger.
"I just expected more."
Her gaze traveled across him entirely now.
Reading.
"I've already stood near something that truly made the air feel wrong."
"Something that didn't need to talk."
"Didn't need to prove anything."
Her eyes returned to his.
Precise.
"And looking at you now…"
A short pause.
"I think I finally understood the difference."
And for the first time since entering that room—
Whirok lost his smile.
And that was worse.
The hall seemed to sink into a heavy silence.
There was no more provocation in his eyes now.
Only something raw.
Unstable.
Blood slowly ran down his jaw while he stared at Brianna without blinking.
Then he laughed.
Low.
But empty.
"Ah…"
His head tilted slightly to the side.
His fingers slowly opened and closed.
"So that's it."
One step.
The cracks beneath his boot widened with a dry snap.
"You looked at something…"
Another step.
Slower.
Heavier.
"…and now you think you can look at me the same way."
Brianna didn't answer.
But she noticed.
His breathing had changed.
Before, controlled.
Technique.
Now there was too much force entering the movements.
Too much violence.
He disappeared.
The advance exploded the floor.
No pattern.
No rhythm.
Only impact.
The punch came straight for her face.
Brianna dodged by centimeters—
but his shoulder came immediately after.
Brutal.
The impact smashed her against one of the ancient columns.
Stone cracked behind her body.
Pain tore through her ribs instantly.
Whirok didn't stop.
His hand grabbed her throat—
and the head came right after.
The headbutt exploded dry.
White vision.
The taste of blood flooded her mouth.
The second came immediately.
Stronger.
Wilder.
Brianna locked the dagger against the side of his face before the third impact.
The blade tore skin near his eye.
Whirok smiled anyway.
Twisted.
She twisted her body within the minimal space she had—
the knee strike hit the side of his ribs.
Dry sound.
Enough to break his axis.
Brianna escaped the wall in the same movement.
Both daggers came fast—
neck.
Lung.
Artery.
Whirok dodged the first.
The second sliced shallowly across his abdomen.
Blood splattered across the stones.
But he simply advanced into the strike.
His hand closed around her arm.
Far too strong.
The joint almost bent the wrong way.
The elbow struck her stomach immediately after.
Her lungs failed.
Whirok pulled Brianna by the arm—
and hurled her body straight against the cracked floor.
The impact exploded through her back.
Pain.
Weight.
Her right arm failed for half a second, losing one dagger.
Enough of a mistake.
The kick came brutal into the side of her body.
The light armor cracked completely near the ribs.
Brianna slid across the hall—
stopping near the entrance.
Her breathing failed while blood ran between her lips.
Whirok walked toward her without hurry.
There was no more control in those steps.
Only will.
Only impulse.
"I was trying to like you…"
The voice came out low.
Crooked.
He wiped blood from his face with his thumb.
"But then you decided to start talking too much."
Brianna slowly raised her face.
Analyzing.
The breathing.
The posture.
The way he advanced without measuring space.
She found the flaw.
Her right hand pressed against the cracked floor.
Her body trying to rise despite the pain crushing her ribs.
First one knee.
Then the other.
She was still low when Whirok came again.
Fast.
The kick rose aiming for her head.
Brianna raised her right arm on reflex—
The impact launched her body against the wall near the exit.
Pain exploded through her shoulders.
The dagger in her left hand almost gave out.
Whirok advanced immediately to finish it.
Without reducing speed.
Without measuring distance.
The punch came brutal straight toward her face.
Mistake.
Brianna waited until the final instant.
Her body relaxed together with his advance—
and she slid beneath Whirok's arm.
His punch exploded against the wall with a monstrous impact.
Stone cracked instantly.
The remaining dagger entered shallowly into the side of his thigh in the same movement.
Whirok lost half a step.
And Brianna used exactly that.
Her hand grabbed the fallen chain from the floor.
She whipped the metal toward him.
The chain partially wrapped around Whirok's arm the instant he turned.
Brianna spun her own body trying to break his axis together with the advance—
the reaction came brutal.
He pulled the chain within the same movement—
far too strong.
Brianna's body was ripped from the ground instantly.
And violently thrown through the destroyed doorway of the hall.
Her abdomen slammed against the stone edge of the passage in a brutal impact—
before her body tumbled across the stones of the cavern corridor.
She rolled once.
Twice.
Stopped facedown among the wet stones.
As the cold air and darkness received her all at once.
Brianna braced herself against the wet stones trying to drag air back into her lungs.
Her body refused to respond for a second.
Her hand went straight to the side of her body.
Her breathing came short while blood ran between her fingers.
Behind her—
BOOM.
Whirok's impact against the barrier shook the entire corridor.
Small stones fell from the ceiling.
Whirok emerged on the other side of the invisible seal.
The red eye glowed far too vividly.
The shadows smashing violently against the barrier.
"You really think…"
Another impact.
Stronger.
"…that you're going to escape me?!"
The barrier rippled violently.
The entire corridor trembled.
Brianna slowly managed to stand.
One hand pressed against the wound.
She turned toward the barrier.
And smiled faintly.
"I think I should thank you."
The voice came out low between uneven breaths.
Whirok stopped.
Only for a second.
Brianna held his gaze.
"I had already seen something before."
"But thanks to you…"
Small pause.
"I finally understood the difference."
Silence.
Whirok truly seemed to lose composure.
The next impact against the barrier was monstrous.
Shadows exploded across the walls.
"YOU—"
Brianna raised one hand.
Her bloodied fingers formed the seal.
The voice came out low.
Precise.
"Phasmatos..."
FOOM.
The torches along the corridor ignited all at once.
Fire raced through the cavern walls in a violent sequence of light.
Illuminating the ancient symbols.
The remains scattered throughout the corridor.
The deformed body of the old chimera fallen among the stones—
rotted.
Forgotten there for far too long.
Whirok realized too late.
His expression changed.
"…Ah."
Brianna took a deep breath.
Ignoring the pain crushing her chest.
Then whispered:
"Ignis."
The flames were born inside the hall like an explosion.
Violent.
Hungry.
The fire crossed the ancient circle and devoured everything.
Shadows.
Chains.
Stones.
The darkness itself seemed to ignite along with it.
The wave of heat tore through the entire corridor.
The torches reacted immediately—
their flames stretched across the walls as if pulled toward the hall.
The light flickered violently.
Dancing across the wet stones.
And went out—
the corridor plunged back into darkness.
Leaving only the brutal glow of the flames consuming the chamber.
Whirok disappeared within the fire.
Brianna held her gaze there for half a second.
But at the last instant—
she still saw the smile.
Crooked.
Wrong.
Then she turned away.
And moved through the stone corridor while her breathing came uneven.
Blood slowly ran between the fingers pressed against the side of her body.
Every step drove the pain deeper through her ribs.
But she kept going.
Without looking back.
Until she reached the old cavern staircase.
And began to climb.
The steps felt longer.
Heavier.
Her vision faltered between breaths.
The heat of the fire still rose from the depths of the cavern—
mixed with the smell of smoke and burned stone.
Light appeared at the end of the staircase.
Faint.
Orange.
Brianna reached the cave exit almost without realizing it.
Dusk covered the forest.
Golden light slowly passed through the trees while the cold wind touched her bloodied face.
Silence.
Only the distant sound of leaves moving.
She took another step.
And another.
Her body faltered.
Her legs gave first.
Then the rest of her body.
She fell to her knees against the wet forest floor.
Her breathing came short.
Weak.
Her eyes still tried to remain open for a few seconds.
The orange sky above the trees began to lose focus.
Then everything went dark.
Far from there—
mist covered the entire forest around the Northern Barony.
Deep.
Moving between the trees like a living wall.
No sound crossed that place.
Outside the mist—
a figure remained motionless.
Body covered by a dark cloak.
Watching the forest consumed by fog in silence.
The wind crossed the field slowly.
The hood moved just enough—
revealing a single red eye glowing in the darkness.
Then came the voice.
Low.
Calm.
Almost disappointed.
"The avatar died…"
The shadows at the figure's feet moved slowly.
Spilling across the ground.
"And with this fog…"
The red gaze remained fixed on the white wall before him.
Cold.
Analytical.
"I won't be able to reach what I came here to find."
The figure tilted its head slightly.
Thinking.
Then a small smile appeared beneath the hood.
Crooked.
Wrong.
"How troublesome."
The fingers slowly touched the side of his own neck.
As if still feeling the echoes of something.
The smile widened just a little.
"Even so…"
Small pause.
The red eye glowed brighter.
"maybe there's something else worth my time before that."
The figure took a step backward.
The shadows slowly began to climb across the cloak.
Swallowing the body little by little.
"After all…"
The voice echoed low before the forest covered in mist.
"now I'm curious too."
Then the darkness consumed him completely.
And everything returned to silence.