The transformation wasn't slow or elegant. Veronica's body changed instantly, her long hair spreading outward, pushed by the silver magic flowing from her skin, her nails grew, her muscles tensed beneath her clothes, and her eyes shifted from pale yellow to a deep gold that shone in the darkness of the ruined room.
The assassin barely had time to register what stood before him before Veronica was already on top of him. There was no warning, no stance, no battle cry—just one step and then speed, crossing the space between them as if distance didn't exist.
Her fist struck his stomach with all the force granted by the transformation, and the impact was so brutal that both of them were sent flying outward, crashing through what remained of the wall, falling from the second floor, and landing in the mansion's front garden with an explosion of dirt, stone, and scorched grass that carved a crater into the ground.
