The air in the Valley of Fallen Blades didn't smell of old books; it smelled of scorched ozone and cold, wet ash. Solan stood at the exit of the valley, the Fang of Ophiuchus slung across his back. He wasn't in a library—he was trapped between a canyon wall and the most elite hunting force in the Kingdom.
[DETECTION: HIGH-LEVEL CONSTELLATION SIGNATURES] [TARGETS: THE PURGE SQUAD "SOLAR ECLIPSE"] [RANK: THREE A-RANK KNIGHTS]
Three figures blocked the narrow mountain pass. They didn't wear the silver armor of common guards; their plate was a matte black, etched with glowing white runes of the Capricorn, Pisces, and Libra constellations.
"The Rat of the 13th," the leader—the Capricorn Knight—spoke. His voice was magnified by his heavy iron helm. "You've caused enough ripples in the stars. The King has ordered your 'Extinction'."
Solan didn't look for a library. He looked for a way to kill them. His Void Sight showed him their mana-veins: they were linked. A defensive triad. If he attacked one, the other two would absorb the impact.
"Extinction?" Solan spat, his left hand—now glowing with orange runes—gripping the hilt of his black glass blade. "You're late. I already died once in that castle. Now, I'm just the one who buries you."
The Libra Knight raised a pair of floating scales. "Judgment: Gravity Anchor!"
Suddenly, the weight of the air around Solan increased tenfold. The ground beneath his boots cracked. It was a gravitational cage, designed to pin him down while the Capricorn Knight delivered the final blow.
Solan's knees buckled. The Void Corruption at 15% made his muscles scream under the pressure.
If I can't move, Solan thought, his eyes turning a predatory crimson, I'll move the world.
"Astral Void Style, Second Form: Gravitational Inversion!"
Instead of fighting the Libra's anchor, Solan used his own void energy to flip the gravity vector. For a split second, the "Anchor" became a "Lift."
Solan didn't just stand up; he launched into the air like a cannonball.
"Phantom Step!"
He vanished from the sky and reappeared behind the Pisces Knight—the healer of the group. The Fang of Ophiuchus erupted into a jagged pillar of red plasma.
"The healer first," Solan hissed.
The Pisces Knight tried to summon a water-shield, but the Fang sliced through the liquid mana as if it were air. The black glass blade drank the water-essence instantly.
[ABSORPTION SUCCESSFUL: PISCES MANA REFINED] [NEW ATTRIBUTE: FLUID MOTION UNLOCKED]
The knight fell, his constellation light extinguished. The triad was broken.
"NO!" the Capricorn leader roared, his black armor glowing with a furious white light. "YOU ABOMINATION!"
Solan landed on his feet, his movement now more "fluid" and ghost-like. He looked at the remaining two knights. He wasn't in a city. He was in the wild, and the wolf was finally learning how to hunt the pack.
"Two left," Solan said, the orange ember in his eye flaring. "Who's next to be forgotten?"