Kieran didn't charge.
He walked.
And the world bent around him.
The very air warped—essence thickened into something alive. It stuck to your skin. Crawled through your bloodstream. My knees threatened to buckle under the pressure, and I wasn't even the target.
The Strategist stepped forward, blade raised.
He didn't last two seconds.
Kieran closed the gap in a blink, Skofnung cutting a clean arc—and the Strategist went flying, crashing through a pillar with a violent crunch. His body slid across the stone, sparks trailing from his armor.
He didn't get up.
"Stay out of it." Kieran's voice echoed like it came from the domain itself.
Only Vlad stood his ground.
He lunged, twin daggers spinning with brutal speed. Kieran met him halfway, Skofnung catching both blades in a single, deliberate motion. No panic. No flurry.
Pure efficiency.
Steel screamed as they clashed—shockwaves bursting from every strike. Vlad's face twisted—not with rage, but with excitement.
"Finally."
He spun low, trying to cut Kieran's leg. Blocked. Flipped into a slash at the ribs. Caught. He jumped back—just enough to avoid Skofnung's counter—but Kieran was already there.
Fist to the gut.
Vlad coughed blood.
Essence erupted from the impact, the floor beneath them splintering into spiderwebs.
Every eye was locked on the two of them now. Even Nel's domain flickered as she tried to keep the others steady under the weight of Kieran's.
Zach exhaled. "This… this is different."
Amir didn't speak. He just stared, clutching his last weapon, forgotten.
I knew what they felt.
We weren't fighting anymore.
We were watching.
Vlad lunged again, and this time his daggers hummed with corrupted essence. He twisted mid-air, unleashing a flurry of strikes, each one designed to break Kieran's guard.
Kieran didn't block them all.
He didn't need to.
Every hit that connected left a spark, but Skofnung replied. Not just with force, but judgment. The blade carried intent now. It wasn't just Kieran fighting.
It was his will, forcing the battlefield to submit.
Vlad was smiling—grinning through blood, swinging faster now, harder. But I saw it.
He was being pushed back.
Not toyed with. Not controlled.
Overwhelmed.
Strike. Parry. Smash. Skofnung cleaved through his defenses one by one. No tricks. No misdirection.
Just power.
And then, with a brutal downward swing, Kieran sent Vlad crashing to the ground, his domain pinning him in place like the weight of a god's judgment.
He pointed Skofnung at Vlad's throat.
"You wanted the world to fear you."
Vlad's smile faltered.
"Now you get to fear something real."