My vision swayed, the brilliance of the light receding to the edges as I focused on the figure before me.
The power coursing through my body felt exhilarating and it's exhausting me to my core.
"I don't have the strength for this..."
Yet, as I said it, the frost on my arms shimmered and flared to life, responding to the unrelenting darkness around me.
I let out a weary laugh, a hollow sound that echoed in the vast emptiness of the room.
"Let's get this over with... I want to go home..."
The man on the throne watched me with a bemused expression, as if he found my resignation entertaining. Entertaining? Really?
"How disappointing. I still can't feel any magic flowing through you."
With a flick of his wrist, he turned his gaze to Callieber, who had been standing at his side in silence.
"You know what to do."
"Very well, Master."
Before I could respond, he lunged. The shadows coiled around his fists, giving his strikes an ominous weight.
I sidestepped just in time, the wind from his punch grazing my cheek.
"... Don't attack out of nowhere... It's tiring to dodge..."
He swung again, shadows curling around his fist like tendrils reaching for me. I ducked beneath the strike, propelling myself forward despite the exhaustion weighing me down.
With a swift motion, I grabbed his face. It was fast, but I think I'm getting the hang of it now.
I slam him down to the ground, the frost wrapped around my arm break but quickly recovered as I removed my hand from Callieber's face.
"Fighting is tiring... I really want to go home..."
I took a shaky step back, staring down at him, my body swaying as if it could collapse at any moment.
"Get up, You're embarrassing me."
The man on the throne commanded.
Callieber stirred, his movements slow and mechanical, like a puppet being forced back into action.
The shadows wrapped tighter around him, and he rose to his feet, his fists clenching with renewed force.
I sighed heavily, my breath coming out in uneven gasps.
"I don't have time for this... I'm too tired..."
Callieber charged at me again, this time with even more aggression, his fists coated in darkness.
But his attacks felt distant to me, each punch, each kick, a slow-motion assault that I could see coming long before it reached me.
He swung at my head, and I lazily ducked, stepping to the side. He tried to catch me with a sweeping kick, but I sidestepped that too, moving more from instinct than any real effort.
"You're moving too slow... I can't... keep this up..."
Callieber snarled, clearly frustrated that he couldn't land a single hit, and his fists slammed into the ground with a thunderous crash, sending a shockwave of darkness rippling toward me.
I glanced up at the man on the throne. His eyes were narrowed in displeasure, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the armrest.
"Watching this fight feels boring."
"I know... Believe me... I feel the same way."
Callieber came at me again, this time faster, the shadows coiling around him like a living armor. I force my sluggish body to react, and just as his fist came within inches of my face, I reached out and grabbed his wrist.
In one swift motion, I twisted, using his momentum against him, and slammed him into the ground again.
The floor cracked beneath the force, and I stood there for a moment, staring down at him, my chest heaving with exhaustion.
"Stay down... I can't keep doing this... I'm done..."
The room fell silent for a moment, the sound of my heavy breathing echoing off the stone walls.
Callieber lay beneath me, his form still, the shadows flickering weakly around him.
"You're more resilient than I thought."
The man on the throne said, his voice laced with contempt.
I didn't respond. I didn't have the energy.
He raised a hand, and a wave of expressive power swept through the room.
"Akira, assist Callieber. Finish this quickly."
Akira gave a silent nod and stepped forward without hesitation, her presence instantly shifting the air around us.
I let out a tired breath, glancing at Callieber still lying on the ground.
"Really...?"
Akira wasted no time. Before I could even brace myself, she vanished from my sight, reappearing behind me in an instant.
I barely had time to react, instinctively turning just as her fist shot toward me with lightning speed.
I dodged, but it was sloppy, her strike grazed my side, sending a shock of pain through my body.
I staggered backward, panting, my mind sluggish as I tried to keep up with her movements.
"You're...really not helping the situation..."
I muttered under my breath, barely avoiding another sharp strike aimed at my ribs.
Akira's face remained impassive, her eyes cold and empty as she continued her relentless assault.
She didn't speak, didn't falter, just kept coming, like a machine programmed to fight without question.
I ducked beneath one of her kicks, stumbling as I tried to regain my balance.
She moved again, faster this time, her fist aiming straight for my face. I raised my arm just in time, blocking the hit, but the impact sent me flying across the room.
I slammed into the wall with a force that knocked the breath out of me, my back screaming in pain as I slid down to the cold stone floor.
For a moment, I just lay there, my body too heavy to move, my thoughts drifting. Maybe if I stayed here long enough, they'd just leave me alone. Maybe they'd get bored.
But then I groaned, forcing myself to stand. It wasn't like I had much of a choice.
"What a drag..."
I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck with one hand. My limbs felt like lead, and all I wanted was to lie down, close my eyes, and sleep for a year.
"I just want to take a nap..."
Akira stood in the same spot, still emotionless, still watching me with those cold, unblinking eyes.
The man on the throne let out a low, amused chuckle.
"You're still standing?"
I shrugged, too tired to care.
"Yeah, yeah... can we just... wrap this–"
Before I could even finish my sentence, a shadowy fist came barreling toward me from my blind side.
Callieber, back on his feet faster than I'd expected and had attacked out of nowhere.
My instinct kicked in, and despite the exhaustion gnawing at my bones, I raised my arm in time to block the hit.
The impact sent a jolt through my body, my feet sliding across the floor as I struggled to keep my balance.
"Come on, man... at least give me a warning next time..."
But there was no time to catch my breath.
Akira followed up immediately, her movements as swift as ever. Her foot arced through the air toward my side, and I barely managed to twist my body to avoid a direct hit.
The air whistled from the force of her kick as it narrowly missed me.
"Seriously...? A two-on-one?"
I groaned, parrying another strike from Callieber, his fists shrouded in dark energy.
Akira didn't respond. She never did. Her face remained as blank as ever, not a single emotion crossing her features as she pressed the attack.
Callieber, on the other hand, seemed to have regained his earlier aggression, coming at me with fury, his strikes fast and relentless.
I blocked another punch from him, but Akira was already in position, her knee driving toward my ribs.
This time, I wasn't fast enough. The blow landed, and I felt a sharp pain spread across my side, the force sending me stumbling back.
"Ugh... I want to go to bed today..."
They didn't let up. Callieber came from the right, Akira from the left, both of them closing in with deadly precision. My muscles screamed in protest as I dodged one strike, only to block another.
Another punch grazed my shoulder, and I stumbled back, barely staying on my feet.
I could feel the frost on my arms flicker and sputter. Each movement took more effort than the last, and every attack felt heavier, like my limbs were fighting against me.
Akira's fist came at me again, and this time, I couldn't dodge.
Her strike hit me square in the chest, sending a wave of pain coursing through my body.
I gasped, the air knocked from my lungs as I staggered back, my vision blurring.
The frost on my arms flared one last time before vanishing completely. I could feel the cold magic slipping away, like a candle snuffed out. My legs buckled beneath me, and I collapsed to the floor, unable to fight it anymore.
The room spun as I lay there, the cool stone against my cheek grounding me just enough to keep my consciousness from slipping away completely. I couldn't move. I could barely breathe.
Akira stood over me, her expression as blank as ever, and Callieber approached, his dark energy swirling around him like a menacing storm.
I could hear the man on the throne chuckle, his voice dripping with amusement.
"Finished already?"
I tried to push myself up, but my arms wouldn't respond.
The exhaustion was overwhelming, and the weight of defeat pressed down on me like a lead blanket. My vision blurred, and everything started fading to black.
Suddenly, there was a loud creak. The massive doors to the throne room slowly swung open with a groan of ancient wood.
The air shifted.
A figure stepped into the room, cloaked in darkness. The edges of their form were obscured by the long, flowing cloak they wore, but there was an unmistakable aura about them. Power. Confidence.
The room, which had been filled with oppressive shadows and dark magic, now felt... still.
The figure moved forward with deliberate, unhurried steps.
The man on the throne straightened, his smug expression fading into something more wary.
"Ah, Jack. You're finally back."
Akira and Callieber froze in place, their attention now focused entirely on Jack. Even they seemed uncertain.
The cloaked figure stopped a few feet away from me, the edge of their cloak brushing against the stone floor.
"Rest, Kira," A voice echoed from beneath the cloak, low and soothing. "I'll take it from here."
"What's the meaning of this, Jack?"
And then, before I could process what was happening, everything went dark.
---
I floated in that void for what felt like both an eternity and a single breath. There was no sense of time, no urgency, just the quiet hum of nothingness wrapping around me like a soft blanket.
But slowly, the numbness began to fade.
I became aware of a warmth, subtle at first, then stronger, like a fire igniting in the distance, growing closer.
The sensation spread through my chest, down to my fingers and toes, pulling me back to consciousness.
I blinked my eyes open, groggy and disoriented.
The first thing I noticed was the soft light.
I'm lying on a bed... My body is wrapped with bandage. What happened? What happened to the dark elves? What happened to the fight?
My mind is filled with questions without answer. I glance around. I'm in my room in the guild house.
How? When?
The door to my room creaked open, and I didn't even have to turn my head to know who it was.
"You're awake."
Charlotte's voice cut through the haze of my thoughts, sharp and annoyed, as always.
She stepped inside, arms crossed over her chest, her eyes narrowing as they settled on me.
"You really made a mess of things this time."
I sighed, my body still aching as I pushed myself up, wincing at the stiffness in my limbs. My mind was still sluggish, but I had enough awareness to understand one thing.
Charlotte was pissed.
"What happened?"
Charlotte raised an eyebrow, her expression a mixture of frustration and disbelief.
"You almost got yourself killed, that's what happened."