The battlefield was a ruin of broken stone and scattered debris, the air thick with the metallic scent of blood and raw mana. The once-proud walls stood cracked and crumbling, remnants of a war that was far from over. As Lucien and Hector clashed, their weapons carving arcs of destruction through the air. Sparks danced from every impact of Lucien's sword, sharp and precise, as they met Hector's spear, wild and unrelenting. Lucien's movements were like a master, his footwork effortless, each strike a calculated motion meant to dismantle Hector's defense. But Hector, Hector fought like a man possessed. His attacks were rough, aggressive, erratic. He didn't care for form or precision. He cared only for breaking Lucien. And it was working. A wild thrust forced Lucien back. He barely dodged as Hector twisted the spear mid-motion, using the wind to accelerate his strike. Lucien parried, but the sheer force rattled his grip. His arm numbed for a split second, long enough for Hector to press the attack.
"wind dragon manner: Rend!"
A burst of slicing wind erupted from Hector's spear, the shockwave slamming into Lucien. He skidded back, boots grinding against shattered stone. He barely had time to regain his footing before Hector closed the distance, spear coming down like a guillotine.
Lucien twisted his blade at the last second clang! the weapons locked. But Hector wasn't fighting to win. He was fighting to kill Lucien.
With raw strength, he pushed forward, his voice a snarl. "You should have protected her!" He drove his knee into Lucien's ribs. The swordsman grunted, but his grip didn't falter. "You knew, Lucien," Hector spat, shoving him back with brute force. His breathing was ragged, his expression twisted. "You knew you couldn't do anything to Frederick, so you did nothing! And you watched her DIE." Lucien steadied himself, eyes cold. "And what did you do, Hector?" Hector's grip on his spear trembled. Then, he laughed.
A hollow, bitter laugh devoid of anything but hatred. "I used you," he said, stepping forward a sick smile on his face. "I always knew Frederick was the one who killed her. From the very beginning. But you—" He pointed at Lucien, accusation burning in his gaze. "You were useless. You didn't fight. You didn't struggle. You just stood there. So i used your weakness" his smile was sickening, like a man who had long gone lost his sanity.
Lucien's fingers curled into fists.
Hector's voice dropped, dark and venomous. " I gave you purpose Lucien. I made you useful in my plot."
Lucien stilled. "I turned Frederick against you. I made him obsessed with ruining you. Because I knew—" Hector's voice cracked, his rage spilling out like wildfire. "—I knew you would never lay a finger on him. And i knew he would be too deluded in his self proclaimed wisdom to do otherwise just to get it off his back."
Lucien said nothing. He simply stared.
But Hector wasn't finished. "I hate you Gale." Hector said turning to her. You sick parasite. You go around being a tattle tale to my sisters story just so you can be pitied. You vermin. I wonder why my uncle picked you from the streets. All that wretched money of his could have been spent on My dear Heloisa, not a failure like you." He then turns to Lucien pointing at Gale "Do you know why I hated her, Lucien?" His voice was shaking now, not with grief, but something far more dangerous. "Because she was a curse."
Lucien's body went rigid. Hector kept going, his expression breaking into something unhinged. "Every single person who tried to protect her, her foster family, MY sister, they all died. She was never meant to be saved. She was meant to burn. So why did you save her Lucien?"
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Then Lucien moved.
His sword clattered to the ground as his fist crashed into Hector's ribs.
The impact was like a thunderclap.
Hector's body launched backward, tearing through stone and steel. Walls shattered as he broke through, his form nothing more than a blur of motion and debris.
Dust filled the air.
Lucien followed, stepping through the wreckage with slow, deliberate steps.
Hector lay in the rubble, coughing up blood. His body twitched, every nerve screaming in agony. Then—warmth.
His wounds healed. Lucien had restored him. Before he could process it, Lucien's foot pressed into his chest, pinning him to the ground. "I could kill you right now," Lucien said, voice disturbingly calm. "But that would be too easy." Hector glared up at him, chest heaving. His hatred burned just as fiercely, but now, for the first time, there was something else. Fear.
Lucien's expression was void of mercy. "You wanted to make me suffer?" His fingers twitched, mana swirling at his fingertips. Another burst of healing energy seeped into Hector's battered body, restoring every fractured bone, every torn muscle. Lucien clenched his fists.
"Then let me show you what real pain feels like." Lucien drove his fist into Hector's face, his feet making it impossible for Hector to Dodge. He then kicked him, sending him into the wall. And then another burst of healing energy. At this point Hector began to laugh, a sickening laugh but Lucien paid it no mind.
A kick to the ribs that sends Hector wheezing, then a stomp to his face that Instantly breaks his neck. Then a jab that breaks his jaw. Each of these attacks more gruesome than the last, Luciens raw power poured into the beating, leaving Hector no time to react despite the healing. As Hector is driven mad by the pain his brain is reacting to, with the anger and hatred he feels, he begins to draw directly from Faust' power. Faust was originally a dragonkin of the wind dragon selected as its protector. But when the wind dragon clan was wiped out, Faust its last defender was their last survivor. This makes him the only Non fully fledged dragon with the power to harness the wind and possess the wind Dragon's blood. Which brought through the name the last dragon warrior. And because the power of the dragon warrior is his, anyone who inherits it inherits his soul. But now, Hector was trying to submit that soul to his will, drawing not its power but Faust himself using his hatred as a fuel for his aura to force a binding to truly become the last dragon warrior just so he can kill Lucien. Lucien, Knowing he can't stop it, draws his sword, ready to Kill Hector before his rage consumes him completely, but Valeri notices this and steps in, Taking the brunt of the attack instead. Immediately, Valeri is cut and is cut deep, his thick skin and Luciens fast reflexes, the only reason he doesnt die. Valeri, trying to be kind, attempted to help Hector regulate his power and curb it by using his own mana technique seeing how itd helped Hector, before but He was pushed back by the Reflux of the raging aura of Hector. And with the power from spiraling out of control, the bond between their souls was already half merged, but Valeris daring attempt helped. He'd taken the brunt of the mana reflux and as a result the wild mana and raging aura was reduced to an internal conflict for Hector, causing him to scream in Agony and his Body fought against its soul. This caused Hector to grow a dragon wing out of the side where his spear was and the spear to resemble something similar to a dragon tooth with its shaft made of Dragon skin. His left eye was also akin to a dragons eye. Lucien knew what this meant, watching Hector's body Transform he couldnt help but marvel. It was impossible to change a petsons innate genepool and mutations from personal attributes are manifested. However this felt like Hector was being directly transformed, from his soul nature becoming more and more wild and it was impossible but it had meant catastrophe if anyone found out. Hector's gene pool was tampered with in the merging of the soul's now The being that stood infront of him wasn't just Hector but an unstable Faust who has just his soul split and a driven mad Hector who has just had half his soul merged with the other half being eaten alive with rage.