Power stirred at Astra's fingertips. Instinct urged her to act but discipline told her to wait. Athena hadn't given the signal.

Astra pried her fingers from the fists they had formed. Logic first, impulse later.

Out on the balcony, Theo and Athena kept up their charade while Thomas answered questions with a politician's smile. But Astra could see that Athena had already sensed the danger. So why was she holding back?

What no one, not even her allies, seemed to account for was Astra herself. She did not fit anyone's tidy expectations, least of all Thomas's.

This will be fine, Astra told herself and forced her power into silence once more.

Athena removed her mask, seemingly respectful, though Astra recognised the gesture: a chance to probe further into Thomas's thoughts.

What was Athena still searching for?

"The incident with Tiffany was regrettable," Athena said calmly. Yet Astra's keen hearing picked up on the quickening of her breath, just as the first drops of rain struck the stone balcony. "How has she been since?"

Thomas's smile flickered. "She's recovering." lHis eyes drifted to Theo, who hadn't moved, who seemed captivated by Athena's hand. "But I need to—it's nearly time for the spee—"

He trailed. His eyes locked on Athena's hand, where a single finger had twitched. The polite smile fell, jaw clenched.

Athena's face lost its colour.

Exposed.

Thomas's neck twitched, jerked, then tilted like a raven studying prey, green irises drowning in black. "Curiosity kills the cat, little girl."

"Who assumed," Athena said, her soft voice almost swallowed by the rising storm, "that I'm the cat?"

SNAP.

The signal finally arrived, and the storm erupted into chaos in an instant.

Blue light flared from Theo's fingertips; pressure warped the air.

Balcony doors exploded as Astra broke through, glass sleeting around her.

"Get back!" she shouted, dragging Athena inside an instant before a jet of oily dark matter shot from Thomas's mouth—a vile substance churning like sewage, racing towards them.

Astra conjured a shield that caught the blast. Marble cracked beneath her silver heels. Sparks danced along her skin as her braid came undone, silver strands lashing in the wind.

But the shield held at the balcony entrance.

The dark matter slammed into it again and again, determined to reach and silence Athena. The balcony filled with its noise: wet, gurgling snarls. Music cut off. Guests gasped.

Theo had already drawn his weapon, frost racing up his arm as mana charged his blade. He cut toward Thomas's exposed flank.

With inhuman speed Thomas turned, arm lashing out. A torrent of rot‑stinking energy slammed into Theo. The ice shield met it, but the collision skidded him across rain‑slick marble.

Theo's arms trembled. "Keep Athena inside! She saw something she wasn't meant to!"

"But—" Astra couldn't finish. Heavy boots thundered closer: security. The building groaned, glass shattered below. If the mezzanine collapsed they would all be crushed.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

I can't hold this forever, Astra thought. If I don't move the fight, I'll be reduced to a shield on legs.

Astra groaned inwardly. What's Thomas up to? Why now?

She swept a wave of energy outward. The force toppled guests and guards alike down the staircase. Another flick sealed the entrance with layered energy.

"Open up!" someone barked.

"Did I leave a welcome mat?" Astra muttered, but before she could turn back to Thomas, gunfire rang out. Military-grade bullets struck her barrier in rapid bursts, leaving sizzling marks.

"Not helping." She recalibrated the shield's density. Her magic wasn't designed for this. It excelled in destruction, not defence. If she channelled too much power, the floor would give way, harming the guests on the floor below. Conversely, if she channelled too little, the bullets would pass straight through.

Thomas knew how to counter their powers, which meant he had planned this. But why? Why out himself at such an important event?

Her shield began to splinter at the balcony's entrance under the combined pressure from Theo and Thomas. Without it the next exchange would level half the hall.

"Astra!" Theo's voice rang with panic. "I can't hold him any longer!"

"A little busy, Theo. Get him to the garden!"

Theo's body tensed. His shield was almost gone, black smoke bleeding through the cracks. "Working on it!"

Thomas was definitely aiming to kill.

The fractures in Theo's blade spidered across its surface with every strike. Dark energy lashed at him, faster and more precise each time. He barely managed to keep his footing.

"You shame the Whitlock name." Thomas's tone bent, distorted. Then, abruptly, Thomas himself pushed through, eyes spilling black liquid. "W-Why are we doing this…?"

Theo froze, confused, and it cost him.

Thomas's next blow shattered both shield and blade. Ice burst outward. Shards skimmed Theo's cheek. He dodged the worst of it, but a tendril still caught his shoulder, ripping through fabric and flesh.

Blood spattered the marble.

He stumbled, clamped a hand to the wound, and sealed it with ice. He winced, then managed a small smile. "Didn't think that would actually work."

And again, he had never fought like this before St. Kevin's.

Thomas laughed, sound splitting in two. "Didn't know you had it in you. They said you're all brawn, no brain."

"They?" Theo's eyes blazed white as he summoned another ice blade. "Who are they'?"

"A human, just like you. But humans… they always make mistakes."

As the words left Thomas's mouth, another wave of darkness erupted.

"You're no human." Theo met the assault. He was driven back, forced into Astra's barrier. His breath came ragged, his limbs shook, and his blade fractured once again.

"Human? Such a pitiful thing. But I must admit… they're rather fun to toy with. And deliciously nourishing."

Theo ignored the taunt and closed his eyes. He listened instead: the storm, the rain on stone, the thunder above. Power wasn't only in his blade or his body. He searched for the undercurrent of magic, the energy and the potential to be harnessed, to be controlled, to be… bent.

Eydis… She had hinted this.

The rain began to spiral around him, drawn to his skin and coiling up his arm. He was bending his mana, taking from the storm, from the air, from the world itself. Like a reservoir waiting to be tapped. Like a battery inside a car, it just needed—

His eyes brightened. "A driver."

"Nonsense!" Thomas's mouth unhinged, another wave of darkness spewing forth.

Stormwater froze into a cyclone of ice that spun along Theo's arm. He thrust it into the dark energy ahead, the collision erupting in a violent spray of splinters.

Theo advanced and reached deeper into the storm's energy. Each wave of the battle slammed into Astra's shield, testing its limits as she fought to hold it together. Time slipped by. Sirens howled somewhere far and closing.

"This balcony could probably survive a meteor strike," Astra commented, eyeing Athena, still dazed. "Let's finish it."

Sensing another lightning strike approached, Astra raised a hand, and crimson eyes blazed white. Her hair lifted, glowing, and the mask on her face cracked under the force of the magic flooding her.

Everything slowed: storm, battle, scrambling guards. She linked her will to the tempest's heart. A spear of lightning slammed down, marble splitting beneath Thomas and theo.

They twisted aside and crashed onto slick stone.

"You can control lightning?" Theo asked.

"You missed, human," Thomas spat, struggling to rise. "This cursed, feeble shell."

Astra ignored him, her lips barely moving. "I didn't. 'Meteor strike' is just hyperbole."

Thomas froze.

The strike had been precise. The weakened ledge crumbled. Thomas and Theo plunged into the garden below.

Astra dissolved the barrier, twin diamond blades crystallising in her hands. She moved to leap when a gentle touch halted her.

"Athena?" Astra's eyes turned back to crimson.

Athena's golden gaze was unfocused, still half‑caught in her vision. "It calls itself Pride."

The name hit like a dagger to Astra's chest. Shock, confusion, then something hotter.

Anger.

Astra's eyes darkened. Her fingers tightened on the blades until hairline cracks spread across them.

"Pride… you say?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.