"Got you…" He hissed.

Pride's eyes narrowed, "You fool—"

Before she could finish, a blur of gold-green light appeared at her side—a streak so fast it left afterimages in the world.

Essa moved faster than the eye could follow her rusted sword, slashing upward in a final, vicious arc.

SSSSHHH!

The blade cut through the air... through flesh!!

Chucck!

Fallen Pride's wrist burst open in a flare of red light. Leo fell back down due to the sudden force, landing hard.

Fallen Pride too staggered back, falling down on the ground.

THUD!

THUD!

Fallen Pride landed on the ground with a heavy force that almost cracked the earth. Leo managed to fall down without many major injuries, rolling to the side, panting heavily, as a single drop of blood dripped from his nose.

He ignored the pain and looked at Pride's sword, which was… far from her, just lying on the ground.

He spat blood and pushed himself up.

"Essa—now!"

Essa landed lightly, her feet barely making a sound as she dropped on one knee atop Pride, her curved sword plunging down toward Pride's throat.

Chuccckkkk!!!

The sound was thick, brutal... final!!

Leo's eyes widened in freak horror, "N-NOO!!" he shouted.

Fallen Pride, despite the blood dripping from her lips, smirked as if nothing armed her... well, nothing harmed her after all because her own sword burst from Essa's chest from behind!!

Essa's body froze, her hand halting mid-motion, eyes wide with disbelief.

Blood poured from her mouth, pattering against the cracked ground and splattering onto Pride, too.

Pride leaned forward slightly, "What? Did you think taking my sword away would save you?"

Behind Essa, Fallen Pride's sword was still held in the grip of her severed hand, the fingers locked rigidly around the hilt. The weapon pulsed faintly with dark mana as it drove itself closer into Essa's chest, twisting under its own will.

Leo's eyes went blank for a heartbeat… then everything inside him snapped.

"ESSA!!"

He roared, appearing instantly behind her, his movement tearing the air apart in a flash of light. He grabbed the hilt of the sword protruding from her back, his hands trembling, veins bulging, blood dripping between his fingers. With a guttural cry, he ripped it free, the sound wet and brutal.

Essa gasped, blood spilling from her lips as her body collapsed forward... but Leo caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Stay with me! Stay with me, damn it!" he shouted, clutching her tightly against his chest.

Without looking back, he turned and ran.

The world behind him cracked and burned, mirrors shattering like falling stars, red lightning bursting from Pride's wounded form as she slowly rose from the debris.

Fallen Pride's laughter echoed behind them, "Run, boy… run as far as your light allows!"

Leo gritted his teeth and pushed harder.

Her head rested weakly against his shoulder, her breath shallow, blood dripping down his sleeve in crimson streaks that shimmered faintly under the blue beam.

"Y-You…."

"Don't talk," he muttered, "Save your strength, Essa… we—"

She coughed, a harsh, wet sound that cut him off, blood splattering against his collarbone.

"Leo…"

He looked down.

"How long… You think we can run?" she whispered between coughs. "You can't… keep this up forever."

"Shut up," he said through clenched teeth. "We're not dying here."

"Then… let me finish this once and for all."

Leo's steps faltered. "What are you talking about?"

Her fingers, slick with blood, rose to touch his cheek. "The rest… is up to yo—"

"FUCK YOU!!" Leo shouted furiously as he put her down on the ground, the echo of his rage bouncing off shattered concrete and glass.

"FUCK YOU AND YOUR FUCKING SUICIDE!! JUST FUCKING STOP!!"

Leo's hands shook with fury as he crushed two white rune stones and flung them at her chest. They landed with bone-jarring force, the impact so harsh that for an instant, she almost believed he meant to kill her himself.

But thank goodness, those white rune stones shimmered... twisting runes flaring with ghostly white light before a wave of mana warped around her, healing torn skin and broken bones. The pain receded, but her body still trembled.

She coughed and stared up at Leo, the sharpness of his glare almost physical, burning with anger and something more desperate beneath.

"Why do you keep trying to kill yourself? What the fuck is wrong with you?" as if he'd lost patience.

"That's my duty—" she tried.

"Oh yeah, fuck that!" he snapped, cutting her off.

"There are people out there clawing for every breath, fighting like hell just to see one more sunrise. If all it took to be free was to die, the world would be empty by now. So don't give me that bullshit!"

He shook his head in disgust, fingers tightening on his katana. He lifted the blade, silver edge gleaming,

"If your answer is suicide for this thing—"He jabbed the sword in the direction of Fallen Pride, who stood in a pool of flickering reddish-black sparks, holding her severed wrist, the flesh and bone slowly reattaching in a grotesque dance of regeneration. "—then fuck off. I'll face her myself," as he turned away.

"You will die!" Essa tried to rise, legs trembling.

Pain roared through her body—a raw agony the rune stones had not erased. Only her wounds had vanished; fatigue and torment still burned in her muscles.

Leo shook his head, not bothering to look back.

"I died a long time ago… and I'm fine with it."

He halted mid-step, glancing over his shoulder at her, "It's better than watching someone else die for me."

Essa watched him go, heart pounding in her chest, rage and helplessness battling inside her. She clenched her fist, struggling to stand.

'Master… I need your mana,' she pleaded in her mind, staring blankly after Leo.

Leo, on the other hand, walked toward the incoming Fallen Pride... her form flickering with wild, red sparks crawled over her skin and armour.

She looked barely human now, her eyes glowing with pride and wrath,

"I am literally amused by your tactics, Leo," she called out, for the first time acknowledging his worth.

Leo let out a weak but genuine smile, "Well, I'm honoured then," he replied, steadying himself as he raised the katana.

He gritted his teeth, air swirling around him, every breath charged with mana.

Power gathered in his chest, burning in his lungs as his heart pounded like war drums. For a brief moment, his eyes shone with fierce reddish black, "Let's end this, Pride—who took my Caelindra!"

Fallen Pride's lips curled into a smirk, "I never took over her, Leo!" she shouted, stomping on the ground.

The earth fractured, shockwaves bursting outward.

Their swords screamed as they collided, each blow a clash of wills. Sparks burst like fireworks, wild and bright, as shockwaves tore through the cracked street, dust and debris swirling in magical turbulence.

Fallen Pride moved like a spectre... lethal grace in every step. Her crimson aura blazed, bleeding light through the seams of her armour.

With each slash, her blade cut through air, tearing apart stone, rending steel, splintering buildings.

Leo answered every blow, his katana trembling with fury. He met her strike for strike, each movement desperate but precise. The city fell apart around them—buildings sliced in half, cars uprooted and hurled, streetlights bent and twisted under the crush of their power.

He parried a blow, rolled beneath a rain of debris, and kicked off the wall of a falling building. Every movement was a dance of life and death.

Pride followed him without hesitation, her blade hissing through the space he'd occupied a second before.

Clang!

Clash!

SSSSHHHH!

Leo used every surface, walls, crumbling pillars, shards of floating glass—leaping, rebounding, teleporting through mirror shards mid-swing.

Each move blurred the line between reality and illusion. He'd vanish in a sudden flash of fractured light, only to reappear behind Fallen Pride, his katana already swinging with the force of his fury.

For a moment, he had her staggering backwards, struggling to anticipate his unpredictable assault.

Chucckk!

His blade tore through her back, blood misting in the air as she rolled across the broken ground. Fallen Pride's eyes burned with furious light, her glare searing into Leo.

She forced herself up, as Leo exhaled and inhaled in a deep. He knew as long as he controlled the flow of movement, as long as she was still trying to understand how he vanished and reappeared, the advantage was his alone.

He smirked, a wild glint in his eyes, and leapt toward a splintered window-mirror. In a flicker of light, his body vanished, only to reappear less than a heartbeat later behind her.

Fallen Pride's instincts screamed danger, but she had no time to react; before she could even turn, his katana bit deep into her shoulder.

Chuckk!

And before her hand could close around him, he disappeared again, dissolving into a web of shifting reflections. She gritted her teeth, rage boiling inside as her eyes darted, scanning every mirrored surface, every glint of glass.

She knew he was using those window-mirrors to teleport, but what unsettled her was how he kept appearing exactly at her blind spots, behind her every time, instead of materialising at some random angle.

This was something she hadn't realised, even as she pieced together that the mirrors were responsible for his teleportation.

"I am here!"

Chucck!

"Here~"

Chucck!

"Here too~"

Chucck!

Leo's taunting, childlike giggle echoed from every direction.

The sound grated against Fallen Pride's nerves, stoking her fury as new wounds opened on her body, crimson ribbons staining her armour. She spun, searching, slashing at empty air, but she couldn't pinpoint him... every strike was met with a vanishing shadow and another bite of steel.

But in her rage, she learned one thing: he always appeared at the very instant she couldn't react, just beyond her reach, each time exploiting a gap in her guard.

"Miss me!"

Leo materialised directly before her, his katana gripped in both hands, and with a snarl of effort, he thrust the blade straight into her chest with brutal force. His veins bulged, glowing with surging mana, arms trembling from the sheer strength behind the blow.

Crack!

Her armour split!!

His sword nearly pierced her heart... when, suddenly, her hands let go of her own sword.

Leo, about to thrust even deeper, his focus razor-sharp, saw the sudden opening. This was his moment. The only way to defeat her, as Essa's Master had whispered, was to separate her from her blade.

The sword was her anchor, her core!!

Without hesitation, he abandoned his own weapon, letting go with a growl, and reached desperately for Fallen Pride's sword. His hands shot out, fingers clawing for the hilt—if he could wrench it away, he could end this.

"Hehe~"

Fallen Pride's lips curled into a knowing, dangerous smile.

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