The corridor burned with mana.
Blood slicked the shattered floors.
Limbs regrew. Weapons reformed.
No one yielded. No one could.
Stone walls cracked.
Every inch of the corridor was stained in blood.
The castle trembled beneath their power.
---
Aldric's eyes still burned.
His legs had been severed. Wings spread wide.
But he flew forward—relentless.
His limbs regenerated instantly, muscle and bone surging back into form.
He swung his poleaxe in a savage arc at Ivan.
Ivan's eyes flickered, just enough to react—
The blade slashed across his chest, nearly cleaving him in half.
But the wound began to close before the blood even hit the floor.
Ivan retaliated.
His sword pierced straight through Aldric's chest, the tip bursting out his back.
Aldric didn't flinch.
His bloodstained face tightened into a snarl.
He snapped forward—grabbing Ivan's hand still holding the blade.
CRACK.
Bones shattered in Ivan's wrist.
Aldric's other hand gripped the poleaxe tighter—raising it high—
Ivan's gaze sharpened. A blade manifested in his free hand.
He swung downward—
But—
Lyriana's spear flashed. Swift. Merciless.
In a single motion, she sliced through Ivan's hand—severing it clean off.
Blood sprayed across the floor.
Ivan's eyes darted down. His grip failed.
Before he could react, Aldric struck.
The poleaxe cleaved down, crushing through flesh and bone—
Ivan's other arm flew from his body, severed at the shoulder.
Crimson blood erupted in an arc.
But Ivan's glare didn't fade.
His jaw clenched. His body trembled—still burning with rage.
Lyriana moved again. Her spear already swung for the kill—
But Ivan—
A brutal, desperate kick.
It crashed into both Aldric and Lyriana, sending them flying back.
They smashed into the stone walls, shaking the corridor.
Still, they rose. Groaning—but unbroken.
---
Then Ivan dropped to one knee.
Lyriana's spear had taken his leg—now a stump crackling with red mana.
But already, his hands were regrowing—flesh knitting over muscle, bone forming anew.
Before he could rise—
The maid flickered into existence beside him, twin axes spinning like a storm.
A savage swing—
One axe bit into his neck—clean, sharp, precise.
Ivan's head flew, spinning through the air before thudding across the blood-slick floor.
But his body didn't fall.
It moved on instinct.
Wildly. Brutally. Swinging in blind fury.
The maid twisted with deadly grace, slipping past the attack, landing beside Aldric and Lyriana once more.
They paused—watching.
---
Ivan's headless body began to rise.
His leg regrew.
His neck closed.
His head reformed, features restored in a flash of pulsing red.
His crimson eyes snapped open—blazing with fire.
He stood tall in the chaos.
Regenerated. Reborn.
---
Unshaken.
Still grinning.
Still dominant.
---
> "Must I really keep lowering myself…"
"Constantly forced to dirty my hands, swatting at the same pathetic little insect?"
"How utterly beneath me."
His voice scraped like steel on bone.
"Insects should know their place."
"Now… watch closely—see how little all your efforts truly mattered."
He raised a hand.
Blood surged around him, shaping into jagged crimson blades—
A rain of death suspended in the air.
Ivan's crimson eyes burned as he prepared to strike—
---
But then—
A chill swept through the corridor.
The heat of blood magic vanished.
A cold, unnatural silence fell.
Darkness bled from the cracks in the walls.
Shadow pooled across the floor like ink.
And from the heart of that void—
A figure stepped forth.
She moved with grace that defied sound.
Like night given form.
---
Elliana.
Her ebony skin shimmered faintly in the glow of raw mana.
Her silver eyes glowed—deep, ancient, unwavering.
Shadows coiled around her body like living smoke.
Cradled in her arms—Elenya and Lucifer, both asleep.
She didn't hesitate.
She walked calmly to Aldric and Lyriana.
Her voice was soft, but laced with deadly calm.
---
> "Take them. Keep my babies safe."
Aldric's jaw clenched.
Lyriana nodded and stepped forward, carefully taking the children from her.
Elliana turned her gaze to the maid.
---
> "Find Draven. Make sure he's safe."
The maid bowed—and vanished into shadow.
---
Then Elliana faced Ivan.
Her magic flared.
Dark tendrils burst from the ground, rising like serpents.
The corridor darkened—wrapped in a storm of shadows.
She stepped forward. Eyes blazing.
---
> "You dared lay a hand on my son."
"You will pay."
Ivan raised his blade, smirking.
But before he could speak—
A wall of living shadow exploded into the corridor, separating him from the others.
The force cracked stone and shook the castle.
Ivan's eyes narrowed, annoyance etched across his face.
---
> "So…"
"The dark elf mother finally graces us with her presence."
"How utterly… underwhelming."
---
Elliana's voice was a whisper—cold as the grave.
> "And you'll regret the moment you ever crossed my family."