The air in the courtyard shattered. It wasn't a sound, but a pressure wave that knocked the wind out of Kenzo's soldiers. Valerie descended from the ramparts like a meteor of holy vengeance. Her silver-white armor flashed, reflecting the dying light of the Blood Moon. With a swing of her arm that seemed to take up the entire sky, she brought down the blade of solid starlight. It didn't strike the ground with a clang, but with a thunderous *CRACK*. A fissure of blinding, searing light tore through the marble pavement, splitting the courtyard in two as if it were made of glass. The shockwave threw Kenzo back, his boots skidding across the dust, but he didn't fall. He was already moving.
[COMBAT ANALYSIS INITIATED.]
[OPPONENT THREAT LEVEL: APEX GOD-TIER.]
[AVAILABLE BUFFS: NONE.]
[REQUESTED BOOST: 15 SOLAR YEARS OF LIFESPAN FOR 300% STAT INCREASE.]
[REASON: UNAUTHORIZED HOST USE.]
[STATUS: CONTRACT REJECTED BY HOST.]
The System's mocking text appeared in Kenzo's vision, right as Valerie's next slash came screaming toward his neck. He didn't bother reading the full message. He spat on the floor, a glob of saliva landing near the glowing rune. "Fuck your contract," he growled. "I don't need your charity."
He drew the Dragon-Bone Spear, a relic from the very first arc, a weapon crafted from the femur of a beast that had once roamed the ancient world. It was heavy, jagged, and smelled of old blood. Valerie moved with a terrifying grace, her starlight blade a blur of holy fury. She wasn't fighting like a soldier; she was fighting like a dancer, her strikes precise, elegant, and designed to end combat instantly. Kenzo met her with pure, unadulterated brutality. He didn't try to match her speed. He waited. He waited for the opening in her perfect form, and when it came, he swung the heavy spear like a club.
*CLANG!*
The impact was deafening. The shockwave blew the dust away from them, revealing the sparks flying between the jagged bone and the pure starlight. Kenzo was pushed back, his arms numb from the force of her blow, but he grinned. He had hit her. "Not so perfect now, are you?" he roared.
He ignored the System's warnings about stamina and used [Shadow Melding]. His body dissolved into a cloud of ink-black shadow, passing harmlessly through her next attack. He reformed behind her, the spear already spinning in his hand. He didn't go for a killing blow. He went for the shield. He drove the tip of the spear upward, aiming for the glowing rune on her chest armor. *BOOM!*
The impact shattered her holy defense. The starlight shield, a dome of pure energy that had protected the city for centuries, collapsed in a shower of sparks. Valerie stumbled, her balance broken. Kenzo didn't give her a chance to recover. He lunged, his momentum carrying him into the air. He caught her by the waist, his grip like iron, and slammed her down onto the hard marble.
She hit the ground with a bone-rattling thud, the wind knocked out of her. Kenzo landed on top of her, his knees driving into the joints of her massive, white wings. He pinned them flat against the ground, trapping her in place. The position was humiliating, a complete violation of the warrior's code, but it was effective. He grabbed her by the hair, forcing her head back, and brought the jagged end of the Dragon-Bone Spear up against her throat.
"Where is the rest of your army?" he demanded, his face inches from hers. "Where is your god?"
Valerie coughed, a trail of golden blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. She looked up at him, her eyes burning with a fierce, unbroken hatred. Despite the broken armor, the pinned wings, and the spear at her throat, she didn't look afraid. She looked like a statue of stone, carved to endure any pain.
"You can kill me, Human," she rasped, her voice barely a whisper but filled with a terrifying certainty. "You can break this body. You can defile this soul. But you are foolish if you think you have won."
Kenzo tightened his grip on her hair. "Oh?"
"The entity inside you," she spat, her eyes locking onto his. "You call it a parasite? A System? It is a seed. A tumor that will not stay contained. You may kill me, but the entity inside you will devour this entire world anyway. It will eat the sun, the stars, and the light itself. You are just the delivery boy. And when the time comes, it will discard you just as easily as you have discarded me."
Kenzo froze. The words hung in the air, a cold truth that settled in his gut. He looked past her, at the white walls of Lumia, and then up at the cracked sky. The System had been silent, but her words were a confirmation of everything he had suspected. He wasn't the master of his destiny. He was the vanguard for a cosmic horror. And the war had just begun.