Author's Note: Do Not Unlock.
-----------
The air itself seemed to kneel.
Aleman felt it the moment Kurogane stepped forward — not fear, not panic, but pressure. The kind that didn't crush the body immediately, but instead whispered to the instincts that something was wrong. Something apex.
Kurogane rolled his shoulders slowly, black armor plates shifting with a metallic whisper. Crimson runes pulsed faintly along the seams, responding to his presence rather than fueling it.
"One ability," Kurogane said casually, eyes locked onto Aleman. "That's all I was ever given."
Lightning crawled along Aleman's Thunder Spear, shadows pooling at his feet.
"And you think that makes you special?" Aleman replied, voice calm despite the tension coiling in his spine.
Kurogane smiled.
"No. What makes me special," he said, taking another step forward, "is that I mastered it."
The world bent.
