The clash didn't stop.
Steel still screamed.
Shadow still tore at the air.
Mana still burned through the dome like a living storm.
But in the midst of it—between strikes, between steps—
Draven spoke.
The battle didn't slow, not even for a breath, yet his voice cut cleanly through steel and shadow.
"Ma," he said, breath steady despite the chaos as he ducked beneath a sweeping arc of Kaela's blade and slid past her flank. "You don't need to keep interfering like that."
Elliana parried Kaela's follow-up strike, shadows rippling as she shifted position. She didn't look at him.
Draven twisted through another exchange, blades crossing to redirect a mana-charged slash. His voice remained tight—but controlled.
"I didn't come here to be looked after," he continued. "I didn't come here to be a burden."
He hurled his dagger.
Kaela deflected—
—and for once, the shadows **didn't correct the angle**.
Draven caught the rebound himself, twisting sharply. A counterstroke grazed his cheek.
Blood ran.
He didn't slow.
"I came here to help you," he said, sharper now, slipping past another exchange. His dagger scraped along Kaela's armor, sparks flaring. "So let me do my thing. Focus on the fight. Interfere only when you're sure the attack actually threatens my life."
Kaela pressed forward, blade screaming as mana surged. Draven twisted aside by a hair's breadth, heat washing past his skin.
For the first time—
Elliana paused.
Just a fraction.
Her shadows stilled.
Then—
She intercepted a killing strike aimed for Draven's spine.
Only that one.
The rest, she let pass.
Draven felt it immediately—the full weight of the fight crashing down on him without a safety net.
Elliana's lips curved.
A smile.
Not soft.
Not tired.
Proud.
"…Alright, honey," Elliana said calmly as shadows tightened around her once more, her focus turning fully toward Kaela. "Let's end this quickly. We don't have much time."
Draven grinned—sharp, feral—blood streaked across his face as he spun his blade once in his hand.
"Yeah," he said, stepping forward as the shadows peeled away from him instead of clinging. "Let's give that bitch hell."
Elliana moved.
Draven moved.
This time—separately.
No cover.
No correction.
No safety net.
Elliana unleashed the darkness in full. Shadows no longer cushioned Draven's missteps—they became weapons, flooding the battlefield, compressing space, sealing escape routes, isolating Kaela within a tightening cage of black.
And Draven—
Draven went wild.
Not reckless.
**Relentless.**
He vanished and reappeared in rapid succession, shadow step chaining cleanly now, movements sharper, confidence etched into every motion. Blades flew—caught—thrown again, angles shifting midair as Kaela was forced to defend on instinct alone.
Her breathing hitched.
She realized it.
Elliana wasn't protecting Draven anymore.
She was **hunting**.
And Draven—
He was no longer the weak point.
He was the knife aimed straight at Kaela's throat.
The dome trembled as shadow and mana collided once more—
—but this time, the balance was gone.
They weren't testing her.
They were ending it.
---
The battle inside the dome surged toward its breaking point—
—and outside the dome—
The forest **held its breath**.
Knights staggered back as the air suddenly **changed**, pressure building like the moment before a divine verdict. The dark dome still stood—absolute, devouring light—but now something **answered it**.
Elira stepped forward.
Her hands came together—
**Clap.**
The sound was sharp, resonant, cutting through the chaos like a bell tolling judgment.
Holy mana **surged**.
Not gently.
Not warmly.
It poured from her in blinding waves—gold-white light spilling from her veins, her eyes, her very breath. The ground beneath her cracked as sigils ignited one by one, as though the world itself recognized her authority.
She bowed her head.
And prayed.
> "O Radiant Mother," Elira intoned, her voice no longer entirely her own,
> "She who is the first light, the only pure source that has ever existed."
The air **vibrated**.
Knights fell to one knee without realizing it. Even the wounded stopped groaning, frozen as the pressure mounted.
> "This humble servant of light," she continued, holy mana roaring louder,
> "humbly requests your judgment."
The dome **shuddered**.
Golden light crawled across its surface like living scripture, clashing violently against the abyssal darkness holding it together.
> "Grant Your holy radiance," Elira's voice grew stronger, echoing unnaturally.
> "Cleanse the blasphemy that stands before us.
> Purge the impure shadow that dares defy Your radiance."
Elira lifted her head.
Her eyes snapped open—
**Blazing gold.**
They were no longer merely human, but mirrors reflecting something ancient, vast, and immeasurable.
She raised one hand skyward.
"**Sanctum Lux—**"
Her voice thundered, layered with divine authority.
"**DESCEND!**"
The light **answered**.
A pillar of holy radiance tore down from the sky, vast and merciless, smashing into the dome with cataclysmic force. Gold and black collided in a deafening **SCREAM**, judgment crashing against will.
---
Inside the dome—
Elliana's head snapped up.
Draven felt it instantly.
Not heat.
Not pain.
**Pressure.**
The kind that erased existence.
Kaela froze for half a heartbeat, eyes widening as divine light bled through the darkness above, holy runes burning themselves into the dome's surface.
Inside—
—the world **came apart**.
The first裂 didn't sound like glass.
It sounded like a **scream**.
Elliana's dark firmament buckled as the holy pillar finally punched through, ripping open the ceiling of shadow. Blinding gold light flooded in, pouring down like molten judgment, burning away layers of darkness on contact.
The dome began to **collapse inward**.
Draven felt it immediately.
Heat.
Not warmth—**searing**.
Like standing inside the jaws of a furnace god.
His shadows recoiled, sizzling at the edges as golden fire devoured them. Sweat beaded instantly across his skin as his jaw tightened.
"Dammit—what the fuck is this…?" he hissed. "This heat—!"
It wasn't physical fire.
It was **authority**.
Light that didn't burn flesh alone—but tried to **deny his existence**.
Kaela, on the other hand—
She gasped.
Not in pain.
In relief.
The holy light wrapped around her like gentle hands. Torn muscle knit. Fractured bone realigned. Blood reversed its flow as her breathing steadied, golden sigils crawling briefly across her skin before fading.
She stared down at herself, stunned.
"…Healing me," she whispered.
Elliana staggered.
A sharp breath escaped her lips as she brought a hand to her side. Dark blood seeped between her fingers, a thin trail spilling from the corner of her mouth.
She looked up.
The dome was **failing**.
Cracks spread everywhere—great fractures of radiant gold tearing through shadow. Outside, silhouettes were beginning to appear—knights, clergy, figures of light pressing closer.
Elliana wiped the blood from her lip with her thumb and laughed softly—dry, irritated.
"…Tch."
Her voice dropped, urgent.
"The dome's being destroyed," she muttered. "If this keeps up, we'll be surrounded the moment it collapses."
Another shockwave rippled through the structure. A chunk of shadow peeled away overhead and evaporated under the holy blaze.
"We can't stay here," Elliana said sharply. "Not like this."
She turned, eyes snapping toward him.
"**Drav—!**"
Her voice cut through the chaos.
"Get over here. Now."
The light intensified, grinding downward inch by inch as Elira's prayer reached its crescendo outside.
Elliana straightened despite the blood, shadows coiling violently around her arm as she forced them to stabilize what little remained.
"We're leaving," she said, voice absolute. "Right now."
Draven clenched his fists, shadows writhing around his boots as he glanced once more at the burning light pouring through the shattered dome.
"…Yeah," he growled. "Before those bastards turn the whole place into a damn sun."
The dome **shuddered violently**—
—and began its final collapse.