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Chapter 24 – Eclipsing Solstice
The courtyard trembled under the force of clashing blows.
Dust swirled around Liam and Kaela as they staggered back, sweat trickling down their brows, lips bloodied, breath ragged. Their opponents stood firm, relentless. The sparring match had turned brutal.
Kaela winced, her left arm numb from a savage strike. Liam gritted his teeth, a bruise blooming across his ribs. They'd been pushed, cornered—and nearly broken.
"I guess…" Liam huffed, locking eyes with Kaela, "it's time to be serious."
Kaela smirked through her pain. "About time."
Their opponents tensed. Something had changed.
In a single motion, Liam's aura erupted—dark yet brilliant, a halo of shifting black and silver flickering like a solar eclipse. The air compressed as Eclipsing Vigor activated, his veins glowing faintly beneath his skin, strength and speed multiplying like wildfire. The ground cracked beneath his feet as he clenched his fists.
Kaela followed, her presence igniting with warmth and fury. A golden-orange light enveloped her, wild and fluid, as if the sun itself had bled into her soul. Her hair shimmered like fire-touched silk, eyes burning with radiant defiance. Solstice Ember had awakened.
Their opponents hesitated for the first time.
Then Liam vanished.
In the blink of an eye, he reappeared behind the taller attacker, delivering a devastating Phantom Pivot Knee to the spine, followed by an Aether Pulse Jab to the ribs. The man flew sideways, crashing into a concrete post.
Kaela blurred into motion, each step trailing light. She twisted mid-air, channeling Solar Reversal Spin-Kick straight into her opponent's chest. He reeled back, gasping for air as she landed with feline precision.
But even with their powers blazing, the battle didn't shift easily.
Their opponents adapted. Techniques turned savage. One wielded an energy blade of violet hue, while the other summoned kinetic shields mid-assault. The courtyard became a hurricane of collisions.
Liam dodged a vertical slice by a hair's breadth and retaliated with a Lunar Counter Break, only for the shield to absorb the impact. Kaela deflected a barrage of shockwaves with her Ember Wall, but her energy was depleting.
"We're strong," she called out between movements, "but it's not enough on brute force alone."
Liam nodded, mind racing.
Time to use the real weapon—strategy.
"Kaela. Let's rotate—Sector Shift Three," he barked.
She moved without hesitation. The two weaved in and out of each other's zones, switching opponents rapidly. Confusion spread through their enemies' formation.
Liam feinted a high strike but swept low instead, triggering a counter that Kaela intercepted with her Solar Bind Palm, locking one enemy in place just long enough for Liam to unleash a Vortex Elbow Drive to the jaw.
Now only one opponent remained, eyes darting, calculating. Liam slowed, on purpose—his movements just slightly clumsy. A bait.
The attacker lunged.
Exactly what he wanted.
Liam twisted sideways, letting the blade graze his arm—a calculated wound—before locking the enemy's wrist and pivoting, drawing him into Kaela's waiting stance. She dropped low and drove her fist into the gut—Blazing Core Strike.
The enemy crumpled.
Silence. Smoke hung in the air, their energy fading slowly.
Liam and Kaela stood over the unconscious bodies. Blood ran down Liam's arm, and Kaela's legs trembled from exhaustion, but their eyes were clear.
Victorious.
But not because of power.
Their opponents had been stronger, faster, enhanced beyond normal limits. Even Eclipsing Vigor and Solstice Ember had failed to fully overwhelm them.
It had been Liam's adaptability. His decisions under pressure. His feints, positioning, tempo control, and pattern disruption.
Power had matched power.
But the mind had outmaneuvered them all.
As the energy around them finally died down, Kaela exhaled deeply. "You really planned that whole last sequence, didn't you?"
Liam didn't smile. He just nodded. "Had to. We couldn't win on strength alone."
Kaela looked down at the defeated forms. "So that's what makes a real warrior."
He looked up at the sky, arms still shaking. "No… that's what makes a survivor."
"Liam said with a cool tone"