The battlefield trembled beneath the clash of powers. Above, the sky was torn open, jagged cracks spilling void-light across the heavens. The smell of ozone mixed with the metallic tang of blood as the air hummed with killing intent.
Russ stood at the center, his qi spiraling wildly. Each breath drew in the essence of the void, each exhale laced with killing shadows. Blood pooled around his feet—not all of it his own.
Across from him, the Void Wraith Commander stepped forward, its form a writhing silhouette of darkness with eyes like twin blood-moons. Its voice was a whisper that gnawed at the soul.
"Heir of the Void… your power is wasted on mortality. Kneel, and I'll spare the girl."
Mira's voice broke through the chaos. "Don't you dare, Russ!" She was pinned against a broken obsidian pillar, a barrier of writhing shadows holding her back. Her own qi flared, but the barrier drank it like water on sand.
Russ clenched his fists. Shadows coiled around his arms, merging with the crimson haze of his blood skills. His veins glowed faintly, pulsing like molten metal. "You want the Heir?" His voice dropped to a cold, lethal whisper. "Come take him."
The Commander moved first—vanishing, reappearing at Russ's side with a blade of condensed void. Russ barely twisted in time, parrying with his shadow-forged blade. Sparks of black and crimson exploded outward, each one carving craters into the ground.
Qi burst from Russ's core. He flowed into Blood Surge, muscles tightening, senses sharpening until time seemed to slow. His blade became a blur, each strike a precise execution meant to maim or kill.
The Wraith twisted like smoke, countering with Void Rend, its weapon slicing through the air in arcs that shredded reality. Russ dodged two, blocked one, but the fourth caught his side—searing pain ripping through flesh as blood sprayed.
He didn't slow down. Pain was fuel.
"Shadow Spiral!" Russ roared, his shadows erupting into a vortex that pulled the Commander off-balance. He followed up with Crimson Fang Slash, a two-handed strike glowing with condensed blood qi.
The impact shattered the ground. The Wraith's form scattered into fragments of void before reforming, its eyes now blazing with murderous rage. "You dare wound me, mortal?"
Before Russ could answer, Mira broke free. Her palms glowed with Celestial Pulse, golden-white qi flaring like a second sun. She slammed it into the barrier, shattering it completely, the shockwave sending tremors through the field.
Russ grinned despite the blood on his lips. "Took you long enough."
She smirked. "Had to make an entrance."
The Commander lunged again, faster, more furious. Russ and Mira moved in unison—Russ deflecting the blade, Mira unleashing a barrage of Heavenlight Bolts that burned through the Wraith's shadowed armor.
Russ felt his blood qi boiling. He knew the moment had come.
He bit down hard, drawing his own blood into the blade. The weapon pulsed, shadows writhing violently. "Blood-Shadow Execution!" he roared, dashing forward with speed that cracked the air.
The strike was absolute—shadow and blood entwined, cutting through the Wraith's form in a single decisive slash. The creature howled, its body unraveling into tendrils of void that were swallowed by the cracks in the sky.
Silence fell.
Russ stood, panting, blade dripping with a mix of crimson and darkness. The shattered sky began to heal, the rifts sealing shut as if stitched by unseen hands.
Mira stepped beside him, her voice soft but steady. "It's over."
Russ shook his head, eyes still locked on the fading void-light. "No. That was just the first to fall. The real war is about to begin."
Above them, far beyond mortal sight, something vast and ancient stirred in the darkness.