Summer vanished into the shadows the moment the barrier shattered, her daggers already drawn as she targeted a Third Calamity Noctis vampire hoarding a patch of Eternal Starlight Lotuses.
The vampire—a lean female with skin like fresh snow and eyes deep as abyssal voids—sensed the disturbance and turned, lips curling into a sneer.
"Second Calamity... how brave." she hissed, voice cold as winter void. She unleashed her first Calamity Law immediately.
|Noctis Blood Dominion|
A domain of absolute darkness where blood became living chains that lashed out, seeking to bind and drain.
Summer didn't respond as she twisted through the chains, Law of Shadows at 69 % letting her body blur into intangible mist for split seconds. One chain grazed her thigh, drawing a thin line of blood that instantly began to siphon her essence—she gritted her teeth against the cold pull.
She countered with a talent.
|Shadow-Bleeding|
Her daggers flashed—SHK! SHK! —leaving gashes that didn't bleed blood but pure shadow, the wounds widening and devouring light as the vampire's own darkness turned against her.
The vampire snarled, with the stakes as they were currently she had no time to waste.
She activated her second Calamity Law.
|Edict of Bleeding Void|
Tendrils of blood-shadow erupted from the ground, wrapping Summer's legs and pulling hard enough to crack bone. Summer's breath hitched in pain, but she channeled her own Calamity Law in turn.
|Edict of Dagger Dominion|
A silent domain of shadow-veils snapped into place around her.
Her collection of 3,777 legendary daggers appeared and multiplied into endless illusions, each striking with real force from impossible angles.
BOOM!
BOOM!
The vampire shattered dozens with void-blasts, but real blades slipped through, carving shadow-bleeding wounds across her arms and torso.
The vampire fought back viciously, blood-chains whipping faster, one catching Summer across the ribs and drawing a sharp gasp. Essence drained steadily, vision blurring at the edges. Summer gritted her fangs, shadows coiling tighter around her body for protection.
She darted in close, using the domains deception to appear in three places at once. The vampire struck the illusions—wasting power—while the real Summer drove both daggers into her chest.
The Noctis coughed black blood, eyes wide in shock as shadows bled her essence dry from within.
She collapsed, void grasp fading.
Summer staggered but stood, breathing hard, ribs bruised and thigh burning. She claimed two Calamity-rank lotuses from the vampire's storage ring, shadows curling protectively around her wounds.
"A win... but barely." She muttered as she glanced toward the others, wiping blood from her lip.
Second Calamity against Third was no joke.
But the lotuses were hers.
----
Katherine glided through the chaos like a melody seeking its crescendo, her blonde hair flowing behind her as she targeted a Third Calamity Stormclaw demi-human who had just won a dense cluster of Eternal Starlight Lotuses. The demi-human—a towering feline with striped, black-and-gold fur, claws crackling with lightning—spotted her immediately and roared.
He charged, Law of Lightning at 68 % surging through his body, claws extending into arcs of blue-white electricity that scorched the ground as he closed the distance.
Katherine's lips curved into a serene smile. She hummed a single, soft note—her Law of Sound at 79 % weaving into the air like invisible silk.
|Song of Harmonic Shattering (Calamity)|
The demi-human's roar cut off mid-stride, his own thunderous voice turning against him as her talent activated. The note echoed inside his body, vibrating his Laws and making his lightning flicker erratically.
He staggered, claws slashing wildly—CRACK!—one bolt grazing Katherine's shoulder, electricity jolting through her nerves and forcing a sharp gasp from her lips.
She countered with her first Calamity Law.
|Symphony of Crimson Echoes |
A domain of resonating blood-sound snapped into place around them. Every drop of blood (his, hers, spilled across the battlefield) became conductors for her voice. She sang a single lullaby note—low, beautiful, lethal.
The demi-human convulsed as his blood vibrated in harmonic waves, Laws cracking under the pressure. He fought back fiercely, activating his first Calamity Law as well.
|Edict of Tempest Dominion|
A whirlwind of lightning claws that shredded the air and forced Katherine to weave through the storm leaving her hair singed, skin blistered.
He didn't let up as he followed with his second Calamity Law.
|Heart of Thunder|
ROARRRRRR!
The domain of his mana sense was flooded with bolts of lightning that roared constantly.
Katherine's ribs cracked under the impact, blood filling her mouth—but her symphony reflected the roar back as crimson echoes, the demi-human's own thunder turning inward to ravage his lungs.
As Katherine went back onto the offensive, he activated his third Calamity Law.
|Feline Lightning Mirage|
His body blurred into multiple lightning-clone illusions that struck from all angles.
Katherine bled from a dozen shallow cuts, breath ragged, white silk torn and stained red. One clone's lightning claw grazed her throat, drawing a thin line that burned like molten wire.
She tasted copper and fury.
Her voice never wavered.
She invoked her second Calamity Law.
|Crimson Requiem|
The area around them transformed in an instant.
Invisible blood-soundwaves filled her mana sense domain, visible only as pulsing red ripples that spread like veins across the air, throbbing in perfect rhythm with her heartbeat. Every drop of blood hers, the demi-human's, spilled across the battlefield, even distant echoes became resonant strings she could play.
The lightning clones froze mid-strike.
Katherine sang one low, beautiful note.
"Rest now, in crimson silence… your thunder ends with me."
The red ripples flared.
The demi-human's blood turned into strings inside his body. She plucked them.
His heart stuttered.
His lightning flickered and died.
The clones shattered like glass under the silent vibration.
He roared in agony with the sound returning as her first Law faded, but the roar became a gurgle as his own blood vibrated to her tune, veins bursting in silent harmony.
He dropped to his knees, coughing crimson foam.
Katherine stepped forward, voice rising into a single, devastating crescendo.
The red ripples pulsed once more.
The Stormclaw's body convulsed, blood-strings snapping one by one.
He collapsed, lightning extinguished forever.
Katherine stood over him, breath ragged, blonde hair matted with sweat and blood.
She claimed the four Mythic lotuses, fingers closing gently around their glowing petals.
A win.
Hard-earned, paid in blood and broken ribs.
But the requiem had been sung.
And the songbird had triumphed.