The devastating collision between my golden fists and Adrian's ancestral guardian created a blinding explosion that flooded the room with light. For a moment, everything froze—Adrian's confident smirk, the looming shadow figure above me, the crackling energy between us.
Then reality fractured.
The phantom ancestor shattered like glass, its dark essence dispersing into wisps of smoke that faded into nothingness. The shockwave knocked Adrian backward, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"Impossible!" he gasped, stumbling to regain his footing. "No one has ever broken through the ancestral phantom technique!"
I stood tall, golden light still emanating from my body. Each breath I took seemed to make the glow pulse brighter, casting harsh shadows across Adrian's increasingly desperate face.
"Your ancestor's strength is impressive," I admitted, flexing my fingers. "But it's not enough."
