Kael said nothing.
He stepped over the fallen guard's body, his boots leaving faint imprints in the dirt. When he reached Sera, he dropped to one knee beside her. His hand hovered above Mira's chest for a long moment, fingers trembling slightly before finally pressing down just above the wound.
"I was late," he whispered. His voice was barely audible, rougher than usual.
His palm slid upward, gently closing Mira's eyes. For three heartbeats, he stayed perfectly still, staring down at her pale face.
Then his gaze lifted.
The Earth Mage stood a few feet away, frozen mid-step. Sweat beaded on the man's forehead as those silver eyes found him.
"Keep her company," Kael said quietly, turning slightly toward Sera. "I'll be done in a jiffy."
Sera didn't understand what he meant, but something in his tone made her throat tighten. She nodded once and pulled Mira's body closer, cradling her sister against her chest.
Kael stood.
He didn't rush. He just stood there, arms hanging loosely at his sides. But the air around him changed. It grew heavier, denser, like the atmosphere before a thunderstorm.
His eyes swept across the clearing methodically.
'One... two... three... four guards, including the Earth Mage.'
His gaze shifted further back.
'Four Knight Guards beside Dorian Valthorne.'
Dorian himself stood calmly behind his protection, arms folded across his chest. His golden armor caught the fading sunlight, glinting with polished arrogance. He looked more curious than concerned, like someone watching an interesting street performance.
Kael's eyes pulsed once.
Glowing rings appeared beneath them, spinning slowly. His vision sharpened instantly, details flooding his perception. Muscle tension, breathing patterns, the faint shimmer of energy gathering around fingertips.
And their levels.
The weakest were Level 7 Primal Warrior, a Water Mage and Wind Mage. The Earth Mage registered as Level 8, along with a Swordmaster standing beside him.
Of the four Knight Guards flanking Dorian, three showed Level 9 Primal Warrior. The woman at the front, Evelyne, head of the Knight Guards, was a peak Level 9 Primal Warrior.
And Dorian himself?
Half-Step Primal Adept.
The glowing rings faded from Kael's eyes, returning them to their usual dark silver.
He should have felt outmatched. Outnumbered. Any reasonable person would have retreated or tried to negotiate.
Instead, his battle intent surged.
He took one step forward. Then another.
Slow. Like he was taking a morning walk.
But his aura expanded with each footfall. Not loud or flashy, just... there. Undeniably oppressive in its quiet certainty.
The guards noticed immediately.
They dropped into defensive formations without being ordered. Weapons lifted. Spells began forming between fingers, glowing with gathered energy.
The Water Mage conjured a shimmering barrier in front of himself, the surface rippling like disturbed water. The Wind Mage summoned compressed air between his palms, shaping it into invisible daggers. The Swordmaster's breathing deepened as he shifted into a combat stance.
"Don't let him get close!" the Earth Mage barked from behind them.
Kael didn't acknowledge the warning. Didn't speed up or slow down.
A breeze rolled through the clearing. Dry leaves scattered across the grass around his feet, carried by wind that shouldn't have been there.
Then he vanished.
Fwish!
The Wind Mage's eyes went wide. "Where did he—"
Something flickered in his peripheral vision.
Before he could turn, Kael materialized behind him mid-air. His leg swept low with frightening momentum, slamming into the side of the mage's knee.
CRACK!
Bone shattered with a sound like breaking wood.
The Wind Mage dropped instantly, his scream cutting through the clearing as his leg bent at an unnatural angle.
Kael landed and pivoted in the same motion.
His fist drove straight into the Water Mage's stomach before the man could react. The barrier tried to hold, rippling frantically as it absorbed the impact.
Then it shattered like glass struck by a hammer.
The Water Mage's feet left the ground. He flew backward three full meters, hitting the dirt hard and rolling twice before stopping. Blood poured from his mouth as he gasped for air that wouldn't come.
The Swordmaster charged.
His blade flashed in a downward arc, fast and professional. This wasn't his first real fight.
Kael ducked low.
The sword sliced through air just above his shoulder, so close he felt the displaced wind against his ear.
He slid forward beneath the man's guard and drove his elbow twice into exposed ribs.
THUD! THUD!
The impacts sounded like meat being tenderized.
The Swordmaster stumbled backward, his breath knocked completely from his lungs. His grip on his weapon loosened for just an instant.
Kael grabbed the man's wrist and twisted sharply.
The sword fell from nerveless fingers. Kael caught it with his free hand while simultaneously yanking the Swordmaster forward and down. The man flipped headfirst into the dirt with a heavy thump.
Before he could recover, Kael raised his leg high.
Then brought his boot down with all his weight behind it.
SPLAT!
The Swordmaster's head burst like an overripe melon dropped from a great height. Blood and brain matter sprayed across the grass in a dark arc.
Several of the Knight Guards flinched. One actually took a step backward.
The scene had happened so fast that most of them were still processing the first exchange.
The Earth Mage's face had gone pale, but he forced himself to move. While Kael stood over the headless corpse, the mage slammed both palms against the ground.
"Terra—"
He didn't get to finish.
Kael ripped another sword from the dead Swordmaster's belt and hurled it like a javelin.
The blade spun once through the air, whistling as it cut through wind resistance.
Then it punched straight through the Earth Mage's chest.
Squelch.
The hilt stuck out from his sternum, still quivering slightly from the impact.
The Earth Mage looked down at it. Touched the hilt with trembling fingers as if not quite believing it was real.
Blood poured from his mouth in a thick stream. He tried to say something, but only managed a wet gurgle before collapsing backward without another sound.
Silence fell across the clearing.
The remaining Wind and Water Mages stood frozen, their eyes darting between the bodies of their companions and the man who'd killed them in seconds.
The Wind Mage took a hesitant step backward. Then stopped, glancing over his shoulder toward Dorian.
Hoping for orders to retreat. Hoping for permission to run.
Dorian's expression was cold fury mixed with disappointment. He was disgusted at their weakness.
He didn't say a word.
The message was clear: keep fighting, or suffer worse than death at his hands later.
The Wind Mage's jaw clenched. The Water Mage straightened despite his injuries, wiping blood from his chin with the back of his hand.
They had no choice now.
Kael stood motionless among the fallen, his chest rising and falling in steady rhythm. Not even breathing hard.
The fight so far hadn't even warmed him up.
The two surviving mages exchanged a brief look. Fear thick in both their eyes. But they moved forward anyway, slowly and reluctantly, like men walking toward their own executions.
The Wind Mage went first.
He darted to the side, trying to create an angle, trying to avoid direct confrontation. His hands spun rapidly as air condensed between his palms. Sharp discs formed, edges shimmering with compressed wind, and he launched them in rapid succession.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
They sliced through grass and leaves as they spun toward Kael.
Kael sidestepped the first disc with minimal movement. Deflected the second with a casual twist of his wrist that sent it spinning harmlessly into the trees. And vanished completely before the third could reach him.
"Where'd he go!?" the Water Mage shouted, spinning frantically.
The answer came from directly behind him.
A hand clamped down on the back of his neck like an iron vice.
The Water Mage's eyes went wide. He opened his mouth to scream...
Kael slammed his face into the dirt with brutal force.
THUD!
The impact cratered the ground slightly. Before the mage could even process the pain, Kael drove his knee into the side of the man's skull.
CRUNCH.
The sound was wet. The body went limp instantly.
The Wind Mage panicked completely. All strategy abandoned, all training forgotten. He flung three more blades of compressed air wildly while backpedaling as fast as he could.
Kael didn't dodge this time.
He walked straight through them.
One blade grazed his shoulder, slicing through his already tattered cloak and opening a line of red across his skin. The others missed entirely.
He moved like pain was irrelevant. Like the wound didn't exist.
His eyes never left the Wind Mage. Calm, cold, and utterly focused.
The mage's fear peaked.
He turned and ran. He didn't try to fight anymore. Just pure survival instinct taking over.
He managed exactly one step.
Then Kael was in front of him.
The mage crashed into him, stumbling backward with a choked gasp.
Before he could recover, Kael reached forward and grabbed his wrist. With a smooth, practiced twist, he shattered the joint.
CRACK!
"AAAGHHHHHHHHH!"
The animal-like scream tore from the Wind Mage's throat.
Kael grabbed him by the collar with his other hand and lifted him slightly off the ground. Then slammed him down with enough force to crack the rock beneath.
CRASH!
The mage's body went limp immediately, his scream cutting off mid-breath.
Silence fell again. Deeper this time around.
Only the breeze moved now, brushing gently across bloodstained grass and carrying the copper scent of death through the clearing.
Kael stood among six bodies, not a trace of emotion on his face.
His gaze lifted slowly, finally settling on the Knight Guards and the man they protected.
Dorian Valthorne stared back, his expression unreadable now.
The Knight Guards shifted their stances, weapons raised.
But none of them moved forward.