The moment the words left their lips, the world around them changed.
A pulse—deep, resonant, like the toll of some ancient bell—throbbed through the alley. Aether shimmered in the air, warping light and shadow. Dust and pebbles lifted from the cracked pavement as invisible force swept outward.
The assassins froze mid-step.
Kaela's body ignited in a soft, glowing amber light—Solstice Ember—but it wasn't fire. It pulsed from within her, waves of heatless radiance forming arcs around her limbs like a solar flare trapped in human form. The bruises along her skin faded into shimmering lines, pain replaced by power. Her eyes blazed a deep copper hue, like twin suns.
Liam, in contrast, stood cloaked in a storm of pressure—Eclipsing Vigor. The air around him darkened, not with shadow but with raw density. His feet cracked the ground beneath him with each movement, his veins glowing faintly beneath the skin with a pale, ghostlike silver. His presence grew, pressing outward, a gravitational force given form.
The assassins exchanged glances—unease finally settling in behind their masks.
Kaela disappeared from sight.
One second she stood beside Liam, the next, she was behind the first assassin, foot already rising in a vertical spinning kick. It struck clean under the chin—Flare Ascension. The impact lifted the assassin off the ground and sent him crashing into a steel dumpster ten feet away with a warping metallic crunch.
Liam didn't waste a heartbeat.
The second assassin lunged, blade ready—but Liam caught the blade with his bare hand.
Steel screamed.
And then shattered.
Liam's fingers crushed the sword at the base with a sudden surge of force, shards scattering like confetti. The assassin barely had time to recoil before Liam stepped in and drove a palm strike—Veilbreaker Impact—into his chest. The blow sent a thunderous shockwave down the alley, cracking walls and flooring, launching the assassin down the alley like a cannonball.
Kaela landed beside Liam again, panting, grinning.
"Okay… this feels amazing."
Liam cracked a smirk. "Told you we just needed time."
But it wasn't over.
Both assassins rose again—staggering, bleeding now, their suits torn, their eyes wide behind broken masks.
Kaela twirled her wrist, a spiral of amber energy forming a short-range arc. "Now it's our turn."
The alley exploded into movement again.
Kaela darted forward, trailing blazing afterimages as she unleashed Radiant Cascade, a barrage of rapid strikes that danced like sunlight across water. The assassin struggled to block, each strike forcing him back, each one faster than the last.
Liam took on the other with brutal efficiency—his strikes slower but devastating. Each hit landed like a falling star, Mass Drive punches that cratered walls and made the assassin's armor crumple like foil.
But the assassins, cornered and desperate, didn't retreat.
They synchronized suddenly—one flanking Liam, the other intercepting Kaela. They'd regrouped, adapted. Blades drawn again, faster, poisoned with aether of their own. The alley turned into a blur of motion, light and sound colliding.
Liam ducked a sweep, parried with his forearm, then jumped, narrowly avoiding a blade aimed at his knee. Kaela dropped into a slide beneath a thrust, twisting mid-motion into a backflip kick—Solar Bloom. The assassin caught it midair—but Kaela detonated a shockwave mid-kick, knocking him back.
For every hit Liam and Kaela landed, the assassins retaliated. Their forms began changing subtly—adapting to the new pace, the energy, the rhythm of this awakened dance.
Kaela's breath grew heavier.
Liam's knees buckled for a second.
They were stronger now—but it wasn't limitless.
The assassins closed in again. One vanished in a blur, reappearing behind Liam. The other soared overhead, blade gleaming, descending on Kaela.
Liam shouted, "Kaela—switch!"
Without hesitation, they moved. Liam turned and intercepted the leaping assassin mid-air with a shoulder charge, Phase Rush, while Kaela spun to face the one behind Liam, catching his arm mid-swing and locking it down in a brutal throw that drove him into the pavement.
The assassins hit the ground—but neither stayed down.
Again.
Again.
The alley trembled with power and steel.
And in the middle of it all—Kaela and Liam, back to back, breathing hard, blood mixing with power, resolve flickering brighter than ever.
"They're not breaking," Kaela said between breaths.
No," Liam replied, eyes locked ahead. "But neither are we."
"This… doesn't make sense," one of them hissed, panting beneath his mask. "They were dying moments ago."
The other's eyes narrowed. "We underestimated them. No more games."
He tapped his wrist—an emergency signal.
The other mirrored the motion.
Both assassins stood tall again, bruised but defiant, blood dripping from their armor.
They spoke together, quiet but resolute:
"It's time to end this."
Their auras surged suddenly—one a cold, violet haze that distorted the air like heat, the other a jagged white pressure that cracked the ground beneath him.
They shouted their call:
"Phantom Coil: Apex Release!"
"Ashen Veil: Final Requiem!"
"What? This isn't like last time. This is different," Kaela said, eyes wide with tension.
"Yeah... the power we saw last time wasn't like this. This one's way stronger—it feels completely different," Liam replied, his voice low with unease.