Chapter 71 – Spiral Unleashed
The path down from the Guardian Grounds was steep, forested, and silent.
Too silent.
Jean felt it first. A prickle along her skin. Whitney's fur bristled. Silvia said nothing—but her fingers drifted to her sword.
Then the world shattered.
From the trees burst a dozen assassins clad in black mist, blades coated in a glistening, toxin-laced sheen. They moved as one—perfectly timed, their strikes aimed at vitals with eerie precision.
"Shadow Guild," Whitney snarled, leaping into the air.
Jean didn't hesitate.
Her blade met steel with a resonant clang, aura flaring to life in a cascade of golden sparks. She weaved through the ambush, every move echoing the forms Silvia had drilled into her.
But they kept coming—silent, relentless, inhumanly fast.
Jean found herself backed against a ridge, facing the leader: a tall figure masked in bone and shadow, wielding twin blades humming with cursed enchantments.
"Emissary of Light," he said, voice like broken glass. "The Spiral lives again. I came to see it with my own eyes… before I take them from your skull."
Jean's grip tightened.
"You're not ready for it," Silvia said calmly, watching from above.
Jean met the assassin's gaze.
"I am."
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The assassin charged.
Jean moved.
She didn't block. She didn't parry.
She spiraled.
Her body twisted in a divine arc, aura flowing around her like a living current. Luxclade shimmered with pale flame as she traced a perfect helix in the air, stepping into the assassin's blind angle—
One slash.
One strike.
One Spiral.
The assassin froze mid-step. A single line of light traced across his chest—and then his body split cleanly in two, dissipating into shadowy ash.
The forest fell silent.
Jean stood still, breathing calm, sword lowered.
Whitney whistled. "That was new."
Silvia descended slowly, examining the ground scorched by the Spiral's wake.
"Your form was incomplete," she said.
Jean blinked. "What?"
"You only used the First Spiral. There are seven."
Jean exhaled slowly.
"Then teach me."
Silvia looked at the ash blowing in the wind and nodded once.
"We'll begin tomorrow."
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