Infinity – Chapter: Spirits and Shadows
The underground space trembled.
Liora's breath hitched as her eyes locked onto the shadow wolf snarling before her. Its eyes glowed with the same haunted yellow that belonged to the beast from her memory. Her body froze—not from fear of the present, but from a wound buried deep in her soul.
"Liora!" Anay shouted.
Veidar lunged, shadows curling from his arms like tendrils of liquid smoke, his claws aimed straight for her throat. But just before they reached her—
Clang!
Anay's blade clashed with the attack, deflecting the strike in a brilliant flash of spiritual energy. Sparks scattered. He stepped forward, shielding her.
"Sister," he said softly, "what are you doing? We need to fight."
Liora blinked, shaken.
"You're right..." she whispered. "He's right..."
A breeze stirred behind her, gentle yet vibrant. From the center of her back, light unfurled like petals. A radiant spirit bird emerged—feathers laced with green and silver, wings wide like branches, eyes gleaming with ancient kindness.
Verdalis.
Her spirit beast.
"I have to help you this time," Verdalis spoke in her mind, its voice warm like sunlight through leaves. "Let me cover that wolf. Focus on the fight. Don't let your past strike through your present."
Liora gasped. "Verdalis..."
Anay turned, astonished. "That's... that's a beast from the Beast Realm?"
"No," Veidar corrected, sneering. "It's a spiritual beast."
Kharix, standing beside him, cracked his neck with a bored grunt. "Doesn't matter. She'll still fall."
Anay's eyes narrowed. "Now this is going to be interesting."
The moment shattered. Verdalis soared upward, vines blooming beneath its wings, entangling the shadow wolf mid-pounce. The wolf snarled, struggling as green tendrils constricted around it like living chains.
Anay moved in tandem with Liora.
He dashed at Kharix, Zettai Anant gleaming in dagger form, his body low and fluid. Kharix smirked, stomping the ground and summoning a sudden bone-cage around them. Jagged walls locked them inside a circular dueling arena.
"You want a duel?" Kharix grinned, cracking his knuckles. "Then bleed."
Anay didn't speak. His dagger flashed as he leapt forward.
Clash after clash. Bone met spirit weapon, sparks flying as Zettai Anant shifted between forms mid-strike. Anay ducked, spun, and struck with surgical precision—until Kharix launched a headbutt that sent him skidding back.
Meanwhile—
Liora faced Veidar.
"Let's see how well you think now!" Veidar roared, unleashing a shrieking howl. The sound twisted through the air like invisible blades, stabbing at the mind. Liora clutched her head, staggered by the scream. Even Verdalis faltered mid-flight.
"Don't listen!" the bird urged. "Remember who you are!"
Images surged—memories of running through meadows, her little brother's laugh, her mother's cooking—roots of love.
"I'm not her anymore," she whispered. "I'm stronger now."
Vines burst from her palms like spears, shielding her. Verdalis expanded, its feathers shimmering with healing light, dispersing the corrupted scream.
Veidar snarled. "Tch. That won't save you."
"Oh?" Liora stepped forward, her eyes glowing green. "Let's test that."
Anay's voice rang out from the other arena. "Now!"
Liora didn't need to ask.
She unleashed her vines forward—pinning Kharix's leg just as he lunged at Anay. In that instant, Anay leapt, twisted midair, and brought Zettai Anant down on Kharix's exposed shoulder—cleaving through the bone.
Kharix howled, falling back.
They landed side by side, Liora and Anay, breathing heavily.
But Veidar… just smiled.