The corrupted barrier surrounding Leo and Professor Dirk shimmered with malevolent energy as both Masters circled each other in the crystalline prison's remains. Shattered fragments of the construct littered the chamber floor, each piece still pulsing with residual power that made the air taste like copper and ozone.
Leo's blade dripped with black ichor Dirk's blood, if the corrupted professor still possessed anything that could be called blood. The barrier specialist's personal force field had finally failed when his primary construct shattered, leaving him vulnerable for the first time since the battle began.
But Dirk wasn't retreating. If anything, the corruption had made him more aggressive, more willing to trade damage for tactical advantage. The geometric patterns carved into his forehead pulsed with sickly light, and when he moved, reality itself seemed to bend around him in ways that violated every principle of barrier manipulation Leo had studied.
