The plaza was no longer just stone and ruin.It was an arena.
Two figures stood at its heart: the Sword Sect elder, silver hair glinting, his chi-forged blade humming with light, and me—shadows coiling at my feet, Inkblade thrumming in my grip like a living heart.
Around us, disciples fanned out in a half-circle, their blades lowered but ready. They didn't move, didn't even breathe loudly. They were soldiers trained to obey, waiting for the elder's command.
The forgotten survivors huddled at the far edge, pale with fear. Dev had pulled them close behind the burned archway, but their eyes never left me. The boy on his crutch trembled so hard his knees knocked together. The girl clutched her crowbar like it could mean something in the presence of gods.
The elder raised his weapon slightly. Light spilled across the plaza, erasing shadows. My Inkblade hissed in answer, shadows stretching longer, sharper, darker. His chi pushed. My ink pushed back. The plaza groaned as if the stones themselves couldn't bear the strain.
This wasn't just a duel.It was two worlds colliding.
✦
The elder spoke first, his voice quiet but carrying."You should not exist."
"I've been told that before," I said.
His gaze sharpened. "Then allow me to correct the mistake."
He moved.
Not stepped. Not lunged. Moved. One instant he was across the plaza, the next his blade was already descending.
I brought Inkblade up on instinct. Steel met shadow. The clash ripped the air apart, a thunderclap exploding outward. Forgotten screamed, covering their ears. Disciples squinted but did not flinch. Dust billowed like a storm.
The elder's strike pressed like a mountain. My arms shook, shadows screaming in my ears. Inkblade trembled—but it didn't break. Instead, it howled, drinking the force, bleeding black fire where blade met light.
I shoved, shadows bursting outward in a jagged wave. The elder slid back half a step, robes snapping in the backlash.
His brows furrowed. "So it is true. The Anchor feeds you."
"I don't know what the hell that means," I growled.
"You will."
✦
He came again. Faster. A blur of silver, each cut a waterfall of light. I blocked, parried, staggered. Inkblade shrieked, sparks and black trails littering the plaza like dying stars. His blade struck from every angle—overhead, low sweep, a thrust that nearly pierced my throat. Shadows flared at each impact, barely keeping me alive.
My body screamed. Every parry rattled my bones. Blood trickled from my lip, my arm, my side. He wasn't just attacking. He was dissecting me, strike by strike, testing where I would break.
The whispers rose, urgent.
"…don't block… devour… take his strength…"
"…his light is food… his chi is blood…"
I clenched my jaw, forcing the shadows to obey, not consume. But every second the temptation clawed deeper.
A final slash drove me back. I staggered, breath ragged, Inkblade vibrating violently in my grip.
The elder hadn't broken a sweat.
"You are not a warrior," he said coldly. "You are a parasite wearing flesh."
✦
I spat blood. "Then you're in for a bad infection."
And lunged.
The Inkblade roared. Shadows flared, not just tendrils now, but wings. Black feathers of ink burst from my back, propelling me forward with unnatural speed. My blade arced down, a cleaver of midnight.
The elder's eyes widened faintly—surprise, then calculation. His blade rose to meet mine. The collision ripped the ground apart. Cracks spiderwebbed beneath us. A shockwave blasted disciples off-balance. Forgotten screamed as stones flew.
But this time, it wasn't me that faltered.The Inkblade bit.
Not through his weapon, not fully—but enough. The elder's sleeve shredded, his forearm nicked. A single drop of blood spattered onto the stone.
The Inkblade pulsed like it had tasted wine. Shadows surged, hungering for more.
The elder glanced at the cut, then at me. His eyes no longer dismissed. They sharpened, intent.
"…Very well. You are not prey. You are opponent."
✦
His aura erupted.The plaza became a furnace.
Chi flooded outward in waves, so dense the air shimmered like molten glass. The disciples fell to one knee under its pressure. Forgotten collapsed entirely, choking on power not meant for mortals. Even Dev staggered, pulling the mother and boy close, teeth clenched against the suffocating weight.
I felt it too. My lungs strained. My skin burned. The Inkblade hissed furiously, shadows boiling off like steam. Every instinct screamed to retreat.
But the shadows screamed louder.
"…yes… YES… bleed him… anchor him…"
"…his chi will make you eternal…"
I roared back, slamming the Inkblade into the ground. Shadows erupted, pillars of ink spiraling upward like spears. They met his chi head-on, colliding with blinding force. Black and gold clashed, searing the night sky. The rift above widened, tearing open with the echo of our clash.
This wasn't a fight anymore.It was a scar written into reality.
✦
The elder strode through the storm, blade raised. "Let us see if parasite can stand against purpose."
His strike came like judgment. The Inkblade rose to meet it, both weapons screaming as they clashed again and again. Each blow carved deeper scars into the earth. Each impact pushed me closer to collapse. Yet every strike also made the Inkblade grow heavier, sharper, hungrier.
It wasn't just defending now. It was learning.
And then it acted.
A tendril burst from the blade itself, coiling around his chi sword. Blackness ate into light, sizzling like acid. The elder's eyes narrowed as he twisted, breaking the grip, but not before shadows left their stain on his weapon—dark veins crawling along its glow.
He cut the tendril away instantly, severing corruption before it spread.
But he had to acknowledge it now.The Inkblade could bite even chi.
✦
Our duel raged on.Minutes stretched into eternities.
Disciples watched in silence, their perfect formation shaken. Forgotten clutched each other, eyes wide with terror and awe. Dev muttered curses, torn between pulling them away and refusing to leave me. The girl with the crowbar trembled, whispering, "He's… fighting him… he's really fighting him…"
But inside me, war raged louder. The Inkblade whispered with every strike. Every cut I took, it begged to drink. Every drop of my blood, it demanded repayment in theirs. My vision blurred between steel and shadow. My hands weren't my own. My voice wasn't my own.
"…anchor his fate… consume his light… write your survival in his fall…"
I gritted my teeth, forcing myself back. "Shut up!"
The elder's blade grazed my cheek, blood flying. He didn't relent. "You cannot control it. You are already consumed."
"Maybe," I spat. "But I'm still standing."
✦
Then came the breaking point.
He leapt high, blade raised overhead. Chi flared, a pillar of golden fire descending with him. The world split under the strike, plaza stones erupting.
I raised Inkblade in both hands. Shadows surged, wings snapping wide, tendrils coiling to brace.
The impact came. Light against darkness. Heaven against oblivion.
The explosion was blinding.The plaza disintegrated.The world stopped.
When dust cleared, both of us still stood.
My knees shook. My breath tore in ragged gasps. Shadows crawled weakly at my feet.
The elder's blade trembled faintly in his grasp. His eyes, still sharp, studied me as though measuring something unseen.
And then—he smiled. Cold. Thin.
"You are not yet ready. But you will be."
✦
He lowered his weapon.The disciples gasped softly.
The elder turned, his voice carrying. "Withdraw."
At once, the Sword Sect moved. Blades sheathed, robes swirling, they stepped back toward the rift. None looked at me with contempt anymore. Some looked with fear. Some with curiosity. But all obeyed.
The elder lingered a heartbeat longer. His gaze locked with mine.
"Anchor Beyond Time. Pray that you never remember what you are."
And with that, he stepped through the rift.The disciples followed.The wound in the sky pulsed—then sealed shut.
Silence returned to the plaza. Silence, except for the hiss of Inkblade in my hand.
✦
The forgotten broke first.Sobs. Gasps. Whispers of terror.
The boy clung to his crutch, eyes wide. The mother held her son so tightly he couldn't breathe. The old man trembled, staring at me as though I were the greater horror.
The girl whispered, "You fought them… and they left…"
Dev came up, face pale. "Reed… what the hell was that? Who the hell are you?"
I didn't answer.Because I didn't know.Because the shadows were still whispering.
"…they will return… they will hunt… but we will grow…"
"…we will anchor… we will devour…"
Inkblade pulsed, warm in my grip.Alive. Waiting. Hungry.
And me?I realized something terrifying.
The elder hadn't spared me out of mercy.He had spared me because he was waiting.
For what, I didn't know.But the gods weren't the only ones who wanted a spectacle.