He tossed Yejin aside without ceremony and started walking toward the source. As the smoke cleared, Kei's shape resolved out of the haze — and something about him had changed. His eyes still burned that same pale blue, but colder now, sharper, enough that even Scorpio could feel the shift in the air from several paces away.
Within the silence of his own mind, a low, resonant rumble shook the foundations of his spirit. "So after all this time, you still refuse to let me walk the mortal realm."
"I only need your power for now, Fenral," Kei answered silently.
"It's no fun, being your familiar, you know that?" Fenral growled, though a faint hint of amusement colored the beast's voice. "Take the blessing. It will knit your flesh, sharpen your reflexes, and pack iron into your bones. More than that, my sight is now yours. But do not mistake endurance for immortality. It carries no fixed timer, yet if your vessel is shattered beyond repair, not even my power can drag you back from the grave."
Kei did not waste a single second on a reply.
He broke into a sprint toward Vincent, but Scorpio was already there, stepping into his path with a vicious vertical cleave. Kei did not try to parry; he simply tilted his shoulder, letting the blade shear through empty air a fraction of an inch from his cheek.
Continuing his forward momentum, Kei drew his right fist back, compressed his newly augmented anima into a dense kinetic spike, and drove it squarely into Scorpio's abdomen.
The impact landed with a heavy, meaty thud, and for the first time, real pain flickered across the First Commander's face.
Before Scorpio could recover his footing, Kei pivoted on the ball of his lead foot and whipped a brutal roundhouse kick into the side of Scorpio's neck. The impact cracked like a thunderclap, sending the massive commander skidding violently across the dirt and crashing into a shattered barricade.
Kei did not wait to watch him land. He sprinted the rest of the way to Vincent and reached the crackling sphere, driving both hands forward to force his way in — but even with Fenral's blessing running hot through his veins, the current still refused him, arcing and snapping against his skin.
"Use the power in your eyes, Kei," Fenral said.
Kei narrowed his right eye. The azure glow inverted at the center of his pupil, manifesting a pinprick singularity of pure, swallowing blackness directly at the apex of the sphere. The microscopic void pulled with terrifying gravitational weight, instantly siphoning the jagged electrical current out of the air. Within two seconds, the entire sphere collapsed inward and vanished into the dot. The vortex pulled so hard it began dragging Vincent's limp frame toward the anomaly, but Kei lunged forward, catching his partner by the collar before snapping the void shut.
Vincent's prana was in a disastrous state. Through Kei's enhanced Deathsight, the golden fire of Vincent's soul was faint, pale, and nearly transparent.
"Not good," Kei muttered under his breath.
"Freeze him," Fenral advised. "Halt the bleed."
Kei exhaled a slow breath, cold enough to fog instantly and turn solid in the air, wrapping around Vincent's chest and spreading fast until a thin shell of ice sealed him inside.
"Get someone to treat him the moment this settles," Fenral added. "Cryostasis will stabilize his vital flow and let his natural energy slowly mend, but it is a preservative, not a cure."
"I know," Kei said, setting Vincent down carefully, the ice humming faintly under his palm.
His eyes caught on Yejin next. She lay against the soil, gasping, her ribs bruised and her blade shattered. Her prana was dim, though far less critical than Vincent's. He crossed to her fast, wrapping her in the same shimmering layer of frost, just enough to hold her steady. As he worked, he felt Scorpio's presence closing in behind him, heavy footsteps grinding through broken stone and settling dust.
"I can feel it now," Scorpio said, stepping through the haze. "Stronger. Faster. Whatever just happened to you."
Kei straightened and turned to face him, eyes narrowed, saying nothing.
Scorpio let out a slow breath, almost disappointed by the silence. "So. Tell me. Did you strike some kind of deal with a devil too?"
"You talk like you'd know," Kei said flatly. "Not surprising, though, considering I already put down Cogar. He reeked of the exact same corruption."
Scorpio's brow twitched. "Cogar? So you were the one who put an end to that weakling."
"So what about you?" Kei asked, tilting his head slightly. "Who did you beg for scraps? Oozy, Wizzy, or some other parasite crawling in the dirt?"
Scorpio's grin vanished, replaced by pure, murderous disdain. He lunged, closing the gap in an explosive burst of speed. His saber swept downward in a blinding diagonal cut. Kei sidestepped the first arc, but Scorpio's recovery was instantaneous — the blade snapped back upward in a vicious backhand strike that left no room for evasion.
Kei crossed his daggers, catching the edge of the heavy saber inches from his throat. The raw kinetic pressure bore down hard, sparks spraying across their faces as the steel shrieked in protest.
"Don't you dare assume my strength came from some scum devil." Scorpio leaned into the lock, forcing the blade closer to Kei's face, close enough now that Kei could feel the heat radiating off the metal. "I built this with my own blood and bone. Same as Zarbosa. Only weaklings need to make deals with devils. People like you."
"Me? Begging a fiend?" Kei shoved back hard, forcing distance between them. "I'm nothing like you."
"The Alliance only humors those devils because it's useful — a means to conquer every nation left standing." Scorpio's voice dropped low, almost reverent. "Lapiztoceles is a tool. Nothing more. A toy the kings play with. But only the truly strong — people like me — get to rule once the dust finally settles."
"Lapiztoceles." The name landed hard, and something in Kei's expression sharpened instantly. He drove his dagger forward with sudden force, hard enough to make Scorpio flinch and stumble half a step back, then leapt clear and hurled two mana-charged daggers straight at him. Both found their mark — one in the shoulder, one in the chest, blood welling immediately around the blades.
But Scorpio did not even flinch. He reached up with a bloodstained hand, gripped the hilts, and yanked both daggers free of his own flesh with a sickening squelch before hurling them back at Kei with bullet-like velocity.
Kei caught both out of the air without missing a step. Blood ran freely down Scorpio's front from the twin wounds — until he swiped a palm across them, and the bleeding stopped cold, flesh sealing itself shut in seconds like it had never been touched.
"That name really got under your skin." Scorpio's grin returned, sharper now. "Is he the one who gave you all this? Lapiztoceles?"
Kei offered no reply. He lunged forward, moving with a supernatural speed that blurred his silhouette against the smoke.
Where Scorpio had held the clear advantage before, something had shifted now — Kei's speed had climbed past what it had been, fast enough that he started landing real cuts, shallow but frequent, opening thin red lines across Scorpio's arms and sides with every pass.
Scorpio's durability held regardless, though, and their raw strength stayed locked in an even match, neither one willing to give ground.