Orion's knees nearly gave out. The silver-haired swordsman had just carved through a horde of monsters like they were made of paper. Now his blade, gleaming faintly under the fractured purple sky, angled toward the rooftop where Orion and the shadowy figure stood.
The man's silver-grey eyes narrowed. He'd been speaking calmly into his earpiece moments ago, but now there was a razor edge in his gaze.
"So it was you, Warlock," Kalen said coldly, his voice carrying across the rooftop. "That energy. What did you unleash?"
Orion blinked, startled, then glanced at the hooded figure beside him."Oh, he's talking to him," Orion muttered under his breath, trying to steady his nerves. "Warlock, huh? Cool name that fits him quite well."
But before Orion could sigh in relief, the swordsman spoke again, his eyes briefly flicking to him. "And since when did you have a kid sidekick? I thought you always worked alone."
"What?!" Orion sputtered, throwing up his hands. "Sidekick? Excuse me! I'm definitely not this guy's sidekick. I don't even know who he is!"
It hit him then - he'd almost forgotten about the figure cloaked in shadow beside him. The man had been silent the entire time, his presence so unnervingly still that Orion barely registered him. He was too entranced by the silver-haired swordsman's impossible skill to notice much else.
But he wasn't trying to pick sides here.
On one hand, the swordsman could slice him in half before he could blink. On the other, this mysterious shadow with his murder of dark birds could shred him just as easily.
"No offence, and thanks again for saving me," Orion added quickly, forcing a crooked smile.
The Warlock didn't acknowledge or respond to Orion. Instead, a low, rasping chuckle escaped from beneath his hood. When he spoke, his hoarse voice was like nails dragged across glass.
"Kalen, the Silver Blade," he drawled. "Since when are you not dragging kids along with you? You're the one chained to the Order's leash."
The tension cracked like lightning, and Orion instantly became a background character.
Both men moved at once.
The ground shuddered as Kalen lunged forward, silver steel flashing in arcs too fast to follow. The Warlock melted into shadow, his form dissolving into a swirl of black mist before erupting behind Kalen with clawed constructs that lashed out like living serpents.
CLANG!
Sparks scattered across the pavement as sword met darkness.
Orion stumbled back, eyes wide. "Holy shit - this is insane!"
The Warlock raised a hand, and a monstrous hound forged entirely of writhing shadows leapt from his sleeve. Its teeth snapped at Kalen, but the Silver Blade pivoted, slicing the creature in half with a single, effortless sweep. His movements were terrifyingly fast - every slash cutting lamp posts, splitting chimneys, tearing grooves into asphalt below.
However, his opponent was like a shadow, impossible to hold down or land an attack on.
"You still haven't answered me!" Kalen snarled mid-swing, his voice steady even as his body blurred with motion. "That surge of Spirit Energy, it was off the charts! Did you summon some world-ending demon? Even you wouldn't be reckless enough to harness that much energy directly."
The Warlock reappeared from the veil of night, his hooded form gliding back as another flock of shadow-birds scattered into the sky. "You'll see," he said simply, his tone dripping with smugness.
"What are you even doing here?" Kalen's blade ripped through the air, sending a crescent of silver light that sheared through an entire row of parked cars below.
He was displaying even greater power than when he was dealing with the demons, which baffled Orion, who was witnessing a battle between two powerhouses.
"Weren't you last seen stealing an artifact on the other side of the world? So what brings you to my territory?" Seeing he wasn't getting any answers, he continued, "It doesn't matter. You rogues are nothing but scum. We'll exterminate your kind sooner or later."
"Exterminate?" The Warlock's laugh was low, bitter, mocking. He blocked a flurry of cuts with shadow-forged shields that cracked under the silver strikes. "We are the Crimson Choir. We seek truth. Balance. We're the only ones who understand the world for what it really is."
"You seek destruction!" Kalen's voice rang like a blade itself. "You'd tear down the sacred Veil - the only thing keeping our world safe!"
"Oh, please," the Warlock scoffed, dissolving into mist again as a massive shadow-spike erupted from the ground beneath Kalen. "What the order wants isn't safety, but control. And you? You just swing that pretty sword of yours for the order and pretend you're saving the day. That's all you're good for."
"Better a sword than a traitor," Kalen snapped back, vaulting into the air. His blade came down in a devastating arc, cutting through the shadow construct and almost splitting the ground in two. "You've sold yourself to demons for power. Don't think I don't know what you are. You're just as bad as those monsters."
The Warlock chuckled, voice echoing unnaturally. "Ouch. That hurts. But you're wrong." His endless black eyes gleamed as if amused. "I'm worse than any demon."
Orion's jaw dropped as shadow tendrils lashed upward, smashing against silver arcs of steel. The rooftop he stood on buckled beneath their power, sparks of light and darkness dancing across the purple night. Each strike was so forceful that he swore the ground itself was shivering.
"I'll capture you here and now," Kalen growled, slashing through a swarm of shadow crows. "And then I'll interrogate you and your… little pet." His eyes flicked toward Orion.
"Pet?!" Orion hissed under his breath, holding onto whatever he could. "How did I end up in the middle of this..? Then again, it's better than being demon food."
He wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry; meanwhile, the encounter between Kalen and the dark exorcist was nearing its peak.
"You won't capture me," the Warlock said calmly, blocking another flurry of cuts with a giant shadow-claw. His tone was so casual it made Orion's skin crawl. "Not in your wildest dreams. As for the boy, take him. Make him another soldier for your precious Order, like you do with the others. He means nothing to me."
Kalen's blade sparked against shadow, his expression hard. "We'll see about that."
The battle raged on - silver light clashing against living shadow, two titans colliding in a storm of steel and sorcery. The Warlock's power felt endless, shadows birthing monsters and constructs at his command, his form dissolving and reappearing within the darkness itself. Kalen's style was simpler by comparison, one-dimensional, almost. But every strike carried such precision and raw, terrifying force that it was like watching a blade cut through the very world.
It was nothing short of awe-inspiring.
But then, just as suddenly as it began, it was over.
The Warlock unleashed a torrent of shadows, a tidal wave of black that swallowed the street in darkness. Kalen braced, silver blade raised, but the force hurled him back, boots carving jagged trails across the pavement.
And then - his enemy began to blur. The Warlock's body unravelled into the night itself, dissolving into living shadow. His laughter lingered, hollow and echoing, crawling into Orion's ears and burrowing deep.
"Until next time, Silver Blade."
Just like that, he was gone.
Kalen landed heavily on one knee, sweat dripping down his jaw. His blade hummed faintly, flickering with dim silver light. He clenched his teeth.
"Damn it…" he muttered under his breath, panting. "A stalemate, and he wasn't even fighting seriously."
His knuckles tightened around his weapon. He felt drained, his sword arm heavy. He'd been exorcising demons all day, but even so, he shouldn't have been this weak. Not as a captain.
Not when the Warlock and the Crimson Choir grew brazen and powerful by day.
The silence pressed in. The neighbourhood was wrecked. Shadows lingered like scars across the street.
And yet he had no answers as to what had sparked it all.
Kalen's gaze flicked up toward Orion, who remained perched on the roof. His expression darkened.
"But maybe," he said quietly, voice edged with suspicion, "I do have something."