Erick watched Lia move through the shadows. She moved with the precision of a predator: swift, sharp, almost intangible. But Seik didn't flinch. Standing in the midst of the chaos, he looked like a statue—untouchable.
The steady drip of the machine set a dreary rhythm, like a clock announcing death. Each drop was an icy heartbeat that accompanied Lia's lethal dance.
Then, Seik looked up at the moon. He closed his eyes. His breathing slowed. Steadied. And he spoke:
"Lia."
She reacted instantly, lunging at him from behind in an attempt to take him by surprise.
Clang!
Seik parried the blow with his left hand, right behind his head, applying force with precision.
He turned to her, staring unblinkingly.
"I won't let you kill me, boy!" Lia roared, pushing furiously as she gritted her teeth, "Survival is the only thing I have left, whatever it takes!"
The blades screeched, throwing sparks into the air. In a single fluid motion, Seik slipped under her arm and pinned her in a headlock.
"It's not in my principles to hit a woman," he said calmly. "But listen to me, Lia. Why don't you join us? I don't expect you to change. I'm just offering you my hand."
He released her.
Lia stepped back, frowning—confused—as if trying to decipher an unknown language.
"What are you saying?" she spat, her gaze flaring. "I'm not going to change just because you want me to. I'd rather fight than let what I am be taken from me."
From the shadows, Erick watched them silently, his thoughts a whirlwind. Seik's words... they had an unsettling logic to them. He didn't know whether they bothered him or made him think. Perhaps both.
Meanwhile, Seik remained motionless, emotionless. He was mentally reviewing what had happened:
We humans need to learn to listen. When someone believes others only want to change them, they become entrenched in that idea. Maybe because of something done to them. Maybe because of what Erick said. Lia won't listen... for now.
Suddenly, Lia melted back into the darkness.
As if moving to the same rhythm, Seik vanished under the lunar glow as well.
Lia raced along the walls like a specter—gaze locked, muscles coiled. But her mind spiraled, ensnared by Seik's words.
Was he asking her to change... or to find herself?
She spotted him. And, without hesitation, she lunged from the shadows, blade held high, aimed straight at his neck.
Clang!
Seik, still turned away, barely raised his left hand and gripped the blade's hilt. The impact shuddered through Lia's body like thunder; her teeth rattled.
Suspended in midair, barely twenty centimeters from Seik, she froze from the collision.
Then the boy turned and swung his blade hard. The shock sent her recoiling violently, stumbling back several steps.
"Tell me, Lia," he said calmly, "why do you believe I want you to change?"
"You said it yourself, damn you! You just want to turn me into another pawn for your damned organization! I... I won't be anyone's weapon again! If that's what you're after, forget it!"
She lunged again, determined to draw blood—even if just a scratch.
Her blade sliced toward his abdomen.
But Seik countered just in time, deflecting the strike with precision. Lia stumbled past him, crashing to the ground with a muffled curse.
"Listen," Seik said, his voice still even, "Changing and being used aren't the same. The Fénix are a family. We support each other. Sometimes, yes, we use one another... but never to destroy. I don't want to change you. I want that power of yours to be yours alone. Not mine. Not anyone else's."
Lia lowered her head, trembling. Hot tears streaked her cheeks—but this wasn't weakness. It was rage. Fear. Distrust.
Was he telling the truth? Or was this another ploy to turn her into a puppet?
"I don't believe you! You're just manipulating me! But I won't let you!"
She gritted her teeth and forced herself up. Gripping the blade's hilt, she dug it into her own palm, letting the pain anchor her. Then she looked up—steady, direct—fury burning in her eyes.
First, sparks. Then, lightning.
White and golden bursts erupted from his body, crackling like living fire—like a storm made flesh.
And then, as if the world had crunched beneath her feet, Lia lunged like lightning.
The blade cut through the air with a hiss and tore through Seik's jacket at the abdomen. But he had already backed away, dodging the worst in an instant.
Without losing momentum, he spun in midair and rose with a burst of force. From high above, he extracted five blades from his jacket and hurled them, one after another, like a sharp barrage.
But—
Ting! Ting! Ting!
Lia deflected them all with precision, as if they were stones thrown by a child.
And she turned on him again.
A thunderstorm roared around her. The white and golden aura swirled, alive, wild.
He planted one foot back, one foot forward. Took a deep breath.
His gaze fixed on Seik, still hovering in the air.
The ground vibrated.
And, with a burst that tore through the air, Lia shot toward him—like a bolt of lightning searching for its target in the middle of the night.
Seik tensed his muscles. He knew the next attack wouldn't be just anyone.
Lia appeared in front of him like a flash of lightning. Seik reacted instantly, launching a slash straight for her shoulder—but he missed. She vanished just before impact and reappeared at his back.
Eyes blazing, she delivered a brutal kick that dropped him like a stone.
Seik was shot to the ground. He landed violently but was instantly back on his feet, resting on one knee, panting. He looked up and stared at her.
A hiss cut through the air.
As soon as he stood, he took a nimble leap to dodge the blade Lia hurled at him from above. He landed firmly, his gaze locked on the woman.
"Lia, you don't have a weapon," he said. "Get out of the air... Wait... Are you flying?"
His eyes widened in surprise. Lia hovered above him, suspended, defying every law of gravity Seik knew—as if the air itself held her of its own volition.
"That changes everything..." he whispered.
From above, Lia searched for a way out. But there was nothing: only a cracked ceiling filtering moonlight, and the persistent drip of the machine, its rhythm a torturous beat against her tense nerves.
"Lia," Seik called, his voice firm, "You don't have a weapon. The show can't go on without substance. Come down."
Lia smiled. Pent-up rage coiled in that curve of her lips.
"If I don't have a weapon, then I will create one. And if I can't create it... I'll use everything I know."
He raised his hand in the gloom.
Lightning flashed across the darkness like veins of light. His energy sizzled, concentrating with fury. Within seconds, a sword of light took shape in his palm: vibrating, quivering, as if breathing with it.
Seik did not move. His gaze scanned the shadows.
He was looking for Erick.
But he was nowhere to be seen.
I think it's time to move. I'm not going to stand here while she slices me in two with that glowing sword and her lightning bolts everywhere.
Seik began to move through the shadows, looking for cover... and for his father, lost in the darkness.
Lia saw him moving and frowned.
But Seik managed to slip out of her field of vision. He slipped through the gloom and the hypnotic rhythm of the drops, disappearing from his enemy's radar.
Above, Lia scanned the area, her patience fraying.
"Father..." Seik muttered.
A hand materialized from nowhere and gripped his shoulder.
"I told you, Seik. People don't change," said Erick's familiar voice behind him, laced with sarcasm.
"I know. That's why I don't try to change her. Tell me... Was that sword created with magic?"
"No. It was made with mana."
"Mana? Isn't that the same as magic?" Seik asked, turning to him.
From above, Lia found them. She looked up, then held out both hands. The first sword hovered in front of her, and three more materialized around her, orbiting like satellites.
She looked down at Seik. His eyes burned with fury.
"You still ignore me, child? I'll kill you all!"
With a violent gesture, she lowered her hands.
Three swords shot out, cutting the air with a sharp hiss.
Erick disappeared in the blink of an eye, teleporting away without a trace.
Seik was left alone.
He looked up and narrowed his eyes.
"Hmm…" he muttered, seeing what was coming at him.
He closed his eyes.
"God… just this once, don't let it hurt too much."
BOOOOOOOOM!
The impact was devastating.
The walls shook. A wave of thunder rolled over everything. Dust rose like a fog of war, and smoke enveloped the darkness like a formless monster.