The beast didn't flinch. Its eyes narrowed in anticipation of our strike, as it prepared to pounce. But this time, the outcome was different.
Zakir moved first. In a second, he slid underneath the beast, exposing its chest. His cracked blade regained its shape, gleaming with a crimson glow from where it had been broken. It felt alive.
With a roar, he launched himself upward, as red lightning trailed his sword as he swung. In a flash, the blade tore through muscle and bone. It screeched and stumbled back, as blood gushed from the wound. Zakir fell back right after, skidding across the stone, and looked down at his fully healed arm. It wasn't just completely restored, it was stronger than before.
"What the hell?" he muttered, wide-eyed. "I was never this fast before…"
Sylva wasn't far behind him. As the beast reeled in pain from Zakir's slash, she jumped high above its head. Her hair flew behind her in the wind, daggers in hand. This time, they were laced with not only deadly precision and skill but a crimson glow as well, emitting from the cold metal, forming an aura of pure energy around it.
She hurled it.
It sailed through the air before it struck the beast's shoulder with a thunderous shockwave. It roared, as one of its arms was now limp and twitching from the impact. Sylva landed gracefully, breathing heavily but smiling out of exhilaration.
"My god, was I always this good?" She whispered to herself.
I stood still, watching them. Amazed. Surely, there was also something I could do now, right? I reached out, trying to direct the power flowing inside me. I wasn't even sure what it was that I was doing, if I was even doing it right. I just knew I needed to help them this time, and not simply watch from the sidelines.
Zakir didn't waste any time getting back into the fight. He launched himself forward, his sword whizzing through the air as if it were weightless. Sylva blurred beside him, cackling as she danced between the beast's claws, her movements sharper and more fluid than ever before.
The two moved as if they'd been fighting together their whole lives. Their synergy was too natural, a result of the years they've spent together. Zakir parried a crushing swipe, the weight of the strike cracking the ground beneath him once more, but he didn't budge. His newly restored arm flexed as he used all his strength to keep the beast from moving.
"Now, Sylva!" He yelled.
"Shut up, I know!" Sylva replied as she vaulted off the trees and slammed both her daggers into the beast's eyes, her energy exploding outward. Blood spewed everywhere as the beast reeled, howling in pain.
Yet I just stood there.
I wanted to join, to help, to fight.
However, the moment I tried to push the power within me forwards—just enough to form anything—to conjure something, I felt a crack inside. Blood spewed from my mouth, staining my hands as I dropped to one knee.
The pain was so strong I couldn't even breathe.
My lungs felt as if they were going to collapse at any given moment, my vision blurring as pain shot through my body like everything was torn apart from within.
Why? Why was I still so weak?
I continued to watch from the side as the pair continued the fight. They didn't notice me, and they didn't need to. They were much stronger than before. They didn't need me. All they needed was the strength of my power.
Why am I being left behind?
The truth was, I already knew the answer. It wasn't them that changed, it was me. The old me wouldn't have been on his knees, only able to watch the fight pathetically instead of joining. No, they would have done everything they could to stay in the fight, no matter how weakened.
"Hey Feng! I don't know what you did to us, but whatever it is, you need to do that more often!" yelled Sylva from the other side of the battle.
"She's right! I feel like I can split this mountain in two right now if I wanted to!" Zakir chimed in.
I took a deep breath. I closed my eyes, not from fatigue but from shame.
"Would you have pitied me too, brother Lin?"
The ghost of his smile flickered behind my eyelids. One that didn't care how strong I was… only that I would keep trying.
That's right.
I'm not who I was before. I'm not the white demon. But I will turn that weakness into my strength.
With sheer determination, I started to channel the power inside me once again. This time, I stopped trying to force the power or to control it. I let it move on its own, not like fire—like wind.
I raised my hands, palms outwards, facing Sylva and Zakir. It flowed through me, into them.
A shimmer pulsed out, barely visible, as I watched it wrap around Sylva's ankles, and surged into Zakir's blade. It wasn't much, but it was all I could do at the moment.
But it was something.
Zakir landed another blow, cutting deeper this time. Sylva ducked the beast's counterattack just in time, spinning backwards as her daggers sliced into its underbelly. Roaring in pain and anger, it started swiping its claws everywhere.
I extended my fingers once more, as a ripple of crimson light flickered from my palm towards Zakir. However, my body seems to have exceeded its limits for now. I pushed myself too far. I fell to the ground hard, vision dimming, barely clinging to consciousness, as Sylva ran towards me, realizing what had happened.
Zakir's blade grew in size, and without hesitation, he charged in, determined to decide the battle with his next blow.
The beast saw him coming and lunged in a desperate blur of rage. Its claws tore up the ground as it pounced forward.
Zakir didn't slow.
Red lightning coiled down his blade, his muscles surging with newfound strength as he met the beast mid-air. Steel met flesh, as a thunderous crack split the battlefield.
The impact destroyed the trees behind him. The beast screamed as its flesh was torn open, but it didn't fall.
Not yet.
It reeled back, eyes locking onto Zakir with newfound fury. It's breathing ragged, clearly injured.
He stumbled back, coughing up blood. The glow in his sword was dimming as he fell to one knee.
"All you now, Sylva," he whispered as he fell to the ground, as fatigue overtook him.
"Feng! What happened? Why are you coughing up blood? Stay with me! Feng!!!" she cried out, clearly shaken as she was the last one that remained standing.
"I—I can't do this," Sylva whispered, as she started to tremble. "Here, take my blood, Feng, and help me once more. Please… get up…"
This wasn't the Sylva I knew. The once prideful assassin, now cowering in fear against the enemy. Something wasn't right.
The beast didn't miss the chance. With one last push, it sprinted towards us, roaring as its claws tore through the air, determined to kill once and for all.
Suddenly, a voice cut through the air. Low, steady, and mysterious.
"Enough."
Time seemed to have stopped, as the beast froze mid-jump, its claws dangling, twitching.
All movement ceased.
It was then that I realized.
Sylva had faced death before, even laughed in its face more than once. It wasn't the beast that she was cowering from. No, it was the one who silenced it with nothing more than a single word. How long have they been there for? How long were we being watched? If even I could feel its presence in my weakened state, I could only imagine how suffocating it was for those two.
They wore a black robe, covering them from head to toe. A mask hid their face, yet everything about this individual screamed danger. They seemed to float towards us, emitting an aura so strong that the only thing Sylva could do was kneel. In that moment, we all came to the same conclusion.
The real threat has just arrived.
But for some reason, its power felt familiar.