"You've gotten soft, Elias. Thought I'd remind you what pain feels like."
The words echoed louder than the city sirens.
Varek stood like a phantom of the past, Selene's fainted form behind him, Seraphina watching from the sidelines like a queen admiring her arena.
Elias didn't flinch. He simply stepped forward, his knuckles whitening.
"I don't know who you think I am," he said slowly, "but you've just made the biggest mistake of your life."
Varek tilted his head. "You say that like I didn't kill the man you used to be."
Their eyes locked.
And then the rooftop exploded into violence.
Varek was faster than Seraphina.
Stronger than anyone Elias had fought before.
He moved like a beast—raw, brutal, unrelenting.
Elias ducked a vicious right hook, countered with a spin-kick that barely moved Varek back. The man didn't even flinch.
"Still sloppy," Varek growled, grabbing Elias by the collar and slamming him against the rooftop wall.
Elias' vision blurred. Blood leaked from his mouth.
But he smirked.
He grabbed Varek's arm and twisted, flipping over him with a move Silas once used in a kill mission. He landed behind him and slammed his elbow into Varek's spine.
The sound echoed like a crack of thunder.
But Varek laughed.
"You are Silas," he whispered darkly. "But you're still not him."
Across the rooftop, Seraphina watched in silence. Her expression unreadable.
She could feel it—Elias was changing.
Every hit he took made him more vicious. Every block, every strike… it was no longer about defense. It was personal.
He wasn't fighting to win.
He was fighting to unleash.
Selene stirred.
Just a little.
Her fingers twitched. Her lips parted. A groan escaped.
Elias saw it—and something in him snapped.
He shoved Varek off and charged, blade out, eyes burning.
"You don't touch her!"
This time, he moved like lightning.
Three strikes to the chest.
One to the thigh.
A slice across the shoulder.
Even Varek grunted in pain.
Elias roared and tackled him into the air duct, metal collapsing beneath them.
They rolled—fists, blades, blood.
At last, Elias had Varek pinned, blade at his throat.
Breathing hard. Shaking. Covered in crimson.
But before he could drive the blade in—
"Elias…" came a weak voice.
Selene.
Her eyes fluttered open.
Elias froze.
And in that hesitation—
Varek slammed his head forward.
Skull to nose.
Elias stumbled back, dazed.
Varek grabbed Seraphina's hand and growled, "This isn't over."
A smoke pellet exploded.
By the time Elias reached them—
They were gone.
The rooftop was quiet again.
Only the wind. Only the blood.
And Selene, now conscious, looking up at him with confusion and fear.
"Who… who are you?" she asked, barely above a whisper.
Elias dropped to his knees beside her.
His breathing ragged. His eyes full of pain.
He couldn't answer.
Because in that moment…
He didn't know anymore.