The leader gritted his teeth, determination burning as hot as the flas on his fists. This was his chance!
The anomaly, the one disrupting the higher realms, had co to them willingly. The leader didn’t know why, and frankly, he didn’t care. If he could subdue Clyde here and now, the reward would be imnse. A promotion to the higher ranks, a place among the elites, it was within reach.
But he wasn’t foolish. Charging in blindly would only get him killed. So instead, the leader hung back for a mont, eyes sharp, analyzing the fight.
The man — Clyde — was effortlessly parrying spears made of condensed magic energy with his bare hands. His sword, strapped at his side, remained untouched, as if he didn’t even think these soldiers were worth the trouble of drawing it.
That arrogance fueled the leader’s anger, but he shoved the emotion down. He would need a clear head for what he was about to do.
No matter how strong Clyde was, he wasn’t invincible. If the leader could catch him off guard, even just once, he could turn the battle in his favor.
Quietly, he readied himself, gathering energy into his body, flas flickering around his gloves in anticipation.
His plan was simple: focus entirely on the man first. The woman would be dealt with afterward. If he struck hard and fast, he wouldn’t have a chance to react.
The leader moved. His body flickered and blurred before vanishing altogether. His specialized skill activated — a complete erasure of presence. Sight, sound, even the ripple of magic around him disappeared. It was a technique that had never failed him before. His first strike was always lethal.
He crept behind Clyde, who was still dancing through the soldiers’ attacks like a phantom. Just a few more steps. His muscles coiled, ready to pounce.
Then, at the perfect mont, he launched himself forward — a flaming, invisible projectile aid straight at Clyde’s unprotected back.
Victory seed certain. The leader grinned
Until Clyde moved.
Without even looking, Clyde spun sharply and extended his hand with frightening precision, catching the leader midair by the neck.
"Urgh!"
The leader’s body snapped into visibility at once, suspended helplessly by Clyde’s iron grip.
Shock flooded his mind. "How?!"
Clyde’s eyes stared coldly into him, offering no answers, only a grim certainty.
The leader struggled, trying to pull free, but Clyde’s hand might as well have been a steel trap. The flas around his gloves flared in desperation, but they couldn’t even singe Clyde’s skin.
"You thought you could sneak up on ?" Clyde said, his voice low and dangerous.
With a sudden, effortless motion, Clyde hurled the leader like a ragdoll into a nearby wall. The glass cracked from the impact but didn’t shatter — the material was reinforced by magic, barely holding under the force.
The soldiers who witnessed it hesitated, fear creeping into their body.
Clyde didn’t give them a chance to recover. He stepped forward calmly, as if he wasn’t in the middle of a battle, and let the pressure of his presence alone crush their will.
Clyde wasted no ti. He surged forward like a storm breaking free of its restraints. Killing these soldiers wasn’t his goal — they were just in the way — but right now, their persistence was starting to get on his nerves.
"Asqa! Break their legs!" he shouted, his voice slicing through the chaos.
Asqa, who until now had been solely on the defensive, nodded sharply. Without hesitation, she dropped her shimring barrier, the protective shield collapsing into a pulse of raw force. A shockwave blasted outward, sending the soldiers crowding around her stumbling back in all directions, their formations shattered.
Asqa didn’t waste the opening. She rose into the air, her body wreathed in faint flas, and with deft motions of her hands, began firing concentrated fireballs — not at their bodies, but at their legs.
Each shot struck with pinpoint accuracy, exploding in bursts of controlled force that shattered bones and left soldiers collapsing in pain and confusion.
anwhile, Clyde moved among the disoriented n. His attack was deliberate. After a flash of movent there were a crack of bone. A soldier scread, clutching his broken knee. Clyde didn’t slow, he weaved through them with a rciless efficiency that left no room for counterattack.
In re monts, what had been a disciplined formation was reduced to a chaotic ss of groaning, crippled bodies.
Above, atop the highest tower overlooking the courtyard, Morvius arrived. The director had received frantic reports of an intruder — but nothing could have prepared him for what he saw when he looked down.
His blood ran cold.
That black hair, those cold, rciless eyes — it could only be Clyde and his friend. The very anomaly that had ssed up the higher realms .
Morvius staggered back a step, almost unable to breathe.
"Damnit! How are they here!" he muttered, horror flashing across his face.
If Clyde was here, their defenses ant nothing.
He clenched his fists, forcing himself to move.
"I have to stop him before he kills them all," Morvius growled under his breath.
Without hesitation, he leapt from the tower, the wind howling around him. He landed with a heavy thud just a few ters in front of Clyde, the impact cracking the ground beneath his feet.
Dust and debris billowed around them as Morvius straightened, drawing his weapon with a trembling hand.
Clyde paused, glancing at the newcor without much concern, as if another opponent was nothing more than an inconvenience.
Morvius took a shaky breath, steeling himself.
"Clyde," Morvius said, his voice strained, "How do you got here?"
Clyde smiled faintly, an expression colder than winter steel.
"I see that, you know my na already. I go where I want," he said simply — and took a step forward.
"You’re the boss, right? I want to talk to you. Privately," Clyde said, not bothering to waste ti. "And for the record," he added, glancing briefly at the wounded soldiers groaning around them, "I intended to co in peace. But... your n decided otherwise. Now, well, things have gotten a little ssy."
Morvius narrowed his eyes, his expression dark with suspicion.
"Talk? About what?" he asked, tone sharp, defensive.
Clyde shrugged slightly, as if the answer were obvious. "An alliance. Probably."
Morvius’s eyes narrowing in question. An alliance?
For a mont, Morvius could only stare at Clyde, stunned.
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