The air exploded.
It did not burst outward.
It collapsed.
Alex’s aura did not flare like fire. It descended.
A silent, crushing force dropped onto Kaelith like an invisible mountain falling from the sky.
The marble floor shattered beneath her boots.
Her knees slamd against the ground.
Crack.
The impact spider-webbed outward in violent fractures.
Her breath hitched.
The pressure was suffocating.
Her lungs refused to expand properly. Each inhale scraped like broken glass inside her chest.
Her wings trembled violently behind her, feathers shaking under the unbearable weight pressing down on her existence itself.
’Impossible...’
Her crimson eyes widened.
’How is he so strong...?’
This was not the power of a re human.
This was not even the pressure of a high-ranking demon.
It felt ancient.
Overwhelming.
Absolute.
Alex began walking toward her.
Slowly.
Each step echoed softly against the fractured marble.
Step.
Crack.
Step.
Crack.
He stopped directly in front of her kneeling form.
His shadow swallowed her.
He tilted his head slightly, voice lowering into sothing calm and disturbingly composed.
"Looks like you didn’t know the full story... Princess."
Her breathing grew more uneven.
His presence pressed closer.
"I’m not here to negotiate power."
His eyes glowed faintly through the skull mask.
"I’m here to collect a weapon that belongs to ."
A faint pause.
"And you are..."
His gaze dropped to her chest.
"Or you could say a fragnt of your soul... is part of that weapon."
Silence trembled between them.
Then—
He crouched down.
Slowly.
Until his eyes were level with hers.
Their gazes locked.
"So technically..."
His voice softened.
"You also belong to ."
Kaelith froze.
For a split second—
Her face flushed.
Heat surged across her cheeks, stark against her pale skin.
Her wings flared instinctively.
Then rage replaced the embarrassnt.
"Mind your tongue, human!"
Her voice shook the room.
Despite the crushing aura, she planted one foot firmly against the broken marble.
Her muscles trembled violently.
She pushed.
Her body shook under the pressure.
But she rose.
Inches.
Then more.
Even Alex’s eyes narrowed slightly.
She was standing.
Barely.
"I..."
Her breath ca sharp.
"I... I am not anyone’s property!"
Her aura flared stubbornly against his overwhelming presence.
"I am a free person!"
Her fists clenched at her sides.
"And no one is going to order around as long as I am breathing!"
For a mont—
Silence.
Then behind the mask—
Alex smiled.
’She’s got a spine.’
’Probably the strongest will I’ve seen in a long ti.’
He straightened slowly.
"So what are you going to do?"
His voice was calm.
"Fight ?"
Her crimson eyes burned.
"Yes."
Her wings spread wider.
"Not only you. From now on, I’ll fight anyone who stands between and my freedom."
Her jaw tightened.
"I’ll die before I bow down to anyone."
The words hung heavy in the fractured room.
A long pause followed.
Then—
The pressure vanished.
Instantly.
The crushing mountain disappeared.
The air rushed back into her lungs.
The weight on her shoulders evaporated.
Alex’s aura dissolved like mist under sunlight.
He dusted his hands casually.
"Alright."
He turned slightly away from her.
"You pass."
Kaelith blinked.
"What?"
Her breathing steadied slowly.
"Are you going to fight ...?"
Her brows furrowed.
"Don’t you want the fragnt that I have?"
Alex glanced at her over his shoulder.
"If I wanted it right now..."
His voice turned flat.
"You would’ve been six feet under the ground already."
Silence.
Her mouth fell open slightly.
This was the first ti she had heard a human speak like that.
Not arrogantly.
Not desperately.
Simply stating fact.
"Such insolence..."
But the words lacked heat.
She rembered.
The suffocating pressure.
The cracked marble.
The way her instincts scread at her to kneel.
’He is not ordinary...’
Her gaze sharpened.
Alex stepped closer again.
This ti without hostility.
He circled her slowly.
Studying her.
His eyes moved across her wings, her aura, the faint distortion around her soul core.
"Very interesting..."
She stiffened.
Her wings twitched.
"What are you looking at, you pervert?"
He ignored the insult.
"How did it happen?"
She frowned.
"Happened what?"
He stopped directly in front of her.
"How did you fuse with that fragnt of Victoria?"
Recognition flickered across her face.
"Oh."
She exhaled slowly.
"So that’s what you want to know, huh?"
"Yes."
Silence lingered for a mont.
Then she began.
"When I was born..."
Her voice lowered.
"The ruler of the Fallen... my father... fused my soul with one of Victoria’s fragnts."
Her eyes darkened slightly.
"He used a thod that only he knows."
"He hoped I would inherit all the power contained within that fragnt."
A faint bitterness surfaced.
"And the fusion was a success."
Alex tilted his head slightly.
"But...?"
She slowly lifted her hands.
Green energy flickered to life above her palms.
It shimred softly.
Beautiful.
Yet unstable.
The energy pulsed unevenly, occasionally sparking wildly.
"But I could never use it to its fullest potential."
Her fingers tightened.
"I am not talented enough to handle it properly."
The green aura flared briefly, then dimd again.
Alex watched closely.
"You said there are seven fragnts."
She nodded.
"Then there must have been seven types of power Victoria possessed."
His gaze sharpened.
"What type of power do you have?"
The green energy swirled faster above her palms.
Kaelith studied Alex quietly before continuing.
"The fragnt I possess governs the Law of Order," she said calmly.
Her posture straightened slightly as she spoke — not prideful, simply factual.
"It maintains absolute stability within . My body, mind, and energy remain perfectly aligned, no matter the situation."
She lifted her hand, and a faint current of energy flowed around her fingers.
There was no fluctuation.
No tremor.
No waste.
"Most warriors weaken over ti," she continued. "Their stamina drains. Their control slips. Their energy becos inefficient. Disorder accumulates with every movent and every injury."
Her crimson eyes sharpened slightly.
"My power prevents that process entirely."
The green aura from before faded, replaced by sothing subtler — smoother.
Invisible.
"Debuffs. Poison. ntal interference. Energy disruption. All of them struggle to affect ."
Her gaze t his evenly.
"My state constantly corrects itself. External forces cannot easily introduce imbalance. And even when they do... it is quickly neutralized."
She clenched her fist.
The energy within her remained perfectly steady.
"I expend almost no excess energy. Every action is executed with complete efficiency. No loss. No backlash. No instability."
A quiet breath escaped her lips.
"Because of this, my stamina and energy reserves last far beyond normal limits. In prolonged combat, exhaustion becos irrelevant."
Her voice remained level.
"Others fight while slowly falling apart."
Her eyes hardened.
"I do not."
"The longer a battle continues... the greater my advantage becos."
A faint pause followed.
"The Law of Order does not make explosive."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"But the resilience it grants surpasses even my father... the King of the Fallen."
Silence filled the room.
Alex stared at her.
’Wow.’
’And that’s only one fragnt.’
His mind moved quickly.
’Now I understand why Victoria is obsessed with collecting the others.’
’If she already possesses four... she must already be monstrous.’
Before he could speak—
Kaelith’s voice softened.
"But I cannot use it to its full potential."
Her gaze dropped slightly.
"That is why he deed a failure."
Her fingers tightened.
"And cast aside like trash."
A brief silence.
Alex tilted his head.
"Is that so... huh."
He opened his mouth to continue—
Then stopped.
His eyes shifted upward.
Toward the sky.
His pupils narrowed slightly.
"A barrier has been erected around this place."
The air in the room subtly changed.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
"She’s here."
Kaelith stiffened.
She did not need to ask who.
That presence—
Heavy.
Cold.
Violent.
It was unmistakable.
Victoria.
Alex turned his gaze back toward her.
"You said you can’t use your powers to their full potential, right?"
She blinked, confused.
"Yes."
A slow grin spread beneath the skull mask.
"Let show you your full potential."
Suddenly—
A voice echoed inside his mind.
[ Soul Affinity has been activated. ]
The atmosphere shifted.
Before Kaelith could react—
He moved.
No windup.
No warning.
His hand pierced straight through her chest.
Her eyes widened.
But—
There was no blood.
No tearing flesh.
No scream.
Her body began dissolving.
Softly.
Her physical form fragnted into countless motes of shimring light.
Tiny luminous particles drifted upward from where she stood.
Her wings unraveled into strands of radiance.
Her armor disintegrated into glowing dust.
She stared at him, stunned, as her form faded.
"What... are you...?"
Her voice echoed faintly as her body beca light.
Alex’s expression remained calm.
Within his hand—
Energy condensed.
Dense.
Violent.
A blade began forming.
Not tal.
Not fla.
Pure destruction.
A sharp, elongated weapon forged from concentrated purple energy took shape in his grasp.
It humd.
Reality warped faintly along its edge.
Cracks spread through the air around it as if space itself feared contact.
The last motes of Kaelith’s light gathered and rged into him seamlessly.
Absorbed.
Integrated.
His aura deepened.
Stabilized.
Perfectly aligned.
He lifted his gaze toward the sky.
Through the ceiling.
Through the barrier.
Through the approaching presence.
"It’s ti to discipline you."
His body flickered.
And vanished.
The room fell empty.
Only fading particles of light lingered in the air.
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