Ash's blade rested on scorched metal, a streak of silver in a world turned black. Fire had kissed everything else—burned bots twisted in heaps, walls blistered and weeping smoke, tiles split like bone under strain. But the weapon remained untouched.
Longer than a dagger. Shorter than a sword. A single edge honed for speed. Built for strikes that never missed.
Faint red lines ran across it, etched deep like veins beneath skin. The steel gleamed—not with light, but with threat. The hilt, dark and worn smooth, still remembered the shape of his grip.
But it wasn't in his hand.
Ash's fingers twitched.
It shouldn't be here.
His gaze slid to Kael.
The ceiling cracked open with a groan. Metal shrieked. Five bots dropped, hitting the ground hard enough to crack tile. Man-sized, lean, shaped like hunters. Their eyes lit red. Limbs locked into fighting stance.
Kael rolled his shoulders. He smiled.
The first bot lunged.
Kael didn't dodge. His foot snapped forward. Metal crumpled like paper under the weight of his kick. The bot flew back, struck the wall, shattered.
Another came low. Blade arm slicing for his legs.
Kael twisted, caught it mid-swing, and drove his elbow into its head. Sparks burst. The machine buckled. He spun, dragging the bot's arm like a whip—and slammed it into the third.
One broke apart. The other stumbled, chest caved in.
A fourth leapt from behind. Kael turned into it, fist driving into its gut. The impact crushed the bot's core. It dropped, twitching.
The last bot circled, assessing.
Kael stepped in, fast. Too fast. His knee found the bot's chest before it could react. The steel shell cracked. He grabbed its head and pulled—clean, sharp, brutal. The eyes died.
Silence returned.
Then the ground shook.
Two more bots dropped from the ceiling. Heavier. Taller. Shoulders like small towers. Their frames groaned with the weight of reinforced cores.
Kael's grin faded. He exhaled once.
The air shifted.
A thin circle of flame spun around him—flickering like it had been waiting. It flared outwards, forming a barrier.
Fire Wall.
The first brute charged. Flame peeled away as it passed, kissing metal. Kael met it head-on. His fist hit the bot's shoulder—hard enough to knock it off-center, but it didn't fall.
The second flanked him, fists hammering. Kael ducked, slid low, fire trailing behind him like a burning shadow. He rose behind it. Hands flared red.
He struck once.
Heat exploded on impact. The bot's chest burst open. Gears melted.
The other spun, blade whirring out of its wrist. It carved through the flames—but couldn't touch him.
Kael stepped through the fire like it wasn't there.
His palm pressed to the bot's face.
Fire Wall expanded, a focused ring slicing through the air. The bot's head was gone before its body knew. The rest followed, crashing to the ground in two pieces.
Ash watched from the edge of the room, the blade still untouched by his hand.
Kael stood in the wreckage. Fire danced around him—small, hungry, waiting to be fed.
"Thought they'd send something tougher."
Ash didn't answer. His eyes stayed on the weapon.
It still shouldn't be here.
Ash didn't move at first.
Then, a single word.
"Kael."
Kael turned, that same smile carved across his face.
"Oh," he said, laughing low, "you're here."
He took a step forward. Then another. Heat bled off his skin. The air shimmered around him, but Ash didn't flinch.
Kael stopped, just short of the blade.
Ash's hand hovered over it, fingers tense. He didn't touch it.
"You've got a lot of nerve."
Kael's smirk curled higher, like it was all part of the plan.
"Did you find it?"
he asked, already knowing the answer. Like he'd been waiting for this moment since the start.
'This must be hilarious to him.'
Ash's voice dropped.
"I know you want a fight. Why'd you have to take it? You could've just asked."
Kael tilted his head. That damn smile didn't move.
"I know you too well. You wouldn't have come."
Ash closed his fingers around the hilt. Warm. Like fire still lived inside it. The heat bled into his skin, feeding the ache in his arm. The blade lifted. Heavy. Too heavy. But he was used to that weight now.
"You really think this is funny?"
Kael stepped back. Flame kissed his fingertips.
"I think it worked."
'This power-hungry freak... he'll do anything for a fight.' Ash thought.
He turned for the exit.
The ground cracked.
The floor split. Fire Wall ruptured upward—a ring of flame screaming to life, sealing the exit in a cage of heat
He turned back.
"Seriously?"
Kael's breath escaped in a laugh.
"Yeah… you're not leaving until I get what I want."
Their eyes locked.
Ash didn't blink. His head shook once.
"Let's just get this over with."
He stepped into stance. Feet set. Blade low. Grip tight.
Kael mirrored him. Fire danced along his hands. That look in his eyes… hunger, sharp as knives.
They didn't speak again.
They didn't need to.
Kael moved first. His lips barely shifted. His eyes burned.
"Let's see you dodge this."
His hand snapped forward. Fire burst from his palm—dense, spinning orbs, shaped by control, driven by intent. They cut through the air like meteors.
Ash moved.
The blade flashed, slicing through a falling ember. Kael's fireballs slammed into the ground behind him, ripping molten holes through what remained of the tile. Heat cracked the air.
Ash didn't stop.
He weaved through the firestorm, boots skidding across soot-covered metal. The broken bots littering the ground sparked around him—twisted arms, shattered lenses, black wires hanging like veins torn open.
Kael didn't give him space.
He dashed forward, fast—too fast. Fire wrapped around his arms as he spun, a wall of flame rising in his wake. His fist crashed toward Ash like a comet.
Ash ducked under it. Steel scraped against Kael's side—not deep, but clean.
Kael grinned. His elbow shot back.
Ash staggered. Heat washed over his face. The wall behind him hissed as fire kissed it again.
"You're slower than before," Kael said, his voice calm.
Ash spat blood.
"You're louder than before."
Kael snapped his fingers. Fire burst up from the floor. Ash jumped back—barely—his coat catching fire at the edge. He rolled once, came up fast, blade raised.
"Still relying on tricks, Ash?"
"No, just timing."
A familiar voice echoed in his mind.
"[Skill: Storm vein]"
"[Skill: Static surge]"
Lightning cracked under his feet. Static danced up his leg, surged through his core. The air around him trembled. In a blink, he vanished.
Kael's eyes widened. He turned, arm raised too late.
Ash reappeared at his side, blade swinging.
Steel met flame. Sparks scattered. Kael slid back, boots digging into ash-covered tile. His hand flared. A ring of fire shot out, catching Ash across the chest.
Ash hissed, forced back. Smoke clung to him.
Kael moved again—fast, brutal. He was already behind Ash, foot swinging low. It connected.
Ash tumbled through a pile of broken bots. Metal cracked beneath him. Something sharp cut into his shoulder.
The static surged again.
He rose, one eye half-closed, blood dripping down his jaw.
"You're getting too reckless."
"You're getting predictable."
Kael lunged. Fire spiraled down his arm, sharp as a blade, his strike aimed at Ash's throat.
Ash twisted sideways. His sword scraped down Kael's fire-arm, slicing through flame. Sparks exploded.
The two broke apart. Breathing hard. Circling.
Ash glanced at the ground—charred bodies of bots twitching, some still trying to crawl. One dragged itself by a single claw, useless but moving.
He looked back at Kael.
"Still think this is worth it?"
Kael rolled his neck.
"Absolutely."
His foot slammed the ground.
Flames burst in a ring around him. A Fire Wall.
Ash didn't back off. His foot shifted. His blade lowered.
Lightning surged again.
He shot forward, cutting through the smoke, through the wall of fire, ignoring the burn. Kael blinked.
Steel met chest.
Ash didn't stop. He twisted, dropped low, and slashed across Kael's thigh. Another cut to the ribs. The last—straight up toward the neck.
Kael blocked the final strike with a wave of flame, but his footing slipped.
Ash landed on one knee, breathing hard.
Kael stood tall—but blood traced down his side.
He laughed.
"That it?"
Ash wiped his blade against his arm, smearing away the ash.
"Far from it."
The fire dimmed for a second. Kael's smirk twitched.
Then the floor cracked beneath them both.
The space between them crackled with tension, the very air thickening with anticipation. For a moment, time itself seemed to hold its breath, poised on the precipice of chaos.