Chapter 146: The Pieces Move
Elora City
From the outside, the penthouse was the picture of luxury—all sleek lines and glittering glass. Inside, however, it looked more like a mad scientist's workshop crossed with a junkyard. Tools, wires, and metallic components were scattered across what was once a pristine marble floor. In the center of the chaos, Haeju and Drew were hunched over the frame of a large, intimidating mechanical suit, their faces smudged with grease.
The peaceful concentration was shattered by the sharp buzz of Drew's connective device. He wiped his hands on his pants and picked it up, his eyebrows rising in surprise at the caller ID.
"Yuseong?" he said, more to himself than to Haeju.
Haeju looked up from the suit's power core, her expression shifting from focus to curiosity. "What is it? Is everything alright?"
Drew gave her a slight, reassuring shake of his head and accepted the call. "Hello, Yuseong! This is a surprise. How are you? And how's Tom?"
The voice that came through the speaker was not the calm, technical tone they were used to. It was rushed, laced with a undercurrent of panic. "Drew! Come to the Ashveil headquarters, fast! And also, please, bring the Saint-Slayer mechanical suit. You're going to need it. I'm sure of it."
Before Drew could form a single question—Why? What's happening? Where's Tom?—the line went dead with a definitive click.
Drew slowly lowered the device, his face a mask of confusion and growing concern. He turned to Haeju, who was now standing, her earlier curiosity replaced by open worry.
"What happened?" she asked, her voice firm. "Tell me."
Drew met her gaze, his own serious. "It's time. That Saint-Slayer suit I gave you... the time to use it has come."
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Darkveil Order Headquarters
The cavernous throne room had become a stage for two very different, yet equally intense, battles.
On one side, Shami moved with disorienting, impossible grace. In her hand, she wielded a small, black scythe, its haft no longer than a standard sword. It was an unconventional, compact weapon, perfect for her style. One moment she was in front of Kai, the next she vanished, only to reappear instantly behind him, her scythe slicing through the space his neck had occupied a millisecond before. She teleported again—to his left, his right, above him—her movements creating a dizzying, inescapable vortex of attacks. Kai was a master of precision and prediction, but even he was being pushed to his absolute limit, his sword, Luminis Aquae, a blur of desperate parries as he struggled to dodge and block attacks coming from every conceivable angle at once.
On the other side of the chamber, the fight could not have been more different. Monkey (Neel) had wrapped the thick, dimly glowing green chains around his fists, transforming them into heavy, powerful knuckles. Seeing this, a wide, manic grin split Moon's face. It was a look his friends knew well—the thrill of a pure, unadulterated brawl.
"Been a long time since I wore these," Moon said, his voice a low rumble of excitement. He retrieved a pair of brutal, heavy-duty knuckles from his storage ring, sliding them onto his hands with a satisfying click. The metal gleamed wickedly in the dim light.
Monkey mirrored his stance, falling into a classic boxing posture. A smile touched his own lips, but it was different from Moon's crazed expression. It was the calm, focused smile of a skilled practitioner ready to test his art against a worthy opponent. The air between them crackled with a competitive, almost nostalgic energy, a stark contrast to the life-and-death struggle happening just meters away.
To be continued…