Ren realized, with clinical certainty, that the rules had changed. Jack was no longer just a rogue student to be managed with a heavy hand and a defensive posture.
He was a lethal, unpredictable variable tapping into an absolute physics that could genuinely snap their soul-bond network if left unchecked.
If Jack landed another strike like that, the vibrational shock to the tether would dissolve the connection entirely, condemning them both to the void.
The time for restraint was over.
Ren's entire demeanor turned ice-cold. The calm, instructive warrior vanished, replaced instantly by the terrifying, unyielding majesty of a general who had slaughtered gods to secure a kingdom.
The air around him grew incredibly heavy, a profound, golden aura erupting from his frame with such density that it physically suppressed the residual black sparks dancing across the ground.
"Forgive me, Jack," Ren whispered, his voice carrying the finality of a falling guillotine.
