It was already night when the four of them were still training, blurs of movement beneath the dim courtyard lights, long shadows stretching across the ground, heavy breaths filling the air.
Each of them focused.
Each of them serious.
Haru defended with one eye open—literally. His left eye remained closed while his right read every intention before it became movement.
Kira dashed forward, beastkin speed that gave no warning.
Haru blocked with Vorath, but the impact still pushed him two steps backward.
"Kira!" Isabela shouted.
She filled her lungs and unleashed a massive crimson wave of fire, flooding the opening Kira had created.
"They're not giving me room to attack. They know that if I get started, I won't stop."
Haru vanished into his shadows.
[Shadow Steps]
He appeared on the opposite side of the courtyard.
Chains emerged, summoned by Lilithine—precise, elegant, aimed directly at an unprepared Haru.
They resembled the chains of the Codex Veritas.
