Vale’s eyes widened as the beam drew closer to Eskar. It screamed through the chamber like a falling star, its radiance warping the air itself. Every instinct in Vale urged him to move, to pull Eskar away, to run, to do anything at all, but his body refused to obey.

  ''Chasm.''

  The word still echoed in his mind. Was Eskar truly capable of it? Was he really about to wield that kind of power?

  Vale found out an instant later.

  The beam collided with Eskar, not past him, but into him.

  Eskar braced himself as the impact detonated against his body. The floor beneath his feet fractured violently, spiderweb cracks racing outward as his heels were driven deep into the metal. His body ignited, not in fire but in raw, incandescent force, burning bright orange like freshly forged metal.

  His flesh became translucent.

  Through the blazing glow, Vale could see everything, muscle fibers tightening, lungs straining, bones trembling under impossible pressure. Eskar’s shirt disintegrated into ash, scattering into the air and revealing his chest. At its center was his heart, beating, racing, pounding so violently it looked ready to burst from his ribcage.

  Then Eskar roared, not in pain, but in defiance.

  His heart accelerated again, each beat sending shockwaves of power through his body. The beam faltered, then, impossibly, began to bend backward. Eskar was pushing it. For a brief, unreal moment, he overpowered the attack.

  At the same time, Korin roared like a maddened beast and leapt straight through the beam.

  Vale’s breath caught as Korin crossed the distance in a single, brutal motion, tearing through the residual energy as if it weren’t even there. The man barely had time to react before Korin’s fist connected, sending him crashing downward and slamming him into the chamber floor with thunderous force. With the beam disrupted, its remaining energy scattered harmlessly into the ceiling.

  Eskar staggered as the glow around him dimmed. He gasped for air, nearly collapsing, and turned his head toward Vale, his breathing ragged. His hair, once blazing red, had turned pitch black, like burned coal, and his icy-blue eyes now flickered with deep traces of orange flame.

  “One minute,” Eskar said hoarsely.

  Vale blinked. “What?”

  Eskar swallowed hard, his knees trembling. “I can only use this… for one minute.”

  Vale’s heart sank.

  Korin had already seized the man again, dragging him across the floor before launching them both into the air and slamming him down once more. Ice erupted around them, freezing and shattering in rapid succession as Korin fought like a force of nature.

  Vale stepped forward and grabbed Eskar’s arm, and immediately recoiled. Pain exploded through his hand as hellish heat scorched his skin. He hissed and stared down at his palm, charred and blistered, though already healing thanks to the metallic components integrated into his body.

  He looked back at Eskar. “Are you sure about this?”

  Eskar didn’t answer right away. His gaze drifted past Vale, over the panicking crowd of students, until it found Nova. He held her in his sight for a brief, silent moment before turning back.

  “Yeah,” he said quietly. “I am.”

  Nym arrived beside them, her expression sharp and calculating. “Korin should take the lead,” she said. “We support him however we can. He’s the only one who can beat that guy, if we buy enough time.”

  Vale and Eskar followed her gaze. Korin was buried beneath a massive surge of ice, only for it to explode outward as he forced himself free, roaring louder than before.

  Vale narrowed his eyes. Eskar nodded.

  “Agreed,” they said in unison.

  They launched forward, with Eskar moving first, far faster than Vale had expected. As Korin hammered the man relentlessly, the man snarled and conjured a blade of ice, swinging it in a wide arc. The frozen edge tore across Korin’s chest, drawing blood even through his frenzied state. Using the opening, the man shot upward, hovering high above the battlefield.

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  He didn’t stay there however.

  Something slammed into him.

  A blazing orange shape crashed into his body, pinning him against the barrier with explosive force. Heat scorched his metallic frame, warping and blackening it as Eskar hovered before him, flames licking off his body.

  Eskar’s expression was conflicted. He knew he couldn’t win, but he could delay.

  Grabbing the man by the arm, Eskar hurled him back down toward the ground. The ice mountain below shattered as the man crashed into it, debris and frozen shards exploding outward.

  Vale and Nym sprinted forward.

  “Hey, Vale,” Nym said suddenly.

  “Yeah?” Vale replied, breathless.

  She hesitated before speaking. “Korin can keep focus for maybe one more minute before he goes completely feral.”

  Vale clenched his teeth. “Alright.”

  They reached the man just as he began to rise, fury twisting his features. Vale jumped, and midair, he reinforced his obsidian blade, coating its edges with thick, condensed atum until it hummed with lethal pressure.

  The man raised his hand, energy gathering,

  Vale struck first.

  His blade swept horizontally, severing the man’s arm and shattering the internal mechanism powering the beam. The glow vanished instantly.

  The arm began to reform, however it was already too late.

  The man lunged and seized Vale by the throat, lifting him effortlessly. His hand glowed again as he prepared to obliterate Vale’s head.

  Then,

  White flames slammed into him like a cyclone.

  Ember roared, wings spread wide as fire engulfed the man, forcing him to stagger back.

  The flames cleared.

  Nym was already there.

  Using Vale’s obsidian blade, she struck downward in a perfect vertical cut, severing the man’s metallic arm once more and freeing Vale.

  The man snarled, disgust twisting his face. He opened his mouth, as light poured out.

  But before he could release it,

  The sky burned.

  A brilliant orange mass descended like a falling sun, crashing into him and pinning him to the ground with catastrophic force.

  Eskar stood above him, flames raging.

  The minute wasn’t over yet.

  Esk?r’s heart suddenly spiked.

  The sound of it, no longer merely a beat, but a thunderous, irregular pounding, echoed unnaturally through the chamber. His chest glowed brighter, the orange radiance intensifying until the outline of his ribs was barely visible beneath the light.

  He opened his mouth.

  A blinding orange glow flooded his throat.

  Vale’s eyes widened. “Move!”

  He leapt backward at the same instant Nym did, both of them retreating just as the man looked up at Eskar, fury and frustration burning in his eyes.

  Then, the beam fired.

  It erupted from Eskar’s mouth like a solar lance, slamming directly into the man’s face. The impact alone pulverized the titanium floor beneath him, shockwaves rippling outward as molten metal splashed and hissed under the unbearable heat.

  The beam lasted three seconds.

  Three eternal seconds.

  The man didn’t move in that time.

  His body stood rigid as the heat consumed him, his metallic surface glowing white-hot before beginning to melt. Layers of reinforced alloy liquefied and peeled away, dripping like wax as the beam bored deeper.

  Then, the man’s arm snapped upward.

  With brutal force, he slammed Eskar away mid-attack, sending him crashing into the barrier hard enough to crack it. Eskar collapsed, smoke rising from his body as the glow around him flickered violently.

  The man rose.

  What remained of his face was gone.

  In its place was a grotesque fusion, exposed organs intertwined with machinery, cables pulsing beside living tissue, mechanical lenses grinding as they tried to refocus. Flesh and steel had become indistinguishable.

  Vale didn’t hesitate as the opportunity presented itself.

  Gritting his teeth, Vale rushed forward with his obsidian blade clenched tightly in his hand. The man’s ruined face began to regenerate as he turned, malice crystallizing in his eyes the moment he saw Vale charging toward him.

  He braced, but it was already too late.

  Korin struck from behind.

  The man scoffed and twisted with inhuman precision, his enhanced leg slamming into Korin’s side and sending him flying across the chamber like a ragdoll. Completing the rotation, the man turned back,

  and Vale was already there.

  Vale raised his blade vertically, bracing it along his side just as the man’s kick crashed into him. The impact hurled Vale backward, but not before the obsidian edge bit deep. The man’s leg separated cleanly at the knee, the severed limb spinning through the air.

  The man glanced at it, irritation flashing across his face, as the leg reconnected to his body mid-flight, metal knitting back together seamlessly.

  But that had never been the goal.

  It was an opening.

  Nym was already moving. She came in from the side, her blade flashing. The man swung at her, but Nym had read the motion before it even began. She ducked under the strike and brought her blade up in a clean, surgical arc.

  His arm came off again.

  Before he could respond, she twisted with the momentum, pivoted her hips, and delivered a wide, horizontal slash. The obsidian blade tore through him from shoulder to hip, splitting his body apart as organs and machinery scattered before snapping back together an instant later under the force of his regeneration.

  The man staggered, not from pain, but from irritation.

  His gaze locked onto Nym’s blade, then shifted to Vale’s.

  They were identical, onyx-black blades.

  Understanding bloomed behind his wicked smile.

  “So that’s it,” he murmured, amusement creeping into his voice. “Your blades.”

  He chuckled darkly. “Of course.”

  His eyes gleamed with cold delight as he looked between them again, realization fully settling in.

  “The reason you can cut me so easily,” he said, his grin widening, “isn’t your strength.”

  The smile sharpened into something cruel.

  “It’s your weapons.”