**Volume 2: Upper World**

  **Chapter 92: Done Already**

  February 10th, 5:58 p.m. – Vein Clan House (Courtyard Ruins)

  Jason was gone again — just a smear of yellow afterimages spinning tight circles around Kira. She couldn’t track him. Couldn’t even breathe right. The world stuttered — every punch landing before her brain registered the blur. Fist to the jaw — head snapped sideways. Elbow to the ribs — something cracked again. Knee to the gut — air forced out in a wet choke.

  She swung blind — katana flashing red threads — cut through three afterimages. Nothing. Jason laughed from somewhere behind her — then in front — then everywhere.

  He ended the realm with a casual clap.

  The courtyard snapped back to normal time — wind moving again, dust settling.

  Jason kicked — 120% power — boot slamming into her chest like a cannon. Kira flew — body ragdolling upward — wind screaming past her ears. She hit the sky — stars blurring — and Jason was already there. He jumped high — met her mid-air — and started punching again.

  Fists blurred — chest, face, stomach — each hit driving her higher, then lower. She tried to block — arms up — but he was too fast. Too many afterimages. Too much force.

  They fell together — Jason grinning the whole way down.

  Right before impact he jumped — flipped — landed clean on the cracked stone. Kira crashed behind him — cratering the ground — dust exploding outward. She lay there — still — blood pooling under her head.

  Jason dusted his hands — sandals scuffing dirt.

  “Done already?” he said — voice bored. “Kira, I thought you’d be stronger. Even with the protection technique. Maybe you’re not what they say. That’s why they voted for me.”

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  He turned — started walking away — casual, hands in pockets.

  Kira’s fingers twitched.

  “No.”

  She pushed up — slow — blood dripping from her mouth, ribs screaming, one arm hanging limp. Glass shards stuck in her back — red blooming through her shirt.

  “This isn’t over yet.”

  Jason stopped — turned — grin fading into something colder.

  He dashed — afterimages flowing again — yellow ghosts trailing him like smoke. Fists blurred — face, jaw, cheek — each hit snapping her head back. She tried to counter — blade flashing — but he kicked her face — boot connecting clean — she spun sideways.

  Jason jumped — grabbed her leg mid-fall — swung her like a ragdoll — threw her into the side of the clan house. Stone cracked — she hit a window — glass shattering inward — shards embedding in her arms, her shoulders, her chest.

  She slid down the wall — landed hard — blood pooling under her.

  Jason walked over — slow — picked up a large glass shard from the ground. Looked at it — then at her.

  He knelt — grabbed her hair — yanked her head back.

  Then stabbed — shard straight into her chest — through the heart.

  Kira gasped — once — eyes wide — then went still.

  Jason stood — wiped the blood on his pants — dragged her body by the ankle — across the courtyard — toward the small stream that ran along the clan border.

  He threw her in — body splashing, sinking slow — water turning red around her.

  Jason watched for a second — then turned — walked away — sandals leaving bloody prints.

  He headed back toward the villains’ base — whistling low.

  ---

  Meanwhile — same time — Vein Clan outer ridge.

  Sky woke up — face-down in dirt — head pounding, will energy drained to almost nothing. The realm had taken everything — three minutes outside felt like three hours inside. He pushed up — arms shaking — looked around.

  Nimb — headless — twin blades still clutched in dead hands.

  Jin — slumped against the wall — Ray’s knife buried through his mouth, out the back of his skull.

  Sky exhaled — shaky — stood slow.

  He walked to the nearby stream — took off his blue shirt — tossed it aside — stepped into the cold water up to his waist. The chill bit into his skin — cleared his head a little. He splashed water on his face — washed blood and dirt off — tried to feel something normal.

  Then he saw it.

  A body floating downstream — face-down — black hair spreading in the current — red threads still faintly pulsing under the skin.

  Sky froze.

  He waded deeper — grabbed the arm — pulled.

  Kira.

  Her chest was open — glass shard still embedded through her heart. Eyes open — staring at nothing. Blood trailed behind her in the water like red smoke.

  Sky’s breath caught — hard.

  He dragged her to the bank — laid her down gentle — hands shaking.

  “Kira…”

  No answer.

  He dropped to his knees — checked for pulse — nothing.

  Tears came fast — hot — falling into the stream.

  He picked her up — cradled her — walked slow back toward the academy. The officials were already gathering survivors — triage tents set up near the east gate.

  Sky carried her straight to them — laid her on a stretcher — voice raw.

  “She’s… she’s gone.”

  The medic looked — checked — shook his head slow.

  Sky stood there — shirtless, wet, blood on his hands — staring at her body.

  The chapter ended.

  To be continued…