The stench of blood and sizzling flesh drifted into Lester's nose as he extended a hand to Mouse.
Mouse coughed, dry and wet all at once, spraying blood onto the cracked stone floor.
"She… too strong," he muttered as Lester hauled him up, his weight sagging against the taller man. "I don't know… maybe we made a mistake."
Lester patted his back, jaw tight.
"Well, what did you expect?"
Then, quietly—
"I'm going to use the Codex."
Mouse froze. His bloodshot eyes widened, and for a moment, the world beyond the broken pillar shielding them went silent.
"No," he breathed. "You can't—"
Lester glanced past him, watching the others. The stone was scorched and blood-slick, ringed by shattered columns and burning debris.
"We don't have a choice."
Mouse's hands trembled. His legs buckled slightly, as though the memory of last time had taken root in his bones.
"But last time—you almost…" His voice cracked. "You weren't even you anymore."
Lester didn't look at him.
Mouse's eyes flicked to the battlefield—Lira was moving through the others like a storm. Varin was to the right, circling for an opening with his hammer. The two women from the rear guard flanked her escape paths.
But even now, they looked ragged. And Lira hadn't even broken a sweat.
"What if it's worse this time?" Mouse asked, voice barely audible.
Lester's lips twitched into a bitter smile.
"Then make it count. I need you to draw her attention. Ten seconds. That's all."
Mouse hesitated, the terror clawing up his throat. Then, with a ragged breath that smelled like blood, he nodded.
"I'll try."
He stepped out from behind the pillar and summoned his scythes. With a horrible, wet snap, they tore free from his upper arms, curving outward like hooked wings.
Three jade-colored knives burst from the backs of his legs, slashing through flesh and muscle. Blood ran freely down his calves.
He blurred into motion, crossing the room in heartbeats. The scythes gleamed in the firelight, slicing toward Lira's sides like the twin blades of massive shears.
She twisted just as he reached her, leaping straight into the air. The scythes snapped shut beneath her, missing by inches.
Mouse didn't stop. As she flipped overhead, his weapons jerked mid-swing, carving an upward arc aimed to bisect her from hip to shoulder.
Varin, ten paces off to Lira's right, saw the opening. He charged, slamming his reformed earth hammer down toward her flank. The weapon was massive, a slab of stone and fury aimed to crush her entirely.
Simultaneously, the two rear guards—Lyre and Nyss—closed in from behind, cutting off her retreat with coordinated strikes.
But Lira wasn't trapped.
Even mid-air, she reacted, twisting like a dancer and slamming her heel into Mouse's spine. A sickening crunch rang out as his body smashed into the stone floor with enough force to crack it. Dust and blood kicked up in a cloud.
Then—her eyes widened. She saw it.
Mouse's leg spasmed—and moved. Twisting at an unnatural angle, the jade blades snapping toward her like a viper striking from broken flesh.
She leapt away, barely escaping.
Mouse lunged again, puppet-walking through sheer agony, his body a ruin and his eyes burning with relentless purpose.
For ten seconds, Mouse was death's shadow.
---
As the battle raged, Lester shifted. One leg slid back. His hand rested lightly on the hilt of his sword, eyes closed, face unreadable.
His muscles tensed; golden light raced through his veins like wildfire. The very air warped, rippling toward the sword at his hip—as if the world itself was holding its breath.
His eyes snapped open—now glowing entirely golden.
And then—he vanished.
A crackling shockwave burst from Lira's position, lightning veinfire flaring as it hurled the four Veinbound warriors back. Her expression darkened. She reached for a bracelet on her wrist and poured power into it. A barrier shimmered into existence—faintly purple.
Then, a voice, distant as a whisper, yet everywhere:
"Aquarius Final Draw: Piercing Wind."
Lester appeared in front of her like a phantom, sword now unsheathed. Behind him, a towering spectral silhouette of a woman formed—arms extended in a precise thrust. In her grip, a colossal rapier of compressed golden air overlapped perfectly with Lester's blade.
Boom—
The blow struck the barrier. Wind howled. The force rippled through the battlefield, sending rubble and bodies flying. Lira dug her feet in, muscles locking, purple veinfire racing down her limbs into the bracelet.
Crack—
Hairline fractures spread across the barrier. The golden aura around the rapier grew brighter, denser, unstoppable.
Lira grit her teeth and funneled everything she had into the defense.
But deep down, she already knew—it wouldn't hold.
Boom—
The barrier shattered.
She twisted, desperate. The blade meant for her heart tore across her ribs instead.
Shards of Lester's sword scattered like falling stars. Blood spilled from his mouth in heavy drops, yet he smiled—a small, broken thing, full of defiance.
"You really are as great as they say," he murmured.
His legs buckled. Shattered veins of golden light flickering out, his sword hilt clattering uselessly from his hand. Blood poured from him as he crumpled to the ground, the remnants of the Codex's power hissing into nothingness.
At least I get to brag about killing the witch, he thought, as someone caught him.
---
Lira turned, blinking against the haze. Behind her, the battlefield was torn open, a massive gouge in the earth trailing from Lester's strike.
She tasted blood. Looked down.
Part of her chest was simply gone.
Kael, she thought, just as she heard a scream—raw, broken.
Her knees buckled. The world spun sideways—then steadied as two trembling hands caught her, lowered her.
Kael's face broke through the haze, twisted in grief, his eyes drowning in tears.
He looks just like—
Just like his father.
Her hand drifted to a loose tile in the ground and pressed it.
A dome unfolded around them—a pale, glowing cocoon of stillness. Her bleeding stopped. The pain did not.
It was a creation of her husband's—a protective seal that could delay the end, but not prevent it.
I can buy time, she thought, fading.
But I can't stay. Not this time.
Forgive me, Kael.
Forgive me.