CHAPTER 23: CONFRONTATION IN THE ALLEY

Whether Yennefer knew she was being followed or not, it didn’t matter to Stephan. For all she knew, he was still that weak, F‑rank nobody she could crush at will. What she didn’t know was that everything had changed. He’d grown stronger, far stronger, and, for now, he held the advantage.

And Anna Mary... she still believed he was the same. That suited Stephan perfectly.

They trailed Yennefer down the dimly lit sidewalk, keeping to the shadows. She hadn’t so much as glanced over her shoulder. Her steps were calm, almost careless, like someone certain she wasn’t being hunted at all.

Stephan’s gaze sharpened. Inside the Abyssal Realm, battling Soul Eaters had taught him how to suppress his soul energy until it was barely a flicker. He sensed nothing from Anna Mary either; she clearly knew how to hide hers too.

They kept their distance, silent as drifting smoke, each step drawing them closer to the moment.

At last, Yennefer turned off the main road, slipping into a narrow, deserted side street swallowed by darkness.

Stephan and Anna Mary waited a beat, just long enough, lthen slipped in after her.

The street they stepped into felt like it had been forgotten by the city itself. Cracked asphalt split open, littered with shards of glass and scraps of wind‑tossed paper. Rusted fire escapes clawed down the sides of decaying brick buildings, their shadows twisting into black spines under the faint light of a distant neon sign that barely reached this far.

There were no lamps here, only darkness, thick and oppressive, swallowing sound and light alike. The air smelled faintly of damp concrete.

Up ahead, framed in that suffocating gloom, Yennefer finally stopped walking. Her silhouette froze, head tilting just slightly, as if she’d caught the whisper of their pursuit.

So... she knew, Stephan thought, the corners of his mouth twitching into a cold smirk.It won’t help her anyway.

"Didn’t think you’d have me cornered so soon," Yennefer said, a lazy smile tugging at her lips. Her silhouette barely moved in the darkness, yet her voice dripped mockery.

"It didn’t matter when," Anna Mary shot back, eyes hard as flint. "We were going to get you eventually... thank heavens it happened sooner than expected."

Yennefer’s gaze slid to Stephan, the shadows carving sharper lines across her pale face. "You two make a horrible couple," she sneered softly. "Truly."

Her smirk widened. "You would’ve been better off working for me, Stephan. I’d have found some use for you."

"I work for nobody but me," Stephan growled, voice as cold as stone.

"Ooh, poor Steph..." Yennefer cooed, feigning pity. "Is that what she told you? She’s just using you, same as I was going to. Just with prettier words and polite smiles."

"It’s called a partnership," Anna Mary snapped, her voice sharp as a blade. "I’m not using him."

"That’s cute," Yennefer laughed, the sound brittle as cracking glass. "But you know as well as I do: only one player can win the Tournament. Not two."

"Don’t stress yourself too much," Stephan’s voice dropped to a low, dangerous calm. "I’ll kill her after I’ve killed everyone else."

"Killed everyone else, you say?" Yennefer echoed, laughter spilling past her lips, echoing strangely in the empty street. "I’m afraid you won’t get the chance to kill anyone, Steph... because you’re going to die here."

"You’re the one dying tonight, Yennefer," Anna Mary shot back, her eyes burning with murderous resolve.

For a breath, silence hung heavy, thick as smoke.

Then Yennefer’s smirk sharpened, her voice silk and venom. "Well, if you’re so sure... come and get me."

Anna Mary and Stephan stepped forward, shadows swirling faintly at their feet...when the cracked asphalt beneath them pulsed. Twin circles of twisting emerald light ignited underfoot, burning with runes that seemed to writhe like living things. The symbols spiraled out in elegant, predatory patterns: sharp angles hooked into graceful curves.

A rush of power coiled up from the circles, seizing them both in place. Invisible bands clamped around their ankles, then snaked upward,binding limbs, constricting movement, pressing cold and suffocating tight around their chests.

The air itself felt heavier, poisoned with Yennefer’s magic.

She tilted her head, smile widening into something cruel. "Surprise," she breathed.

Stephan didn’t flinch. His breath remained slow, measured; gaze locked on Yennefer without so much as a tremor. The runes of the binding spell burned bright around his feet, but in his mind, a cold certainty settled like black iron.

It can’t hold me, he thought.

But let’s see where this goes. I’ll play along.

Yennefer stepped closer, the faint click of her heels echoing in the hollow darkness of the street. Her pale hair caught the sickly green glow from the circles, casting long, twisting shadows across cracked asphalt.

"Azrael’s Binding Spell," she announced, her voice rippling with quiet pride. "A lovely piece of work, don’t you think?"

She paused, her gaze sweeping over them, then narrowing on Stephan. "I knew something was off the instant I stopped sensing your soul energy. I’m good at reading those threads. Kept track of both of you the entire time... until the moment I stepped out of work."

She took another step forward, just close enough for the smirk to show clearly on her lips. "But you, Stephan..." her voice softened into a mockery of praise, "I’m genuinely impressed. An F‑rank who’s figured out how to suppress his soul energy? That isn’t something you see every day."

Her eyes gleamed with cold amusement. "Really, it’s impressive... But all that talent," she sighed, the smirk returning, "is wasted."

She tilted her head, studying him as though he were a curious animal caught in a glass cage, too interesting to kill quickly, but never a real threat.

"Don’t worry, I won’t kill you just yet," Yennefer said, her voice low, dripping malice. "I’ll deal with this bitch first."

She turned fully toward Anna Mary, the street’s dying light catching the green shimmer in her eyes.

"I have to admit... I never liked you," Yennefer continued, her lips twisting into a sneer. "Forever the face of the company. The ’goddess.’ Envied by everyone. You and I have never seen eye to eye..."

The grimoire materialized beside her, floating, pages turning with a hollow, whispering rustle. Sickly green runes bled to life across vellum as the air itself seemed to tense.

"...and that difference between us," she finished coldly, "ends now."

Anna Mary’s gaze stayed locked on hers. Slowly, a sharp, dangerous smile curled at the corner of her lips.

"Thanks for the confession," Anna Mary said, voice quiet but edged like glass. "Truth is... I never liked you either, Yennefer. That’s why I wanted you dead so badly in the first place."

Her eyes burned cold, power humming faintly under her skin. "But I won’t die just yet. Not before killing you first."

Yennefer’s smirk widened into mocking amusement. "Still talking shit when you’re about to die?" she sneered.

But even before the words fully left her lips....

Anna Mary’s body flickered, as if her very outline trembled against reality itself. Light shimmered, sharp and sudden.

And then...crash!

A rusted trash bin, dented and speckled with old graffiti, slammed down inside the glowing binding circle, rocking on its rim before rolling aside with a metallic clatter.

Anna Mary now stood outside the trap, free, the wind tugging strands of hair across her face. One hand lifted, palm glowing faintly with coiled energy, her smile sharpened to something feral.

"Surprise," she breathed, her voice cold as steel. "Your spell won’t save you."

The alley, once silent, now thrummed with the promise of unleashed violence.

Stephan couldn’t help the faint smirk that tugged at his lips.The trash bin now stood exactly where Anna Mary had been.

She substituted herself with it... so she can both teleport and swap positions with objects she sees, he realized.

Impressive, he thought. I’ll let them fight it out for now and just watch.

Across the street, Yennefer’s eyes narrowed, the green runes on her grimoire pulsing faintly.

"That was a beautiful trick you used," Yennefer drawled, her voice calm, though her stance had shifted ever so slightly. "But I’m afraid that won’t be enough to save you."

Anna Mary tilted her head, her smile sharpening. "You should worry about your own safety first."

Her hand lifted, fingers curling inward. Above them, the night split open, a swirling oval of darkness forming against the sky. With a roar of torn air, a car dropped from the portal, headlights still faintly glowing.

Yennefer cursed under her breath, leaping sideways. The car slammed into the cracked asphalt where she’d stood a heartbeat before, skidding and groaning as metal scraped stone.

It landed only a few paces from Stephan, wind and dust sweeping over him.

"Hey, watch it, will you?!" Stephan barked, voice edged with annoyance.

"Sorry," Anna Mary called back, not looking his way, a faint grin flashing across her face. Her eyes never left Yennefer, cold and bright under the street’s thin light.

The tension thickened between them, magic humming in the air, as shadows and power gathered for the clash about to come.

"Alright now," Yennefer’s voice dropped to a cold, deadly calm, her pupils narrowing into slits of emerald flame. "I’ll show you what I’m truly capable of."

The grimoire floating at her side came alive: pages snapping and fluttering as if caught in a storm only she could command. Glyphs ignited across the parchment, bleeding green light into the shadows.

"Azrael’s Path of Death, Form A..." Yennefer’s voice echoed like steel dragged over stone.

"Destructive Cannon."

The very air before her shimmered, then ruptured.

A searing emerald blast, as wide as a doorway and laced with crackling runes, roared forth. It ripped through the darkness like a living thing, shattering loose bricks and scattering debris in its wake. Sparks flew where it grazed the asphalt, the heat distorting the night around it.

Anna Mary’s lips parted in a small sigh, her eyes reflecting the incoming blast.

"You’re right," she murmured, her voice low but steady, a strange calm washing over her face.

"I’ll also show you... what I’m truly capable of too."

As the cannon of green death hurtled closer, shadows flickered behind Anna Mary, her body tensing, eyes locked on the blast.

And for a heartbeat, the ruined street held its breath.