CHAPTER 25: COME GRIEF

The moment Yennefer activated Azrael’s Path of Death: Form B, the atmosphere warped.

A heavy silence fell, not the peaceful kind, but the kind that felt imposed,like something vast and invisible had taken a breath and was now watching.

The wind that once whispered through the ruined street came to a halt, air thickening like it had turned to glass.

Colors dimmed.The world’s palette dulled into muted greens and greys, like someone had drained the life from the night itself.

Even the moonlight struggled to shine through the rising magical pressure.

The ground around Yennefer cracked in slow motion, glowing sickly green veins spreading outward like rot infecting the world.

Portals shimmered. But even Anna Mary’s spartal energy began to flicker irregularly, like her magic was being interfered with by a stronger, older presence.

It was as if the air had become aware, laced with the scent of wilted flowers and burned parchment.A thousand whispers drifted from nowhere, soft, mournful, and echoing with forgotten names.

A chill that didn’t touch the skin but went straight to the soul settled in. And in the heart of it all stood Yennefer,grimoire wide open, green chains coiling lazily around her feet.

Death had bloomed. And the battlefield had become its garden.

"Well, things are about to really get fuckedup," Stephan thought, still bound and watching from a distance. He couldn’t see the chains, not fully- but he could feel them. The pressure. The hatred. The intent to kill.

The earth cracked. Then exploded. From the ruptures, chains of green soul-fire shot out like vipers, coiling and striking with terrifying speed.They didn’t just chase Anna Mary but they hunted her.

She barely avoided the first strike, teleporting mid-step as a chain slammed into the spot she’d just stood, splintering the concrete like glass.

Another chain ripped out from the side of a building. Anna Mary substituted herself with a lamppost just in time, but the chain coiled around the pole, and crushed it to dust.

"Fuck...!" she cursed, appearing midair and throwing her blade-like spartal energy down at Yennefer.

Yennefer didn’t flinch. A barrier of coiling chains rose to meet the attack, absorbing it like a storm drain swallowing rain.

Then came the real assault.

A dozen chains burst from the ground all at once, each moving like serpents with minds of their own, curving, weaving, adapting to Anna Mary’s teleport patterns.

One wrapped around her ankle mid-blink.

It dragged her out of a portal and slammed her through a wall, then another lashed across her back, drawing blood.

She barely had time to scream before two more crashed toward her from opposite sides.

Anna Mary substituted herself with a trash bin again, but the chains twisted, adapted, and struck again as she emerged.

Fast. Too fast.

She spun midair, firing invisible spartal blades to intercept, but they passed harmlessly through the ethereal chains,

they weren’t pure matter. They were soul-linked.

"You’re not just fighting me," Yennefer’s voice echoed, cold and distant, "You’re fighting the will of Azrael."

Another chain shot from beneath Anna Mary, this one coiled like a spring, launching her skyward before snapping tight and pulling her back down like a meteor.

She hit the ground hard, dust and blood rising in the same breath.

Anna Mary coughed, disoriented.

From every direction, the chains slithered again.

She raised her hand, portals spinning desperately around her. Teleport. Substitute. Counter.

But they kept coming.This wasn’t a duel anymore.This was an execution.

Stephan’s eyes narrowed. Even from where he stood, he could see it...

Anna Mary was starting to lose.

Anna Mary staggered again. Her vision blurred, the edges of her sight drowning in static. The air around her refused to move, like it too had been chained down.

She lifted her finger one last time, nothing. Not even a flicker of spartal energy.

Her legs gave in.

She dropped to one knee, coughing out blood. "What the fuck did you do to me?" she growled, desperation cracking in her voice.

Yennefer stepped forward, boots echoing against the broken battlefield. Her aura flickered dark green, chains weaving like serpents around her shoulders.

"Azrael’s Path of Death: Form B... isn’t just flashy violence," she said with calm venom.

"Every chain that lands a strike doesn’t just hurt your body. It shreds your soul energy...

bit by bit, until your magic forgets how to answer you."

Anna Mary’s eyes widened. She tried to conjure a portal, nothing. Tried to switch places with a fallen piece of rubble, still nothing.

Yennefer paused a few steps away. Her hand lifted lazily, fingers twitching. The chains twitched back, responding like loyal beasts.

"That’s why you’re slowing down. That’s why you’re bleeding harder. That’s why your teleportation is failing. The chains don’t just hit..."

The chains snapped around her like a dance, slithering in circles, "...they feed."

"Ugh... just get to the point already," Stephan muttered from where he stood restrained. Still unmoving.

Yennefer’s gaze flicked to him.

"Don’t worry, handsome..." she said with a sly, predatory smile. "I’ll be done with her in a beat."

She turned back to Anna as if Stephan had already been dismissed, already dead weight.

Anna Mary blinked, sweat dripping down her temple. Yennefer’s words echoed inside her skull.

"They feed on soul energy... They reduce magic output... Fast opponents become sluggish..."

She could feel it, the chains were still inside her, not physically but spiritually, coiling through her bloodstream, gnawing on the edges of her power.

Anna clenched her teeth. Blood slipped from the corner of her mouth.

Damn it... I haven’t even used my full power yet...But I can’t. I can’t access it. These fucking chains....my magic output is shot. I can’t teleport. I can’t summon. I’m being erased.

She slammed her fist on the ground, frustration building, rising like pressure inside a boiler. Her fingers dug into the cracked stone beneath her.

I can’t die here. Not before I tear through this bitch. There has to be a way... some kind of...

"All that tough talk..." Yennefer’s voice broke through her thoughts like venom. She walked slowly, her chains slithering behind her like a nest of snakes.

"...pretending you’ve got balls..." she tilted her head, smiling cruelly.

"...ends here."

Okay... I have to intervene now, Stephan thought, eyes narrowing on the battlefield. Anna Mary’s reached her limit. Any more and she’s done for.

He clenched his fists.

Everything in him screamed to move, to act, yet the chains still held him down.

But then, he spoke.

"Hey!" he called out, his voice sharp, piercing the tension. "That’s enough!"

Yennefer froze mid-step. Her head turned slowly.

The voice... it wasn’t the same as before. It wasn’t the snarky, half-joking Stephan she’d been toying with earlier.

This voice was deeper, laced with something darker. It commanded attention. It carried Authority.

She squinted at him.

The same boy stood there, bound but something about his posture, his stare, that chilling calm in his tone, it didn’t belong to an F-rank. It didn’t even belong to a human who was supposed to be normal.

Stephan’s gaze was razor-sharp. His eyes never left hers.

Still chained. But his aura... felt heavier.

"I told you I’d deal with you later," Yennefer said, her voice cracking with irritation. "But you keep bugging in like a goddamn pest. I will...."

"Shut up."

Stephan said it so plainly, so coldly, it didn’t sound like a warning. It sounded like a command. Something in Yennefer’s chest jolted.

The words hit her like someone above her had spoken.She blinked, lips parting slightly. That confidence... it wasn’t fake. He meant every word. But how? He was still under her spell....wasn’t he?

"You’ve spouted enough bullshit already."

His words sliced the air like a guillotine.

Yennefer’s lips curled into a twisted grin, but her laugh was hollow.

"Maybe I should kill you first before Anna Mary." Her voice was mocking, but her steps had slowed.

"You’ve got an admirable ego, Yennefer," Stephan said.

His voice was low, confident, unwavering.

Each word hit with precision. "But I’m going to crush that..." he continued, eyes gleaming.

"See, I’m also fighting to protect mine." A cold smirk curled on his lips.

"And see.." he tapped his chest with two fingers, "...my ego’s got balls."

Yennefer’s brow twitched, her patience finally snapping. The shadows of her chains flared like angry serpents behind her.

"Shut up, twerp...!" she hissed, her voice a blend of fury and disbelief.

The ethereal chains erupted from the ground, dozens of them, hissing through the air like vengeful spirits. They shot toward Stephan with deadly precision, intended to bind, crush, or impale.

But Stephan didn’t move.As the chains howled toward him like death’s whips, his lips curved into an even darker smile.

Calm. Almost cruel.

A voice whispered in his mind....

"Do you need me now, my Lord?"

His eyes glowed faintly.

"Yes," he said aloud, his voice echoing unnaturally through the broken battlefield.

"Come..."

"Grief."