CHAPTER 27: BEND THE KNEE

Yennefer barely managed to form her barrier of chains, snapping them into place like a wall just in time.

Clang!

Grief’s blade struck. The impact shattered several of the green chains instantly, sending shards of soul-light spraying in all directions. One broken link flew past and grazed Yennefer’s cheek, drawing blood.

It wasn’t a cut. It was corrosion, a sizzling burn that crawled unnaturally over her skin like acid.

She hissed in pain, stumbling back.

"What the hell is this sword...?"

When she looked up, Grief was gone.

"Damnit! Where did she go?!" Yennefer snapped, spinning around, eyes scanning the battlefield.

All she could see were the sprawling vines of her own chains, coiling like a cursed garden across the ruined street.

She summoned more, dozens - snapping from the ground, the walls, the cracks in the pavement, creating a chaotic forest of writhing green death.

"Where’s she...?!" Yennefer growled, her breathing uneven, panic beginning to slip in.

"Above you." Stephan’s voice cut through the air like a knife, calm, confident, mocking.

Yennefer’s eyes snapped upward....

Grief was falling like a missile from the sky, her spectral blade raised, the energy pulsing so violently it distorted the air around it like heatwaves. Her white hair whipped like ribbons, eyes locked, glowing with quiet murder.

"DON’T UNDERESTIMATE ME, BITCH!" Yennefer roared, thrusting both arms up.

Two coils of chains spiraled upward like twin serpents, crashing toward Grief.

But Grief twisted midair with inhuman grace, her body spinning like a corkscrew, narrowly avoiding the strike. She pivoted sideways, kicked off one of Yennefer’s own chains, and landed silently on the opposite side of the battlefield in a crouch.

The shockwave from her landing cracked the ground beneath her.

Yennefer turned with a gasp. "There you are!" she shouted.

With fury, she hurled a dozen chains toward Grief, each one glowing, howling, and guided by violent intent.

Grief stood up slowly, her blade pulsing with calm power, and raised it to her side. The street trembled again as the chains lunged

Grief’s smile deepened, her spectral blue eyes flashing with a calm ferocity. She launched forward, her figure a streak of black and blue light.

The street erupted with the clatter of metal-on-metal, her sword singing as it collided with Yennefer’s incoming chains. Sparks flew. Soul energy screeched. One by one, the emerald chains shattered, sliced clean through like ribbons by a blade far sharper than steel.

She danced through them, a blur, a shadow, a ghost. The last of the chains fell, split and broken in the air behind her.

She was closing the distance, fast.

But...

Yennefer’s grimoire burst to life again, flipping madly, radiating heat and dread.

"Azrael’s Path of Death: Destructive Cannon!"

A fresh blast roared to life before her palms, a huge green sphere of compressed death, brighter than a wildfire. It launched with a sonic boom, splitting the street as it hurtled toward Grief like the wrath of a god.

Grief skidded to a halt, now 50 meters away, her spectral sword held low, her expression unreadable.

Anna Mary, still wounded, screamed from the ground,"Don’t let it touch you!!"

The whole alley turned blinding green, the blast howling as it came.

Stephan just smiled, hands in his pockets, his voice quiet but firm:

"It won’t touch her."

The heat from the blast cracked glass, curled signs, and peeled old posters off walls. The shockwave pushed Grief’s t-shirt upward, fluttering wildly as dust and wind surged around her.

And still, she smiled. Then she moved.

In an instant, she charged the blast, feet gliding over cracked stone, hair trailing like a white flame behind her. At the very last second, just as the Destructive Cannon was about to hit...

She twisted, and slammed her sword into the side of the blast like she was swinging a bat.

A tremor tore through the ground. The blast curved. Like a meteor deflected mid-flight, the green cannon swerved off-course, hurtling backward in a wide arc toward Yennefer herself.

Yennefer’s eyes widened.

"No....!"

She crossed her arms instinctively. Her chains rose, forming a dense shield, wrapping around her like armor.

BOOM!!!

The redirected cannon slammed into her defense. Green light exploded, swallowing the street whole for a second. The shockwave sent loose bricks flying. Anna Mary shielded her face, struggling to sit up.

When the light faded, Yennefer stood in the middle of the street, smoke rising off her chains, one side of her body scorched, bleeding from her shoulder.

She was still standing but barely.

Across from her, Grief stood perfectly straight, sword humming with leftover energy, her t-shirt rippling in the fading wind.

Stephan gave a slow, approving nod.

"She’s different," Anna Mary whispered, eyes wide. "She’s not just fast... she’s terrifying."

Yennefer summoned her chains once more, the grimoire in her hand glowing faintly as spectral links coiled around her like serpents made of emerald light.

Stephan scoffed.

"Those pathetic chains again?" he said, his voice thick with disdain. "They won’t help you."

He turned toward Grief, the air around him crackling with barely contained power.

"Finish this," he ordered. "But don’t kill her... at least not yet."

His smirk deepened. "I want her to understand first."

Grief lowered her head in acknowledgement. "As you command, Lord Stephan."

Her stance shifted, legs spread, both hands gripping her sword, eyes locked onto her prey.

Yennefer gritted her teeth. Her voice cracked with defiance. "Don’t push your luck."

With a pained grunt, she launched the chains forward, sharp, fast, and furious.

But this time, Grief didn’t bother cutting them. She moved. A blur of black and blue streaked through the air. She slid between the incoming chains, pivoting, ducking, flipping, each motion more fluid and terrifying than the last. Not a single link so much as brushed against her.

In less than a heartbeat, she was there.

Beside Yennefer.Yennefer’s eyes widened in raw disbelief. She hadn’t even seen her move.

Grief gave her no time to react.She twisted her wrist and slammed the hilt of her sword into Yennefer’s neck with brutal precision.

The impact sent a shockwave through Yennefer’s body.

THUD...!

She hit the ground like a sack of bricks, gasping, pain flooding every nerve. Her grimoire slipped from her fingers. The chains collapsed around her, fading into the air like smoke.

The world spun. Her heart thudded erratically in her chest. She wasn’t dying...but something inside her felt like it was breaking, shutting down.

She couldn’t move. Her limbs were heavy. Her vision doubled. Grief’s bare foot pressed firmly against her chest, pinning her to the ground.

The pressure was light, but symbolic. A warrior’s final humiliation. Yennefer’s pride screamed. Her body couldn’t.

Stephan stepped closer, hands still in his coat pockets, and looked down at her with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

"I warned you," he said softly. "I’m not the man you once knew."

Grief leaned down slightly, her pale hair falling over one shoulder. "Shall I crush her ribs, my Lord?"

"No, Grief," Stephan said calmly, approaching them.

His footsteps were slow. Controlled. But inside, a storm raged. His bloodlust surged, violent, hungry. His eyes buzzed with that crimson flicker again, like a glitch in reality itself.

"If I kill her now... does that mean I won?" he thought."Or does it mean I lost.... gave in to bloodlust like a beast?"

The temptation to end her life was almost unbearable. Her vulnerability beneath Grief’s heel. The pain on her face. The humiliation. The irony.

"This tournament demands blood," he reminded himself. "But giving in to need is weakness. True strength... is restraint."

He stopped just above Yennefer, the glow of Grief’s spectral body casting soft flickers of blue light across his face.

She looked up at him, bruised, confused, but not yet broken.

That’s when the thought hit him. A cruel, delicious idea.

He grinned. "Well... I’ve had a change of heart, Yennefer."

Her breath caught.

"Remember that offer you made me... that day on the rooftop?" he said, voice like velvet over blades. "The one where you told me to serve you...?"

He crouched slightly, face lowering into her view. "I’ll accept your offer."

Yennefer’s brows furrowed in confusion, pain still wracking her body.

"...but only on one condition," he whispered, his grin widening. "That it’s in reverse. You serve me now."

Across the street, Anna Mary’s jaw dropped.

"What?!" she gasped, staggering upright.

"Stephan... don’t tell me you’re thinking of...."

Stephan didn’t even glance at her.

"You’re strong, Yennefer. Too strong to waste on a corpse pile. But not strong enough to beat me."

He reached out and gently tapped her forehead with a single finger.

"So now... I make you a deal." His voice dropped to a whisper.

"Swear yourself to me. Body, soul... magic. Become mine. And you live."

Yennefer’s lips trembled. Was this mercy, or something far worse?

Grief’s foot pressed just a little deeper.

Anna Mary screamed, "Stephan! That’s not you talking!"

He turned to her slowly, eyes shadowed under his brow.

"You’re right," he said. "It’s not. It’s the real me finally speaking."

He turned back to Yennefer, she still said nothing.

"Maybe a little demonstration of power isneeded," he thought. "Fine then... I will break her."

He unsuppressed his soul energy, letting it pour out of him like a dam breaking. Black and crimson power erupted from his body, swirling upward like a hellish vortex. The air grew thick and cold. Shadows twisted and danced like they had minds of their own.

The aura of death, pure, ancient, and merciless, coiled around him like a god of the underworld descending to pass judgment.

Even Anna Mary winced, falling to one knee from the sheer pressure of it. Her breath caught in her throat. "This isn’t normal... This isn’t the Stephan I knew..."

Stephan smiled, his eyes glowing brighter now, violent and otherworldly.

"So, Yennefer..."

"Will you bend the knee or not?"