CHAPTER 39: FINALE (1)

The swordsman moved like it wasn’t bound by joints.

No prep. No tension in the shoulders. Just a clean slide across the stone, sword already halfway through an arc before anyone breathed.

Senna stepped forward and vanished.

A streak of motion. Low. Angled.

Her blade snapped up in a parry that barely caught the descending strike.

Metal screamed.

Lucen’s eyes widened.

’She shouldn’t have been able to block that. That was...’

"Momentum Shift," Senna hissed. Her feet slid a half-step too far before she righted. "Can’t keep that up long."

The swordsman didn’t care.

It twisted mid-swing and kicked off the floor, bringing the longsword across in a tight lateral sweep.

Lucen threw a glyph sideways.

[Gravitic Snap – Active]

The space behind the boss cracked. A burst of compressed force exploded outward, just sharp enough to throw the balance.

It staggered half a step.

Senna lunged.

Blade to side. Aiming between plates.

It caught her sword mid-thrust.

No hands.

Just the edge of its own weapon intercepting, sliding her strike off-course like it had studied her form five times before.

Mira crouched nearby, bow drawn.

Lucen didn’t have to see her face to know she was frowning.

"You better look away," she muttered.

Lucen blinked.

"Why—"

Flash.

Light burst from the arrow the moment it left her grip.

The bolt hit the boss square in the side with a sharp crack, light flaring wide.

Lucen’s retinas screamed.

He squeezed his eyes shut, stumbled one step, vision washing out in streaks of white.

"I warned you," Mira called.

Lucen blinked fast. Vision swimming. "Is it blind?"

"Nope. But it’s pissed now."

Footsteps.

Heavy.

Armored.

Callen charged past him.

Shield up. Body locked behind it like a missile.

Lucen muttered, "Please don’t do anything stupid."

Callen did something stupid.

He slammed into the swordsman with full force.

The impact sounded like two buildings collapsing into each other. The blindfolded creature reeled a full meter before catching itself, one foot dragging behind. Armor scraped stone.

Callen kept pushing.

"Impact Shield," he shouted. "Get in there!"

Senna didn’t hesitate.

She darted in low.

This time, she didn’t slash.

She twisted her blade in a tight arc, dragging the edge across the gap between thigh plate and hip.

It scraped metal, but didn’t cut deep.

The swordsman turned fast.

Lucen dropped into a crouch.

His fingers hovered just above the stone.

Mana pulsed sharp through his knuckles.

’Now or never.’

[Tension Mark – Active]

He didn’t split the loop this time.

One behavior.

Single trigger.

As soon as the boss stopped moving—

It did.

And the glyph fired.

Pressure twisted up from under its feet. The air shrieked.

The boss’s form jerked. Its knee locked. Movement froze for just a blink.

Senna grinned and drove her blade upward.

The shoulder plate cracked.

Not broke.

Just buckled.

A shallow dent right near the neck seam.

Lucen gasped.

Mira’s voice snapped sharp. "Down!"

Lucen dropped flat.

Another arrow sang overhead.

This one didn’t glow.

Didn’t flare.

It hit the cracked shoulder and hissed.

Then ignited.

Frost spilled over the armor in veins of pale blue. Crystals spread. Fast. Like the mana itself was crawling through the metal.

"Frostbite injection," Mira muttered. "Takes a second."

The boss roared.

A short, harsh sound. Not pain.

Refusal.

Lucen scrambled to one knee.

Mana: 24

’That’s one more spell. Maybe two, if I risk overflow.’

The creature raised its sword again.

Lucen’s hand glowed.

But it didn’t swing.

The longsword hovered.

Then turned.

Backwards.

It planted the point into the ground.

Callen stepped back, confused. "What’s it—"

The blade hummed.

The floor vibrated.

Stone cracked outward from the tip in a perfect spiral.

Lucen’s stomach sank.

"Oh that’s new."

Senna pulled back. "Mira!"

"I see it!"

Too late.

The circle finished.

A pulse went out.

Not visible. Not light.

Sound.

Low. Pressure-heavy.

Lucen’s ears popped. His chest clenched. Like gravity flipped sideways for a half-second.

Callen hit the wall again. Hard.

Senna stumbled.

Lucen fell.

The boss moved.

Blade back in hand.

Sword trailing frost.

No longer blindfolded.

Its eyes were hollow.

Not empty.

Just vast.

Lucen stared up at it.

Then stood anyway.

He cracked his fingers once.

’Fine. You want serious?’

He planted both palms against the floor.

[Tension Mark – Active]

[Hold Point – Set]

"Try me," Lucen said.

And the fight kept going.

—

The floor still vibrated.

Lucen braced against it, both glyphs active. They glowed in tandem, one holding, one waiting to snap. Mana clung to the stone like frostbite.

The boss stood in the center of the pulse ring.

Sword raised.

Eyes wrong.

Not glowing. Not even bright.

Just hollow. Like something used to be there and got scraped out.

Lucen breathed slow.

’Not much mana. I can cast twice. Maybe. If I don’t miss.’

The boss moved.

Senna blurred forward again, fast and low.

Her shoulder clipped Mira’s arm, steadying her without slowing.

Lucen could hear her breath now. Tight. Focused. No hesitation.

She called, "Break left!"

Mira didn’t ask why.

She pivoted sideways and loosed another arrow. No tracer. Just speed.

The boss didn’t flinch.

It didn’t need to.

The sword moved sideways once. Just a twitch.

Steel met wood. The arrow exploded into splinters.

Senna reached its side.

She didn’t slash.

She stabbed right for the joint in its elbow.

It caught her wrist.

Lucen’s stomach clenched.

The gauntlet wrapped clean around her forearm, twisting her sword off angle.

Senna growled, then called out, "Switchstrike!"

The blade in her other hand, he hadn’t even seen her draw it, it flashed upward from her belt.

It carved across the creature’s collarbone in one tight motion.

The boss didn’t react.

Lucen slammed his hand against the stone again.

[Gravitic Snap – Active]

The glyph surged. A sharp drag pulled backward behind the boss’s left heel. Just enough to make it tilt.

Senna tore free and dropped low.

"Hit it!"

Mira was already drawing.

But the creature pivoted first.

One arm swept in a full arc, the sword reversed like a scythe.

The ground peeled where it passed.

Lucen barely rolled aside.

The wind off it burned.