Yuliana twisted clear of the chain, yet a stray shockwave slammed her ribs. She staggered, vomited blood, and her face drained to sheet-white in a heartbeat.

Unseen, a whisper-thin stream of toxic energy slipped along her abdomen and burrowed inward, coiling like smoke around her core.

“Ms. Fiala!” Jared’s shout tore through the echoing cave like a flare cut loose in a storm, his voice raw with alarm and stubborn hope.

Before he could lunge to her aid, leuan’s palm crashed against the center of Jared’s back. The blow felt like a mountain caving in. Blood splattered across the stone floor, and Jared buckled, knees striking rock as every breath became knives.

leuan stalked forward, the cruel smile of a victor already curling across his lips. “Jared,” he growled, grinding his boot between Jared’s shoulder blades, “do you finally understand the gulf between us? Hand over the Dragonslayer Sword and your divine soul, and perhaps I’ll let your end be swift.” Rock dust swirled around them as his weight pressed down, each word dipped in venomous pride.

Face down in the grit, Jared tasted iron. He spat crimson, yet his eyes, dark and unyielding, refused to dim.

His gaze flicked to the wounded Yuliana crumpled not far away, then to leuan’s triumphant sneer. Fury and refusal surged together, blooming inside him like a volcano ready to tear its own walls apart.