Chapter 5968

When Jared lifted the blade again, a dusky swirl of unformed matter oozed from the steel.

It did not gush outward. The chaos folded back on itself, braiding tightly around the edge, breathing a promise of erasure into every inch of metal.

Next came the five-element rhythm—not in blazing color, but in a hushed cycle. Each phase birthed the next so quickly the eye lost count, transitions seamless as breath.

Earthfire True Flame licked along the spine of the sword, savage and precise.

At the guard, a pale-gold dragon sigil coiled into being, sharpening every whisper of steel with imperial bite.

Compared to the hundred-yard storms he had hurled earlier, the weapon now looked almost polite. Ordinary.

That illusion lasted exactly one heartbeat.