I ran with everything I had.
The ruined hallways blurred around me, each step pounding louder than the last. Behind me came the twisted echo of a voice I used to know, R's voice but warped, soaked in something inhuman.
"Kay... stop running. Accept it. Ascension is waiting."
I didn't stop.
I hit the exit and crashed through onto the football field. The sky above was cracked with stormlight, pulsing faintly. The field itself was a wreck, chunks of turf torn up, mist seeping from deep cracks in the ground. Adrenaline rushed through my body
Perfect.
This was where I'd make my stand.
I skidded to a stop at midfield, SoulWake gripped tightly in my right hand. The dagger shimmered, the blue light pulsing stronger than ever. My Willforce answered. I could feel it now, clearer than before. Not just as energy, but as shape as potential.
I don't need to fight like him. I'll fight like me.
The air behind me warped, and I spun around just as he stepped through it.
R was finally here.
His body was here, but everything else was wrong. His eyes were pits of pure black. His veins bulged out of every inch of his body. His aura, the corrupted spirit inside him, poured off him in waves.
"You don't understand, this world is broken. I'm what comes after."
I raised SoulWake.
"No," "You're what I fix."
He moved. Fast.
He was on me in a blink. I parried his first strike, barely, sliding back. SoulWake sparked against the spiritual pressure, but I held my ground. He came again, swinging wide. I ducked, slashed upward, and whispered a thought:
"Shield."
My Willforce flared, and SoulWake obeyed.
A blue, hexagonal wall of energy burst into form between us, catching his next blow with a flash of light. The shield cracked under the force, but it held.
His eyes widened for a split second.
"Didn't expect that to work" I thought to myself
I dropped the shield and stepped back, holding the dagger in front of me. My Will surged again, and this time, I focused deeper into memory, emotion, and instinct.
"Chain."
The blade shimmered and extended into a spectral blue chain, glowing with pulsing glyphs. I lashed it forward, wrapping it around his arm mid-strike. He roared and tried to pull away, but I locked it down and yanked him off balance.
With a spin, I reeled him in and slammed a Willforce-forged knee spike into his chest.
He flew backward, crashing into the turf. The chain dissolved into mist.
I stood over him, heart racing, Will surging through me like wildfire.
He rose slowly, snarling now. His aura flared again-unstable.
"R...", steadying my breath. "You're still in there. I know it. But I won't let this thing take you. I'll fight you. I'll chain you down. I'll break you free."
SoulWake pulsed again in my hand.
It wasn't just a dagger anymore. It was an extension of me.