"GYAAAA!"
Alice's scream tore through the hall as her arms were ripped clean from her shoulders, blood spraying in wild arcs before her body crumpled to the ground. She hit the stone with a sickening thud, writhing helplessly, unable to even break her fall.
Cassius rose slowly from his kneel, every movement deliberate, his crimson gaze glinting with cold fury. His hand closed around the hilt of his blade, and without hesitation, he ignited its steel in a searing green flame. The fire danced hungrily, casting monstrous shadows across the walls.
He pressed the burning edge against Alice's throat, close enough for the heat to sear her pale skin, and his voice came low, venomous, almost a growl.
But before the killing stroke fell—
"GET AWAY FROM THERE!" Atlas's voice thundered.
Cassius didn't question. Instinct, honed from years on battlefields, forced him to spring back. And the moment he did, Alice's entire body erupted in a blinding light.
