Lith moved first.
Fast.
Too fast for most people to even track.
He vanished from where he stood and reappeared at Thagos' flank, claws already cutting through the air in a tight, brutal arc aimed for the demon's ribs.
The strike landed.
Hard.
A clean hit.
And did almost nothing.
Sparks snapped off Thagos' scales as Lith's claws scraped across them, leaving faint marks that barely registered.
Thagos didn't even turn at first.
"…that it?" he asked.
Lith didn't answer.
He was already moving again.
A blur of black and gold as he darted low, then high, then behind. Claws lashed out in rapid succession, each strike placed with precision, targeting joints, neck, eyes, anything that looked vulnerable.
Each hit landed.
Each one should've mattered.
They didn't.
Thagos turned slowly this time, letting another strike glance off his shoulder.
"You're fast," he said.
Lith lunged again, this time putting everything into it, driving a full-force strike toward Thagos' jaw.
Thagos caught it.
One hand.
Mid-swing.
Stopped.
Just like that.
"…but there's nothing behind it."
Lith's eyes widened for half a second.
That was enough.
Thagos yanked him forward and slammed his forehead into Lith's face.
A sickening crack echoed through the corridor.
Lith's body went limp for a split second before Thagos followed up with a backhand that launched him across the room. Lith crashed through a pillar, stone exploding around him as he bounced off the ground and rolled violently before managing to catch himself on one knee.
He coughed.
Blood hit the floor.
Before he could even breathe—
Thagos was already there.
A massive hand wrapped around Lith's leg and lifted him like he weighed nothing.
Then—
he slammed him.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Each impact carving deeper craters into the stone floor.
Lith tried to twist free, claws digging into Thagos' arm, but it was like trying to tear through a mountain.
"You came all this way," Thagos said, lifting him again, voice calm, almost conversational, "and this is it?"
Another slam.
"Don't tell me you came here to die, boy."
Another.
"If a coward's death is what you seek…"
He hurled Lith across the corridor.
Lith hit the wall hard enough to embed into it before dropping to the ground in a broken slide.
"…then I'm about to ruin that for you."
Lith tried to push himself up.
His arms shook.
Vision blurred.
Still—
he stood.
"…not… dead yet," he muttered.
Thagos approached again, slower now, like he was inspecting something disappointing.
"You swing like you've got nothing to lose," he said. "No weight. No reason."
Lith forced a grin through blood.
"…you talk too much…"
He lunged again.
Because apparently getting destroyed once wasn't enough for him.
He moved faster this time, pushing his body harder than before. His claws struck again and again, aiming for the same weak points, building momentum, trying to break through by sheer repetition.
A strike to the neck.
Another to the ribs.
One to the eye—
Thagos turned his head just enough for it to glance off.
Then he moved.
Faster than before.
His hand shot out and caught Lith by the shoulder.
And this time—
he didn't just slam him.
He dug in.
Claws sank through flesh.
Deep.
Too deep.
Lith's body locked up as pain exploded through him.
Thagos twisted.
And ripped.
A chunk of flesh tore free from Lith's shoulder.
Lith screamed.
Not controlled.
Not restrained.
A raw, tearing sound that echoed through the corridor as blood sprayed across the shattered stone.
Thagos tossed the torn flesh aside like it meant nothing.
"There it is," he said, watching Lith stumble back, clutching his shoulder as blood poured between his fingers. "That's what it sounds like when you start to understand."
Lith's breathing turned ragged.
Uneven.
His legs almost gave out—but he forced them steady.
Golden eyes still locked forward.
Still burning.
"…you're… really annoying…" Lith rasped.
Thagos smiled again.
Wider.
"Good," he said. "Hate me. Fear me. Give me something."
He stepped forward, presence crushing the air itself.
"Because right now?"
He cracked his neck slowly.
"You're just a fast corpse."
Lith lowered his stance.
One arm hanging useless.
Blood still dripping.
Chest heaving.
But he didn't step back.
Didn't run.
Didn't fall.
"…then I guess…" Lith muttered, claws flexing weakly, "you'll have to work a little harder…"
Thagos' grin sharpened.
Lith pushed forward anyway.
Because apparently self-preservation had packed its bags and left the building.
Blood poured from his torn shoulder, soaking his shirt and dripping down his arm, but he still lunged at Thagos with a snarl, claws aimed for the demon's throat.
Thagos watched him come in.
Almost disappointed.
Then he moved.
A brutal upward hook caught Lith square in the ribs.
The impact folded him instantly.
Air left his lungs in a violent gasp as his body lifted clean off the ground.
Before he could even register what happened, Thagos spun and backhanded him midair.
Lith shot sideways like a ragdoll.
He slammed into the far wall hard enough to crater it.
Stone burst outward.
His body bounced off the surface before gravity could even claim him.
And Thagos was already there.
A kick to the spine.
A thunderous crack rang out as Lith was launched upward into the ceiling.
His back hit first.
The stone above him shattered from the force, dust and debris raining down as his body ricocheted downward again.
He didn't even land.
Thagos intercepted him halfway.
A palm strike to the chest.
Boom.
Lith was sent flying again, this time bouncing across the floor like a skipped stone before crashing shoulder-first into another pillar.
The entire thing collapsed.
He rolled through rubble, coughing violently as blood splattered across the stone.
His vision doubled.
Blurred.
For a moment, he genuinely had no clue which direction was up.
"Get up," Thagos said.
Lith groaned.
Tried.
One arm failed him.
His other hand dug into the floor, claws scraping uselessly as he forced himself to his knees.
His breathing came out ragged and wet.
"…you really…" Lith coughed, blood dripping from his lips, "…need a hobby…"
Thagos actually laughed.
Then vanished.
Lith barely had time to look up.
Thagos came down on him like a meteor.
Both hands clasped together overhead before slamming down directly onto Lith's body.
The impact was catastrophic.
The floor beneath them exploded.
Stone cracked outward in a massive web before giving way entirely.
And suddenly—
they were falling.
Lith's body dropped through layers of fractured flooring, rubble and debris cascading down around them into darkness below.
A blur of shattered architecture and dust.
Then impact.
They crashed hard into a chamber beneath the castle.
Much older.
Much darker.
The air was colder here.
Heavy with damp stone and ancient dust.
Broken debris rained from the hole above, faint moonlight spilling through it in jagged beams.
Lith lay crumpled in the center of a fresh crater, body twitching faintly from the fall.
For several seconds, he didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
Didn't even seem conscious.
Then—
a cough.
Weak.
Painful.
He rolled slightly, dragging in air like it offended him personally.
Above him, something heavy landed.
Thagos stepped out of the settling dust.
Completely composed.
Not even breathing hard.
He looked down at Lith's wrecked form for a long moment.
Then crossed his arms.
"…Better," he said.
Lith groaned from the crater.
"Can't believe…" he wheezed, one eye barely open, "…I got sent to the basement…"
Even now.
Still joking.
Thagos shook his head, almost impressed.
"You are either brave," he said, beginning to approach, "or catastrophically stupid."
Lith coughed again, trying and failing to push himself upright.
"…both," he muttered.
The dark chamber around them groaned softly, ancient stone settling as dust floated through beams of pale light.
Somewhere far above, war still raged.
But down here?
It was quieter.
More intimate.
A burial chamber disguised as a battlefield.
And Thagos stepped closer.
Ready to educate the boy through industrial-grade violence.
Thagos stood over him, staring down at the mess that used to resemble a competent opponent.
Lith lay half-sunken in the crater, chest rising unevenly, one arm useless, the other barely keeping him propped up. Blood pooled beneath him, dark against the stone.
And somehow—
he was still conscious.
Still looking up.
Still there.
Thagos clicked his tongue, irritation creeping into his expression.
"This is getting disappointing," he muttered.
Lith coughed, dragging in a breath that sounded like it scraped his lungs on the way in.
"…man… you say that like I had a choice…" he rasped.
Thagos ignored that.
"You're fast. You've got instinct. You've got enough durability to not die immediately," he said, pacing slowly. "And yet…"
He stopped.
Looked directly at him.
"…you fight like you're holding back."
Lith actually let out a weak laugh at that.
"…holding back?" he wheezed. "I'm getting folded…"
Thagos' eyes narrowed.
"No," he said flatly. "You're not committing."
He stepped closer, voice lowering, heavier now.
"Fighting is simple."
Lith barely managed to tilt his head.
"Is it?" he muttered.
Thagos didn't smile this time.
"It's for two things," he said. "Fun… and protecting."
That got a reaction.
Lith laughed.
Actually laughed.
It hurt him for it, but he didn't care.
"…you?" Lith coughed, blood slipping from the corner of his mouth. "What could you possibly be protecting?"
That-
landed.
Not like a strike.
Something quieter.