I do not flinch.
The moment stretches, thick with tension, as the shadows surge forward—grasping, reaching. The ground quakes beneath me, the very air alive with their rage. They do not like what they see. They do not understand it.
Good.
I lift a hand, fingers curling slightly, and the shimmering barrier around the rabbit pulses brighter. The encroaching tendrils recoil from its light, hissing, shrinking back like wounded animals.
"Submit?" I echo, my voice smooth, amused. My gaze shifts to the Hatter, his vacant, corrupted eyes flickering between fear and something far more interesting. "Is that what the Shadow offers? A leash disguised as a crown?"
The shadows tremble, their furious growls warping into something almost like speech—distorted, layered, hungry.
"It is not submission... it is unity... it is purpose... it is power beyond—"
I raise my other hand.
With a sharp crack, a pulse of energy bursts from the ground beneath me, rippling outward in a shockwave that carves through the darkness. The nearest shadows scream, their forms distorting, splitting apart like ink in water. The air itself seems to buckle under the force of my will.
And for the first time, I feel it.
Fear.
Not mine. Theirs.
I take a step forward. The shadows hesitate.
"You seek to break the strongest?" I continue, my voice low, commanding. "Then tell me... why are you the ones faltering?"
The Hatter shudders violently, gripping his head, his breath ragged. The voice speaking through him twists, warps, distorts. The darkness around us ripples, uneasy, recoiling.
I smile.
"You made a mistake, Shadow."
The air pulses with tension, as if reality itself is waiting for my next move.
"You thought I was just another piece on the board."
I take another step forward.
"But I am the one who plays the game."
And now, it knows.