The person lunged at Aslan, his body wrapped in swirling black energy.
Aslan stepped back, raising his sword to block the attack — but the force behind it was too strong. Each blow pushed him farther back, his arms shaking from the impact.
"I can't use Break Point... I don't have the strength right now," he thought, gritting his teeth.
The person didn't stop. He attacked again and again — faster, harder.
A burst of black energy slashed across Aslan's cheek. A deep cut opened, and blood began to drip down his face.
Aslan swung his sword, landing a scratch across the attacker's shoulder — but it only made him angrier.
With a roar, the man struck again — this time with full force.
Aslan flew backward and hit the ground hard.
He struggled to stand, pain shooting through his body. His hands trembled.
"What… was that…?"
The room was pitch dark now. Aslan couldn't see anything.
Suddenly, he felt the presence again. The man was close. Too close.
Another blow came — this one aimed straight at him.
Aslan raised his sword just in time — but the enemy's dark power knocked it away, sending it clattering across the floor.
The black energy wrapped around Aslan's neck, tightening.
He couldn't breathe.
His knees hit the floor. His hands reached out, searching for his sword… his vision started to blur.
"There has to be a way out of this… please…"
His eyes fluttered shut for a moment — and a memory flashed.
Back in class, their magic theory teacher had said:
"Water, under enough pressure, can cut through anything."
Aslan's eyes snapped open.
"That's it."
Aslan instantly unleashed a blade of water —
and in one clean sweep, it sliced through the man's arm. Blood sprayed violently.
"What… was that?" the man gasped. "Water can't cut like that!"
Aslan calmly wiped a drop of blood from his lip with the back of his hand, a faint smile curving on his face.
"Clearly," he said, voice like silk,
"you've never studied physics."
"You bastard!" the man roared and lunged forward.
But before he could strike again, Aslan surrounded him with a spiraling wall of water. The man tried to push through it — but the moment he touched it, the liquid sliced into him like blades.
He howled in pain, his black energy swirling to counter the trap.
But it was no use.
The more power he poured into escaping, the deeper the cuts grew.
Aslan's fingers twisted, and the watery tornado shrank — tightening, compressing, cutting.
"Let's see how long you last."
"AHHHHHHHHH! UGH! GAHHHH!"
The man shrieked in agony, blood mixing into the water, dyeing it crimson.
At last, Aslan released the vortex — the man's body dropped to the ground, soaked and bleeding from dozens of deep gashes.
Still, he wasn't done.
The man, face twisted in rage, unleashed a massive burst of black magic, sending jagged bolts toward Aslan.
But Aslan lifted a single hand, and his water rose up in a dome — deflecting the attack with crushing pressure.
"You still haven't learned? After all that?"
He snapped forward, sending a sharp stream of water smashing into the enemy's ribs — then another sweep to the legs.
"AHHHH!"
The man buckled.
Then Aslan lifted him high with a spiraling current of water, and without hesitation —
dropped him.
CRACK.
The sickening sound of bones breaking echoed through the air.
Aslan stood over him, eyes cold.
"I've injured him so badly that he won't be able to heal easily. I'm not giving him a chance to recover."
Suddenly — the man screamed again, more violently than before.
His skin began to wrinkle unnaturally — like dried, withered leather.
"It— it feels like someone's stabbing needles into my heart! I… I can't breathe!"
Panic filled his voice as the realization hit him — the man had said the spell would only last for 30 minutes.
"I have to get out of here!"
In desperation, he launched a full-force attack at Aslan. Dark magic surged in every direction, wrapping around Aslan like a storm of shadows.
But Aslan remained calm.
He raised his hand, and with a sharp flick of his fingers, water burst out, swirling around him with immense pressure. It clashed violently with the dark energy — and washed it all away.
"I told you," Aslan said coldly, stepping forward,
"your tricks don't work on me anymore. Hmph."
He looked around — but the man was gone.
"Where is he?" Aslan hissed, his eyes narrowing.
"Damn it… he distracted me on purpose."