The shadows were breathing.
Yes, it felt as though the very air was being pulled from Adam's lungs so the shadows around him could inhale.
He stood in the middle of the ancient courtyard, where twisted pillars rose, slick with life, like the ribs of a colossal beast dead for thousands of years. Zera stood behind him, her back pressed against one of the pillars, blood dripping from her right arm, her ragged breaths slicing through the stillness before the storm.
Before them stood **Kairos** — one of the fiercest commanders of the Shadows. His body was tall and gaunt, like the charred trunk of a tree. His face was masked with slender bones, and his eyes burned with the color of ancient blood. He wielded a sword forged of pure shadow, shifting like a living thing whispering in the tongue of the dead.
Adam spoke in a low voice:
"This isn't just a fight… it's a test."
Kairos did not answer. He only bent slightly forward — then charged.
**The first clash** felt like an earthquake ripping through the ground. Kairos lunged with unnatural speed, swinging his blade in a sweeping strike. Adam slid beneath it with practiced skill, drew his sharp Nemorian dagger, and drove it into Kairos's side. No blood spilled… only pure black smoke poured out, releasing a scream like the dying howl of a hundred souls at once.
But it didn't stop him.
Kairos spun on his heel and struck Adam with such force that it sent him crashing several meters away. His body slammed against a boulder, his breath shattered, but he rose again, blood flooding his mouth.
At that moment, Zera shouted:
"Adam! Don't forget… the Heart of Regret!"
Adam pulled the blue talisman from his neck and raised it high. Its pure azure glow clashed with the thick air swirling around Kairos, but he did not retreat. He only laughed.
"You think your regret gives you strength?"
His voice was like glass breaking underfoot.
Then Kairos began to **transform**.
His body stretched, his limbs tearing apart only to regrow as jagged weapons of bone and dark flesh. His chest split open to reveal a giant maw within — a mouth pulsing like a heart, dripping black saliva like burning oil.
Zera's voice trembled:
"Adam… this isn't a fight anymore… this is a declaration of war."
Kairos stormed forward again, this time like a raging tempest. Each strike shattered the ground and split the stones, his blade twisting and writhing like a serpent. Adam barely blocked the blows; his wounds multiplied, his eyes stung with tears — but he did not back down.
Then the unthinkable happened.
Kairos seized Adam by the throat, lifting him into the air, then drove his claws deep into his chest. Adam's scream shook the very air. Blood burst from his body, and Zera cried out, rushing toward him — but Kairos unleashed a wave of shadow that struck her down, paralyzed.
But…
In the moment when all thought it was over, blue light ignited around Adam's heart. The **talisman** was burning. And as it burned, Kairos saw something strange:
Adam's eyes… turned pure white. A strange pulse radiated from his body.
Adam whispered, his voice barely audible:
"You… don't know the meaning of regret."
Then the light exploded.
**Kairos was hurled into the air, his body unraveling**, his scream tearing the very sky apart. Shards of his form flew in every direction, each fragment that hit the ground dissolving into a small shadow before fading away.
Adam collapsed to the ground, his face drenched in blood… but he was not dead.
Zera crawled to him, cradled his head in her lap, and whispered:
"Don't die… not now… we still don't know the whole truth."
He replied weakly, with a faint smile on his lips:
"I won't die… not until I bury every last one who betrayed my grandmother."
Then he closed his eyes.
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**Closing Quote:**
*"Shadows do not die… but they shatter when faced with true light — not the light we carry, but the light we become."*
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