The swords I got from Isaac felt… perfect in my hands.
Almost too perfect.
Every time an enemy appeared, a violent urge surged through me — a whisper in the back of my mind, telling me to cut, to kill. I could swear these blades were alive. With each passing second, I felt my sanity slipping.
"Senior Arnold."
Leo's voice snapped me out of it. The whispers faded like smoke in the wind.
I looked at him — the kid who used to hide behind his brother. He still looked innocent, but there was steel in his eyes now. I wasn't sure we could pull this off… but we had no choice.
"Do you notice anything?" I asked.
Leo's gaze swept the hall, sharp and calculated. He pointed straight at the principal's office.
"Inside… there's something dangerous."
I swallowed hard and stepped toward the door. Pressing my ear against it —
CRACK!
A whip, black as midnight, sliced through the air, missing my head by inches and tearing a hole through the wood.
I stumbled back, heart pounding.
I lunged forward, kicking the broken door aside. Inside, a figure stood cloaked in pure darkness, the shadows writhing around him. Isaac's warning echoed:
"The shadow controller you fought was a puppet. The real one will be guarding the core. Don't let your guard down."
The figure struck first. A whip lashed out. I ducked low, the air buzzing past my ear, then swung my sword in a wide horizontal arc. The whip deflected the blade, recoiling violently and knocking me off balance.
I rolled to my left, using momentum to pivot into another strike. Another whip coiled around my forearm, yanking me off my feet and slamming me into the wall. Pain exploded across my ribs, knocking the wind out of me.
The cloaked figure advanced, whips writhing like living snakes. Every strike forced me to twist, dodge, and parry. Sweat burned my eyes, muscles screaming with every dodge.
A blur of steel intercepted — the headless knight had arrived. Its massive sword sliced through the whip coiling around my arm, freeing me.
The knight lunged, shoulder-checking the cloaked man. I planted my boots on the knight's armored back and vaulted into the air, spinning to bring my swords above my head.
"[Shimmer]."
Light exploded around me, blinding my enemy. He staggered, thrashing wildly.
I let the next skill flow through me.
"[Blades of the Fallen]."
The light poured into my swords, condensing and bleeding into a deep crimson as if the blades themselves had absorbed the power.
I tensed, swinging in a perfect horizontal scissor slash. The force cut through the shadows and straight through him.
His head hit the floor.
…This wasn't me. I had never moved this fast, this strong. And yet here I was, standing over a corpse. My stomach churned. I had seen death before — but never caused it like this.
The crimson glow swirled faintly around the blades. I dropped them, letting them clatter to the floor.they felt cursed .
As soon as they left my hands I felt clarity.
"Come in." I called to Leo.
He stepped inside, ignoring the corpse, and we began scanning for the core. At first, nothing — until the crystal Isaac had given him floated into the air, dissolving into red mist.
The mist moved with purpose, lunging at a painting on the far wall.
I ripped the painting down, revealing a blue crystal hovering, surrounded by glowing runes.
"Well… this is it. Do your part."
Leo nodded, placing his hand forward. Green smoke erupted, curling around the core and consuming the runes one by one.
The crystal dimmed, the light fading. Leo staggered, nearly collapsing — I caught him, supporting his weight. Even the headless knight began to fade into nothing.
"What happened? Are you okay?" I asked.
His lips trembled before he whispered, "It's done… I'm just tired."
Ran out of mana, I guessed.
Somewhere far away, the magic circle on the floor began to glow brighter. I held Leo close, leaning against the wall, exhaustion finally catching up with me. My eyes felt heavy.
"I'll leave the rest to you, Isaac… we did our part."