The wind rose suddenly, as if the entire park had been holding its breath. Sera's black wings beat slowly, pushing the air around her in a steady, hypnotic rhythm. Every fiber of Gabriel's body screamed at him to run, yet his feet stayed rooted in the damp gravel.
She moved first. Just a single step… and yet she was on him in less than a second. He narrowly dodged a strike that could have shattered his ribs, pivoting on his left foot, but the gust caused by her movement threw him off balance. He tried a counterattack, aiming a punch at her side, but his arm was caught mid-swing. A brutal pressure forced him down to one knee, his muscles straining in protest.
"Not bad," she murmured, almost amused.
She shoved him back with a sharp motion. Gabriel stumbled, regained his footing, and charged again, this time chaining rapid kicks and feints. She blocked with unsettling ease, as if she could read every move before he made it. A hook, a sidestep, a pivot… and suddenly her hand was around his throat.
Her grip was icy, unyielding. He tried to strike, but his arms felt sluggish, as though moving through heavy water. His vision blurred for a moment.
"You're brave," she admitted. "But it changes nothing."
She hurled him violently against the oak's trunk. The impact knocked the air from his lungs. Gabriel, now streaked with blood, fell to his knees, a dull ache spreading through his entire body. His hands trembled, yet he still pushed himself back up. Every breath was a battle.
Sera watched him, head slightly tilted, almost curious.
"You could close your eyes, and it would be over. That's what they all do… But you… you refuse. Why?"
"What? You mean you've done this to other people?" Gabriel replied.
He could have told her that life had weighed him down for a long time, that he had stopped expecting anything good to happen. He could have told her that dying here didn't scare him. But another part of him, deeper and more primal, refused to disappear. It wasn't fear of death, nor a desire to live. It was something raw, a dry pride, a stubborn ego that couldn't stand the thought of yielding to anyone.
And that's when something broke. Not in his body, but somewhere else. A strange sensation, as if an invisible chain inside him had just snapped. A searing heat surged up his spine, concentrating behind his right eye.
Sera stopped mid-step. Her gaze narrowed.
"What… is that?"
Gabriel instinctively raised a hand to his face. Beneath his fingers, his skin burned with an unnatural heat. His right eye was glowing—blazing with a vivid yellow light, as intense as the midday sun. His breathing steadied unnaturally fast. The pain was gone, replaced by an energy he couldn't understand.
"Impossible…" ̀Sera breathed. "You have no magical circuits. Then how…?"
She stepped back slightly, her wings spreading again, but this time with caution. Her eyes locked on the light as if staring at a dangerous weapon.
"That eye… it's—"
Gabriel, still confused, clenched his fists.
"Answer me. How many people have you murdered out of sheer selfishness?"
"More than you can imagine," she replied with a wide smile.
She took a step forward, the ground seeming to tremble beneath her feet.
"Show me… how far you can go."
And in the tense silence that followed, Gabriel knew the real fight was only just beginning.