CRACK.
Another lightning bolt tore through the clouds.
The rain kept falling.
Heavy.
Constant.
Bharvan slowly rose from the rubble.
Stones slid from his shoulders.
The electric smoke dissipated around him.
The red eyes remained fixed on the figure standing between him and Karna.
Silent.
Motionless.
The figure did not even look at him.
The red eyes lowered toward Karna.
For a few seconds.
Just watching.
Then he walked.
Slow steps through the rain.
Stopping before him.
A hand rose.
Tap.
A light slap across the face.
No reaction.
Tap.
Another one.
"Still alive?"
The red eyes narrowed slightly.
"It would be inconvenient if you weren't."
The hand closed around Karna's clothing.
As if he weighed nothing.
He lifted him.
Walked a few steps.
And rested him against a broken block of stone.
Karna's head fell forward.
The breathing still existed.
Weak.
"Excellent."
The figure let go of him.
Rain ran through the white hair.
"Because if you die now..."
The red eyes remained on Karna.
"that woman will find some creative way to blame me."
A brief silence.
"Which would be especially irritating."
The rain kept striking the stone.
"After all, she was the one who turned a simple stabilization process..."
"into an endless wait."
No answer came from Karna.
The figure sighed.
Like someone tired of dealing with unnecessary problems.
"And yet, if you die..."
"she will certainly say it's my fault."
Only then did the red eyes rise.
Meeting Bharvan in the distance.
The smile disappeared completely.
The expression became devoid of emotion.
Cold.
The figure took one step.
Then another.
And vanished.
BOOM.
Water exploded beneath his feet.
The next instant.
He was already standing before Bharvan.
Too close.
The red eyes met his.
Without fear.
Without hostility.
Only curiosity.
"I'm curious."
The voice came out calm.
Controlled.
"How exactly are you capable of wielding such strength..."
The gaze traveled across the marks spread over Bharvan's body.
"without paying the price?"
The silence lasted only an instant.
Bharvan gave a cold smile.
Predatory.
BOOM.
The ground exploded beneath his feet.
The shoulder turned.
The hips followed.
Every ounce of strength in his body transferred into the strike.
Like an execution.
As if he intended to rip the head from the neck.
But the figure did not move.
Not even a centimeter.
The red eyes remained on Bharvan.
Watching.
The next instant.
BOOM.
The figure's hand closed around his head.
At an absurd speed.
Almost impossible to follow.
CRASH.
Bharvan's head was slammed into the ground.
The entire street trembled.
Stones exploded apart.
Water and mud burst in every direction.
A crater opened beneath the impact.
Muscles tensed beneath Bharvan's body.
The marks spread across his skin pulsed.
The hand kept pressing.
Motionless.
Like a mountain.
The pressure increased.
The ground sank a few more centimeters.
CRACK.
Stone split apart around Bharvan's head.
Silence remained for an instant.
The figure seemed to remember something.
"Ah."
The expression shifted slightly.
Almost regretful.
"Forgive me."
"That was rather impolite of me."
The red eyes remained on Bharvan.
"I ask such a personal question without even introducing myself."
A small sigh escaped him.
Like someone correcting a simple lapse in etiquette.
"I'm still getting used to certain formalities."
The hand kept pressing Bharvan's face against the ruined stone.
"Humans seem to place remarkable importance on such things."
The gaze briefly lifted toward the storm.
Then returned.
"Typhon."
"You may call me Typhon."
The pressure lessened only enough to allow an answer.
"Now..."
The head tilted slightly to the side.
"could you tell me how exactly you manage to wield..."
"such power without the rulers of the Abyss demanding payment?"
No response came.
Bharvan's hand moved, striking the ground.
BOOM.
An explosion of wind tore through the street.
The pressure ripped water, mud, and fragments of stone from the ground.
Typhon's feet slid a few centimeters across the ruined stone.
Bharvan slowly rose.
CRACK.
His neck tilted to one side.
Then the other.
The red eyes met Typhon's.
He smiled.
"For a moment..."
A hand wiped the blood running down his forehead.
"you truly surprised me."
Typhon remained motionless.
"I'm pleased."
"You shouldn't be."
BOOM.
Bharvan vanished.
The claws tore through the rain.
Straight toward Typhon's face.
But Typhon moved first.
The strike missed.
His hand slid along Bharvan's arm.
Redirecting the trajectory.
CRASH.
Bharvan's own momentum hurled him into the rubble.
Stones exploded apart.
But he was already moving.
Before the debris had even finished falling.
Returning immediately.
Faster.
More aggressive.
The two vanished.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
Explosions echoed through the street.
Stone shattered.
Facades cracked.
Water was thrown skyward with every collision.
Neither of them retreated.
BOOM.
Bharvan's charge met Typhon head-on.
The impact unleashed a wave of wind.
Bharvan's eyes narrowed.
"Strange."
Typhon did not answer.
Bharvan smiled.
"You don't smell..."
BOOM.
The claws tore through the rain.
Typhon dodged by centimeters.
The pressure carved grooves into the stone behind him.
"...like a visitor."
CRASH.
Bharvan lunged again.
The arm descended like an avalanche.
Typhon blocked the strike.
The impact split the ground beneath them both.
"You don't smell like a human either."
Bharvan's eyes analyzed Typhon's body.
A small black fissure spread across the skin of his right hand.
Vanishing immediately afterward.
"That leaves only one possibility."
BOOM.
The two collided again.
The impact scattered water in every direction.
CRACK.
Stone gave way.
The street sank beneath their feet.
Bharvan twisted his body.
The colossal hand descended toward Typhon.
The claws ripped through the rain.
Typhon leaned aside.
The attack barely grazed past.
His hand shot toward Bharvan's abdomen.
BOOM.
The impact shoved the giant several meters backward.
Stone slid beneath his feet.
For an instant.
Neither advanced.
Typhon's eyes remained on him.
Thoughtful.
As though piecing together something far older than memory itself.
"You know far too much for a human."
Bharvan did not answer.
"And far too little for a god."
"Who was it that—"
CRACK.
Lightning struck the street between them.
Water, mud, and fragments of stone were hurled in every direction.
Their hair whipped violently.
CRACK.
Another one.
This time closer.
CRACK.
A third lightning bolt struck the ruined street several meters ahead.
Stone split apart.
Sparks tore through the rain.
Bharvan's eyes lifted.
Typhon's did as well.
The storm changed.
As if something had seized control of it.
The rain began to spin.
Slowly at first.
Then faster.
Water.
Ash.
Blood.
Fragments of wood.
Everything was dragged by the air currents.
Whirlwinds rose among the ruins.
Growing.
Connecting.
Until the streets became a single chaos of wind and water.
The remaining rooftops trembled.
Wood groaned.
Stones slid across the drenched ground.
As if the city itself were being dragged toward the center of the storm.
CRACK.
Lightning ripped through the clouds.
Then another.
And another.
Far too close.
The air became heavy.
Dense.
Charged.
Bharvan's eyes narrowed.
He could feel the wind.
But it no longer seemed to belong to him.
The air currents crossed through the city in impossible directions.
Converging.
Obeying something he could not see.
CRACK.
Thunder exploded above Prata.
Bharvan felt something pass by him.
Silent.
So close that his instincts reacted before his mind.
His foot moved half a step back.
Instinctively.
His eyes shifted toward the sensation.
Nothing.
He saw no one.
The presence continued.
Crossing through the chaos of wind and rain.
Until it passed by Typhon.
For an instant.
The red eyes followed something invisible through the curtain of water.
A small smile appeared on his face.
Bharvan followed Typhon's gaze.
The winds still crossed through the walls.
The rain still spun above the ruins.
But the center of that chaos was no longer before them.
It stood before Karna.
And soon he saw her.
The figure kneeling before him.
Dark skin.
Silver hair drenched by the rain.
Long.
Wavy.
White eyes glowing through the storm.
Fixed on Karna.
Blood.
Wounds.
Black marks spreading beneath the skin.
Weak breathing.
Irregular.
Her hand slowly rose.
Her fingers rested against his chest.
Right above the heart.
"Phasmatos."
The voice came out low.
Ancient.
Like a whisper crossing through the storm.
"Vita maneat. Corpus stabilietur."
Emerald-green filaments appeared beneath the skin of her arms.
First a few.
Then dozens.
Then hundreds.
Thin.
Luminous.
Like living roots awakening beneath the flesh itself.
The filaments slithered through her arms.
Ran down her fingers.
And pierced into Karna's body.
The black marks spread beneath the skin reacted immediately.
Twisting.
Resisting.
The filaments advanced.
Running through veins.
Muscles.
Nerves.
Like a green tide invading every fragment of the wounded body.
The rain gathered on his skin was absorbed.
The droplets vanished.
Consumed by the magic.
For an instant.
Nothing happened.
Soon Karna's fingers moved.
His eyelids trembled.
And the brown eyes slowly opened.
Meeting hers.
A tired smile appeared on his face.
"Brianna..."
The voice came out hoarse.
Weak.
"you took longer than I imagined."
She did not answer.
She kept observing the damage spread across his body.
His smile widened slightly.
"That expression..."
His eyes closed for an instant.
Then returned to her.
"It almost looks like someone died."
The filaments kept running through his body.
Stabilizing whatever still could be stabilized.
"Do you know the condition you're in?"
The question came dry.
Without raising her voice.
Without anger.
Karna's smile remained.
"I've been worse."
Her gaze remained motionless.
Clearly not believing him.
He let out a small laugh that ended in coughing.
"I had to keep my promise."
Brianna's eyes narrowed.
"Karna..."
"I promised."
His voice became lower.
"I couldn't let anything happen to him."
"Not after what I promised."
Silence existed between them once more.
For a few seconds.
Only rain.
Only wind.
Only the green filaments moving through his body.
Brianna closed her eyes.
Briefly.
"Idiot."
Karna smiled.
As if that was exactly what he expected to hear.
She removed her hand from his chest.
The filaments continued working.
"Just hold on a little longer."
Her voice remained calm.
Controlled.
"I'm going to resolve this quickly."
"Then I'll take care of you properly."
His eyes began closing again.
The body finally yielding to the treatment.
Karna's smile became smaller.
"Sounds like a romantic date."
"Shut up."
And Karna blacked out once more.
Brianna rose.
The rain kept falling.
A circle of water lifted around Karna.
Spinning slowly.
Like a liquid cocoon.
"Aqua custos."
The sphere closed around him.
Protecting him.
For a few seconds.
Brianna simply remained motionless.
Watching the liquid cocoon.
Soon she turned and walked until she stopped beside Typhon.
The white eyes met Bharvan.
In the distance.
Typhon watched her for an instant.
Then smiled.
Small.
Almost imperceptible.
"Interesting."
Brianna did not answer.
"All this time..."
The red eyes remained on her.
"I began to think you weren't human."
The smile widened slightly.
"Not when we spoke about me."
"Not when we spoke about them."
"Not when you discovered certain truths."
His gaze traveled across her face.
"You never showed any emotion."
Rain ran through the silver hair.
The red eyes narrowed.
"But now..."
A brief silence.
"that expression is quite human."
Brianna's eyes slowly shifted toward him.
Cold.
Sharp.
"That was not the agreement."
Typhon's smile did not change.
"The agreement was to keep them alive."
The red eyes briefly shifted toward the cocoon of water.
Where Karna remained protected.
"And they are alive."
"Therefore, I fulfilled my part."
The rain kept falling.
Brianna held his gaze for a few seconds.
Motionless.
The winds crossed through the silver hair.
She looked away and walked toward Bharvan.
Bharvan followed her approach.
For the first time.
He felt caution.