The punch landed—and Kiel vanished.
His body skidded nearly fifteen meters across the shattered ground before crashing to a halt.
The impact detonated in a thunderous THUD, the earth groaning beneath him. Blood slid from the corner of his lips as his body finally went still.
He tried to move.
Agony answered.
Something inside him twisted violently, a crushing pressure that stole his breath—as though one of his intestines had been pulverized.
He gagged and then coughed out a mouthful of blood.
Just one punch…
Kiel forced his head up and met Cody's gaze.
The vampire was smiling.
"You know," Cody said lightly, as if discussing the weather, "you're the first lucky bastard of your kind to survive one of my punches."
Pride gleamed cruelly in his eyes.
"Even my fellow vampires bleed from that."
Kiel clenched his jaw and dragged himself upright. His legs shook, muscles screaming, but he refused to fall.
That was when Kara moved.
She struck from behind, driving her sword clean through Cody's back. The blade burst out through his stomach in a violent spray of blood.
Cody looked down at it.
Then he laughed.
A blood-soaked grin split his face as he twisted his body and spun. His foot connected with Kara in a brutal flying kick.
She was launched through the air, her sword still embedded in Cody's body. Blood traced her path before she slammed into the ground with a sickening crack, the shock rippling through the battlefield.
"Kara!" Kiel shouted.
He ran.
Kiel had survived Cody's punch—but he knew that meant nothing for her.
He hadn't expected the kick to kill her.
But doubt was a vicious thing.
He dropped to his knees beside her and scanned her body in frantic silence. Her head lay at an unnatural angle—her jaw dislocated. Blood pooled beneath her, warm and spreading, soaking into the dirt as if the earth itself were claiming her.
"No… it can't be," he whispered.
The battlefield seemed to quiet.
Something inside Kiel broke.
Rage flooded him—hot, wild, unfiltered. It drowned out the pain, the fear, the logic. All that remained was fury and the sound of his own heartbeat pounding like a war drum.
He never saw the next punch.
It came screaming through the air.
This time, Kiel blocked it.
His forearm caught the blow, and the force hurled him backward. His boots carved trenches through the dirt as he fought to stay standing, bones rattling from the impact.
Cody was already moving.
A strike snapped toward Kiel's neck.
Kiel met it with steel.
Blades collided in a violent shriek, sparks erupting between them as the shock flung both fighters apart. Dust spiraled into the air.
Cody attacked again.
Too fast.
His movements blurred into pure violence—strike after strike crashing down on Kiel. Kiel blocked desperately, arms screaming, muscles tearing under the strain. He countered when he could, but the fight dissolved into chaos.
Steel rang.
Sparks burst.
Metal screamed with every collision.
The ground cracked beneath their feet.
Kiel didn't know how he was still standing.
But he felt it.
Cody wasn't even serious yet.
"You're strong," Cody said mid-exchange, his voice bored.
'I genuinely don't understand how that's supposed to make me feel better.' Kiel thought.
The pressure mounted—crushing, merciless.
Kiel tightened his grip on his blade, eyes burning as he fought on, every strike fueled by blood, loss, and fury.
Behind him, Kara lay motionless.
And Kiel knew—
This fight wasn't going his way.