Count Shiba's forces arrived without warning.
An army of deadly mercenaries swept into the small town of Recaria, burning homes, breaking walls, and turning streets into rivers of flame. Screams filled the air as the settlement collapsed under their assault.
And Jhonathan… did not move.
He stood at the edge of the destruction and watched.
The town fell. The people fell. Time passed like a blade dragging across stone.
When the silence finally came, only ashes remained.
From the smoke, three figures stepped forward.
Leerooey, the Goblin Ninja.
Sylviana, the dancer.
And Jhonathan, the Undying Knight.
Their target was clear.
Before them stood the Arcoos Clone—an imperfect but terrifying replication of the knight they had once faced. Stronger. Faster. Crueler.
The battle began instantly.
The clone struck first.
All three were sent flying in an instant, crashing into broken stone and burning debris. The force alone was enough to shake the remains of Recaria.
All except Jhonathan.
He stood.
And took the hits head-on.
Each strike landed like a collapsing wall, but he refused to fall. Instead, something changed within him.
He multiplied—not outward like illusion, but forward through movement, adapting mid-impact, surviving each blow in a slightly different state than the last.
The more he was hit… the faster he became.
A pulse surged through his vision.
EYE OF SPEED – LEARNED
A window of insight flashed in his mind.
Suddenly, everything slowed.
The clone's attacks became readable. Predictable. Manageable.
Jhonathan moved.
Each block came at precise angles, each step measured with impossible timing. Steel met steel in perfect rhythm as he dismantled the clone's assault piece by piece.
Then, with a final opening—
He struck.
The Arcoos Clone was launched through the air, crashing directly into Count Shiba's position.
Without hesitation, Jhonathan followed.
His katana pierced clean through the clone's chest—and through what remained of Shiba's influence—pinning them both in place.
The body began to change.
Cracks of light spread across it.
Slowly… it transformed into a star.
A fragment of power. A remnant of something far greater.
Silence fell again.
But it did not last.
From the shadows, someone stepped forward.
And picked up the star.
They ate it.