Selene’s body hit the ground with a dull, heavy thud. The clearing went silent except for the faint rustle of the night wind. Her shortsword slipped from her grasp, clattering against the dirt before rolling uselessly away.
Edward’s breath caught in his throat. His eyes widened, not only at the suddenness of it all but at the sheer speed of the strike. He had barely registered Aeris moving before Selene was already falling, crimson pooling beneath her.
One strike.
That was all it had taken.
But even more startling was what came before—the way Selene’s flames had simply vanished, snuffed out as if the world itself had turned against her.
"How’d you stop the flames?" Edward asked at last, his voice breaking the quiet. His tone carried more confusion than admiration.
Aeris lowered her rapier, the blade glinting faintly in the moonlight. She turned her head toward him, her expression as calm and cold as the night itself.
"Wind magic," she said simply.
Edward blinked, his brow furrowing. That didn’t explain anything to him, and Aeris seemed to notice the lingering curiosity in his gaze. She sighed softly, brushing a strand of peach-colored hair from her face before continuing.
"I momentarily removed all oxygen around her arms. Fire can’t burn without fuel. Though it only works against weaker opponents..." Her eyes flicked back to Selene’s lifeless body, narrowing slightly. "Or the less intelligent ones."
Edward stared at her, momentarily forgetting the pain searing across his abdomen. Removed oxygen? With magic? He had seen many things since waking in this strange world, but this was something else entirely.
"She can remove oxygen from air?" The thought echoed in his head, staggering in its implications. The ability to suffocate flames, or worse, people, was more terrifying than any blade.
There was truly so much he didn’t know. So much he had to learn.
His gaze drifted back to Aeris, only to find her not looking at him anymore but at something else.
The shadowy summon still lingered nearby, its presence quiet but unmistakable, the same one that had drawn her to this clearing. Its blank, faceless head tilted toward Aeris as if acknowledging her.
A flicker of something unreadable crossed her face. Surprise or perhaps wariness.
"What is this thing?" she asked, her voice low and measured. Her sharp gaze turned back to Edward. "It’s yours, isn’t it? Since it brought me here."
Edward exhaled slowly, hesitating only a moment before nodding. "Yes. It’s a summon."
For just a fraction of a heartbeat, her eyes widened—subtle, but unmistakable. A hint of surprise that she quickly masked. Summons, it seemed, weren’t as common as Edward might have thought.
But she didn’t press further.
Instead, Aeris turned back to Selene’s body, her expression hardening again. There would be time for questions later, but not here, not now.
"I will go inform my father," she said firmly, her tone carrying finality. "I’m sure you two have a lot to discuss."
Edward gave a single nod. "Alright."
She lingered for a moment longer, her gaze darting briefly to him, his wound, and his summon. Then, without another word, she turned and disappeared into the shadows of the forest, the faint glow of her mana fading with her departure.
The silence that followed was heavier than before.
Edward’s hand pressed tighter against his wound, but the pain felt distant, dulled by something far more pressing. Slowly, his gaze shifted to Selene’s body sprawled across the dirt. The moonlight painted her pale skin in cold silver, her once-triumphant grin forever gone.
And then, without warning, something flickered in the air above her.
A faint shimmer of light drifted across his vision.
[Extraction Available]
The words appeared before his eyes, stark and undeniable.
Edward’s heart skipped a beat. His breath hitched, but he didn’t need to think. Not even for a moment. He already knew what to do.
"Extract," he whispered, his voice barely audible, yet the word carried weight.
Chirping of insects seemed to pause as Selene’s body dissolved into black mist, her features unraveling into fragments of darkness that swirled together before him. The shadows gathered and twisted until a new figure emerged.
It stood tall and sleek. In its hand, it gripped a blade eerily similar to Selene’s shortsword, only darker and swirling with living shadows. The resemblance was unmistakable.
Just as he focused his gaze on the figure, a new text appeared above its head.
[Shadow Striker]