Victoria lifted both swords slowly.

Very slowly.

The cracked earth beneath her feet groaned as if reacting to her intent alone. Dust slid off broken stones in thin streams. The dead wind that haunted that ruined world seemed to hesitate.

The blades in her hands began to hum.

A deep, layered vibration. Not sound alone, but law—resonating.

Then power erupted.

Green light wrapped around her first. It was sharp and vivid, carrying the scent of wild forests and unchecked growth. It crawled over her skin like living vines, coiling around her arms, her waist, her neck.

Gold followed.

Not gentle sunlight—but divine authority. It pressed outward in waves, bending the air itself. The fractured sky above flickered faintly under its influence.

Blue surged next.

Cold. Vast. Endless. Like an ocean without a shore compressed into human form. Frost traced along the ground around her boots before evaporating into mist.

And finally—

Darkness.

Not the absence of light. Not shadow.

Something older.

It clung to her skin and swallowed the glow of the other colors at the edges, coiling around her like a patient predator.

All four colors spiraled around her simultaneously, never blending, orbiting her form in violent, precise harmony.

The decayed world trembled harder.

Cracks widened. Entire sections of brittle ground collapsed inward. The violet sky churned in circular distortions as if some massive eye was trying to open above them.

Alex felt it.

His coat shifted slightly from the pressure alone.

The air around him felt heavier with every passing second.

He exhaled through his mask.

"Looks like she’s finally planning to go all out."

The energies around her intensified again, pressing outward in expanding rings.

He rolled his neck once, slow and deliberate.

Then stretched both arms outward.

"Then let’s get serious too."

A translucent blue panel appeared before his eyes.

[ Death Affinity is in use ]

The moment the message faded—

Black energy began leaking from him.

Not violently.

Not explosively.

It seeped out.

Like mist rising from a grave.

It spread across his skin, clinging to his clothes, wrapping him in a dense shroud that seemed to drink in the surrounding light.

The ground beneath him began to wither further. What little structure remained in that dying world started breaking apart at a faster rate.

The atmosphere changed.

It felt suffocating.

Breathing became heavier. Sound dulled. Even the distant cracks in the earth grew quieter as if sound itself did not wish to travel near him.

This death energy did not destroy the laws holding the body together.

It did something colder.

It invaded.

It corroded life force. It drained vitality. It suppressed regeneration. It spread through existence like a silent infection, ensuring that once death touched you, recovery became impossible.

Victoria felt it.

A chill slid down her spine.

For a brief second, her pupils contracted.

But she did not step back.

Her swords burned brighter.

Then—

Alex vanished.

No blur.

No afterimage.

One instant he was there.

The next—

He wasn’t.

Her eyes widened sharply.

The following second—

Something invisible passed through her.

There was no blade.

No flash.

No sound.

From her left shoulder down across nearly her entire abdomen, her body was cleaved.

Not sliced by steel.

But carved by death itself.

The four colors surrounding her shattered outward violently, breaking formation as her torso separated.

For a heartbeat, she remained standing.

Her brain had not yet processed it.

She looked down slightly.

Her vision tilted at an unnatural angle.

Warmth touched her lips.

Blood.

It streamed from her nose first, slow and steady.

Dropping onto the cracked earth.

Drip.

Drip.

Then more blood spilled from her mouth, trailing down her chin and splashing onto the ground below.

She still hadn’t fully grasped what had happened.

Behind her—

A calm voice.

"What, did I go too hard on you?"

Alex stood there, death energy still curling around him like black smoke.

"I can’t just stand there like a stupid hero while the villain powers up, you know."

Her legs finally gave out.

Her body hit the ground heavily.

The impact sent small fractures spidering outward.

Blood pooled beneath her, thick and dark, seeping into the cracks of the dying world.

Her green, gold, blue, and dark energies flickered chaotically.

Her vision blurred.

Her lips trembled.

In a faint, broken whisper—

"Law... of Destruction..."

The air around her distorted.

The blood beneath her vibrated.

"Law... of Restoration..."

The instant the words left her mouth—

Her entire body tore itself apart.

Not outward.

Inward.

Her flesh fragmented into thousands of glowing shards—green, gold, blue, and dark—each piece pulsing with authority.

Her bones dissolved into luminous particles.

Her blood evaporated midair.

Her soul signature fractured into countless pieces.

Alex tilted his head slightly.

Then smiled.

"It’s almost like I’m watching a Hollywood movie." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The fragments drifted away from him, gathering several feet to his right.

They began spinning in a controlled vortex.

Slow at first.

Then faster.

Bone formed first.

A skeletal structure assembling piece by piece in midair.

Nerves followed, weaving like threads of light.

Muscle wrapped around the frame.

Skin sealed everything flawlessly.

Within seconds—

Victoria stood whole again.

Perfect.

Unscarred.

Untouched.

She flexed her fingers once.

Rotated her shoulders.

The four colors resumed orbit around her body, steadier this time.

She lifted her gaze.

She could see it.

The subtle shift in Alex’s posture.

The slight narrowing of his eyes.

She threw her head back and laughed.

"What’s the matter?" she said sharply. "Afraid that your strongest move wasn’t able to finish me off?"

Alex tilted his head.

"First of all, that wasn’t my finishing move."

He stepped forward slowly.

Death energy still radiated from him, heavy and oppressive.

"Second of all, I’m learning a lot from fighting you. That power you just used was really impressive."

Her curiosity flickered.

"Oh? And what did you learn?"

Alex gestured toward the empty space where her ruined body had been moments earlier.

"The death energy I used? No one recovers from it."

He tapped his chest lightly.

"It invades. It suppresses. It prevents regeneration and corrodes vitality until everything is destroyed."

He looked directly at her.

"But you found a way around it. To bypass that effect."

Victoria’s lips curved slightly.

"Go on."

Alex lifted a finger.

"When you realized your body couldn’t regenerate because the death energy was suppressing your life force, body, and soul, leaving you unable to regenerate any of them... and that you were slowly dying..."

She nodded once.

"You used two of your four fragmented laws."

Her eyes sharpened.

"You destroyed yourself first."

He pointed at her.

"You activated the Law of Destruction and erased your own body and soul completely before my death energy could fully consume you."

He continued calmly.

"Then you used the Law of Restoration to rebuild everything from absolute zero. Fresh body. Fresh soul. No lingering death energy attached."

A faint grin appeared beneath his mask.

"It was fascinating to watch. I’ll give you a hundred points. Truly a sight to behold."

He spread his hands slightly.

"You broadened my horizons."

Victoria studied him carefully.

"You’re a sharp one. I’ll give you that much."

Her expression hardened.

"But being praised by a lesser being does not make me that much... happy."

Alex chuckled softly.

"Same to you, my soon-to-be slave. You can insult me all you want right now."

His eyes gleamed with interest.

"I’m curious how many interesting moves you have like that one."

His voice lowered slightly.

"But the moment you fail to entertain me... that will be it for you."

He raised his hand casually.

"So try your best."