I had thought I lost the old man.

When I first saw Dante connected to that parasitic chain, I believed the corruption had taken him completely.

But watching him move, still shielding Steve with his body, still fighting on instinct, shook me. It didn't make sense. I couldn't tell if it was really him or some twisted remnant trying to protect what little part of himself remained.

But one thing was certain: the Grandmasters rushing toward him were going to kill him.

Something inside me snapped.

My aura trembled violently, and the restraint I had forged during my training with Dante shattered in an instant.

My aura surged outward like a storm breaking free of its cage, and the entire area trembled. The air thickened. My domain spread before I even realized I had activated it, the boundary forming naturally around my will.

The pulse of my [Major Law of Time] bloomed within the domain, spreading through the space like ripples. I gritted my teeth and forced the flow of time to bend. The world inside my domain slowed, the movements of the thirteen Grandmasters turning sluggish and heavy.

I raised my right palm toward them.

My Psynapse stretched outward, threads of will reaching deep into the Essence flowing within the domain. It wasn't enough. I wanted more. I pushed deeper, past the first layer, past the resistance of the external world, until my consciousness broke through the limits I never knew I had placed on it.

The world vanished.

In my sight, there were no chains, no void, only Essence. Rivers of green Essence particles stretched endlessly in every direction. I saw it moving inside the bodies of the Grandmasters, flowing through their bones, their blood, their hearts. Every spark of life within them was Essence. And all of it was mine to command.

I clenched my fist.

"Die."

The command left my mouth and Essence inside their bodies trembled violently. At first, it resisted. Then it began to vibrate, as if answering a call it could not refuse.

And then, like moths to a flame, the Essence tore itself free.

BOOM!

The first Grandmaster exploded in a shower of blood and mist.

BOOM!

Another burst apart, chunks of flesh and armor scattering into the void.

One by one, they all began to rupture, each detonation louder than the last. Blood rained across the space, the crimson mist vanishing into the endless abyss below. Their screams were swallowed by the roaring collapse of Essence.

I stood unmoving, my arm still raised, the echoes of their destruction shaking the air around me. The pulse of time within my domain began to fade, the slowed world returning to normal speed.

When the smoke cleared, only one figure remained.

Vynor hovered midair, his eyes wide, his jaw trembling. He stared at me but with pure, hollow shock. The reality of what I had done seemed to sink into him like a blade.

And in that silence, I finally understood how terrifying my control over Essence had become.

I turned my eyes toward him, and the moment our gazes met, Vynor instinctively took a step back. The fear in his eyes was unmistakable. I remembered the way he had thrown that devastating punch at Steve just moments ago, the kind of blow that could have shattered bone and ended a life instantly. If Dante hadn't stepped in, Steve would've been gone.

The air around me grew colder.

I appeared right in front of him before he could even react. His eyes widened, panic flashing across his face, but I was faster. I placed my hand on his shoulder.

Frost spread instantly.

It raced down his arms, across his chest, over his legs, swallowing him completely in a thick layer of blue-white ice and then a frozen rectangle block of ice. His body froze mid-motion, his expression twisted in horror as the ice locked him in place.

"Firestorm," I muttered.

The word left my lips like a sentence, and the air above the frozen tiger trembled. Essence surged from my core, spiraling outward in a sudden eruption of heat and light.

A violet flame bloomed within the ice block.

It started small, then roared to life. The purple fire wrapped around the block of ice, devouring everything in its path. Vynor's muffled roar echoed from within, desperate and fading, but the ice held him in place perfectly. He couldn't move.

The flames tried to escape outward, but I willed them back, sealing them inside. The ice wanted to melt, but I stopped that too, freezing the surface tighter, compressing the storm into a perfect cage. The result was a flawless incinerator, fire and frost locked together, each feeding the other's destruction in a violent balance.

Violet light flared, casting long shadows across the chains and the bridge below. For a few seconds, it was silent except for the faint crackle of burning Essence. Then the sound faded too.

The flames dimmed.

The ice cracked once, then shattered into fine mist. When it cleared, there was nothing left, not even ash. No bones. No blood. Not a single trace that Vynor had ever existed.

I exhaled slowly. Then, with a flick of my hand, the remaining fragments of the icy prison dispersed into the air, scattering like dust.

The void fell still again. I turned back slowly and descended toward the bridge, the faint glow of violet still flickering around my arms.

When I landed, Dante was already sitting there, cross-legged, as if nothing had happened. His robe was torn, his body bruised and scarred in places, but somehow he still managed to smile at me.

"That was brutal, kid," he said, his voice hoarse and uneven, like he was forcing himself to speak. "You're young. You should learn to control your emotions."

I frowned. His tone wasn't the usual teasing one I knew. It wasn't the same smooth calm he used when lecturing me during training either.

I took a cautious step forward, my gaze falling to the thick crimson chain that extended from his back. It was pulsing now, faster than I'd seen with Ragnar. Each pulse made the bridge beneath us thrum faintly, and I could feel the energy in it twisting unnaturally.

"Are you okay?" I asked, kneeling down beside him. My eyes never left that chain. "How did this happen?"

He shook his head.

"I don't have much time." He said looking into my eyes.

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