Satou didn't let him finish the sentence or recover his balance. He pressed the attack with relentless aggression, his blade a whirlwind of death that gave no quarter. Now that he'd drawn real blood and proven Merc Assault could be hurt despite all his power, the psychological advantage shifted decisively.

The assassin tried to create distance, to reset the engagement and recover from the unexpected injury. Satou didn't allow it. [Shadow Step] closed any gap Merc Assault tried to create, appearing in his path before he could retreat. [Absolute Severance] cut through any barriers the assassin tried to raise, existence-erasing power treating his defenses as meaningless.

"You're going to die," Satou growled, his voice distorted by the berserker transformation into something barely human. "For what you did to me. For what you tried to do to Jessica. For the torture you made me pass through , for you making them die repeatedely . You're going to die knowing you failed."

He landed another solid hit, his blade opening a deep gash along Merc Assault's left arm that nearly severed it completely. Then another across the assassin's side that cut through muscle and scraped bone. Then another, a shallow cut across the face that sent dark blood streaming into Merc Assault's eyes and partially blinding him.

The legendary assassin was being pushed back steadily, forced onto pure defense for the first time in probably centuries. His movements became more desperate, less controlled as panic began to set in. He was losing to someone he'd thought he could break, and the reality of that was clearly affecting his combat performance.

"Impossible," Merc Assault hissed through gritted teeth, wiping blood from his eyes with the back of his hand. "I am the master of nightmares! I've killed demon lords who were stronger than you'll ever be! I've broken the minds of legendary heroes! You're just a—"

Satou's blade took off Merc Assault's right hand at the wrist mid-sentence.

The assassin screamed—an inhuman sound of pain and rage and disbelief that echoed through the entire fortress. He stumbled backward, clutching the stump where his hand had been with his remaining hand, dark blood pumping between his fingers in rhythmic spurts.

"Just a what?" Satou snarled, advancing with mechanical inevitability. "Just a broken thing you tried to create? Just a victim you tortured? Just a provisional demon lord who should have died in your nightmare realm? Just prey that had the audacity to fight back?"

His blade flashed again with blinding speed, and Merc Assault's left hand joined the right on the floor, severed cleanly at the wrist.

The assassin fell to his knees, armless, bleeding heavily from multiple wounds that his regeneration was trying but failing to close. [Void Fang] had infused the wounds with existence-erasing energy that prevented healing, ensuring they would continue bleeding until death claimed him.

"You made one critical mistake," Satou said, his voice cold despite the berserker rage still burning in his veins. The transformation was beginning to fade now that the real fight was over, rational thought slowly returning. "You didn't kill me when you had the chance in the nightmare realm. You played with your prey because you're a sadist who enjoys suffering. You wanted to savor breaking me slowly. And that gave me time to adapt. To learn. To grow stronger specifically to kill you."

Merc Assault looked up at him with those terrible eyes, and for the first time Satou saw something other than cruel amusement or predatory anticipation in that gaze. He saw fear. Real, genuine fear from a being who'd spent centuries being the source of fear rather than experiencing it.

"Wait," the assassin said, his voice losing its nightmare-quality and becoming almost human in its desperation. Multiple tones collapsing into a single pleading voice. "Wait. We can negotiate. I can teach you secrets accumulated over centuries, show you techniques that would take lifetimes to develop, help you become even stronger than—"

Satou's blade came down and took Merc Assault's right leg at the knee, cutting off the desperate offer mid-sentence.

The assassin's scream echoed through the throne room again, even louder than before. He toppled sideways, unable to maintain balance with only one leg remaining. Dark blood pooled beneath him, spreading across the cracked stone floor in an expanding lake.

"No negotiation," Satou said flatly, his voice carrying absolute finality. "No mercy. No escape. No second chances. You had your opportunity to kill me. You failed. Now you get to be the helpless one. You get to be the victim. You get to experience what it feels like to have your power stripped away and your fate in someone else's hands."

His blade flashed one final time, and Merc Assault's left leg separated from his body.

Now the legendary assassin was truly helpless—limbless, bleeding out from multiple wounds that wouldn't close, his terrible power reduced to nothing. He lay on the cold stone floor like a discarded piece of meat, unable to move or defend himself or escape or do anything except wait for death.

Satou stood over him for a long moment, breathing hard as the berserker transformation fully reverted. The markings on his skin faded, his muscles shrank back to normal size though still impressive, the red glow left his eyes. But the cold fury remained, burning with absolute conviction.

Behind him, he heard footsteps. His companions had finally caught up, bursting into the throne room to find Satou standing over the broken body of Merc Assault.

"Brother..." Kelvin said, his voice a mixture of awe and concern. "Is it... is it over?"

Before Satou could answer, another figure stepped forward from where they'd been standing in the shadows near the throne room entrance, unnoticed during the intense battle.

Shadow.

The mysterious cloaked figure moved with purpose that was somehow different from their usual controlled movements, walking past Satou to stand directly over Merc Assault's dying body. Their movements carried an emotional weight that hadn't been there before, a tremor in their hands visible even through the concealing robes.

"Wait," Satou said, something in Shadow's posture making him hesitate despite his desire to finish this. "What are you—"

Shadow pulled back their hood, revealing their face for the first time since joining the party.

She was a dark elf. Female. Young—probably in her early twenties by human standards, though with elves that could mean she was anywhere from twenty to two hundred years old depending on lifespan.

Her skin was a deep charcoal gray, almost black in the dim light, with the characteristic smooth texture and faint luminescence of high elves. Her hair was silver-white, cut short in a practical style that framed a face with sharp, elegant features—high cheekbones, a pointed chin, a straight nose. Her eyes were a vivid violet color that seemed to glow faintly with their own light, and they were filled with tears that streamed down her cheeks unchecked.

Then she began removing the rest of her disguise with trembling hands. Her fingers moved in complex patterns, undoing transformation magic that had been layered over her form with incredible skill. Her body shimmered as reality warped around her, and suddenly she was different—

Taller by several inches, her frame more obviously feminine rather than the androgynous warrior's build that "Shadow" had displayed. The masculine mannerisms and bearing fell away, revealed as an illusion maintained through constant magical effort.

"You..." Merc Assault's voice was weak and fading, blood loss taking its toll, but there was recognition in it despite the pain. "You're... her daughter. Silviana's spawn."

The dark elf girl nodded, more tears falling to splash on the stone floor. She dropped to her knees beside the dying assassin, her violet eyes fixed on his face with an intensity that was painful to witness—years of hatred and grief and desperate need all compressed into a single moment.

"Father," she said, and her voice—no longer magically altered by transformation—was soft and melodic and utterly broken. "I'm here. I came back after all these years. I came to get my revenge for what you did to Mother."

Merc Assault started laughing despite his condition. It was a horrible sound, wet and gurgling from the blood filling his throat and lungs, but unmistakably laughter that carried genuine dark amusement. "Revenge? For that whore? She was weak. Pathetic. Unworthy of being mated to one such as I. A liability. I did what needed to be done to maintain my reputation and power."

The girl flinched as if physically struck, her whole body jerking backward. But she didn't look away from his face, forcing herself to meet his terrible eyes. "She loved you. She gave you everything she had. She bore your child despite knowing what you were. And you killed her. You trapped her in nightmares for three days until her mind broke and her heart gave out. Your own mate. The mother of your daughter."

"She. Was. Weak," Merc Assault repeated, emphasizing each word with cruel precision despite his fading strength. His voice carried absolute conviction even now. "Just like you, Sylvara. Always crying, always emotional, always useless. A disappointment from the moment you were born. Why are you wasting time talking? Just kill me already, you pathetic fool. Or are you too weak even for that simple task?"

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