The boy moved first.

Chunks of earth tore free from the street and screamed toward Noel in rapid succession, compacted and sharpened into crude missiles by raw force rather than finesse. Noel shifted aside almost lazily, the projectiles shattering past him and exploding against ruined stone. He didn't even need to blink.

For a fleeting moment, the pattern stirred a familiar memory.

Marcus.

Earth magic was everywhere. Anyone could throw stone. But at the level Marcus fought, it became something else entirely—pressure, timing, control sharp enough to kill in a single misstep. Noel had spent countless hours sparring against that element, learning how it flowed, where it hesitated, where it overcommitted.

And that was when he noticed it.

The boy had power. Ascendant-level power, dense and forceful, the kind that could overwhelm most opponents outright. But his control was rough. Movements were direct, reactive, driven by compulsion rather than intent. Strong—but unrefined.

Noel's eyes narrowed.

'So that's it,' he thought. 'One of the North Islands' heavy hitters.'

It made sense. If the Second Pillar wanted enemies erased quickly, this was exactly the kind of weapon she'd point at them. And Noel, after everything he'd done, wasn't just another target. He was the target.

Another volley came.

Noel planted his foot and spoke without raising his voice. "Frost Wall."

Ice surged upward from the ground, thick and solid, forming a wide barrier just in time. Earth slammed into it with violent force, cracking the surface but failing to break through. The impact sent tremors through the wall, but it held—long enough.

Behind it, Selene didn't hesitate.

She raised her hand and unleashed "Glacial Thrust."

Sharp lances of ice surged forward in rapid succession, their trajectories precise. They didn't aim for flesh. They didn't aim for vitals. Each spike targeted the same thing.

The chains.

Metal rang out as ice struck steel.

Clink!

Clink!

The sound echoed through the street, cold and final.

The chains didn't break.

Selene's jaw tightened. For just a moment, frustration flickered across her expression. There was no anger in it, no bitterness—but something quieter, heavier. A memory of when she'd once been stronger than Noel. When she'd set the pace.

She wasn't upset that he'd surpassed her.

She just didn't want to fall behind.

Noel felt it without looking. He lowered his voice, more to himself than anyone else. "So it really is just me…"

His grip tightened slightly around Revenant Fang. 'Or is there something else?' he wondered. 'Some condition I'm missing?'

The chains rattled again, louder this time, as the controlled pair advanced.

Selene adjusted her stance, breath steadying as she shifted tactics. Frost spread outward from her boots as she raised her hand and spoke, "Frigid Bloom."

The ground answered at once. Pale ice flowers burst from the cracked stone, petals unfolding in jagged spirals as cold flooded the street. The spell wasn't meant to pierce or shatter. It crept instead, reaching for ankles and legs, seeking to lock movement rather than end it.

The boy reacted instantly.

The earth beneath his feet rose in a rough slab, lifting both him and the chained girl upward just enough to avoid the spreading frost. Soil packed together under sheer force, forming an uneven platform that cut them off from the freezing ground. It wasn't elegant, but it worked.

That was when the girl moved.

Heat surged without warning as she thrust her hands forward and unleashed "Flamethrower." A roaring stream of fire slammed into the ice barrier Noel had raised earlier. Steam exploded outward, hissing violently as the Frost Wall began to melt, cracks racing through it as chunks slid away and collapsed.

Noel didn't wait for it to fail completely.

As the ice thinned and vision blurred with steam, he murmured, "Shadow Step."

His form dissolved mid-breath, slipping away while the wall was still breaking apart. There was no trace of where he went, no ripple to follow. One instant he was there. The next, only fog and falling water remained.

He emerged behind them.

Noel moved fast but held back, twisting his grip on Revenant Fang and striking with the pommel instead of the blade, aiming for the base of the boy's neck. A clean hit. Enough to knock him out.

Or it would have been.

The ground exploded upward between them as a pillar of earth surged into existence. The impact caught Noel mid-motion and hurled him back through the air, his body twisting before he hit the ground hard and slid several meters across broken stone.

He rolled once and came up on a knee, teeth clenched.

Ascendant.

A step below him, but close enough to matter.

Noel wiped dust from his mouth and exhaled slowly. He could end this in seconds if he cut loose. He knew that. But the chains around them rattled with every movement, a reminder that these weren't enemies by choice.

He lowered his stance, eyes sharp.

'I can't overpower them,' he thought. 'I need them to make a mistake.'

To drop their guard.

Without breaking them in the process.

"Selene!" Noel shouted.

Their eyes met across the fractured street. Emerald green locked with cyan, and there was no hesitation in her response. Selene lifted her hand and spoke with calm precision, "Gravitational Hold."

The air seemed to thicken. Pressure crashed down over the two chained figures, bending the space around them as gravity surged like an invisible tide. Stone groaned. The boy staggered, boots scraping against the ground as he forced his hands downward, teeth bared.

Earth answered him.

A rough shell rose from beneath his feet, folding inward around both of them. Layers of compacted soil hardened into a crude cocoon, absorbing the crushing weight bit by bit. Cracks spread along its surface, deepening with every second as the gravity pressed harder, relentless and patient.

Noel moved closer, muscles coiled, every sense focused. The moment it broke, he would be there. Revenant Fang was ready, his grip tight, already calculating angles and force. Just enough to drop them. No more.

Behind him, Clara shifted her stance, water mana gathering around her palms. Her eyes stayed on the girl bound in chains, waiting for the instant fire flared again so she could smother it.

The shell finally gave way.

It collapsed with a heavy, hollow crash, chunks of earth falling apart under the strain.

There was nothing inside.

Noel's breath caught. His eyes snapped downward, then wide.

The ground shifted.

They burst out from behind.

"Careful!" Noel shouted.

Flames surged in a sudden arc as the girl lashed out, heat tearing through the air. Clara raised her arms, water snapping into shape just in time to blunt the attack, steam exploding outward as fire met resistance. She staggered back, coughing, balance breaking for a split second.

That was enough.

The boy slammed his staff into the ground and the earth answered with brutal speed. A jagged force rippled beneath Clara's feet and struck upward, hurling her back and stealing the strength from her legs. She hit the ground hard and didn't move.

"Clara!" Selene cried, twisting away just in time to avoid the follow-up strike aimed at her.

The chains rattled violently as the controlled pair turned again, breathing heavy, eyes empty of choice.

Noel froze for a fraction of a second.

Clara was down.

His restraint had cost them.

He straightened slowly, mana stirring deeper now, shadows tightening around his feet as his jaw clenched.

He had held back.

But now someone had paid the price.

And the question he could no longer ignore pressed in hard and unforgiving.

Could he afford mercy anymore?

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