The Empire

Lyra had always known they'd eventually send someone to deal with her. She just never expected the guy to show up in person.

But there he was, right there in her line of sight, practically delivered to her doorstep.

She stalked him with the silent, deadly precision, her focus narrowing to a razor-sharp edge.

The man in the iron mask threw a glance over his shoulder, tension tightening his features. He was twenty meters ahead—too close for him to escape now.

Without warning, he skidded to a halt and spun around, unleashing an attack that arced through the air like a blade.

His dark energy seemed to twist reality itself, sucking the very life from the space between them.

Lyra fired back with a hail of ice spikes, but his shadowy force swallowed them whole, leaving nothing but emptiness.

Undeterred, she swiped her arm in a fierce arc, unleashing a green blade of energy that sliced through the air.