Cruzer didn't move—at least, not in the way Elara expected. Instead of dodging like he normally would, he tilted his body just slightly, allowing her strike to graze past him with minimal impact. It wasn't avoidance. It was something else.
Elara barely had time to process it before she felt a shift in the air around her. A ripple in space.
Then—darkness.
Not complete, not blinding, but a void-like distortion wrapped around her vision, making it impossible to tell where Cruzer was for a split second. It was disorienting, like her senses were being rewritten mid-combat.
And that was all the time he needed.
Before she could react, a sharp pressure brushed against the back of her neck—his sword. The cold metal didn't cut, but the message was clear.
"Dead."
Elara exhaled sharply, stepping forward to put distance between them before turning to face him. "Okay. What the hell was that?"
