The clash of powers in the desolate valleys of Mount Pire had reached its peak. The once-pristine mountain range was now littered with debris, the sharp scent of venom and charred air thickening the already suffocating atmosphere. Adam's breaths came in short, ragged gasps as he faced the monstrous duo of Arajhan and Drakkel, the Children of Shadow who now stood between him and his mission.
Drakkel clung to her brother's side, her sobbing replaced by gleeful malice. "Arajhan!!! You are so mean! You let him bully me before you came out!!"
Arajhan held her gently, his scorpion tail curling protectively around her. "There, there, little sister. You know I only answer when you ask me to. I must admit, though..." He turned his cold, calculating eyes toward Adam. "...It's been a very long time since I've heard you cry like that."
Drakkel turned her sharp gaze back to Adam, her voice dripping with venomous glee. "You can tell, can't you, brother?"
Arajhan nodded with an eerie calm. "Yes. #3. Well, aren't I lucky." His expression darkened as he addressed Adam directly. "I remember fighting a wolf tracient who bore the same necklace and had the same mana as you... He was Hazël #2 back then."
Adam's narrowed eyes betrayed no emotion, but inside, his thoughts raced. He emerged from the scorpion tattoo on her back. Even after decapitation, she didn't die. A joint existence? Is that even possible?
Arajhan tilted his head at Adam's silence. "You are a rude one, aren't you? Never mind. Your identity doesn't matter." His aura flared suddenly, the pressure in the valley increasing to a suffocating level. The ground cracked beneath his feet as rocks crumbled into dust.
Adam stood firm.
"Why did you hurt my little sister?" Arajhan's voice was calm, but the menace in it was palpable.
Adam answered coldly, "Look around you. The bodies you see are my men—soldiers who fought for our cause, men under my command. Your sister killed them all because she thought it was 'fun.' That is unforgivable."
"If she says it's fun, then it's fun," Arajhan countered, his voice unwavering. "That is not a good enough reason to harm her."
Adam sighed. "I didn't expect you to understand. You're protecting your family, and I'm protecting mine."
Arajhan's eyes gleamed with malice. "Then you understand you'll have to pay for touching her."
Drakkel giggled, her threads twitching eagerly. "Arajhan! Ipekkan wants revenge!"
"Oh? Are you sure, little sister?"
"Yes, brother!"
"Well then," Arajhan said, a sinister smile creeping onto his face. "It can't be helped."
All of a sudden, a glowing symbol appeared on Arajhan's chest, and an identical one burned into existence on Drakkel's forehead. Adam's eyes widened slightly. That symbol... That's the crest of the White Fox clan.
Arajhan's voice dropped to a whisper. "Fısıltı..."
Far away, deep within Narn, a faint glow illuminated the icicle tear-drop pendant on The Shadow's robe. The Shadow let out a low grunt of acknowledgment, and Jarik tilted his head. "Oh? Is something interesting happening, master?"
The Shadow said nothing, but the shadowy figure beside them turned its gaze toward the distant battle between Adam and the siblings.
Back in the valley, the atmosphere shifted drastically. Drakkel's crimson threads turned a deep, pulsating purple, streaked with veins of crimson light. The intensity of her aura tripled, suffocating the area with oppressive energy.
"Ah... It's been so long since Ipekkan has been this free!" Drakkel squealed in delight.
Arajhan's scorpion tail struck the ground with a deafening crack. "Well then, Son of Abel Kurt. As #3 among us Hazëls, it would be disrespectful to hold back against you."
Adam's body tensed as the air around him trembled. The pressure was overwhelming, forcing him to steady his breath. So this is the power of the Arya of the Fox...
Before he could process it further, Arajhan's tail shot toward his face with incredible speed. Adam narrowly dodged, the strike obliterating a large section of the valley wall behind him.
"I must commend your Arcem," Arajhan said mockingly. "Even with the vast gap in our power, you can still keep up. But I have faced Kirin before..."
Raising his hands, he chanted, "Akrep Zehri: Predators Arena."
A massive dome began to materialize, dwarfing the mountain range and trapping Adam, Arajhan, and Drakkel within its glowing confines.
Adam instinctively tried to teleport out, but nothing happened.
"Now," Arajhan said with a dark grin. "There is no escape. Imagine this arena as a pocket dimension, a universe of my own making. You can't teleport between universes, can you?"
Drakkel cackled as her threads filled the dome, weaving a web of destruction. Adam deflected her attacks while simultaneously dodging Arajhan's brute strikes.
Despite his efforts, Adam's vision blurred, and his movements slowed. His body faltered, and he coughed up blood.
"You must be wondering what's happening to you," Arajhan said as he landed a powerful punch to Adam's abdomen, sending him crashing through a mountain peak.
Adam staggered to his feet, breathing heavily and clutching his side.
"My sister's threads, my venom, and the very air in this arena—they all corrode your body and mana. There's no escape."
Adam steadied himself, blood dripping from his lips. "So... The Shadow gave you this power. You and your sister share your strength, making you reliant on each other. As long as one of you lives, the other cannot die."
"Nice deduction," Arajhan said with a smirk. "But it won't help you."
Adam smiled faintly, gripping his staff. "Maybe not. But I can make sure she doesn't move again."
In a flash, he teleported behind Drakkel, his staff aimed for a killing blow.
"Do not underestimate me," Arajhan said coldly.
A flurry of scorpion tail strikes and webs assaulted Adam, tearing into his flesh and forcing him back. A massive scorpion silhouette loomed over Arajhan and Drakkel, their combined power suffocating the battlefield.
Adam collapsed to one knee, blood pooling beneath him. His vision dimmed, and his mana flickered like a dying flame.
"Pathetic," Arajhan said. "You couldn't even draw out Kirin's full power. What a disappointment."
"Brother!" Drakkel exclaimed. "Before we kill him, I want to kill that goat over there. He insulted me!"
Arajhan waved a hand. "Do as you please, sister."
Drakkel's threads darted toward Karadir's unconscious body.
"No... Don't... touch him," Adam croaked, his voice weak.
Drakkel grinned wickedly. "Watch me break that promise, little wolf."
As the threads neared Karadir, Adam screamed, "NO!"
In that instant, something snapped inside him.
The entire arena trembled as a violent storm of wind and blue light exploded from Adam's position. Drakkel shrieked, recoiling in fear, while Arajhan steadied himself, his eyes wide in disbelief.
"What... sort of mana is this?" Arajhan muttered, his voice tinged with fear.