HPDBC Chapter 685 Strike 1
Chapter 685 Strike 1
Behind him, the gravelly arena floor shifted as Cade's energy began to hum faintly. Heissman's eyes flicked to the side, catching the faint glow of Cade's power coalescing into a spiraling vortex. Cade hurled it with precision, the crackling energy arcing toward Heissman like a meteor. The lieutenant twisted, his saber slashing downward to absorb the brunt of the attack, but the explosion sent him skidding back, dust and debris scattering around him.
"You're slipping," Osalf said, his blade steady as he advanced. "Still trying to prove something. Still failing."
"Shut up!" Heissman spat, his voice trembling with fury as he charged again. His strikes came faster now, his saber cutting through the air with reckless abandon. But for all his speed and ferocity, his movements were sloppy, his swings wild and uncoordinated. Osalf deflected each strike with practiced ease, his blade moving like a whisper against Heissman's increasingly desperate attacks.
The lieutenant's breathing grew ragged, his movements faltering as the relentless pressure began to take its toll. Cade launched another burst of energy, the spiraling vortex slamming into the ground near Heissman and forcing him to stumble. Xuán Wěi's wraiths surged forward, their ghostly forms darting in from the shadows to harry him from all sides. Heissman swung wildly, his saber cutting through the spectral figures, but their attacks kept coming, relentless and unyielding.
"You don't know when to stop, do you?" Osalf said, his tone sharper now as he stepped forward. "All that anger, all that desperation—what are you even fighting for, Heissman? Pride? Validation?"
Heissman's face twisted with rage, his saber slashing upward as he roared, "I'm fighting to show you what you really are! Weak!"
Osalf sidestepped the strike, his blade catching Heissman's and twisting it away with a sharp motion. The lieutenant stumbled, his footing unsteady as he tried to recover. Osalf didn't let up. His blade moved like lightning, striking at Heissman's defenses with a precision that left no room for error. Each strike forced the lieutenant further back, his balance faltering as his movements became more erratic.
"You've spent your whole life trying to prove you're better than me," Osalf said, his voice cutting through the chaos like a blade. "But all you've done is show how afraid you are. Afraid of failing. Afraid of being forgotten."
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"I—" she started, her voice trembling as she steadied herself. "I failed... They got through me. Ty and JJ... I couldn't stop them."
The King chuckled softly, the sound both warm and chilling. "That is fine," he said, his tone soothing but unmistakably firm. "Omina is dealing with them as we speak. Your failure does not concern me. What does concern me is your resolve."
She blinked, confusion flickering across her face. "My... resolve?"
The King extended a hand toward her, his golden aura shimmering faintly. "I have a present for you," he said, his smile widening. "But first, will you take my hand?"
Yun-Jin hesitated, her gaze flickering between his outstretched hand and his piercing eyes. Her heart pounded in her chest as doubts and questions swirled in her mind. "Before I do... is it true?" she asked softly. "Some of our history... is it fabricated?"
The King's smirk deepened, and for a moment, the air seemed to grow heavier. He stepped closer, his voice a whisper that cut through the silence. "Everything," he said, his words deliberate and measured, "is as it should be."
Yun-Jin's hand trembled as she reached for his, her hesitation melting into determination. She grasped his hand, the golden aura enveloping her entirely as the chamber seemed to ripple and dissolve around her. The world shifted in an instant, the sensation disorienting yet oddly comforting. When her vision cleared, she was no longer in the chamber.