The snowfall thickened.
Jahil and Velira moved away from the Breakpoint perimeter—blending into the thinning crowds.
Velira pulled her hood higher, keeping her head down.
The relic core pulsed faintly against her chest.
"Think they’ll chase us?" Velira muttered.
"Probably," Jahil said.
"Great. Love that for us."
Behind them, Zephyra watched quietly—expression unreadable.
But she didn’t pursue.
Not yet.
They made it three blocks before the world tore open again.
A ripple cracked through the street—like glass shattering under pressure.
From a nearby alleyway, figures emerged—shambling, glitching, half-formed.
Failed glyph experiments.
Varron’s creations.
Jahil planted himself instinctively—shield forward.
Velira backed against the wall—hands trembling but ready to cast if needed.
The creatures moved fast—lurching, snapping, driven by unstable relic cores embedded in their flesh.
The first reached Jahil—
and bounced off his shield with a sickening crack.
The second tried to flank—
but Velira threw a basic snare glyph at its feet, tangling it just long enough for Jahil to hammer it down with a brutal shield strike.
Velira (panting):
"Why are they sending trash mobs after us?!"
Jahil (grim):
"Distraction."
Above them, a low hum built—wrong, electric.
A glyph portal tore open midair.
And from it—something worse dropped through.
Varron Kline.
Or... what was left of him.
His body twisted unnaturally—skin half-replaced by metallic grafts, relic implants pulsing under his flesh.
The teleportation had mangled him—
but his experimental biology was already rebuilding the damage grotesquely.
Torn muscle and synthbone knitted together as he reformed mid-air.
He landed heavily—sending a shockwave through the cracked street.
Velira (horrified):
"What... the hell?!"
Varron smiled.
It wasn’t human anymore.
"Found you."
Jahil moved forward instantly—shield raised, blade low.
Velira scrambled to his side, summoning a basic barrier glyph.
Varron flexed grotesquely, joints snapping back into place.
"You should have stayed buried in the ruins, Frozen Fortress," he sneered.
"But this time... no one’s coming to save you."
Jahil didn’t respond with words.
He moved.
The two clashed—
Jahil taking the initial blow with his shield, absorbing the kinetic impact.
Varron’s strength was monstrous—
not technique, just raw, experimental brute force.
Jahil countered cleanly—redirecting the next strike, driving a cryo pulse up into Varron's exposed ribs.
Velira circled cautiously—firing containment glyphs to slow Varron's movements.
One snared around his ankle—
But he simply tore it apart with a surge of corrupted energy.
Varron (grinning):
"Nice try."
He unleashed a brutal swing—catching Jahil across the side.
The force sent him crashing through a support column—
snow and concrete raining down.
Velira gasped—rushing forward instinctively—
But Varron was faster.
He pivoted toward her—grabbing at the relic core under her jacket.
Velira (screaming):
"Get away!"
She unleashed a desperate blast of raw glyph energy—
shoving Varron back a few feet.
But it wasn’t enough.
Varron recovered instantly—grinning wider.
He lunged.
And was intercepted mid-air by a spear of lightning.
Zephyra crashed into the scene—her relic spear crackling with high-pressure storm energy.
She spun mid-air—striking Varron across the chest hard enough to stagger him.
Zephyra (snarling):
"Target acquired."
Varron sneered—body shifting grotesquely.
"You think you can stop me?"
Zephyra didn’t answer.
She simply attacked.
Their battle raged across the ruined street—Zephyra’s precision strikes against Varron’s brute force mutations.
Jahil staggered upright, blood dripping from a shallow wound across his brow.
Velira helped steady him—
then froze—
because Zephyra’s next move sent Varron crashing down—
and she pivoted immediately—
charging straight toward Jahil.
Eyes blazing.
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