Kyon's First Person Point Of View.

  The air in the room thickens, the atmosphere shifting like the calm before a storm. My words hang in the air, suspended, and for a brief moment, the silence is suffocating. Conrad’s gaze sharpens, the weight of my statement settling in. A flicker of realization crosses his eyes, and he turns, slowly, to face Elijah. There’s something almost calculating in the way he looks at him—a brief, curious tilt of his head. It’s as if he’s trying to read the room, trying to gauge where Elijah stands. His eyes narrow, searching for something that wasn’t there before. A shift in loyalty? I can see it in his posture, his stance, his aura.

  The change is subtle, but it’s there. His presence expands, and I feel it like a pressure on my chest. He raises his aura, the intensity of it spilling out in tumultuous waves. The ox-red hue of his Power ripples from his skin, thick and suffocating, filling the room like an unseen force. The very air seems to tremble under its weight.

  Then, as if sensing the rising tension, Conrad reacts. His own aura surges.

  The difference is instant, like the temperature dropping a hundred degrees in an instant. It’s no longer just power at play—it’s something far darker, more dangerous. Elijah’s response comes immediately after, his words dripping with venom, the challenge clear in his tone.

  “Well, as you said, life is all about taking risks. And you, good sir, have overstayed your welcome in my city.”

  “Your city, ehn?” Conrad’s tone carries more curiosity than mockery, as if weighing the claim in his mind.

  I don’t disagree, but hearing it said out loud still makes me pause.

  But the change in the room is undeniable. The atmosphere shifts completely, the air now filled with a chilling cold I can almost taste. It’s not just the temperature—it’s the sense of something foreign, something alive in the room with us. The change is nothing like when Kadir arrived. That had been an announcement of power, a sudden intensity. But this? This is different. This is a presence that fills the room, freezes the air with its cold, makes it unbearable.

  I see it now—the smoke curling from Elijah’s mouth, the way his breath cuts through the air like ice through skin. His aura, a dark, biting force, presses against me, against all of us. It’s as though the room has plunged below zero, and yet, despite the cold, nothing is frozen. Nothing is safe. My limbs feel heavy, sluggish, like I’m wading through thick mud. Even breathing feels wrong, like I’m inhaling mercury instead of oxygen. The air is thick with something malignant. The kind of cold you can’t escape.

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  And Conrad? I turn my attention back to him, my eyes drawn to the shift in his gaze. His eyes, once cool and calculating, have turned a deep, dark red. I watch as six blood veins pop beneath his eyelids, the surge of his power visible in every flicker of his gaze. It’s a warning—one that sends a shiver down my spine.

  “I should have seen this betrayal. Very impressive, boy,” Conrad’s voice is like silk, but with an edge that cuts through the tension. “Now, Elijah, are you sure you wish to stand against me with this boy?”

  I can feel the weight of his words, the deliberate manipulation in his tone. He’s trying to provoke Elijah, trying to sow doubt, to pull at the strings of weakness he believes are there. It’s as if he thinks that by speaking, by twisting the situation with his words, he can unravel whatever alliance has formed between us.

  I want to roll my eyes at him.

  Can’t he just shut up?

  As though reading my thoughts, Elijah doesn’t hesitate. His voice is sharp, biting, and I can see the flicker of something in his eyes—something that matches the growing coldness in the room.

  “That will be quite enough, you snake. If anything needs saying, let it be through our fists.”

  I can almost feel the energy shift, like the crackling of a thunderstorm on the horizon. Every muscle in my body tightens, and I don’t even need to glance around the room to know that everyone is on edge.

  Conrad’s response is swift, his grin curling at the edges, the kind of smile that tells you nothing good is coming next.

  “Oh! I intend to do exactly that.”

  The entire room holds its breath, and the tension is palpable. I can sense the mental energy gathering, the weight of everyone’s power accumulating. Lawrence, Harvey, Sia—they’re all preparing for what’s about to come. I can feel it in the way their bodies tense, the subtle shifts in their postures as they draw upon their Echo Flux. It’s a struggle, I know. None of us have faced anything like this before, and while the others are seasoned, experienced, I can tell—this is new ground.

  Lawrence and Harvey, they’re hunters, veterans of this world. Lawrence’s kill count is easily in the forties, and Harvey? As the leader of Argent Sword, I can only guess his tally is far higher. Twice? Maybe three times the number? But then there’s Sia—who’s never faced anything quite like this. She’s good, sure, but this level of power is beyond anything she’s encountered.

  I glance over at her. She’s standing stiff, eyes narrowed, her fingers twitching, ready to act, but I know she’s out of her depth. This is no ordinary fight. This is something else entirely.

  And then there’s me.

  I’ve faced Vincent. I survived him, by sheer luck, a stroke of fortune that even I’m not sure I fully understand. But I can’t count on luck this time.

  I hope it hasn’t run out.

  The room vibrates with power, the very air itself humming in tension. I can feel it crawling under my skin, pressing against me, forcing me to acknowledge how far out of my league this is. I’ve faced powerful enemies before, but this is something else. Elijah’s power, Conrad’s power… it’s a storm, and it’s about to break.

  I glance at Conrad again, the dark red of his eyes fixed on Elijah. The way his aura shifts, coils like a serpent in the room, I can almost hear the hiss of it in my ears.

  I can feel the weight of the decision in the air—the choice we all have to make. There’s no going back now. There’s no escaping this.

  As I prepare myself, gathering every ounce of my focus, I wonder if any of us truly understand the consequences of what’s about to unfold.

  But there’s no time for hesitation.

  The moment is here.