Pain burned through Billy’s side, but he refused to let it slow him down. Blood dripped from his wound, but Reinhardt wasn’t unscathed either. The mercenary leader clutched his bleeding arm, his smirk never faltering.

  “You’re good, Knight. But you’re not a killer yet.”

  Billy exhaled, steadying himself. The whispers from the chaos blade pulsed in his mind, urging him to surrender to them. To let go. To become the monster Reinhardt believed him to be.

  He refused.

  Instead, he focused on Reinhardt’s stance. The way he shifted his weight slightly to his right. The tension in his fingers. He was planning something.

  Reinhardt adjusted his grip. “Time to end this.”

  He dashed forward, blade flashing. Billy met him head-on.

  Their swords clashed in a blur of movement, neither willing to back down. Billy’s chaos blade hummed, cutting through the air with deadly precision. Reinhardt, despite his injury, matched him strike for strike. The ruined throne room became their battleground, every step calculated, every attack lethal.

  Billy ducked under a horizontal slash, countering with a vicious stab. Reinhardt barely twisted out of the way, but Billy caught him with a shallow cut across the ribs.

  The mercenary grunted but didn’t falter. He rolled backward, flipping a hidden switch on the hilt of his sword.

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  Billy’s instincts screamed.

  The moment Reinhardt swung again, his blade split apart—revealing a hidden chain mechanism. The segmented sword snapped forward like a whip, catching Billy off guard.

  The tip of the blade wrapped around Billy’s wrist.

  Reinhardt yanked.

  Billy felt himself pulled off balance, his chaos blade nearly ripped from his grasp. But he reacted in time, twisting his body to lessen the force.

  Reinhardt smirked. “Didn’t see that coming, did you?”

  Billy’s expression darkened. He needed to end this.

  Ignoring the pain in his side, he surged forward, closing the distance between them before Reinhardt could reset his weapon.

  Reinhardt’s eyes widened. He tried to bring up his sword, but Billy was already inside his guard.

  A brutal punch to the jaw sent the mercenary leader staggering.

  Billy didn’t stop. He grabbed Reinhardt’s wrist, twisting it violently. With a sickening crack, the chain-blade fell from his grip.

  Reinhardt snarled, throwing a desperate punch. Billy caught it, twisting his arm behind his back and slamming him against the stone floor.

  A knee pressed into Reinhardt’s spine, pinning him. The chaos blade hovered inches from his throat.

  Reinhardt chuckled, even as he bled. “Hah… Looks like you win.”

  Billy didn’t move. The whispers in his mind screamed for blood. For death.

  One strike. That was all it would take.

  But instead of finishing it, Billy tightened his grip. “Who hired you?”

  Reinhardt groaned. “Figures… You’re still thinking ahead.”

  Billy applied more pressure. “Talk.”

  Reinhardt exhaled sharply. “Fine. I was just the middleman. Your real enemy? They’re already watching you.”

  Billy’s eyes narrowed. “Who?”

  Reinhardt’s smirk widened, even as blood dripped from his lips. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

  Billy felt the tension in Reinhardt’s body shift. A last-ditch move.

  Before the mercenary could strike, Billy slammed the hilt of his sword against the back of his head.

  Reinhardt went limp.

  The fight was over.

  Billy exhaled, standing up. He glanced down at the unconscious mercenary. Killing him would be easy. But he wanted answers more than a corpse.

  The war wasn’t over yet.

  End of Chapter 85