Malik's face twisted in a mix of rage, confusion, and something else he didn't want to admit.
He could finish it. Right here. Right now.
But… he didn't. He couldn't bring himself to.
Something held him back. Not pity. Not mercy.
Fear.
Malik's gaze dropped slightly as his memory flashed back.
That barrier.
The one Grugrim had summoned mid-fight.
The one that had turned Malik's own devastating blow back on him like a slap from fate.
A humiliating, searing reversal.
He remembered the impact. The pain.
The moment he realized he'd been outplayed.
If not for his rapid regeneration, that single move would've ended him.
He would've died at the hands of a dwarf.
Now, standing over that same dwarf, half-dead and weaponless, Malik still hesitated.
Why?
Because he didn't know if Grugrim could do it again.
The thought crawled in the back of his mind like a shadow:
What if the barrier was still active? What if this was a trap?
