Chapter 24 – Duel in the Ember Ring
The battlefield was chaos—clashing steel, screaming warhorns, and spells flaring like suns. Yet amid the tempest, a ring of scorched earth formed around Jean.
She stood still, Radiant Fang gripped in both hands.
Opposite her, striding with arrogance and precision, was Lord Veyr, one of Sylas's elite sword-lords. A towering man clad in black armor, his blade curved and burning with crimson aura.
They called him the Ember Wraith, undefeated in fifteen duels, and the executioner of three would-be heirs.
He raised his sword in salute. "You should have stayed in the temple, little Emissary."
Jean met his eyes. "And you should've chosen the right side of history."
He lunged.
His aura ignited the very ground, and his speed was monstrous. Each swing was a hammerblow of flame and death. Jean deflected, spun, ducked under a cleave that shattered a boulder behind her.
The Ember Ring was theirs alone now. Warriors circled but dared not enter. Even Kael, nursing his wound, watched from the outer line.
Jean countered—Radiant Fang blazing with divine light, the sword slicing into Veyr's defense with pure precision.
Clash. Step. Parry. Riposte.
The two danced through destruction.
Veyr snarled, pressing hard. "I was Sylas's first. I bled for him. You're just a child with a glowstick."
Jean's eyes lit brighter. Her aura surged.
"No," she said. "I am the will of Celeste. The light that answers darkness."
She feinted a high strike, dropped low—and pierced through his aura, slicing upward in a clean, arcing blaze.
Veyr's eyes widened as Radiant Fang burst from his shoulder. Light exploded from the wound.
He fell to one knee.
"Tell Sylas," Jean said, blade against his throat, "his fire can't burn what is eternal."
She turned away.
Behind her, Veyr collapsed.
Her troops roared.
The tide turned.
And the Battle for Luthmere entered its second, bloodier stage.
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