## Liam''s Perspective


    The courtyard fell silent as Dashiell''s Blood Demon Technique fully manifested. His skin had turned a disturbing shade of crimson. Veins bulged across his forehead. His eyes glowed with murderous intent.


    I braced myself. This was no longer the arrogant aristocrat I''d faced moments ago. This was something far more dangerous.


    He attacked without warning. One moment he stood twenty feet away, the next his fist crashed into my chest.


    The impact sent me flying. I mmed through a marble pir. Stone fragments scattered across thewn. Pain exploded through my body. My Saintly Body Skill absorbed most of the blow, but not all of it.


    Before I could recover, Dashiell was on me again. His movements were impossibly fast. Each strike felt like being hit by a freight train.


    "Still think I''m overrated?" he snarled,nding another devastating blow to my ribs.


    I heard something crack. Tasted blood in my mouth. This was bad.


    From the corner of my eye, I saw Roderick ckthorne smiling with satisfaction. Beside him, Corbin Ashworth nodded approvingly.


    "The Blood Demon Technique is unbeatable," Ricardo Beaumont remarked loud enough for everyone to hear. "This Knight fellow was a fool to challenge a ckthorne."


    Dashiell seized me by the throat, lifting me off the ground. "Look at your precious hero now," he called out to the crowd. His voice had taken on an inhuman quality, deep and resonant.


    My vision began to blur. I wed at his hand, but his grip was like iron.


    "You''re nothing," he hissed in my ear. "A nobody who got lucky. Did you really think you could stand against generations of cultivated power? Against me?"


    He mmed me into the ground. The impact created a crater beneath my body. Pain radiated through every nerve. I struggled to breathe.


    Dashiell stepped back, arms spread wide for the audience. "Is this not what you came to see? The pretender put in his ce!"


    The aristocrats cheered. The reporters kept filming, though many looked ufortable at the brutality they were witnessing.


    I pushed myself to my knees, spitting blood onto the grass. My body felt broken, but my resolve remained intact.


    "Is that all you''ve got?" I wheezed.


    Dashiell''s smug expression faltered. "You still have fight in you? Impressive. Pointless, but impressive."


    He approached slowly, savoring the moment. "When I''m done with you, I''ll take special care of Isabelle. She''ll learn to appreciate a real man."


    Something snapped inside me. Not a bone or muscle, but something deeper. A dam holding back power I''d been afraid to fully embrace.


    "You will never touch her," I growled.


    The Dragon pendant against my chest grew hot. Energy surged through my veins, raw and primal. My vision sharpened, the world bing crystal clear. I felt my eyes change, knew they were now glowing crimson.


    The Divine Dragon Power was awakening.


    I rose to my feet. The pain didn''t disappear, but it no longer mattered. Energy crackled across my skin, golden light shot through with streaks of red.


    "What is this?" Dashiell stepped back, confusion breaking through his arrogance.


    I didn''t answer. Instead, I moved. My fist connected with his jaw before he could react. The impact sent him careening across the courtyard, crashing through a stone table.


    The crowd gasped in collective shock.


    "Impossible," Emerson Holmes whispered.


    Dashiell staggered to his feet, wiping blood from his mouth. "A lucky hit. Nothing more."


    I was on him before he finished speaking. My movements were fluid, precise, powered by something beyond my normal capabilities. Each strikended with devastating force. His Blood Demon skin cracked under my assault.


    Fear reced confidence in his eyes. He tried to counterattack, but I was everywhere and nowhere. His blood-red aura began to dim as my golden-red light grew brighter.


    "This can''t be happening," Roderick ckthorne shouted. "Dashiell, use your full power!"


    Always read at the source—*.


    Dashiell''s face contorted with rage and desperation. He gathered his remaining energy for a massive strike. I caught his fist mid-swing. The collision of energies sent shockwaves rippling across the courtyard.


    I squeezed, feeling bones crack beneath my grip. Dashiell howled in pain.


    "You threatened the woman I love," I said, my voice unnaturally calm. "That was your biggest mistake."


    I released his crushed hand, then delivered a palm strike to his chest. The blow sent him flying. He crashed into the wall of the vi, leaving a Dashiell-shaped imprint in the stone.


    The red glow of his Blood Demon Technique flickered and faded. He slumped to the ground, bleeding and broken.


    The courtyard fell silent. No one could believe what they were witnessing.


    I turned toward Isabelle. Her eyes were wide, filled with wonder and concern.


    "It''s over," I called out. "I''m taking Isabelle with me. Anyone who tries to stop us will end up like him."


    Dashiell''sughter cut through the silence. Ragged, desperate, tinged with madness.


    "Over?" he croaked, struggling to his feet. "This isn''t over until I say it is."


    Blood streamed down his face. One arm hung uselessly at his side. Yet his eyes zed with newfound determination.


    "You think you''ve won?" he spat. "You''ve forced my hand, that''s all. Now witness the true power of the ckthorne legacy!"


    He raised his good arm toward the sky. His voice changed, bing deeper, older somehow. Words in an ancientnguage spilled from his lips.


    The sky darkened. Clouds swirled overhead, turning blood red. A chill wind whipped through the courtyard.


    "What is he doing?" someone cried out.


    A figure pushed through the crowd. ise Rostova, the renowned weapons master. Her face had gone pale.


    "He''s summoning the Full Moon Demon de," she announced, her voice tight with fear. "Bryce ckthorne''s legendary technique. I''ve only seen it once before."


    "What does that mean?" I demanded, never taking my eyes off Dashiell.


    "It means we''re all in danger," she replied. "The de doesn''t distinguish between friend and foe. It consumes everything in its path."


    Above us, the blood-red clouds parted. A massive de began to materialize, its edge gleaming with malevolent light. The air itself seemed to scream as the weapon took shape.


    Dashiell''s eyes had gonepletely ck. "DIE!" he roared.


    The de started its descent, cutting through reality itself. I gathered my remaining strength, preparing to meet this new threat. The Dragon pendant burned against my skin, responding to the imminent danger.


    The massive de fell toward me, trailing crimson light in its wake. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. I had only one option.


    I faced the approaching weapon head-on, refusing to back down. Win or lose, I would meet my fate on my feet.