## Liam''s Perspective


    The world slowed to a crawl as Josiah''s Heaven Splitting Palm technique rushed toward Caspian. Golden-red energy crackled through the air, promising certain death.


    I couldn''t move. Couldn''t help. My body remained impaled by those damned light columns while I struggled with the fusion of energies inside me.


    Caspian didn''t flinch. He stood his ground, arms spread wide, facing annihtion head-on.


    The impact was catastrophic.


    The st threw Caspian across the chamber like a broken doll. His body smashed through two stone pirs before crumpling against the far wall. Blood sprayed in an arc, painting the cracked stone crimson.


    "CASPIAN!" I screamed.


    Josiah dusted his hands, satisfaction evident in his cold smile. "Finally. Now for you, Knight."


    He turned toward me, but froze mid-step. Behind him, impossibly, movement stirred in the rubble.


    Caspian Kane rose once more. His body was a ruin—chest caved in, right arm hanging at an unnatural angle, face more blood than skin. Yet somehow, he stood.


    "How?" Josiah whispered, genuine fear creeping into his voice.


    "You still don''t understand loyalty," Caspian said, his voice a wet rasp. The golden glow of his temporary enhancement had vanishedpletely. "Real loyalty isn''t to a family name or position."


    He staggered forward, each step leaving bloody footprints on the stone floor.


    "It''s to principles," he continued. "To promises made."


    Josiah backed away, stunned by this impossible persistence. "You should be dead ten times over!"


    "Probably," Caspian agreed with a broken smile. "But I watched Liam fight the Eight-Armed Demon at half strength and still win. If he can endure that much for Lady Isabelle, I can endure this." <small ss="story-note-vis">Рubliсаtiоn соurtеsy оf М|V|LЕ-МРYR.</small>


    My heart clenched at his words. I had never truly known where Caspian''s loyaltiesy. Now I understood—they had always been with Isabelle, and by extension, with me.


    Meanwhile, the fusion process within my body reached a critical point. Yin and Yang energies spiraled together, creating something new and powerful. But it wasn''t enough yet. I needed more time.


    Josiah''s face twisted with rage. "I''ll obliterate you sopletely there won''t be anything left to stand up!"


    He gathered even more devastating energy than before, his hands glowing with blinding light.


    But Caspian didn''t try to dodge or block. Instead, he did something unexpected—he lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Josiah in a bear hug.


    "What are you—let go!" Josiah roared, struggling against Caspian''s grip.


    "No," Caspian grunted, tightening his hold despite his broken body. "You''ll have to kill me first, and I won''t make it easy."


    Josiah''s prepared technique destabilized as Caspian locked him in ce. "You''re insane!"


    Blood bubbled from Caspian''s lips as he smiled. "Just buying time."


    Josiah drove his knee into Caspian''s shattered ribs repeatedly. Each impact produced a sickening crunch, yet Caspian''s grip only tightened.


    "Let GO!" Josiah screamed, hisposurepletely shattered.


    "Can''t do that," Caspian wheezed. "Lady Isabelle would be disappointed."


    In that moment, I saw someone else arrive—Phoebe Reeves slipped through a side entrance, her eyes wide at the scene before her. She spotted me impaled by light columns and immediately rushed over.


    "Liam! Hold on!" She knelt beside me, examining the columns. "These are energy constructs. I might be able to disrupt them."


    She ced her hands on the nearest column, channeling her energy into it. The light flickered but remained solid.


    "It''s not working!" she hissed in frustration. "They''re too powerful for me to break."


    "It''s okay," I whispered. "Focus on protecting yourself. Things are about to get messy."


    Across the chamber, Josiah had resorted to hammering his fists directly into Caspian''s back. Each blow would have killed a normal man, yet somehow Caspian maintained his death grip.


    Blood poured from Caspian''s mouth now, dripping onto Josiah''s pristine robes. "Still here," he taunted weakly.


    Josiah''s face contorted with humiliation and fury. A Martial Marquis of his standing, held in ce by a dying man. It was unthinkable.


    "YOU ARE NOTHING!" he roared, channeling destructive energy directly into Caspian''s body.


    Caspian''s back erupted in a spray of blood as the energy tore through him. Still, his arms remained locked around Josiah.


    Meanwhile, inside my body, the fusion elerated. Light and darkness swirled together, bing something greater than either alone. I was close—so close to breakthrough.


    Phoebe continued trying to disrupt the light columns. "Just hold on, Liam. I won''t leave you."


    "Watch out for Josiah," I warned her. "If he breaks free from Caspian—"


    "I know," she cut me off. "But I won''t abandon you."


    Josiah''s fury reached new heights as he continued failing to break Caspian''s grip. "You''re already dead! Your heart has stopped beating! How are you still holding on?!"


    Indeed, Caspian''s eyes had gone ssy, his skin ashen. Yet his arms remained locked in ce, fueled by sheer will even as life fled his body.


    "Michael Ashworth once told me," Caspian whispered, "that true strength isn''t about power. It''s about what you''re willing to endure for what matters."


    Josiah screamed in frustration, abandoning all pretense of control. He mmed his elbow into Caspian''s spine with enough force to shatter stone.


    The sound of breaking bone echoed throughout the chamber. Caspian''s body sagged, but his arms—impossibly—maintained their grip.


    I felt the fusion inside me reachpletion. Energy surged through my newly cleared meridians, filling me with incredible power. The breakthrough was happening!


    Josiah must have sensed it too. His head snapped toward me, eyes widening in rm. "NO!"


    With one final, desperate effort, he channeled all his strength into a devastating explosive burst that finally tore Caspian''s arms away.


    Caspian''s body flew backward, hitting the ground with a hollow thud. This time, he didn''t rise.


    Josiah stood there, panting, his immacte robes now torn and bloodied. He''d expended considerable energy breaking free.


    "He''s gone," Phoebe whispered, tears streaming down her face as she nced at Caspian''s broken form.


    "He bought me enough time," I replied, feeling the new power surging within me. Just a few more seconds and I could break these columns.


    Josiah seemed to realize this too. His eyes darted around the chamber, then locked onto the dozen or so Ashworth family guards who had been watching from the periphery.


    "Go, kill Liam Knight now, no matter what!" he shouted, desperation clear in his voice. "He must not step into the Martial Marquis realm!"


    The guards hesitated for only a moment before drawing their weapons and rushing toward me. Phoebe stood up, cing herself between us, but she was only one person against many.


    Behind them all, Josiah''s face twisted into a cruel smile. "Toote, Knight. You were so close, but that''s all you''ll ever be—close."


    My breakthrough teetered on the edge ofpletion as the first guards reached us, weapons raised to strike.