𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧- 𝐒𝐞𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐒𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐥
Some people don't know what they have until it's gone.
But what about the ones who do know?
The ones who never took a damn thing for granted? Who tried their hardest to hold on, yet could only look helplessly...
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Tress moved like a storm incarnate, her crimson energy radiating off her in furious waves. The underground of Yoshiwara trembled beneath her wrath, stone pillars crumbling under the sheer force of her power. Her eyes, glowing with an otherworldly intensity, locked onto Noveno as she advanced, each step cracking the ground beneath her.
POW!
Noveno barely had time to react before she was upon him. A shockwave erupted as her fist met his gut, sending him crashing through several support beams, dust and debris exploding into the air. He let out a strangled gasp, his breath knocked clean from his lungs, but before he could even process the pain, she was already there again—unrelenting, merciless.
FWOSHHH!!!
With a flick of her wrist, her energy surged forward, forming jagged tendrils that speared toward him. Noveno twisted, shadows coiling around him in an attempt to block the attack, but it was useless. The sheer force of Tress's power burned through the darkness, striking him square in the chest.
"Gah!" A choked sound escaped his lips as he was hurled across the battlefield, his body colliding with the cavern wall so hard the stone caved inward.
Coughing up blood, Noveno forced himself to stand, his legs shaking beneath him. His shadows swirled, desperate to counter her relentless assault, but Tress was already airborne, her silhouette framed against the flickering light of destruction.
POW!
She descended like an executioner, her foot slamming into his skull, driving him back into the ground. The force sent shockwaves rippling through the chamber, cracks splintering outward like a spiderweb.
Tress loomed over Noveno's battered form, her crimson energy crackling violently around her, scorching the very ground beneath her feet. The underground chamber was in ruins—cracks webbed across the stone walls, rubble lay scattered, and the air was thick with dust and the acrid scent of blood.
Noveno lay on his back, half-conscious, his once-defiant smirk replaced by a grimace of pain. His body was wrecked—his ribs shattered, his face bruised and bloodied, his limbs barely responding to his will. And yet, despite the agony, his eyes still held that same burning hatred. That same resentment.
Tress exhaled, slow and steady, her gaze unwavering as she raised her arm. Her energy surged, condensing into a burning mass at her fingertips, ready to end it.
"This is what you wanted, isn't it?" she murmured, her voice cold, devoid of hesitation. "Then die, Noveno."
She brought her hand down—
But then—
"...!" Noveno's eyes snapped open.
His pupils constricted, and for the first time that night, something flickered in his gaze beyond fury—beyond hatred.
