The streets of Fenwick were silent under the pale glow of the moon. Kyle’s footsteps echoed faintly as he trudged along the desote road, his breaths shallow, and his jaw clenched tightly. Midnight had swallowed the town, leaving only shadows and whispers of the wind. Ahead of him, two figures marched steadily, their armor catching glints of moonlight, a pair of kingdom soldiers.

  Kyle’s gaze fixated on them, his teeth grinding. He recognized their voices, still ringing in his ears like poison. These were the same men from the tavern, the ones who had mocked his mother and spoken about her in ways that made his blood boil. The anger in his chest burned hotter, swallowing reason whole. Currently, he was on the second stage of grief, anger, and his hands trembled with the need to act.

  The soldiers were nearing an alleyway when Kyle quickened his pace. His fists were clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. The moment the second soldier stepped into the alley’s shadow, Kyle struck like a viper, his fist crashing into the first soldier's back.

  “What the hell—” the soldier grunted, stumbling forward before spinning around, his hand reaching for his weapon.

  Kyle didn’t give them a chance to think. He shed out again, swinging wildly. His fists connected with armor and flesh, but his fury made him reckless. As his arm filed in desperation, his hand caught the rim of the helmet on one of the soldier’s heads. With a sharp tug, it dislodged, cttering loudly onto the cobblestones.

  “Son of a bitch!” the soldier roared, momentarily stunned as his face was exposed, pale and sweaty in the dim moonlight. He reached for his helmet, but Kyle was already moving, lunging forward to capitalize on the opening.

  The second soldier drew his sword, and with a quick movement, shoved Kyle against the rough stone wall of the alleyway. “You little bastard!”

  The alley was narrow, the walls closing in like a trap. The dim moonlight barely illuminated the scene, casting long shadows that danced with each movement.

  Kyle swung his fists wildly at the soldier, his knuckles scraping against the hardened leather of the man’s armor. The impact was futile, like striking a wall and the soldier didn’t even flinch.

  “Stupid little bastard,” the soldier growled, his gauntleted hand catching Kyle’s wrist mid-swing. With a brutal yank, he twisted Kyle’s arm behind his back, forcing a pained grunt out of him.

  Before Kyle could retaliate, the second soldier stepped in, smming the hilt of his sword into Kyle’s gut. The force drove the air from Kyle’s lungs, his knees buckling as he gasped for breath.

  His head snapped to the side as the other soldier, now bareheaded and livid, delivered a savage punch to his face. Blood spurted from his nose, spttering onto the dirt below. He stumbled, but the soldier holding his arm kept him upright, twisting harder until Kyle let out a strangled cry.

  “C’mon, scream louder,” the soldier taunted, shoving Kyle into the wall. The rough brick scraped against his cheek as he struggled to regain his footing. But they didn’t let up.

  A boot smashed into his ribs, sending him sprawling to the ground. Pain shot through his side, sharp and unrelenting. Kyle tried to crawl away, his fingers cwing at the dirt, but another kick caught him in the stomach, flipping him onto his back.

  The soldier grabbed Kyle by the colr, lifting him slightly off the ground, and smmed him back down with a thud. Kyle’s head hit the stone, stars exploding in his vision.

  “Think you’re tough, huh?” the other soldier spat, delivering a series of brutal punches to Kyle’s torso. Each blow felt like fire spreading through his body, his ribs creaking under the relentless assault.

  Blood dripped from his lips as Kyle coughed, struggling to suck in air. His arms filed weakly, but it was no use. They were stronger, faster, and merciless.

  "Piece of shit doesn’t even know when to quit," the first soldier muttered, stepping back to adjust his gauntlet.

  The second soldier kicked Kyle in the side again, and this time, Kyle rolled onto his stomach, curling into himself in a futile attempt to shield his body from further blows.

  "Pathetic," one of them hissed, spitting on Kyle's bloodied form.

  The beating felt endless, every punch and kick blurring into a haze of agony. Kyle's mind screamed at him to fight back, to do something, but his body refused to listen. His breaths came in shallow gasps, blood pooling beneath him as the soldiers stood over him, triumphant and cruel.

  Finally, they stepped away, one of them panting slightly. “Let’s leave him here to rot,” the soldier without his helmet said, wiping his knuckles on his tunic.

  Kyle barely registered their departure. His body was a broken mess, pain radiating from every inch of him. But beneath the agony, simmering in the darkest corner of his mind, was something else—rage. It burned brighter than the pain, fueling a resolve that refused to lose. Even if he lost his life, he wouldn’t die without killing these two bastards.The two soldiers were just about to reach the end of the alleyway. One of them brushing the dust off his tunic. "Why did this bastard even attack us?" he asked, his tone a mix of irritation and confusion.

  "Probably a drunkard who took us for someone else," the other, about to wear his helmet, replied with a sneer. "Maybe one of the guys who fucked his wife."

  The other soldier chuckled at the crude remark "Yeah, maybe. Idiot's lucky we didn't leave him with more than bruises—"

  He turned to his partner mid-sentence, but the words died on his lips. His eyes widened in sheer horror.

  A dagger protruded from his companion's throat, the bde glinting faintly in the pale moonlight. Blood streamed down the soldier's neck, soaking the colr of his armor as his mouth opened in a soundless gasp. The helmet he had been holding slipped from his hand and hit the cobblestones with a hollow cng, the noise cutting through the eerie quiet of the night.

  The remaining soldier stumbled back a step, his gaze darting to the figure standing behind his now-dead partner. Kyle stood there, the dagger still in his hand, his knuckles white around the hilt. His face was a mask of unrelenting rage, the usual weariness in his eyes now abze with fury.

  For a brief moment, the soldier froze, unable to comprehend how the battered, bloodied man they had left crumpled in the dirt had found the strength or the audacity to strike back. Kyle said nothing. He didn’t need to. The rage in his gaze spoke louder than words, promising that the fight wasn’t over yet.He had pulled out the dagger he had kept concealed, using it in a sudden, calcuted strike as a desperate surprise attack.Kyle staggered backward, his breathing bored, the blood of the fallen soldier pooling beneath him. His hand still gripped the dagger, its cold steel now coated in the crimson hue of the soldier's life. As the body hit the ground with a dull thud, the sound echoed through the alley like a distant drumbeat.

  The remaining soldier’s eyes widened with rage, they started to glow with a fiery red, and the air seemed to heat up around him. He clenched his fists, a red-hot glow slowly spreading from his forearms, igniting his hands in a fiery bze as his Shard ability surged to life. The fmes licked up his arms, intense and searing, his body radiating with the heat of his awakening power. His anger made the fire burn hotter.

  "You’ll regret that, bastard," the soldier hissed, voice seething with fury, as he raised his fiery fists toward Kyle.

  Kyle, despite his bruises, his bloodied face, and his body aching from the earlier beating, managed to form a crooked smirk. His free hand spun the dagger in his grip, the motion graceful, almost practiced like he had done it a hundred times before. He gripped the hilt tightly, positioning it as a proper dagger rather than a knife, the bde gleaming under the dim moonlight.

  The curse rune on his bde fred to life. Dark, ghostly symbols glowed faintly in the air around it, their eerie purple light flickering with sinister energy. Kyle's fingers tightened around the hilt, and with a single swipe of the air, the rune on the dagger activated fully. As it did, the weapon’s bde was wreathed in swirling, spectral fire, a dark fire that burned with an unnatural intensity. The fmes crackled in a way that made the night feel even colder, a sharp contrast to the soldier’s bzing heat. Kyle could feel the heat radiating from the weapon, as the fire rune coursed through the bde.

  It was no longer just a weapon, it was a tool of destruction. The dagger’s blue fire would melt through even the toughest of armors, and the curse would ensure that no wound inflicted by it would heal, the soldier’s body doomed to bleed out with every breath.

  "Let’s see if your fire can stand up to mine," Kyle whispered under his breath, his resolve hardening like steel.

  The soldier snarled, his fiery fists poised to strike. But Kyle was also ready with his ghostly bde.

  The soldier charged at Kyle with a roar, his fists trailing burning arcs of red hot fire through the air. Each punch was a thunderous explosion of power, aiming for Kyle’s head and chest, but Kyle’s reflexes were sharp. He twisted and weaved, ducking under the fmes that scorched the air above him. His bloodied body ached, but the adrenaline surged through him, pushing him to keep moving. He took a few hits, but recovered instantly.

  Kyle’s dagger sshed forward in a quick arc, the ghostly blue fire trailing in its wake. The bde whistled through the night air, but the soldier was faster than Kyle had expected. He sidestepped the strike, his fiery arms blurring as he blocked Kyle’s follow-up with the barest shift of his posture. The soldier grinned, confidence building as Kyle’s attacks grew more frantic.

  Each of Kyle’s attempts to nd a hit was evaded with unnerving ease. He was being pushed back, step by step, the weight of his injuries starting to catch up with him. His breathing was ragged, his muscles screamed with exhaustion, and every move he made seemed to take longer than the st. The soldier, on the other hand, was relentless, his fiery fists unyielding.

  Kyle stumbled backward, his back scraping against the cold stone wall of the alley. He had nowhere to go now. The soldier had him cornered.

  The soldier’s eyes narrowed, the fire in his fists fring brighter as he raised his arm for one final blow. His smile was cold, merciless.

  “This is it, you little shit,” the soldier muttered, his arm drawn back, preparing to unleash a punch aimed squarely at Kyle’s face. The fire around his fist bzed hotter, like the promise of a death blow.

  In that brief, flickering moment of confidence from the soldier, Kyle’s instincts took over. His mind cleared, the pounding of his heart slowed, and he slipped into the footwork his vision had taught him. With a sharp pivot, he ducked low, feeling the familiar pulse of movement flow through his legs, as if they had memorized the motion already.

  In the blink of an eye, Kyle moved behind the soldier, his dagger raised high, glowing with cursed fire. Without hesitation, he thrust the bde into the soldier’s back.

  The bde sank in effortlessly, the fire from Kyle’s dagger eating through the soldier’s armor and flesh. The ghostly blue fire burned its way through, and the soldier’s body jerked, his eyes widening in shock as the bde pierced his heart.

  The fire in his hands extinguished instantly, the fmes snuffed out like a candle in the wind. He colpsed forward, lifeless, his body crumpling to the ground with a wet thud.

  Kyle stood over him, gasping for breath. His vision blurred, and the weight of the fight seemed to crash down on him all at once. But he had done it. The soldier was dead.

  His heart pounded, his hand trembling as he pulled the dagger from the soldier’s body. The cursed fire flickered one st time before fading entirely, leaving the alley in darkness. Kyle wiped the sweat from his brow, his body screaming in pain, but a sense of grim satisfaction settled in his chest.But he didn’t stop.

  He kept on stabbing the lifeless body.