The arrow, glowing with a golden hue, sliced through the night air like a comet, its tip locked on the shadow figure. THWIP! The impact was devastating, sending a shockwave through the air. The force of the strike tore through the figure’s armor, piercing deep into its chest.

  For a brief moment, time seemed to slow. The shadow figure’s body jolted, then staggered back as a wave of energy rippled from the point of impact. Vines, thick and alive, erupted from the ground, wrapping around the figure’s limbs, entwining and binding it with a supernatural strength. The shadow struggled, its limbs jerking and pulling against the restraints, but the vines held firm, tightening and ensuring it could not move.

  Adrian’s eyes never wavered. His hands moved with smooth precision. He gripped his two pistols, the cold metal fitting perfectly in his palms. Without hesitation, he clicked the buttons on his gun, ejecting the empty clips and swiftly pulling fresh ones from his belt.

  His movements were a blur, the clips spinning through the air and snapping back into pce with a click as he smoothly reloaded both guns.

  The figure remained bound, struggling but unable to break free. Adrian gnced at it, his lips curling into a smirk. "You're done," he muttered under his breath.

  In a single, fluid motion, he raised both guns, aiming them directly at the shadow figure’s head. With deadly accuracy, he pulled both triggers.

  BANG! BANG! BANG!

  The shots echoed across the night, the sound of the gunfire deafening. The bullets tore through the figure’s head and chest, each shot nding with perfect precision, creating small, violent bursts of dark energy as they struck their target. The shadow figure’s body jerked violently with each hit, but it was already too te. The vines held it in pce, and there was nowhere for it to escape.

  BANG! A final shot rang out, hitting the figure’s head, and this time, it slumped forward, completely still. The vines that had once held it now seemed to tighten one st time, ensuring it could never rise again.

  Adrian lowered his guns slowly, the smoke trailing from the barrels, his face expressionless. He clicked the empty clips free and slid them back into their holsters, the cool night air now carrying the stillness of the aftermath.

  The shadow figure was down, and Adrian had once again emerged victorious.

  Lirien’s voice broke through the chaos as she shouted, “Adrian!” Her eyes widened in shock as she prepared to release another arrow, but her shout came too te.

  In a fsh of motion, the shadow figure spun his spear, his eyes glowing with cold malice. Before Adrian could react, the spear pierced through the side of his stomach, the sharp, dark energy cutting through his flesh. Adrian gritted his teeth, feeling the cold steel tear through him. The shadow figure yanked the spear out violently, and before Adrian could steady himself, the figure kicked him in the back with bone-crushing force.

  WHAM! Adrian flew through the air, his body smming into the trunk of a nearby tree, the impact sending a shockwave through his body. He groaned in pain, trying to push himself up, blood leaking from the wound in his side. The pain was searing, but he couldn’t afford to slow down now.

  Lirien, her face painted with concern, rushed to Adrian’s side, not wasting a moment. She drew three arrows in quick succession, firing them at the shadow figure. The arrows shot through the air, their tips gleaming in the moonlight.

  But the shadow figure was faster. With a deft flick of his wrist, he swung his spear in a wide arc, knocking each of the arrows out of the air with terrifying precision. Lirien’s heart sank as she realized the shadow figure was coming for them.

  Adrian, barely able to move, watched the figure approach with chilling determination. His fingers twitched around the handle of his gun, but the pain in his side was overwhelming. He couldn’t move fast enough to shoot.

  Lirien, however, wasn’t done yet.

  She pulled back her bowstring with an elegant fluidity, her golden eyes narrowing with determination. “Lindariel!” she whispered, her voice like a soft song carried by the wind.

  A melody seemed to fill the air around them. In that moment, time seemed to slow. The air shimmered with a light that echoed the essence of Elven grace. Arrows appeared in rapid succession, as if summoned by the very song of the forest. Lindariel, the Elven rain of arrows, fell from the sky like a beautiful cascade of light. Each arrow was a perfect work of art, their trajectories like the strings of a harp being plucked by invisible hands.

  The shadow figure, unyielding, didn’t falter. With his spear raised, he moved with unnatural speed, twirling it in a defensive maneuver. As the arrows rained down, he swung the spear, the bck aura around the tip of the bde glowing with an eerie intensity.

  The figure’s spear moved like a blur, parrying each arrow with deadly precision. The arrows seemed to disintegrate upon contact, the bck aura of the spear cutting through them like a bde through paper. Despite the rain of arrows, the shadow figure kept walking toward them, undeterred.

  Adrian’s vision blurred as he struggled to lift himself from the tree’s embrace. He could barely hear Lirien’s voice calling his name through the haze of pain, but his mind was focused. The figure was coming closer, its menacing steps closing the distance.

  Lirien’s hand was shaking, the strain of her powerful attack taking its toll. She reached for more arrows, but the shadow figure was already too close, the aura of darkness around him growing stronger with every step.

  "Weapon system," Adrian said, his voice sharp despite the pain.

  "Automatic first aid kit," he added.

  The system shimmered, dispying the item in front of him. He clicked it. The sleek device activated, hissing as it injected into his wound—flesh sealing, pain dulling, strength returning.

  But then—

  BOOM!

  The ground under the shadow figure exploded in a violent burst of smoke and fme. It was Adrian's trap—a ndmine he bought before being knocked into the tree.

  "...Heh," he smirked, eyes burning. "Thought I’d forgotten?"

  The figure stumbled slightly, smoke rising around him. Adrian stood tall, looking at his twin guns.

  He clicked the release—both shimmered out of existence.

  "It’s no use," he muttered. "It’s payback time."

  Then, calmly—

  "Weapon system."

  Dozens of weapons flickered silently into view around him. He didn't say a word. Just stared ahead, eyes locked, body ready.

  One by one, he began selecting. Quiet. Focused. Deadly.

  Adrian stood tall, blood still drying on his side, but his grin was sharper than ever.

  “Only shoot… when you feel I’m in real danger,” he said to Lirian without turning.

  Lirian gave a silent nod, already drawing one arrow, steady, deadly, patient like the forest wind before a storm.

  Adrian opened the weapon system again, scrolling, eyes narrowing with intent. Then—click. A soft shimmer in the air.

  With a metallic clink, a weapon dropped into his hand—brutal, elegant, ancient.

  He flexed his fingers into the steel and turned to the shadow figure.

  “You know what this is?” he said, lifting his hand, the weapon glinting in the fading light.

  “Tekko-Kagi,” he continued, voice low and dangerous.

  “Back on Earth, ninja used this thing to tear through armor, climb walls… or just rip someone's throat out in silence.”

  The bdes jutted out like serrated cws along his knuckles, each one honed to a razor edge. He gave a slow, deliberate spin of his wrist. The bdes caught the light—lethal and beautiful.

  “I figured... since bullets don't do the trick, let’s take it old school.”

  He rolled his shoulders, then dropped into a stance—low, coiled, explosive.

  The shadow figure simply responded by shifting into a stance of his own. His bck spear gleamed with that eerie dark aura again, but his face—still half-covered in shadow—twitched in what might’ve been approval.

  The tension spiked.

  Two warriors. No more distance. No more tricks.

  Hand to hand.

  And the forest held its breath.

  The shadow figure surged forward—fast, silent, a spear thrust like a bck fsh aiming straight for Adrian’s chest.

  But Adrian anticipated it.

  He twisted his body just enough for the spear to miss his heart, the tip grazing his side with a hiss of torn fabric and blood.

  Schhhh—

  In that same motion, Adrian's cwed gauntlet—gleaming with steel bdes—shed upward across the shadow’s neck.

  Slice.

  “Throat,” Adrian muttered coldly. “That’s your air. Lose that, and you can’t chant, can’t scream... can’t breathe right.”

  The shadow stumbled, but Adrian wasn’t done. He flowed behind him, almost dancing, and drove one cwed fist straight into the shadow’s back.

  “Kidney,” he growled.

  “One of the softest targets. Drops your strength. Filters your blood—guess yours is all shadow.”

  Without hesitation, he twisted, switching angles.

  His second cw smmed between the ribs, a sharp upward thrust under the floating rib.

  “Sixth rib entry. Hits your diaphragm,” Adrian expined grimly.

  “Makes every breath a battle. Hurts like hell.”

  Then, with a flick of both wrists, he dragged the bdes free in opposite directions, stepping back just in time to avoid a wild retaliatory swing.

  The shadow figure staggered forward, bck mist pouring from the deep wounds. He turned, slower now—but still radiating menace.

  Adrian’s breath was steady.

  “You bleed just like the rest.”

  "And you explode like the others," Adrian said, his voice cold and final as he clicked a red button on his wrist.

  The five small mines that had been stealthily pnted on the shadow figure’s body began emitting a sharp, pulsating sound—each one counting down to the inevitable.

  Beep-beep-beep-beep!

  Before the shadow figure could react, the first mine detonated with a thunderous BOOM, the explosion sending a shockwave through the air. The force of it shattered the figure's armor and sent pieces of debris flying in all directions.

  The second mine exploded almost immediately after, creating a violent ripple that staggered the shadow figure.

  Then came the third.

  BOOM!

  The fourth followed suit.

  BOOM!

  Finally, the fifth mine erupted with a devastating force, the entire area shaking as the figure was overwhelmed by the explosions. The once menacing silhouette of the shadow figure was reduced to little more than charred remnants, smoldering on the ground.

  Adrian stood calmly, watching the destruction unfold, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. The battlefield was quiet now, save for the faint echoes of the st explosion.

  But just as the dust from the final explosion began to settle, a faint cng echoed through the air.

  Adrian’s eyes narrowed. The shadow figure’s body was still moving, the shattered remnants of its form slowly knitting themselves together. The air around it began to shimmer with a dark, ominous energy, as if the very shadows were giving life back to the broken figure.

  Pieces of bckened armor began to shift and reform, seemingly melding into the figure’s body like liquid metal. The sound of grinding metal filled the silence as the shadow figure's form grew more solid, more ominous.

  Adrian’s grip on his weapon tightened. He could feel something... different this time.

  The shadow figure’s glowing eyes flickered open, a cold, menacing light radiating from within. It stood tall again, fully reformed—its once broken body now stronger, more intimidating than ever.

  Adrian clenched his fists, preparing himself for what was to come.

  And then, without a word, the figure raised its weapon once again, its movement slow, deliberate, as though savoring the moment before the storm.

  The calm before the true battle.