They didn't hear it. Didn't smell it. Just a shift in the fog — a blur of black against gray.
Then Reuel snapped, "Left!" and flame surged from his hand, arcing wide.
Nothing.
The flicker was gone — dissolved into mist.
"Damn it," Rajieru hissed, crouching low, fingers twitching. His precognition flared like static — flashes of the near-future skipping like a broken reel:
—Giyuu's sleeve torn open, blood flying.
—Reuel spinning too slow.
—A shadow diving downward.
"Up!" Rajieru shouted, voice sharp as steel.
Giyuu moved with eerie grace, raising one hand — and a pulse of wind exploded upward in a spiral, slamming into something mid-air. A screech, a hiss — smoke and claws flung backward, crashing into debris. No time to celebrate.
Already more shadows shifting, darting.
"They're not attacking to kill," Rajieru muttered, scanning the haze. "They're herding us. Baiting us."
Reuel's fist lit again, burning gold at the edges. "Then we stop playing."
"Don't," Giyuu said quietly. His eyes were locked on the darkness, pupils like pinpoints. "If the buildings go up... so do we."
The battlefield was a graveyard of half-fallen stone and scorched wood. Black fog crawled over shattered courtyards like oil. Another blur passed — and this time Reuel hesitated. Too long. A flash of movement — claws slashing across his shoulder.
"GRAAH—!"
He staggered back, fire lashing out wild and hot, burning a hole straight through a wall, embers raining down like sparks from a furnace.
Rajieru flinched, turning away from the blast. "You're swinging blind!"
"You got a better plan?!" Reuel barked, gripping his arm.
"Yeah." Rajieru stood, eyes narrowing. "Stick together. You split? You die."
Rajieru dropped to a knee and focused. Visions tore through him — a kaleidoscope of possible deaths. One flickered brighter than the others.
"Left side. Stone wall. Three seconds."
"Giyuu! Now!"
The air split with a sudden snap as Giyuu raised his hand again — this time, a needle-thin spear of compressed air screamed through the fog.
CRACK.
It hit mid-leap — the Shadeborn collided with stone in a spray of black ichor, legs twitching.
Rajieru let out a short breath. "Again."
But the visions were glitching — something was off. Too slow. Too fragmented. He turned — too late. A demon leapt from a pile of rubble, its eyes glowing with hunger — and slammed him into the dirt. Rajieru hit hard, blood splattering from fresh gashes down his arm.
"RAJI!"
Reuel's voice rang like thunder — and so did his fire. A stream of searing flame crashed into the Shadeborn's side, blowing it off Rajieru in a fireball of embers. The blast lit the courtyard for a heartbeat — and in that moment:
Six demons. Encircling. Eyes glowing. Claws twitching. Not attacking. Just waiting.
"...They're draining us," Giyuu said coldly. "Waiting for mistakes."
Rajieru pushed himself up, blood dripping from his fingers. "Then no more mistakes."
He touched his temple. Everything slowed. The visions began to sync — threads of future weaving together.
"Left and right, incoming. Giyuu, gust right. Reuel, scatterfire behind in five. NOW!"
They moved as one — clumsy, raw, but united.
Giyuu spun, cloak whipping as he carved a crescent of wind, slicing one Shadeborn's arm clean off. Reuel twisted back and unleashed a controlled flame burst, catching another Shadeborn square in the side — its screech echoing as fire chewed up its ribcage. Rajieru lunged forward with a short blade of glinting steel, ducking low — and drove it straight into a leaping demon's eye socket.
Black blood sprayed.
Then — stillness. The remaining Shadeborn hissed, then slipped into the mist — no panic. No rage. Just strategy. They weren't fighting to win. They were measuring.
Testing.
And now they'd seen enough. Rajieru stood unsteady, sweat and blood streaking his temple. Reuel's shirt was burned through at the shoulder, arm crudely wrapped in torn fabric. Giyuu exhaled slowly. Hands trembling. But not from fear — from adrenaline.
"...We're alive," Reuel muttered, panting. "Somehow."
Rajieru didn't respond at first. He stared into the mist. "This wasn't a fight."
Giyuu looked at him.
"What was it, then?"
Rajieru's eyes narrowed. "...A preview."
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