Chapter 11: The Envoy Descends

Night had fallen like a shroud over the empty streets. Aria and Ren moved silently, the cold air biting at their skin. Aria’s mana simmered beneath her skin, demanding more suffering to feed on, but for now, they hunted.

Suddenly, the world around them ceased.

Time stopped.

No wind stirred. No sound escaped. Even their breaths hung frozen in the air. They stood alone in a suspended moment, as if the universe itself held its breath.

From the shadows above, a figure descended, graceful yet terrible.

She was tall, wrapped in a cloak woven from darkness that seemed to drink in the light around her. Her eyes glowed faintly with an unnatural blue, cold and unblinking like ice. Her presence pulsed with overwhelming power, but also a chilling precision.

The figure spoke, her voice clear and low, cutting through the frozen silence:

“I am the Envoy of the Unseen.”

Aria’s eyes narrowed sharply. The Unseen. The name stirred a flicker of recognition in her mind — the entity she had been hunting, the ultimate source of power that loomed behind the suffering.

Without hesitation, Aria replied coldly, “You serve the Entity, then.”

The Envoy said nothing, her lips curving into a slight, unreadable smile.

Her gaze locked onto Ren — the anomaly she had come to eliminate.

Aria’s thoughts churned, calculating.

She wields more mana than I do. She could crush me in an instant. But she comes for Ren — he belongs to me.

Suddenly, the space around them warped, a shadowy realm coalescing from nothingness. They were no longer in the physical world but in a dimension born from their mana — a battleground suspended beyond time.

The Envoy moved first.

With a flick of her hand, tendrils of shimmering blue energy lashed out like whips, slicing through the air toward Ren. Aria reacted instantly, raising a barrier of black flame that hissed and crackled as the energy struck.

Ren was pulled behind her, but Aria held firm.

Mana exploded between them, lighting the dark dimension with bursts of fury.

Aria counterattacked, sending shards of shadow raining down like spears. The Envoy deflected them with graceful spins, conjuring blinding light that burned with icy fire. The two forces collided, a dazzling display of raw power.

Aria’s voice was sharp, almost amused. “You think you can take him? He is my possession.”

The Envoy’s smile deepened. “He is a flaw. An imperfection. And it must be erased.”

Aria’s hands glowed as she summoned a massive spear forged from torment itself, the weapon pulsing with the screams of thousands. She lunged forward, driving the spear toward the Envoy’s chest.

With a swift motion, the Envoy created a shield of swirling mana, the spear shattering against it. Then, she retaliated — summoning razor-thin blades of blue light that flew like a hailstorm.

Aria twisted through the air, dodging and parrying, her own mana flaring brighter with every strike.

Ren watched, caught between awe and fear, his heart pounding in the frozen void.

The Envoy’s power was overwhelming, but Aria’s resolve burned colder. She was not just fighting to protect Ren — she was fighting for possession, for control.

Mana surged, the dimension shaking as their battle escalated. Aria’s spear shattered into shards, the Envoy’s blades dissolved into mist.

With a roar, Aria unleashed a wave of black fire, engulfing the Envoy. But the figure vanished, reappearing behind her in an instant, delivering a blow that sent Aria crashing back.

They clashed again and again — lightning-fast strikes, bursts of energy, a war of wills as much as power.

And still, time remained frozen.

As the fight reached its peak, Aria’s mind narrowed:

No one takes what belongs to me.

The Envoy’s expression hardened.

“This ends now.”

She gathered her full mana, shaping a sphere of pulsating energy — a weapon capable of obliteration.

Aria met her with the last of her strength, the world around them trembling in the balance.

Then—

The sphere exploded.

Light and darkness collided in a blinding storm, shaking the very foundation of the dimension.

The echoes of the explosion faded, leaving the dim battlefield suspended in uneasy silence. Aria and the Envoy stood, faces flushed with exertion but eyes sharp, unyielding.

Ren broke the silence, stepping cautiously between them.

“Why are you trying to kill me?” His voice was steady, but a flicker of confusion and fear burned beneath.

The Envoy’s gaze shifted briefly to Aria, then back to Ren, her tone cold and precise.

“You are an anomaly. A deviation. Something that should not exist.”

Aria’s jaw tightened, stepping forward, her voice low and dangerous.

“What do you mean, anomaly? He is mine. And no one touches what is mine.”

The Envoy’s eyes glimmered with a quiet menace.

“My purpose is singular — to eliminate irregularities that threaten the balance. You, Aria, serve your role. But he... he disrupts the order.”

Ren frowned, searching their faces for clarity.

“Order? What order? What are you talking about?”

The Envoy’s smile was thin, almost mocking.

“Questions are for the naive. My task is clear. And I will see it fulfilled.”

Aria’s gaze hardened.

“If you want to eliminate him, you’ll have to go through me.”

The Envoy inclined her head once, acknowledging the challenge.

“Very well.”

A tense beat hung between them as the frozen dimension began to shimmer, the boundaries thinning.

Aria’s thoughts churned — the fight was not over, but for now, the Envoy had delayed her goal.

Ren swallowed hard, caught between fear and resolve.

“This... this isn’t finished.”

The Envoy’s voice was like a whisper carried on a cold wind.

“It will be, soon enough.”

With that, she dissolved into the shadows, leaving Aria and Ren alone once more in the dark stillness.