Four minutes passed since Moon’s transformation.

Four minutes of relentless, one-sided pressure against the two Surpasser assassins who had opened the exchange with confidence of a sure kill. Four minutes of the dark organization desperately trying to peel Moon off them, and failing at every attempt.

Both assassins were still standing, but barely.

The first one had lost his nose just a few exchanges prior. Moon’s sword had caught it during a Tempest Symphony sequence, one of the phantom strikes drawing the guard while the real cut slipped through the opening the phantom had created.

Blood still ran down his upper lip in a steady sheet, dripping off his chin and pattering onto the rubble at his feet.

The second one had lost his left ear. Moon had taken it during a follow-up exchange, deliberately mirroring the angle of the strike that had removed his own arm.

Both assassins were riddled with cuts. Their black tactical gear was covered with reddish-brow stains that their blood left.Their weapons were chipped and blackened where Moon’s attacks and lightning had traveled up the metal.

Their breathing was ragged, and their earlier momentum had been lost. Their moves had lost their earlier grace, and were now more sluggish in comparison.

Every exchange visibly took more out of them than they liked.

Moon wasn’t stopping or slowing down. No signs of fatigue appeared on his face or body.

His single arm worked like two arms, and once combined with his insane arsenal of elements, Moon was doing wonders in the battle. Lightning slowly chipped off the souls of the surpassers who felt it more than the Evolvers that had died prior to them as Surpassers naturally had better connection with their souls than Evolvers.

Although walking the River of Paths had strengthened their souls, Moon’s purple lightning still bit deep.

"Lightning that could damage the soul... Just what kind of monstrous skill evolution did he get!" One of the assassins cried out.

Around them in a wide radius, the perimeter held.

Emma and Alaric’s team had locked down the approaches. Every reinforcement Baaron sent toward Moon met a wall of Alaric’s team, redirected by Association Evolvers, or cut down before they could get within hundred meters of the actual fight.

Most of the frost pillars had already consumed their mass, but the few that remained fired autonomously behind Moon, taking down anyone who slipped past. The kilometer around Moon had become a killing field more intense that any other parts of the arena, with the exception of Alaric’s and the Ascenders fight.

Moon glanced at his remaining time.

He had six minutes left before Life Burn’s effect died out.

’I need to finish this fight and help in other parts of the battlefield before that happens...’ Moon looked back at the two assassins.

They wouldn’t last two minutes at their current rate of decline. He could see it in their eyes. They were exhausted and desperate. It was only a matter of time before they made a mistake that they would pay for greatly.

Moon pressed forward, his sword descending with great force.

Clash!

The first assassin met it with a bloody parry. Their blades scraped down each other’s edges, sparks flying from the contact points.

"You’re going to run out." The assassin’s voice came ragged, his ruined nose making the words coming out of his mouth sound muffled. "This isn’t natural power. You’re burning something. I can see it in your eyes. You’ll drop the moment it ends. Just hold. We’ll just wait it out."

Moon didn’t entertain him. Pushing his sword deeper into their lock. The assassin’s arms buckled slightly. His footing slipped in a patch of frost that had formed under his heel.

The second assassin came in from the flank, his blade sweeping for Moon’s exposed side.

Moon pivoted.

His sword left the first assassin’s guard and met the incoming strike in a rising deflection, redirecting the blade into empty air. Then, he discharged small burst of lightning from his sword that caught the second assassin’s ribs and made him stagger.

"Who’s your master?" Moon asked.

The two assassins didn’t answer immediately.

Moon’s sword came down again. Both of them raised their guards. Steel met steel with a screaming crash. The assassins were driven back another step.

"Not going to tell me?" Moon pressed. "That’s fine. I’ll ask the others after I finish with you two."

"You won’t reach them." The first assassin hissed. "The master’s plan is already in motion. Whatever you think this is, whatever you think you’re accomplishing here, we’ve already won by simply arriving. You just haven’t noticed yet."

Moon’s eyes flickered.

’So it is a plan I haven’t spotted.’

He filed the confirmation away without letting it show on his face.

"So you are useless to me. It won’t matter if I kill you." He said.

The first assassin’s face grimaced.

"You’re going to die soon anyway. Whatever’s fueling this. Whatever transformation you activated. It’s going to consume you. I’ve seen fighters try to push past their limits before. They all die from the aftermath. You’ll be no different."

"Maybe." Moon’s sword lifted for another exchange. "But you will not be alive to see it."

Moon struck.

The first assassin tried to redirect the strike, but the second assassin was too slow to support, still recovering from the lightning attack. Moon’s blade slipped past the first assassin’s guard and opened a long cut along his arm.

The assassin’s grip loosened.

Moon’s follow-up came right after, from an angle the assassin couldn’t defend against with one hand.

’Tempest Symphony.’

Moon’s sword began to paint the air with blood, flowing so fast, it appeared as if all the attacks were nothing but illusions. In the short span of a second, twelve sword strikes had already been performed. The first assassin blocked three of them, two of which were fake, and took nine cuts across his chest, shoulder, and neck.

He staggered backward.

His remaining strength was almost gone.