The night outside growled.
A low, guttural sound like thunder dragged across the clearing as the two corrupted beasts stepped into view. From the shadowy treeline, their glowing violet eyes locked onto the cottage door. One raised its malformed arm, blade-like bones jutting from the wrist, and let out a screech that splintered the quiet.
Inside, Asher moved with calm precision. He placed a single palm against the door and whispered a soul ward. A thin ripple of blue light formed a barrier just in time — because the first beast lunged forward.
BOOM.
The door shook, but held.
"They're testing us," Asher muttered.
Behind him, Emilia had stumbled to her feet despite the wound on her leg. She clung to the wall, trying to stay upright, sweat beading on her brow.
"You can't fight those things alone!" she said.
Elira drifted near the ceiling, her ghostly form glowing with quiet intensity. "They're not normal monsters. They've been soul-bound — broken and reforged by ritual."
Asher tightened his grip on his sword. "Cult beasts. No wonder the smell is wrong."
Another crash.
Cracks formed across the ward.
"Asher," Elira said, her voice distant but urgent, "they're going to breach in seconds."
Asher gave Emilia a look. "Can you move?"
She nodded, pale-faced.
"Then get to the cellar. Now. There's a soul circle down there. It'll mask you."
"What about you?"
"I'll buy time."
He didn't wait for a reply.
The moment Emilia limped into the back hallway, Asher opened the front door himself.
The beasts didn't expect that.
Asher exploded forward like a lightning bolt, his blade flashing in a wide arc. The first beast roared as steel met its ribs, cleaving deep — not enough to kill it, but enough to make it stagger.
The second swiped at him with razor-sharp claws. Asher ducked, rolled, and countered with a sweep to the knees, sending the creature tumbling sideways. His movements were swift, clean, precise.
But they weren't enough.
He was rusty.
One beast caught him off-guard with a backhand that sent him flying into a tree. His shoulder cracked against bark, and blood sprayed from his mouth. He gritted his teeth, pushing himself up.
"I thought you were retired," Elira whispered, appearing beside him.
"I am."
"Then why are you bleeding?"
"Bad habit."
He lunged again, blade glowing now as he activated a soul technique — Phantom Spiral. A ghostly afterimage followed every slash. Steel and soul energy cut through corrupted flesh, but the beasts didn't die.
They laughed.
One spoke in a voice not its own. "You reek of grief, soul-binder. She still clings to you. Weakness."
Elira flinched.
Asher's eyes narrowed. "You know nothing about her."
"We know she's the tether keeping you broken."
The second beast lunged — this time for Elira.
She screamed as its claws passed through her incorporeal form, disrupting her ghostly presence. Pain surged through her soul — pain only monsters who fed on spirit could inflict.
Asher saw red.
He threw his blade, soul energy erupting in a spear-like blast that pierced straight through the creature's chest.
It collapsed.
Dead.
But the other one laughed again. "You'll never save her. You'll lose again."
Asher grabbed his sword, turned, and brought it down with all the weight of his grief and fury. The blade shattered — but the beast's head went with it.
Silence.
Asher stood there in the clearing, breathing hard, blade broken at his feet. Elira hovered near him, flickering.
"That… hurt," she said softly.
"You okay?"
"I'll reform. But… they were after her, Asher. Emilia. Not us."
He turned toward the house. "Why?"
"I don't know. But her soul… it glows too bright. Brighter than most. They wanted it."
Inside, Emilia had collapsed at the top of the cellar stairs, too weak to stand. Her eyes filled with guilt and fear.
"You shouldn't have helped me," she said when Asher entered.
"Too late now."
He sat beside her, pressing a healing stone to her leg.
"I don't want to cause more death," she whispered.
"You didn't," Asher said. "They were coming either way. This world doesn't wait for innocence anymore."
Outside, the wind howled again — but now, it carried the scent of scorched soul and fading death.
And something darker still... watching.