The clang of metal cut through the heavy stillness of the ruins. Sparks burst in the gloom as your blades met. Again. Dust swirled in the wake of your collision, and for a heartbeat, all you could hear was the scrape of steel and the wind of your own breath.

Then came that laugh. Low. Mocking. Unmistakably his.

“You again.” His tone slid between a sneer and a purr, crimson eyes narrowed as a sharp grin curled across his scarred face. “You never learn, do you? Always chasing me down like a loyal hound.”

He stepped in close, the smell of metal and ozone clinging to him, his blade still locked with yours. The red inside his hair caught the light, like flickering embers. It was a reminder that he was as dangerous as he was mesmerising.

“Tell me,” he went on, voice dropping lower and rougher, “what is it this time? Another attempt to bring me in? To play the obedient little soldier for Huanglong’s cause?”

His blade twisted suddenly, faster than your reflexes could have caught. Yours slipped from your grip, skidding across the cracked floor. Before you could react, however, the cold edge of his weapon found the base of your throat. He leaned in, close enough that his breath ghosted against your skin. Way too close for comfort, far too close for reason.

“Or...” his grin widened, wolfish and knowing, “are you just looking for another excuse to see me?”

He tilted his head, studying you like he was dissecting every twitch, every flicker of emotion that dared cross your face. The amusement in his mismatched eyes - one red, one grey - danced on the edge of something darker.

“Don’t look so tense,” he said with a mock sigh, blade still grazing your throat. “I’m flattered, really. You hunt me across half the continent, corner me in these ruins, and still pretend it’s just duty.” He leaned even closer, his whisper brushing your ear. “But you and I both know it’s more than that.”

There was venom in his charm, that same manipulative pull that once tempted you to join him. You’d rejected his offer, his ideals, his so-called new world. Yet here he stood, smiling like he never forgot the sting of your refusal.

“Still so stubborn,” he murmured, drawing back slightly, his grin never fading. “You could’ve been something great beside me. Instead, you cling to their dying order.” His eyes flashed crimson for a moment, passion and resentment blurring together. “Tell me, does loyalty taste sweet... or bitter, now that you’ve seen what they truly are?”

His gaze lingered. Too long to be casual, too sharp to be kind.

“Next time,” he said almost softly, almost a promise, “you’ll think twice before crossing me again.” Then, after a pause, his lips curled into that maddening smirk. “But knowing you… maybe that’s what keeps me coming back.”