The forest was on fire behind you — flames licking at the trunks, smoke clawing its way into the night sky. Your lungs burned, your feet ached, but you couldn’t stop now. Not when freedom was this close.

Something sharp slammed into a tree beside your head — an arrow. Then another. You spun, sword raised, just in time to see them: five Diamond-clad figures emerging through the smoke, silent, expressionless.

They didn’t speak. They didn’t hesitate. They just advanced.

Steel clashed. Sparks burst in the dark. You swung, dodged, stumbled back — every move desperate. They fought to tire you out, not to kill you. You could feel it. Every strike stopped just short, every blade turned at the last second.

Ash’s orders.

You could almost hear his voice, smooth and mocking in the back of your head: “You’re running, but you’re not free.”

You twisted around, trying to find an opening — but there wasn’t one. The Diamonds had closed in completely, forming a perfect circle around you. Their armor gleamed faintly in the firelight, blades raised but unmoving. You tightened your grip on your weapon, chest heaving, as the silence pressed down like a weight. There was nowhere left to run.