Shadow Over the Heavenly Throne-Chapter 58: That’s supposed to scare me?

Calista stood at the center of the arena, wrapped in silence and anticipation. Her body trembled, every muscle burning with raw fire. Wounds covered her from head to toe — bruises blossomed across her ribs, deep cuts marred her thigh and shoulder, and torn skin on her hands oozed fresh blood. A deep dent remained in her chest — the mark of Renald’s last strike. The skin there was bruised, twisted unnaturally, and every breath pulsed with molten pain. Her internal Qi fluctuated unevenly, still struggling to return to full harmony.

And yet, she did not waver. She stood tall, as if her spine were forged from iron, not from bone and battered flesh. Her arms were raised, gaze steady — not a flicker of doubt. Even as the wind tugged at the shredded edges of her ruined dress, she didn’t budge an inch. It wasn’t her body holding her up — it was her will.

She allowed herself a single glance — fleeting, barely noticeable. Toward Veynessa. Their eyes met.

"Really, Veynessa? This is how you raised him?" Calista thought bitterly.

She clenched her teeth, ignoring the throbbing pain in her chest. "Don’t come blaming me later if your son barely walks away from this."

Across the arena stood Kaelis.

Calista’s eyes flared with restrained fury. Anger rose in her like smoke from smoldering coals — not explosive, but deep and personal. Her fingers tightened, her breath faltered, but she didn’t let emotion consume her. Instead, she closed her eyes and exhaled.

Then, she asked quietly: "Are you sure about this?"

Kaelis nodded. "I’m not. But I have to do it anyway."

The words fell like a verdict.

Kaen said nothing. A snap of his fingers was all it took — and the arena trembled in response. From the outer edges of the coliseum, runes etched deep into the ancient stone flared to life, igniting with a pale blue glow. A hum followed, low and resonant, like the breath of a slumbering beast. Light arced across the arena’s circumference in sharp lines, connecting point to point until a transparent dome shimmered into existence above them. It wasn’t just a barrier — it was a seal, humming with layered protections, isolating them completely. When the final node clicked into place with a sound like breaking glass, the silence that followed was absolute.

The fight had begun.

Calista didn’t move. She closed her eyes, taking a moment to analyze the pain with surgical precision. Every wound pulsed with its own rhythm — numb arms, a thigh burning with fire, hands nearly senseless. Her chest ached with every breath, and her Qi oozed inside her, sluggish and erratic. She knew her condition — this wasn’t fatigue that could be pushed through. This was the limit.

"A few minutes. Maybe less," she thought.

A familiar sigil flared on her hand — luminous, pulsing like the echo of a breath. She opened her eyes.

"Lotus Chamber... open"

Kaelis didn’t wait. He struck first.

No warning. No Qi flare. He just moved — like a shadow detaching from the wall. His body shifted forward with nearly invisible speed, his foot touching the stone floor without a sound. The air between them trembled, and a split second later, his fist came — fast, clean, aimed directly at her throat.

Her body reacted before thought could catch up.

The sigil on her hand blazed brighter — not with light, but with sheer intent.

"Fifth Petal — Lotus Path!"

She vanished.

Where she had stood, air erupted as his strike landed. Stone cracked, the impact radiating outward in concentric fractures. A flash of teleportation shimmered three meters away — Calista, hunched, hissed through clenched teeth.

Her lungs still screamed from earlier wounds. The shift had cost more Qi than it should have.

Kaelis was already on her.

Second jump. The air swirled like mini tornadoes with every movement. Trails of lotus petals pulsed in the space around her, glowing like delicate rips in reality.

Third teleport. Fourth. Fifth.

Kaelis didn’t teleport. But every step he took was perfectly timed to hers. He wasn’t keeping up. He was anticipating.

Calista appeared behind him, hand raised to strike — but he was already turning. Their eyes met. Hers — sharp, widened with pain. His — calm. Emotionless.

Their blows collided mid-air. A wave of Qi erupted from the clash, scattering dust and energy.

Teleport. Upward. Wind spiraling. Another flash. She disappeared.

"Second Petal — Moment of Stillness!"

Time wavered. Kaelis’s Qi stuttered. For the first time, he was late by a fraction of a second. Calista’s strike hit his side — precise, full force — unleashing a shockwave that tore through the air. His body lifted off the ground like a ragdoll, slamming against the arena’s barrier. The cracking sound echoed her resolve.

Without hesitation, she blinked again, appearing beside his falling form, ready to strike once more. But before she could move — something inside her broke. Her insides blazed — not with essence, but with pain. Her mouth opened involuntarily, and a burst of blood spilled over her hand.

She staggered, dropped to one knee, gasping, hand still raised. Her fingers trembled. Qi — scattered, unstable.

Kaelis had managed to stand. His breathing was heavy, but even. A deep bruise bloomed along his side — dark, discolored, the mark of her strike. Yet his eyes hadn’t dimmed. He was restoring his Qi, mending the damage within — and preparing.

He pressed his hand against his ribs, feeling the stab of pain with every breath. A faint smile touched his lips — not mockery, but satisfaction. This time, he didn’t just see how it worked. This time, he felt it.

"Observing is one thing... But to feel it?" the thought flickered as his internal Qi coiled tightly around the injury. "Now it’ll be easier. Much easier."

Calista rose slowly, painfully. The taste of iron lingered on her tongue. She turned her head, spat blood, and braced her hand on her thigh, catching her breath. She felt her Qi — not flowing, but tearing through paths it shouldn’t still be using.

"I can’t..." she thought, jaw tight. "One more teleport and I’ll rip myself apart."

She looked at Kaelis, already preparing his next move. A quiet, bitter sigh escaped her lips.

"Fine. Let him come to me."

She dropped into a low, defensive stance. Hands raised, Qi condensing at the skin.

Her feet rooted into the stone, weight perfectly distributed, like she’d grown roots. Her hands moved in tight, controlled motions. Her wild Qi calmed, pulsing rhythmically beneath her skin. Calista wouldn’t chase anymore. She would wait.

Kaelis narrowed his eyes. He saw it. Just as he’d predicted — her teleportation was spent. Her deadliest weapon.

But not the end.

"She still has that one move," he thought. "If I go in recklessly, she’ll use the Second Petal and trap me."

A faint smile tugged at his lips.

"Time to show the world my technique."

His Qi surged in his legs, body tensing with coiled energy. In a flash, he moved — not directly, not in a line, but in a circle. He began to run around Calista at blinding speed, leaving a blurred echo in his wake.

The stone floor quivered beneath his steps, dust whipped into a whirlwind, and the air around Calista warped from sheer energy and speed. He circled faster and faster — like a shadow that cast no shadow. Like a storm locked in a cage.

Calista watched, unmoving. Her eyes tracked every acceleration, every change in rhythm. She searched for a pattern, a purpose, any hint of his intent.

"Why the theater?" she thought. "A feint? Trying to shake my focus?"

His step became a fluid leap — vanishing from one place to appear beside her, as if space had expelled him. The swirling air betrayed the moment he launched, and the shadow beneath him stretched unnaturally. In a flash, he was within range, transitioning into a brutal leap — body coiled, force aimed at one exposed gap in her stance.

Calista scoffed, not even blinking.

"That’s supposed to scare me?"

She stepped aside with clockwork precision, letting his punch sweep past her shoulder. In the same heartbeat, she triggered the Second Petal — Moment of Stillness.

But then she felt it.

It wasn’t her Qi. A foreign resonance invaded the field — familiar, yet distorted. Like someone mimicking her melody without understanding its rhythm. The energy had the structure of her art — but the tone was wrong. Her heart skipped — not from exertion, but from cold realization.

"No... this can’t be happening."

Before she could react — his body twisted mid-air, and a spinning kick tore through the air with a crack that split the silence of the arena. The strike slammed into her face with force enough to shatter stone. Her head snapped sideways, her neck twisted unnaturally, and for a heartbeat, her vision clouded. She felt air and blood escape her lungs simultaneously, the sound of the blow thundered through her skull like a drumbeat. Her body lost touch with the ground, flung into the air by a power far beyond normal technique.

The world tilted.

Her body crashed backward like a projectile, slamming into the floor. Stone screamed beneath her as she bounced once, twice, leaving behind smears of blood and shattered rock. The third time, she didn’t bounce — she collapsed to the side, limp, her back hitting the arena wall with a dull, sickening thud. The barrier flashed on impact, repelling her body, which fell to her knees and shoulder. Another stream of blood flowed from her lips. The world around her dissolved into echo and dust.

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