Chapter 22: Desperate Victory
The Minotaur’s shadow-forged blade crashed down where Juliet had stood a heartbeat ago.
She rolled aside, sparks flaring at her heels. "I’ve got this!"
"Juliet, fall back, group sync!" Frank’s voice cut through the chaos like steel.
Juliet snarled but dropped back into formation, scroll clutched in one hand. "One shot’s all I need."
"No, it’s not," Frank said. "You swing, it adapts. You hesitate, we die."
Kaito’s wind glyph flared beneath his boots. "I can’t hold much longer... mana’s draining fast!"
"Same!" Zara ducked behind a broken column, loading a bolt with shaking hands. "I’m on fumes!"
Frank’s system pinged in the back of his vision, his new Reflexive Guard skill was still active, but barely. His stamina bar blinked at 24%.
"Alright," he breathed, tightening his grip. "We hold the line, control the tempo. Kaito, circle clockwise.... use wind bursts to distract. Zara, disable movement. Juliet...."
"I’m not holding back," she growled.
"You don’t have to," he replied. "Just wait for my signal."