Chapter 191: Crystals Locking Bind
Soul energy erupted in a dome, hot enough that air warped and snapped. Sound followed half a beat late: a bass crack that kicked grit into the void. Kikaru flung an arm up, the gold flare of Light snapping around her like a shield just in time to catch the first shards of blue heat.
She slid back on her knees, grit skidding beneath, hair whipping into her eyes as the shockwave clawed for distance, slamming into the far edge of the arena with a thunder‑wrung roar.
The Announcer glided closer, shoes making no sound on the glass‑smooth plane. A thin band of silver light coiled between his fingers—threads of soul‑glass drawn from the air where Elias’s shard had burst. Each strand shimmered like spun mercury, alive and whispering. He gathered them into a fist, compressing the glow until it hardened into a rough, walnut‑sized core: jagged, half‑formed, still pulsing with a muted blue.
"Even ruined, it’s a jewel," he said, turning the fragment beneath his lenses. "A little cracked, sure, but power rarely comes gift‑wrapped."
Kikaru forced her gaze up. The gold in her Ikona fluttered, weak sparks chasing one another across the orb’s surface. She tried to rise. Her legs refused. Her hands slid on the polished nothing, yielding no purchase. All she managed was a low breath that shook apart on her lips.
The Announcer crouched again, positioning the shard‑fragment above her cupped palms. Heat pulsed from it—too hot for flesh, yet he held it bare‑handed as if it were no more than a warm stone.
"Payment for surviving the clause," he announced. "One host falls, the remainder inherits what’s left on the board."
The fragment’s light bled over Kikaru’s skin, bathing her scraped knuckles in dull blue. She didn’t reach. She stared at the core, breath small, shoulders trembling as adrenaline bled into exhaustion.
"Take it," he urged, voice softening just enough to sound sincere. "He wasted his last beat to make sure you could."