Unauthorized Reincarnation

  Chapter 8: The Pact Begins (Part 2)

  The clash erupted like thunder.

  Fenra darted forward first, twin blades flashing arcs of silver in the torchlight. Her movements were quick—too quick for a girl who claimed to be nothing but a survivor. She weaved between the first two guards, steel hissing as she locked their swords against hers. With a grunt, she twisted, driving one man back and sweeping her leg into the second’s knee.

  The guard stumbled, armor clanging as he fell.

  “Impressive,” Kristina murmured, her eyes gleaming.

  The other three pressed in immediately, their blades slicing through the air in a coordinated strike. Fenra dropped low, rolling across the marble floor, sparks flying as she scraped Lily’s borrowed swords along the ground before springing upward. She caught one guard’s blade on her right sword and spun, slashing shallowly across another’s pauldron with her left.

  The guards grunted at the sting, but regrouped without hesitation.

  Shuyi’s gaze narrowed. She’s reading them… adapting.

  But the guards were no novices.

  Their leader barked a short command, and the five men shifted seamlessly, like pieces of a single organism. Shields overlapped, blades wove in crisscrossing arcs, and their footwork tightened until every possible opening was sealed. Each attack bled into the next—slashing high, thrusting low, battering with shield strikes.

  Fenra’s grin faded as her breathing grew harsher. Their rhythm was suffocating, relentless, giving her no space to breathe, no moment to recover. She was a wolf surrounded by hunters.

  A sword cut across her cheek, drawing a thin line of blood. Another slammed into her guard with bone-rattling force.

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  Her tail lashed violently.

  Lily’s nails dug into her palms as she whispered, “She’s amazing…”

  Shuyi only nodded, though her lips pressed tight with worry.

  Then, with a guttural snarl, she dropped low—hands and feet slamming against the marble floor. Her body bent, shoulders hunched, golden eyes flashing with primal fire.

  Quadra-pedal stance.

  The change was instant. Her movements grew feral, beastlike, no longer bound by the rigid form of a swordsman. She lunged with sudden bursts of speed, claws of steel scraping sparks as her blades whirled from impossible angles. She sprang off her hands, twisted midair, and carved a shallow line across a guard’s breastplate.

  The formation staggered.

  “She forced them to change phase,” Shuyi murmured, impressed despite herself.

  The guards didn’t falter. With a veteran’s calm, they adapted to her savagery, widening their circle and adjusting their footwork. Their blades swept lower now, cutting at her arms and legs, trying to corral her wild momentum.

  Fenra bared her fangs in delight—until one of them anticipated her spin. His gauntlet shot out like a striking viper and clamped down hard around her tail.

  Her body jolted, instincts betraying her. Pain lanced up her spine, and in that single heartbeat of distraction, two swords closed in, one locking her blades, the other pressing cold steel against her throat.

  The wolf-girl froze, panting, sweat and blood mixing down her brow.

  Kristina clapped once, the sound sharp and echoing.

  “Well, well,” she said, her smile razor-thin. “You lasted longer than I expected. Longer than most.”

  Fenra’s golden eyes flicked up, defiant even in defeat. “I didn’t fight to win,” she growled softly. “I fought to prove I wouldn’t break.”

  The corner of Kristina’s lips curved higher. “And you’ve done just that.”

  She gestured dismissively to her guards, who sheathed their blades and stepped back. Then Kristina’s gaze swept over Lily and Shuyi.

  “Congratulations,” she said smoothly. “You’ve found your companion—and your trainer.”

  Lily exhaled in relief, rushing forward to help Fenra to her feet. Shuyi followed, slower but no less approving, her sharp eyes meeting Fenra’s with something close to respect.

  Together, the three of them stood before Kristina.

  “From this day,” Kristina declared, voice ringing through the hall, “the pact is made. Your path will be difficult, your trials unrelenting—but with this bond, you may yet survive.”

  Fenra gripped Lily’s twin swords tight, then returned them with a solemn nod. “I’ll teach you everything I know,” she promised. “And I’ll fight beside you until the end.”

  For the first time since they met, the wolf-girl’s smile was not a smirk, but something fierce and loyal.

  The pact had begun.