Jack’s chest heaved, blood streaming into his eyes, sweat and grime streaking across his face. Dragon Dagger spun in his hands, a glinting arc of lethal precision as he advanced toward Victor Krane. Sparks hissed from jagged metal beneath their feet, the fractured terrace groaning under their weight. Victor’s eyes glowed with predatory fury, every muscle taut, claws flashing, Speed of Light tech humming faintly in a deadly rhythm. “So… Parker… you come back for more. Bleeding, battered… and yet still foolish enough to face me. Brave. Foolish. Deadly… naive,” he hissed. “Do you know what happens next?” Jack snarled, circling slowly, every step calculated, every movement a coiled spring of lethal intent. “I know exactly what happens,” he growled, voice low and raw. “Tonight… you feel what it means to threaten my family… to terrorize my city… to cross me. I end this. Here. Now.” Victor laughed, low and vicious, stepping forward, claws slicing the air with feral precision. “End th

The terrace shrieked as another section buckled, steel tendons groaning beneath the relentless punishment of their duel. Wind howled upward from the city below, carrying sparks, dust, and the metallic taste of blood through the night air. Jack didn’t slow. Victor’s claws came again—faster this time, sharper, no longer playful. Speed of Light tech flared violently along Victor’s spine, brief pulses bending the air itself. He vanished from Jack’s sight— —and reappeared at his flank. Too close. Jack twisted on instinct, Dragon Dagger flashing up just in time. Blade met claw with a violent scream, the shock rattling Jack’s arms to the bone. His boots skidded across warped metal, heels grinding sparks as he fought for balance. “You’re tiring,” Victor sneered, voice echoing unnaturally, layered with distortion. “I can hear it. Your breath is heavy. Your movements—slower. You’re breaking, Parker.” Jack snarled and shoved forward, forcing Victor back a step. “Funny,” he rasped. “You’

The terrace groaned. Jack moved. Not a step—an explosion. He drove forward with everything he had left, boots slamming against warped metal as he bolted straight at Victor. Pain screamed through his ribs, through his shoulders, but he ignored it. There was no room for hesitation now. No room for restraint. The Dragon Dagger flashed. Jack thrust low and hard, aiming straight for Victor’s core. Victor reacted on instinct. His hands shot up, both palms clamping around the blade mid-drive. The dagger punched into his stomach—not deep, not clean—but far enough that Victor’s breath tore out of him in a broken gasp. Metal shrieked. Energy flared. Victor staggered back half a step, boots scraping, heels skidding toward the cracked edge of the terrace. His fingers locked tighter around the blade, skin burning, blood spilling between his grip as the dagger’s hum intensified. Jack leaned into the strike, teeth clenched, muscles screaming as he tried to force the blade deeper. “LET GO,

Victor’s chest heaved, sweat and blood mingling on his pale skin, eyes darting like a cornered animal searching for escape. The flicker of the Speed of Light tech had vanished, leaving him raw, human—dangerously human. For the first time in years, Jack could see the real man beneath the armor, the cunning, arrogant monster now stripped of all artifice. “You’re… nothing without it,” Jack said, circling him slowly. Every movement measured, predator calculating. “Just a man.” Victor’s laugh came out ragged, bitter. “Nothing? You think… you understand?” His hands shook, uselessly clutching the hilt of his sword. “You’re blinded by your… ideals.” “I don’t need tech to beat you,” Jack replied, eyes locked on Victor’s every twitch. Blood dripped from his hand, staining the edge of the Dragon Dagger. His breathing was heavy, ragged—but controlled. Pain screamed in his shoulder and ribs, but Jack used it. Pain sharpened focus. Pain made him faster, smarter. Victor attempted a lunge, desp

The wind shifted. Not the violent, screaming gusts that had battered the terrace during the fight—but a lower, steadier current, sweeping through the broken architecture like a breath finally released. Jack felt it brush against his face, cool against sweat and blood, carrying the distant sounds of the city below. He took another step forward, boots scraping against fractured alloy, and the terrace gave a tired groan behind him—as if even the structure itself was relieved the battle was over. DragonBot hovered at his flank, stabilizers adjusting constantly to compensate for the failing gravity anchors embedded throughout the hanging city. “Structural integrity of upper Reidsville platforms continues to degrade,” DragonBot reported. “Recommended descent route is now optimal. Delay increases risk of collapse by 38 percent.” Jack didn’t slow. “Then let’s not linger,” he said quietly. Behind them, Victor Krane’s body lay motionless—still, broken, and abandoned. The Dragon Dagger