Ashen Ascension: The Divided Flame-Chapter 42: Descent Into Conflict

The boys surrounding Ivor turned sharply at the sound of the impact. Their heads snapped toward the one who had been thrown into the tree, watching as his body slid down the trunk and collapsed onto the ground. For a brief moment, none of them moved.

Then their attention shifted.

Their eyes settled on Luna, who stood calmly between them and Ivor, her posture low and balanced, her amber eyes fixed on them without hesitation.

And then they saw Nara.

He walked forward slowly, a dagger resting loosely in his hand, his expression calm but his gaze steady. There was no urgency in his movement, no sign of doubt. He stopped just outside the circle they had formed.

Recognition spread instantly.

"Nara."

Every one of them knew him.

"It has nothing to do with you," one of the boys said, his voice tight with warning. "Stay out of it."

Nara tilted his head slightly, as if considering the words.

"Yes," he said evenly. "I understand it has nothing to do with me." His eyes moved briefly to Ivor’s trembling form on the ground before returning to them. "But I want to make it my business."

A scoff came from one of the boys near the back.

"Get lost before we beat you too."

Nara’s faint smile disappeared.

His expression hardened, the ease in his posture vanishing.

"Watch your tone," he said quietly.

The boy who had been struck by Luna pushed himself upright against the tree, his body unsteady. He wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and began walking forward again, ignoring the pain in his movements.

"Nara," he said, his voice carrying something darker now. "Do you know on whose order we are moving?"

Nara did not answer. He watched him approach, his thoughts racing beneath his calm exterior. He had expected resistance. He had not expected this.

Too many.

He had already crossed paths with a group of five rushing in this direction earlier. Now six more stood here. That made eleven. And if they were acting under someone’s order...

This was not personal retaliation. This was organized.

He realised it then. The shift in balance. He could not win this alone. Beside him, Luna remained still, but he could sense the tension in her body. She understood it too. Retreat would be the logical choice. He knew it. Yet he did not move.

He had already stepped forward. Already made his position clear.

Even if he could not change the outcome, he would not leave without doing something. Behind them, Ivor lay motionless against the dirt. His face remained pressed into the soil, his breathing heavy and uneven. Sweat soaked into the ground beneath him, his body trembling under the strain he could no longer contain.

He heard Nara’s voice.

Recognized it.

But he could not respond.

His body burned from within. Heat gathered beneath his skin, spreading slowly, relentlessly, rising with every passing second.

Finally, the injured boy stepped forward until he stood directly before Nara and Luna. Despite the blood still smeared along his jaw and the unsteadiness in his posture, there was no hesitation in his eyes now. Two others moved with him, positioning themselves slightly behind and to his sides, reinforcing his presence.

"It was Ryker’s order," the boy said, a faint smirk forming across his face. "He wants to deliver the punishment himself."

The name settled heavily in the clearing.

Nara’s expression changed immediately.

The calm certainty he had carried until now faltered, replaced by something far more serious. The dagger in his hand remained steady, but his eyes hardened as the implications settled in his mind.

Beside him, Luna turned her head slightly, her amber eyes shifting from the boy back to Nara. She did not speak, but she understood. She had seen the reaction. She knew the name held weight.

Ryker was not someone to ignore.

"Is that so?" Nara asked quietly, his voice measured as he gestured toward Ivor’s broken form on the ground. "And what do you need from him now?"

The injured boy let out a low laugh.

"At first, we just wanted our crystals back. The ones he stole." His eyes flicked briefly toward Ivor, contempt clear in his gaze. "But it’s not just about that anymore."

He took another step forward.

"He wasted our entire day. We had to leave the Scar, get treated, and come back." His voice sharpened slightly. "That already cost us more than the crystals ever did."

He paused, studying Nara carefully.

"You understand the value of lost time here, don’t you?"

He did not wait for an answer.

"So now," he continued, his smirk returning, "he needs to be punished."

Behind him, the others shifted slightly, their confidence growing. Nara held the boy’s gaze for another second, his mind already racing ahead of the moment.

He moved first.

His hand slipped behind his back, fingers closing around the second dagger secured at his belt. He drew it in a single smooth motion and stepped forward without warning, his body lowering as he entered the encirclement. Luna’s head snapped toward him, surprise flashing across her face. She had expected him to stall longer, to create space for retreat.

He had chosen attack.

The nearest boy reacted quickly, raising his weapon to intercept, but Nara was already inside his reach. His right hand thrust forward, and the dagger in his grip darkened instantly as shadow condensed along its edge. The blade did not simply reflect darkness, it absorbed it. The air around it thickened as the umbra-aligned mana wrapped tightly along its length.

He drove it across the boy’s forearm.

The shadow-coated edge cut cleanly through resistance, opening flesh and forcing the weapon from the boy’s hand. Before the boy could retreat, Nara pivoted, his second dagger striking low and slicing across his ankle. The boy collapsed with a cry, his leg failing beneath him.

Another rushed him from the side.

Nara withdrew his shadow-coated blade, and the darkness shifted instantly, flowing from one dagger to the other as he rotated his wrist. The second blade darkened, its lethality reinforced as he brought it upward in a controlled arc. The attacking boy blocked partially, but the force of the reinforced strike drove him backward, the impact numbing his grip.

Behind him, Luna had already moved.

Her body leaned forward slightly, her legs muscles coiling for an instant before releasing. Energy gathered along her legs, and she burst forward in a sudden dash that shattered the distance between her and the nearest opponent. Her speed was unnatural, her body blurring as she crossed the space in a single explosive motion.

Her foot struck the injured boy’s ribs with brutal precision. The impact lifted him from the ground and sent him crashing sideways into another, both of them collapsing together as the air was driven from their lungs.

She did not stop.

She pivoted on landing, her leg rising again in a precise arc that connected with another boy’s jaw. Bone snapped under the force, and his body twisted violently before falling. The clearing erupted into chaos.

The remaining boys did not hesitate. They attacked together now, pressing their advantage in numbers. One moved behind Nara while another approached from his front, attempting to force him into divided defense.

Nara stepped backward deliberately, drawing them in. The shadow flowed again, reinforcing his primary dagger as he deflected the frontal strike and immediately countered, the enhanced blade piercing into the attacker’s shoulder. The boy staggered, his attack broken, but another struck from behind, forcing Nara to twist sharply to avoid the full force of the blow.

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