But there were more coming. He could feel them, dozens of hostile presences converging with coordination.
Another rounded the corner, human-shaped but moving with inhuman speed.
Its eyes were fixed on Brynn.
Every instinct he possessed blazed to life.
His shadows lashed out, striking the creature with enough force to send it stumbling. The air chilled as his restraint began to slip, frost forming on the walls.
"Stay behind me," he growled.
He felt her press against the stone wall, her breath quick and sharp in the frigid air. The sound made his instincts snarl.
They'd come into his domain. Into his palace.
They were hunting her.
Two more attackers emerged, flanking with coordination that suggested planning. His shadows spread wider, eager for the hunt. The temperature dropped another ten degrees.
Another wave. Five this time, tight formation. One broke away, darting down a side corridor.
"They're trying to flank us," Brynn warned.
He was already moving. Death magic erupted in a pulse. Glass exploded throughout the corridor, and he heard her gasp as his shadows surged around her, keeping shards from touching her.
The attackers before him vanished as his power cut through them.
But there were more.
"Dante!" Her voice cut through, urgent, but he could barely hear it over the roar of his own power.
His perception expanded, magic weaving through the palace like a web. Dozens of hostile presences. Coordinated. Coming for her.
His restraint began to fracture.
Waves of power poured off him. He barely registered her calling his name again. The sound felt distant compared to the threats.
An attacker breached the eastern wing. His magic reached out, obliterated it.
Another closed within fifty feet of where she stood.
His restraint snapped completely.
Power erupted, shaking the palace’s foundations. Every shadow in his domain responded, rushing toward him. Temperature plummeted so drastically that the air crystallized.
Windows blew out. Stone cracked. Metal twisted under the strain.
He no longer fought individual attackers. He hunted every hostile entity at once, consciousness stretching across every inch of his domain like the wrath of death.
But it wasn't enough.
As long as a single threat lingered, his nature demanded more. More power. More destruction. More death.
Stone fractured beneath his presence. Air thickened with pressure.
He could hear her calling his name from somewhere far away, but it was distant, irrelevant compared to the hunt that consumed him.
Hunt. Kill. Protect.
