Anthony's gaze dropped to the blade protruding from his chest, its cold steel slick with his blood.
A crimson trickle slid from the weapon's edge, each drop landing with a haunting finality.
Disbelief etched itself onto his features, his mind racing to grasp the impossible.
'How is this possible?'
Ambushing Anthony should have been an insurmountable task.
His Sense Dome skill rendered his surroundings an open book, detecting even the faintest disturbance.
Coupled with his All Seeing Eyes, capable of perceiving hidden truths and unraveling illusions, it was said only Anthony himself could limit their reach.
His head turned slowly, dread rising with every fraction of motion.
When his gaze landed on the assailant, his eyes widened in sheer astonishment.
The face behind the blade was one he never thought he would see.
Serenelle Flameborn; The Phoenix
Serenelle stood poised behind Anthony, her rapier piercing cleanly through his heart.
He staggered slightly, disbelief coursing through him as he struggled to comprehend the impossible.
He had witnessed her death with his own eyes, watched as life drained from her body.
For someone to feign death was inconceivable in Anthony's presence.
His unparalleled abilities made such deception an absurdity.
Yet here she was, standing before him in perfect form, graceful, untouched by exhaustion or injury, her presence as commanding as ever.
Anthony's mind spun, racing for answers.
How was this possible?
Two explanations emerged in the chaos of his thoughts.
The first was Nirvana.
An ability unique to phoenixes, this phenomenon was beyond their conscious control.
Through Nirvana, a phoenix could rise anew from the ashes of death, their body reborn, their existence restored.
But that wasn't the only detail.
Nirvana wasn't just rare, it was transformative.
Those who rose from their ashes through this phenomenon didn't simply return; they ascended.
Their mana rank surged, their skills sharpened to new heights, and every aspect of their being took a step forward.
Yet, Nirvana was as spectacular as it was miraculous.
It arrived in a blaze of dazzling lights and radiant flames, as if the heavens themselves were bestowing their blessing upon the reborn.
The phenomenon was impossible to miss, a celestial event that defied concealment.
And therein lay the problem. Anthony had seen no such display.
No searing flames, no radiant lights, no divine spectacle marking Serenelle's return.
It simply wasn't possible.
Anthony ruled out the possibility of Nirvana, his thoughts diving deeper into the enigma before him.
The second, and far more plausible, possibility struck Anthony with chilling clarity.
Serenelle possessed a skill capable of defying death itself, bringing her back to life.
Anthony's mind reeled as memories surged forth, pulling him back to the moment Serenelle had died.
The moment replayed vividly: her serene smile, the way she had embraced death as though greeting an old companion.
There had been no resistance, no fear, only acceptance, as if she knew her end was nothing more than a temporary farewell.
And, in truth, it had been.
This wasn't the first time Serenelle had cheated death.
When Serenelle was ten, upon awakening her mana, she demonstrated abilities far beyond her years.
But her prodigious nature had stirred fear rather than awe, and assassins struck her down the very next day.
Her mother, Scintilla, had been left to grieve.
Serenelle's mind raced, but she had no time to react before Anthony's hand vanished and reappeared, moving faster than her senses could follow.
Before she could even comprehend what was happening, Anthony's blade flashed, severing her head with a single, clean stroke.
Her body turned to ash, dissipating into nothingness.
Anthony stood, poised and ready, his focus unwavering.
He had anticipated the possibility of her returning, of her defying death more than once.
And so, when the same non-existent attack suddenly materialized, Anthony was prepared.
This time, he used his space element to phase his body through the attack, making it pass harmlessly through him.
Serenelle had no chance to recover, her head falling once more to the ground.
She sank back into Death's embrace for the third time.
Spectators watched in stunned silence as Serenelle continued to defy the very concept of death.
She revived again, but this time, she appeared far from Anthony.
By the time her eyes found him, he was already behind her.
Anthony's voice, cold and deadly, echoed in her ears.
"I wonder how many times you can defy death"
His blade flickered again, cutting through her body in a flurry of pieces.
Anthony's eyes gleamed with a cold, calculating light as he locked onto a faint, illusionary figure. It was Serenelle's soul.
'Maybe the skill is linked to her soul'
He thought to himself
Without hesitation, he brought his katana down upon her soul, slicing it into fragments just as he had with her flesh.
He watched as it, too, dissolved into nothingness.
Yet still, Serenelle defied death.
This time, when she revived, she reappeared at a great distance, but Anthony was already there.
In an instant, he was beside her, his hand resting gently on her head.
Serenelle's gaze hardened as she realized she could not even follow his movements.
She was helpless, reduced to the level of a child in his presence.
Blue flames pulsed into existence under Anthony's control, their aura crackling with untold power.
He didn't know how many times Serenelle could revive, but he wasn't willing to take any chances.
To ensure her final destruction, he would use something else he had.
Blue flames engulfed Serenelle's form, consuming her whole.
She didn't scream.
She only looked at Anthony with a mixture of fear and understanding.
Even with her Talent, she knew no matter how many times she came back, she would die.
The flames devoured her entirely, no ashes remained.
A slow smile graced Anthony's lips as he invoked his Authority of Information.
Serenelle's status flickered in his mind, and this time, there was no miracle.
She was gone.
The flames had done more than burn her.
They had erased her from existence.
Eternal Devour' was the very first ability of the Divine Flame.
It was a power that consumed everything, obliterating not only the physical, but the very fabric of time itself.
When Romulus had first arrived, he had burned Anthony's room, and even time could not restore what had been lost.
Anything Romulus consumed was automatically erased from the flow of time.
Anthony applied the same principle to Serenelle, using the flames to consume her very essence.
But who is to say Serenelle's talent couldn't bypass this, so had Anthony used the Authority of Information to check Serenelle's status.
And truly, she was dead.