The Extra Wants Control

"I\'m curious," Constantine said, his voice low. "How did you manage to redirect my dagger at that time?"

Neveah. Now calm, said, " I have spatial affinity."

"Spatial affinity, huh?" Constantine said.

" Yeah... Something I inherited from Verona \'that\' day. Though my affinity is bad." Thought Neveah.

"Ah, so that explains it," Constantine\'s voice materialized behind Neveah, " this should be easy then." He said.

Suddenly, a small shine of light caught Neveah\'s eye. A dagger shot towards him. Reacting quickly, he dodged, the blade whizzing past his ear.

But this was no ordinary attack. The dagger, mid-flight, entered a portal for a split second before appearing from another portal just as quick. Dodge, it gets thrown back at you. Block, another is shot. Soon portals appeared from multiple angles around Neveah. Shooting daggers.

"What I did before was just a fluke," Neveah thought."Imposing my will on that poorly formed portal… eas easy. But these new portals, they were different. They were better made and reinforced, and since Constantine\'s affinity and proficiency in space magic exceeds mine there\'s little I can do here."

Neveah knew brute force wouldn\'t work. He needed a more refined approach. Closing his eyes, taking a deep breath and focusing his power, He stood there quite, he made a repelling gravity field around him. It surged forward, a wave of force that rippled outward. It emanated from his body, pushing back against the immediate surroundings.

Heaving in a deep breath, Neveah pushed further. Sweat beads formed on his face, He then put his palm above the other.

His arms trembled, his muscles bulging as he exerted himself. He gritted his teeth tight, channeling every ounce of his will into his palms, he seemed like he was crushing something invisible and extremely tough with his hands.

Slowly and slowly, he began to bring his palms together, collapsing the dome inwards. And portals within shrank with each inch his palms drew closer to each other, their boundaries wobbling.

The veins in his neck bulged and threatened to burst. But he didn\'t give up.

Finally,"Clap!" the sound was soft as his palms met. And the repulsion field dissipated as the portals were forcefully shut.

Neveah took in a deep breath before sighing in relief. He did it! He shut the portals.

"Hahhh..." he he breathed out, letting out a humorless laugh. "Didn\'t think using gravity with a bit of space magic would actually shut these portals…" but his triumph was short-lived however.

Constantine\'s voice was then heard"Well done… But we are not finished here yet, young master. Apocalypse ...Persona, Death!"

Neveah\'s head snapped up, searching for the source of the voice.

He then saw it. Constantine atop a nightmarish black steed. The horse, a creature made from pure darkness, neighed slightly

In his hand, Constantine clutched a scythe, long and ominous, his skin was paler and his eyes darker, especially his lashes and eyelids... On his body an incomplete armour formed, he had chest and shoulder guards, he had also boots and a knee guard. Every other place was his clothes and maybe skin.

"He initialized his law?" Neveah thought in confusion. "When had Constantine done that? How? I hadn\'t felt any shift, no change in the atmosphere. Is it when I was preoccupied with the portals... It was a distraction!?

Fuck." Thought Neveah.

"And what\'s with this?" his mind raced. "I thought he gave negative status effects with his law… What does he mean Persona?..." He stole a glance at Kael, hoping to gauge the brother\'s reaction but couldn\'t see anything as he was wearing a helmet.

Constantine raised his hand, the black horse galloped it\'s hooves hitting the ground impatiently.

Dark energy crackled around them, the air growing heavy and oppressive. A dreadful premonition settled over Neveah.

Constantine\'s scythe swung down terrifyingly fast, aimed straight for his neck. But in a heartbeat, Neveah reacted and a shadow soldier materialized beside him, taking the full brunt of the attack giving Neveah time to dodge, he didn\'t swap himself with a shadow soldier this time because he knew the first time he was lucky and that he shouldn\'t try that again yet.

The scythe sliced clean through the shadowy figure, dissolving it into a wisp of black smoke.

The moment of rest was short-lived. Constantine, atop his steed, launched a relentless onslaught.

He rained down blow after blow, each swing madr precisely, fatal and skillful. Neveah evaded relentlessly.

The ground around him turned to black earth when the dark blade swung through the air, missing him by mere inches and grazed the ground slightly.

Neveah knew the touch of that scythe meant more than just physical harm of cut flesh. It bore the weight and power of Constantine\'s law, and the name Persona Death made him even more cautious. He wasn\'t about to fuck around and find out.

He couldn\'t risk getting hit. Ws he dodged another close swing, he noticed a subtle change. The nightmare, that was once solid darkness, seemed to be… fading?

Its form becoming slightly transparent at the edges, it\'s feet were now practically invisible. A smile formed on Neveah\'s lips, a relieved small smile.

"So," he said as he dodged another swing, "you have a time limit, don\'t you?"

Constantine remained silent, but his attacks relentless. But beneath the mask of indifference, there was something else annoyance. He knew Neveah had figured it out.

The law, Apocalypse: Persona – Death, wasn\'t an instant-win button. It granted Constantine immense power, turning him into a harbinger of death, but it was a temporary state. The longer he maintained it, the more it drained him.

Time passed by slowly for everyone. Each dodge, each scramble to avoid Constantine\'s close and deadly swung scythe, and for Constantine who couldn\'t get a hit in, yet his horse was fading with every passing minute.

Its once solid form growing increasingly transparent. \'Just a little longer. I just have to hold on.\' each thought fighting against time.