"Focus, Ash. I'm going to teach you something. It's called the Dance of Halo."
Ash blinked. "That sounds... pretty."
Dev chuckled lightly. "It's not. It's fast, sharp, and alive. It's not just movement. It's rhythm."
Ash didn't have time to respond. Two creatures burst through the tear, long, crooked things with wings. They moved fast, dragging the weight of their own twisted flesh behind them.
Ash turned quickly. He kicked off from nothing, feeling the stabilizer shift his balance, but he spun wrong and had to forcefully level himself before charging.
"Step one," Dev said in his ear, "is to flow. Not cut. Not stop. Flow. Like a ripple in water." Ash swung his sword at the first creature. The blade met skin, but instead of slicing clean, it got stuck halfway through the creature's neck. The monster screamed—not a loud scream, more like a crackling moan. Ash gritted his teeth and pulled. It didn't budge.
"Shit," he muttered. The second creature slammed into him while he was still yanking his blade. Ash tumbled back, his body spinning awkwardly in the zero-gravity space. For a second, he felt panic rise, he was completely open.
But instinct kicked in. He grabbed at the creature's arm, twisted, and slammed his head forward. It didn't do much, but it knocked it off rhythm. Ash reached down to his belt, pulled out the small combat blade Dev had given him earlier, and stabbed it right under the chin.
The blade didn't go deep, but the angle was perfect. The thing froze, then dropped, floating off limply like roadkill in a vacuum. Ash didn't have time to breathe. The first creature was still alive, still snarling with his sword embedded in its body. It rushed him again, and Ash, without thinking, kicked the hilt of his own sword hard. It pushed the blade in fully, splitting the creature open. It's blood, or something like it, spread in little bubbles that shimmered in the dark. He pulled the blade out finally. It was wet, and the handle was slippery.
"Step two," Dev said as he floated closer, now watching. "The wrist is the heart of the Halo. The dance isn't about power. It's about angle. Look."
Dev pulled out his own sword. A soft hum buzzed through the comms as he swung. The blade didn't slice; it glided. It moved like paint on canvas, a motion too smooth to seem deadly. But the broken pieces of a third creature floated past them.
"Did you- when did-" Ash blinked.
"You weren't watching," Dev replied. "Watch now."
Another creature lunged from above. Dev turned his body slightly, twisted his wrist, and the blade flicked outward like a question mark. It cut clean. The creature didn't even realize it was dead until its head drifted away from its neck.
Ash gritted his teeth. "Okay. Okay. Show-off."
"Now you try again. This time, flow."
Ash adjusted himself, sword in hand again. His whole arm was sore now. His chest ached from the hit earlier. One of his ribs was probably bruised. Another creature came, its mouth splitting open like a flower made of knives. Ash moved to the side, barely dodging the first swipe. He turned, let his stabilizer adjust his weight, and swung—not with power, but with motion. His wrist flicked, and the blade traced a wide arc.
It wasn't clean, but it worked. The creature was cut along the shoulder. It screamed. Ash spun again, this time flowing straight into the second attack. He cut down, but the angle was wrong. The blade hit bone and bounced off.
The monster clawed his back. Ash groaned. The suit held, mostly, but pain shot down his spine. He turned and slammed the hilt into its face, then drove his boot into its chest. It stumbled back just enough for Ash to correct himself. This time, he went low, slicing its legs. Blood floated again, like smoke in water.
"You're getting it," Dev said. "But you're still thinking too much."
"No offense," Ash growled, "but your teaching style kind of sucks."
Dev laughed through the comms. "I've heard that before."
Another wave was coming. Five now hound-like creatures. All of them crawling out from the rift like nightmares pulling themselves into reality. Ash breathed out slowly. His arms were shaking. His sword was heavy now.
"You don't have to be fast," Dev said. "You just have to be right."
Ash narrowed his eyes and moved. He floated through the space like swimming through dark water, the stabilizer helping him guide his direction with little kicks. The creatures snarled and twisted as they came. He dodged the first, parried the second, and went straight into a roll through nothing. No ground to rely on. No walls. Just instinct and frictionless momentum.
He cut one down the middle, barely stopping the blade from spinning him. The second one bit into his shoulder. He screamed, more from surprise than pain. The suit held, again, but a bruise was blooming.
He elbowed the thing in the jaw, then kicked off of it to move faster toward the next. The stabilizer hissed, shifting air pressure to fix his position midair. Ash twisted. Slashed. Missed.
The creature laughed—or maybe it just made a weird choking sound. Ash corrected mid-spin, twisted his wrist, and finally landed a solid strike across its side. Blood scattered like stars.
"Better," Dev said. Ash was breathing heavily now, sweat forming behind his helmet. His fingers hurt from gripping too hard. He looked up. The rift was still open. Still red. Still howling.
"This isn't even the real fight, is it?" Ash asked, his voice strained.
"No," Dev replied quietly. "This is just to see if you can swim before the ocean gets deep."
The first burst of creatures was gone. Now the real challenge lay before them. These creatures looked different, shaped by nightmares. One had horns like twisted spears curling from its head. Another walked on tiptoe, its knees bending forward, jaws full of dripping fangs. A third had a body wrapped in veins of glowing red, as if fire ran under its skin.
Dev spoke softly, "Remember the Halo dance. It's not just swordplay. It's flow. It's rhythm that shapes the strike."
Ash nodded, even though Dev couldn't see it. The first creature charged—horns locked like a ram. Its bulk moved fast. He brought his blade in a rising arc, following the pivot. The blade cut through its chest, sliding until it grazed bone. The creature stumbled, then exploded in black mist.
Ash kept moving, no pause. The second came, low and lithe. It darted forward with a hiss and clawed at his leg. Ash hopped back, but the suit scuffed. He spun, using the stabilizer to switch direction mid-air, and struck from above. His blade slashed its side, but the monster's skin held firm. It smirked, jaws opening wide.
Ash hesitated. But Dev's voice was there, soft but firm: "Play with it. Feel the flow."
Ash relaxed his grip, let the sword glide. He swirled it low, moving around the creature in a circle. He felt the balance shift—from his core to his arm to the blade in his hand. And he cut across its neck. A clean strike. The creature's head folded over its shoulders in slow motion.
Ash spun again. Sweat rolled down his face. The third creature stood back, veins pulsing red. It opened a mouth along its arm and spat streams of molten fluid. Ash barely bent backward to dodge. The acid hissed into space. Ash took a deep breath and swung his sword at the glowing veins. Sparks flew as metal met molten skin. He cut deep. The thing shrieked, its glow dimming. The wound burned like coals, but Ash backed off before it could close. "This is it," he whispered.
More creatures bled into space. Each one unique.... clawed hands dripping with shadow, spines that rhymed with evil, eyes that stared at Ash even without seeing him.
One creature slashed at him through the chaos. His sword caught it, but the impact spun Ash sideways. He let go, his hand burning. The blade floated away, spinning in zero gravity. No time to reach it. Ash lunged forward instead. His undamaged arm locked onto the creature's neck. He wrapped his fingers around its throat armor, yanked it back, and slammed it against an asteroid-sized boulder drifting by. The skull cracked. The thing went limp and slid away.
Ash exhaled hard, no blade, no rhythm. But he survived.
Dev drifted next to him. "You adapted," he said, voice low and approving. "Now you know. The Halo isn't just blade and balls steel. It's your instincts flowing with purpose."
Ash's chest vibrated with hard breaths, but relief glowed in his eyes. He wrapped both hands around the blade drifting slowly through space and yanked it back. Sparks hissed as the tip shimmered red-hot.
Blood and void floated around them. Ash raised the sword. Every piece of pain, every bruise, every breath became fuel. He let his shoulders loosen and his body flow.