Chapter 32: Price of Victory
For one dreadful heartbeat...
Nobody moved.
Yun Che stared at the creature, his mind racing through every page he had ever read about the Abyss.
Then he understood.
"It transformed..."
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"It abandoned its normal form."
Tianyu glanced at him without taking his eyes off the monster.
"What does that mean?"
Yun Che swallowed.
"The form we fought before wasn't its true battle body."
"It was built for endurance."
"For surviving."
"This..."
He looked at the towering nightmare before them.
"...is its combat form."
The creature slowly raised its crimson cannon.
Yun Che continued rapidly.
"Abyss creatures consume enormous amounts of energy in this form."
"Their offensive power rises dramatically."
"Their defenses become weaker."
"They can't maintain it for long."
A spark of hope flickered in Tianyu's eyes.
"So we just have to survive."
"Exactly."
Yun Che nodded.
"Don't fight it head-on."
"Run."
"Force it to waste power."
"That's our chance."
The creature answered with silence.
Then...
Its cannon began to glow.
Deep crimson light gathered inside the barrel.
Every instinct in Yun Che screamed.
"Move!"
He punched upward with his armored fist.
The weakened sewer roof exploded apart.
Sunlight poured into the tunnel.
He burst onto the surface.
The others followed.
A deafening explosion erupted behind them.
The transformed Abyss creature tore straight through the street, stone and timber scattering in every direction.
It floated above the ruined road like a dark star.
Its burning eye locked onto Yun Che.
Like death itself.
Its crimson cannon slowly rotated.
Yun Che's instincts screamed.
He threw himself sideways.
Too late.
The cannon fired.
There was no explosion.
Only a streak of scarlet light crossing the distance almost instantly.
Yun Che barely managed to raise his sword.
Power Strike.
Body Enhancement.
Damage Dispersion.
Everything he possessed.
The crimson projectile slammed into the blade.
The world exploded.
His arms instantly lost all feeling.
The sword bent backward.
The impact hurled him through the wall of the nearest house.
Then another.
Then another.
Wood shattered.
Stone burst apart.
Furniture flew into the air.
He finally stopped after crashing through the fourth building.
Silence followed.
Yun Che coughed violently.
Blood spilled from his mouth.
His vision blurred.
His left arm hung unnaturally.
Broken.
Several ribs stabbed painfully every time he breathed.
"...Still..."
"...alive..."
His fingers trembled as he pulled healing pills from his pouch.
He swallowed them without hesitation.
The medicine immediately spread warmth through his body.
It dulled the pain.
It did not remove it.
He staggered upright.
Then disappeared behind the remains of another building before the creature could fire again.
Elsewhere...
Yun Ren had already found his chance.
He gathered every strand of Ki into his arm.
His spear trembled.
Blue light raced along its shaft.
With a roar...
He threw it.
The weapon crossed the battlefield like a falling star.
The air itself screamed.
For a moment...
It truly looked capable of piercing the heavens.
The Abyss creature merely turned.
Its lance moved once.
A single effortless sweep.
Steel met black metal.
The spear flew away into the distance like a child's toy.
Yun Ren's eyes widened.
"...Impossible."
The crimson cannon was already turning toward him.
"Oh no."
It fired.
Yun Ren didn't hesitate.
He threw himself behind the nearest stone building.
The crimson blast struck a heartbeat later.
The entire structure disappeared.
Not collapsed.
Disappeared.
Only burning rubble remained.
Dust swallowed the street.
Yun Ren burst from the opposite side before the smoke cleared.
He no longer ran in straight lines.
Instead he moved through narrow alleys.
Jumping fences.
Crossing courtyards.
Searching desperately for another weapon.
"My spear..."
"...Where did it land?"
A silver blur raced across the rooftops.
Tianyu.
His breathing remained steady.
His newly awakened bloodline continued strengthening his body.
Yet even he knew...
Against this monster...
Strength alone meant nothing.
He reached beneath his armor.
A silver necklace rested against his chest.
His father's gift.
He poured Ki into it.
Ancient runes awakened.
A translucent blue barrier surrounded his entire body.
The protective light shimmered quietly around him.
Without stopping...
He reached toward Bingya's collar.
The wolf immediately understood.
More Ki flowed.
The collar answered.
Runes spread across Bingya's white fur.
One plate.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Silver armor unfolded from the artifact until the Frost Wolf stood completely encased in elegant battle armor.
Only its glowing eyes remained visible.
The transformation finished within seconds.
Yun Che glanced back just long enough to see them.
"...Artifacts."
Tianyu smiled despite the danger.
"The advantages of being the City Lord's son."
Bingya snorted proudly.
The wolf scraped one armored paw against the broken street.
Ready.
Master and partner lowered themselves together.
No longer merely talented youths.
No longer merely rivals.
For the first time...
They entered battle using the full inheritance of the Shen Clan.
-----------------------------
The instant Tianyu activated the Shen Clan's artifacts...
The battle changed.
Not enough to make it easy.
Only enough to make survival possible.
The shimmering barrier surrounding him distorted the air whenever the Abyss creature's crimson cannon fired, softening impacts that would otherwise have reduced him to ash.
Bingya's silver armor gleamed beneath the burning sky, ancient runes glowing with icy blue light as the Frost Wolf bounded across shattered rooftops.
The pair exchanged a single glance.
No words were needed.
They attacked.
The creature answered immediately.
Its crimson cannon flashed.
A blazing sphere screamed toward them.
Tianyu didn't retreat.
"Left!"
Bingya twisted in midair.
The cannonball skimmed past his armored shoulder.
The protective barrier rippled violently as fragments of crimson energy exploded against it.
Instead of stopping...
Master and beast accelerated.
They had learned.
The closer they stayed...
The harder it became for the cannon to fire.
The monster lowered its lance.
At the same time, the blade-like tentacles spreading behind it unfolded like a living cloak.
Each one lashed outward with terrifying precision.
Tianyu ducked beneath the lance.
A tentacle immediately swept toward his neck.
He caught it with one claw.
Another wrapped toward his leg.
Bingya bit straight through it.
Black blood sprayed across the street.
The stone hissed where it landed.
Corroding instantly.
"Now!"
Blue frost exploded around both partners.
The surrounding temperature plummeted.
"Frozen Aura!"
The air itself crystallized.
Immediately afterward—
"Frost Rend!"
Master and wolf attacked from opposite directions.
Two icy arcs crossed through the creature's body.
The barrier protecting Tianyu absorbed the monster's desperate counterattack long enough for both strikes to land.
Fresh wounds split across its armored chest.
Black blood poured freely.
It had been hurt again.
The creature staggered.
Only for an instant.
Then...
Its crimson eye blazed.
The cannon rotated.
Point-blank.
"Tianyu!"
The blast erupted before anyone could interfere.
The barrier surrounding Tianyu cracked like glass.
The explosion launched both rider and wolf across the street.
They crashed through two stone buildings before disappearing beneath a cloud of rubble.
Yun Che's eyes widened.
"No!"
But he did not waste the opportunity.
He raised the Mountain Piercer.
Ignored the pain in his shattered ribs.
Ignored the blood running down his face.
Ignored the warning screams from his exhausted body.
He inhaled once.
The creature's chest remained open.
Its wounds...
Were finally visible.
He fired.
The rifle thundered.
The rune bullet crossed the battlefield in an instant.
It entered directly through the damaged armor.
The explosion erupted inside the creature's torso.
A massive hole appeared in its chest.
For the first time...
The Abyss creature screamed in genuine pain.
Its body lurched backward.
"Got you..."
Yun Ren whispered.
He had finally found replacement weapons.
Several heavy hunting spears from a ruined weapon shop lay scattered nearby.
Not perfect.
Good enough.
He poured Foundation Ki into the first spear.
Then threw it with every ounce of strength he possessed.
The weapon streaked through the air.
The monster didn't even look.
Every crimson eye opened simultaneously.
Dozens of black beams erupted outward.
Not aimed.
Simply...
Everywhere.
Buildings collapsed.
Roads dissolved.
Stone melted beneath the corrosive light.
Yun Ren threw himself behind a broken wall.
Too slow.
One beam grazed his left arm.
There was no explosion.
No dramatic wound.
His arm simply...
Vanished.
From just below the elbow downward.
Gone.
For one impossible second...
Yun Ren merely stared.
His spear slipped from nerveless fingers that no longer existed.
Then...
Pain arrived.
A scream tore from his throat.
Elsewhere...
One of the black beams reached Yun Che.
He barely crossed both arms before his chest.
The Earth Rune upon his armor blazed brilliantly.
Every remaining strand of Ki flooded into Damage Dispersion.
The beam struck.
The armor blackened instantly.
Smoke poured from its surface.
The corrosive curse tried to eat through the metal.
Yun Che desperately forced Ki into the armor.
Holding it together.
Holding...
Holding...
Finally...
The beam ended.
He collapsed onto one knee.
His Ki reserves...
Were almost empty.
A howl echoed across the ruined district.
Bingya.
The rubble exploded apart.
Master and wolf emerged together.
Their barriers were cracked.
Their armor scarred.
Both bled heavily.
Neither slowed.
"Tianyu!"
"I know!"
They attacked from opposite directions.
Spinning.
Accelerating.
Like twin storms.
The creature raised its lance toward one.
Its cannon toward the other.
It blocked both.
The impact shook the entire street.
For one brief instant...
Everything stopped.
Yun Che saw it.
The opening.
The final one.
His breathing became calm.
The Mountain Piercer rested against his shoulder.
One last bullet.
One last shot.
The rifle itself had begun cracking beneath the strain.
"...Please."
He whispered to no one.
"Hold together."
He squeezed the trigger.
The world vanished beneath thunder.
The final rune bullet crossed the battlefield.
Straight through the creature's single crimson eye.
Through its skull.
Its head...
Simply disappeared.
Black mist exploded into the air.
The armored body remained standing.
Then...
Slowly...
It collapsed.
The cannon dimmed.
The lance slipped from lifeless fingers.
Silence spread across the ruined city.
Yun Che stared for several seconds.
Waiting.
Another transformation.
Another monster.
Another nightmare.
Nothing came.
Instead...
The Mountain Piercer shattered in his hands.
The barrel split apart.
The stock broke into splinters.
Metal fragments scattered across the ground.
Yun Che smiled weakly.
"...You did well."
Then he fell backward onto the broken stones.
Almost every drop of Ki inside him had been spent.
If another enemy appeared now...
He could not even lift a sword.
Minutes passed.
None of them moved.
--------------------------
Silence settled over Mistforge.
Not peaceful silence.
The silence that followed screams.
Yun Che lay on his back among shattered stone and broken timber.
Every breath hurt.
His Ki was gone.
The Mountain Piercer lay beside him in pieces, its barrel split from end to end.
He closed his eyes.
"...We won."
That single thought brought him a brief sense of relief.
Then...
Something cold touched his soul.
His eyes snapped open.
Above the headless corpse of the Abyss creature, a tiny black sphere floated into the air.
It was no larger than a marble.
Dark.
Perfectly round.
It radiated no Ki.
Only endless emptiness.
No one else reacted.
No one even seemed to notice it.
The little sphere drifted silently toward him.
Yun Che tried to move.
His exhausted body refused.
The orb touched his forehead.
Then...
It disappeared.
The world vanished.
Yun Che found himself standing in a place filled with endless white.
There was no sky.
No earth.
Only light stretching forever.
"...My Soul Place."
He had read about it.
Every cultivator possessed one.
As the soul matured, this place would gradually transform into something that reflected its owner.
Yet his had never looked like this before.
Something moved.
Not far away.
A shadow.
The white world slowly darkened around it.
Then...
The Hundred-Eyed Hollow appeared.
Not outside.
Inside him.
It floated silently in the endless white, its countless eyes closed.
Its tentacles rested peacefully.
Like a sleeping beast.
Yun Che instinctively took a step back.
"What..."
"...are you doing here?"
No answer came.
Instead...
He felt a strange connection.
As though the creature were another arm.
Another leg.
Another possibility.
An idea formed naturally inside his mind.
Transform.
Before he could stop himself...
His body changed.
Darkness spread over him.
His vision split into countless angles.
He no longer possessed two eyes.
He possessed dozens.
Tentacles unfurled around him.
His body became weightless.
He had become...
The Hundred-Eyed Hollow.
Yun Che looked down at himself in horror.
"This..."
"This isn't an illusion."
It felt completely natural.
He understood how to move.
How to float.
How to fire its cursed beams.
How to unfold into its combat form.
Every instinct came naturally.
Too naturally.
Then...
He felt something else.
Hunger.
Not ordinary hunger.
The desire to consume.
To corrupt.
To destroy.
The instinct whispered gently inside his mind.
Devour.
Spread.
Kill.
Yun Che's expression changed immediately.
"No."
He forced the transformation to end.
Darkness peeled away.
He became human once more.
Breathing heavily despite possessing no physical body inside the Soul Place.
He finally understood.
"This..."
"...is dangerous."
Very dangerous.
If he relied upon that form...
Those instincts would eventually become his own.
He might stop being Yun Che.
And become...
Something else.
His thoughts drifted elsewhere.
Tianyu possessed a bloodline.
Transformation techniques also existed.
Those merely copied appearance.
They never granted the creature's true abilities.
This...
Was different.
Whatever had happened...
He hadn't merely copied the Hundred-Eyed Hollow.
He had inherited it.
Its senses.
Its attacks.
Its instincts.
Only one limitation remained.
Its power still depended entirely upon his own cultivation.
He possessed the body of the monster.
Not its strength.
Even so...
It was terrifying.
Suddenly...
His new senses noticed something.
Several faint crimson lights.
Hidden.
Scattered throughout the city.
"...Formation nodes."
His countless eyes naturally pierced walls and stone.
He saw them.
One hidden inside an old watchtower.
Another beneath a warehouse.
The formation...
Wasn't completely destroyed.
The damaged ritual no longer possessed enough power to summon another creature immediately.
But given enough time...
It would recover.
Another gate would open.
Mistforge would suffer all over again.
"There isn't time."
Yun Che transformed once more.
This time only briefly.
The instinct immediately returned.
For one horrible instant, Yun Che looked at the wounded comrades and did not see people.
He saw red warmth.
Food.
He slapped himself hard enough to split his lip.
"No."
He ignored it.
He floated above the ruined street.
The hidden nodes glowed clearly before his many eyes.
He opened his mouth.
Black beams erupted.
One.
Two.
Three.
The hidden formation nodes dissolved instantly.
The watchtower cracked apart.
Ancient stone collapsed into the street.
Yun Che winced.
"...Sorry."
It had always been his favorite place to watch the sunrise over Mistforge.
Now...
It was gone.
The last node vanished.
The crimson lines beneath the city finally faded completely.
The ritual...
Had truly ended.
The transformation dispersed immediately afterward.
Yun Che collapsed onto one knee.
His last thread of Ki disappeared.
He couldn't even stand. His head hurt so badly, developing into splitting migraine. He even coughed up black blood as the form was damaging him. He realized how incompatible this form was for him.
Only then did he notice Yun Ren.
His brother sat against a broken wall.
His left sleeve hung empty.
The hand...
Was gone.
Yun Che's chest tightened.
"I'm..."
"I'm sorry."
"If I had been stronger..."
Yun Ren smiled tiredly. His smile trembled.
It was not real at first.
It was something he forced onto his face because Yun Che looked one breath away from breaking into a guilt filled mindset.
"You talk too much."
He lifted his remaining hand.
"This?"
He glanced at the missing limb.
"It hurts."
"It'll keep hurting."
"But..."
He looked toward the city they had protected.
"...This is the price of war."
"If losing one hand means everyone else keeps both..."
"I'll take that trade."
Yun Che lowered his head.
He admired his brother.
More than ever before.
Hoofbeats echoed through the ruined street.
A city guard arrived riding a Frost Wolf.
His armor was stained with blood.
His face...
Was smiling.
"They did it!"
"The last formation collapsed!"
"The beast tide has stopped!"
"Every surviving monster is retreating!"
"The city..."
"...is safe!"
Relief washed over everyone.
Some laughed.
Others simply closed their eyes.
For today...
Mistforge had survived.
None of them noticed the faint black mark that had appeared deep within Yun Che's soul.
A seed.
Silent.
Waiting.
Watching.