The clouds parted.
Not by wind.
Not by force.
They simply yielded, as though something far greater had demanded passage.
A rupture carved itself through the celestial construct Erlang Shen had so effortlessly fashioned. The heavens themselves seemed to split open, an immeasurable scar stretching across the endless sky. It was beautiful.
Terrifyingly beautiful.
Yet...
This time, it felt different.
I had wielded this sensation my entire life. I had marched beside it through battlefields soaked in blood, felt it pulse within my grasp as kingdoms rose and fell before its edge.
But never...
Never had it felt like this.
It called to me.
No...
It answered me.
There was no distance between us anymore. No separation between warrior and weapon. I could feel its existence as clearly as I felt my own heartbeat, as if every pulse within my chest echoed somewhere high above the heavens.
It was never merely a halberd.
It was...
A part of me.
Darkness spread across the ever-radiant sky, swallowing the divine light not with malice, but with absolute certainty. It was not the darkness of evil.
It was older than that.
It was the darkness that existed before the first dawn.
So pure.
So absolute.
That even the Four Heavenly Kings parted their eyelids ever so slightly, their unwavering expressions betraying the smallest trace of interest.
Erlang Shen...
Smiled.
Not mockingly.
Not arrogantly.
But knowingly.
Darkness.
Rage.
Wrath.
Domination.
Each emotion seemed to manifest within the heavens themselves, weaving together into something far greater than any single concept could describe.
Then—
It pierced the heavens.
No...
It pierced the sky itself.
A deafening crack split the world as thunder roared without lightning, reverberating through heaven and earth alike. Clouds gathered where clouds should never have existed, forming above the very firmament Erlang Shen had created. The celestial platform beneath our feet trembled violently, unable to bear what was descending toward it.
Something...
Had awakened.
And for the first time since Heaven crowned itself above the earth...
It remembered the name of its master.
"SKY PIERCER!"
My voice thundered across the heavens.
"Let me wield you once more!"
"Let us fight one final battle!"
"...Pierce the Heavens!"
The moment those words left my lips, it answered.
It did not simply fly toward me.
It returned.
The halberd tore through the heavens with impossible speed, shattering the clouds in its wake before crashing into my waiting hand. The instant my fingers wrapped around its handle, a deafening shockwave erupted across the mountain.
It was not the sound of metal meeting flesh.
It was the sound of reunion.
As though two undeniable concepts, separated since the dawn of time, had finally become whole once more. The heavens themselves seemed to recoil from the impact, while the air rippled outward in violent waves.
Lu Bu held Sky Piercer once again.
Yet this time...
Something was different.
The slumbering presence sleeping within the halberd had awakened.
It had recognized its master.
No...
It had remembered him.
It was never bound to the weapon.
It had always followed Lu Bu.
Lightning burst from where my palm gripped the shaft, racing across the length of Sky Piercer before exploding into the heavens themselves. Every crackle echoed like the heartbeat of a god awakening from an age-long slumber, and for a brief instant, the sky itself seemed too small to contain its presence.
"Huh..."
A quiet voice broke the silence.
"It really is him."
A faint smile touched Erlang Shen's lips.
"The more reason to end this now."
He watched Lu Bu without haste, his golden eyes never wavering. There was no panic within them, no uncertainty, nor even excitement. If anything...
He looked relieved.
So this...
Was the anomaly Heaven had spoken of.
Interesting.
A nuisance.
Potentially dangerous.
Yet still...
Intriguing.
Perhaps, he thought, there had been another path.
Maybe he could handle the situation he was ordered.. In a different fashion.
Those thoughts vanished as quickly as they had appeared.
Erlang Shen remained unmoving.
Unwavering.
He acknowledged every impossible event unfolding before him, yet not a single one altered the expression upon his face. His victory was not confidence.
It was certainty.
Not arrogance.
A mandate.
Heaven had already delivered its verdict.
He was merely the hand chosen to carry it out.
On one side of the battlefield stood unbridled strength.
Wrath.
Ferocity.
The true Lu Bu had awakened.
Not the warrior history remembered.
Not the Flying General spoken of in legends.
But the man beneath every title.
Red lightning flooded the heavens, ruby bolts crackling and erupting across the sky with such violence that entire mountain peaks shattered beneath the stray currents. Every heartbeat sent another pulse of crimson through the clouds, as though the heavens themselves had inherited Lu Bu's rage.
On the other side...
Even I found myself fearful.
I looked between them.
Lu Bu filled one's soul with exhilaration, anticipation, the intoxicating desire to witness the impossible.
Erlang Shen...
Was silent.
Almost tranquil.
Golden mist drifted from his body, coating the heavens in a radiant veil that effortlessly pushed back the crimson storm. It was not louder than Lu Bu's wrath.
It simply refused to yield to it.
The authority pouring from the God of Justice was so absolute that even the Four Heavenly Kings lowered themselves onto one knee.
Not out of obligation.
Out of instinct.
Even they understood.
Justice itself had descended.
For perhaps the first time since assuming his station, Erlang Shen found himself invested in a judgment. This should have been another execution. Another sentence carried out in Heaven's name.
Yet Lu Bu had become something else.
Something worth acknowledging.
High above the battlefield, the heavens answered their champion. A radiant temple of gold slowly assembled itself amongst the clouds, each pillar forming as though carved by unseen hands. Birds of every shape, every colour and every feather gathered upon its countless rooftops, their songs falling silent as they turned toward a single figure.
The God of Justice.
Arms folded.
Watching.
Waiting.
Smiling.
I tightened my grip around Sky Piercer.
The halberd answered.
Lightning erupted from the handle, wrapping around my arm before engulfing my entire body. Every emotion I possessed—my anger, my pride, my hatred, my refusal to kneel—flowed into its blade.
Then...
I leapt.
The heavens shattered beneath my ascent.
Ruby lightning carved through the skies, splitting clouds and obliterating distant mountain peaks as I rocketed forward. I raised Sky Piercer high above my head, every fibre of my body devoted to a single purpose.
To pierce Erlang Shen.
The two forces collided.
Wrath met Retribution.
Chaos met Order.
A mortal's defiance crashed against Heaven's judgment.
For the briefest instant...
The world forgot which side would prevail.
Then...
One prevailed anyway.
The shockwave swallowed everything.
I felt myself hurled backwards with impossible force. Mountains vanished beneath me. Cities became blurs. Entire countries disappeared in the space of a heartbeat as my body tore across the world. I felt my soul strain beneath the impact, the rage within me cooling as though submerged beneath an endless ocean.
My grip weakened.
My thoughts faded.
Everything...
Began to grow quiet.
I...
Blink.
And it is over.
"Stronger than expected..."
Erlang's voice echoed calmly.
"...Yet."
He took a single step.
"Still."
Another.
"Too."
His golden eyes met mine.
"Weak."
He floated above me, untouched.
Untarnished.
Sky Piercer still trembled within my grasp, while the Demon-Slaying Sword rested effortlessly in his hand. He slowly raised its gleaming blade above his shoulder.
This...
Was the end.
The sword descended.
Then...
He blinked.
Once.
Twice.
"Hrngh."
His wrist turned.
The blade rotated.
Instead of its edge...
The pommel crashed into my chest.
The impact echoed throughout Heaven itself.
Darkness consumed everything.
There was no pain.
No sound.
No light.
Only...
Nothing.
I could hear nothing.
I could see nothing.
I could feel...
Nothing.
Was this the end?
Was this where the cycle truly ended?
No.
I refused.
This ending...
Was beneath me.
It was unworthy of the path I had chosen.
"...Hmph."
My eyes...
Opened.