413 Death of a Warrior

The meteor shattered as Shouquan's technique closed around it, crushing it into dozens of smaller fragments before grinding them down further into nothing but drifting embers. Silver mist recoiled back into his soul as he sneered, utterly unbothered.

"Let's go, Dave," I called.

He was already beside me. "I'll always be at your side, my lord."

Lightning split the space between me and Mo Yu as Tao Long and Zi Cheng crossed paths, their weapons clashing in a violent exchange. Both of them were focused on each other, yet I could feel their hesitation, the instinct to interfere clawing at them. This was not their battlefield.

Dave invoked Divine Possession.

His incorporeal form dissolved into light and sank into me, filling the hollowness I rarely acknowledged. I felt more complete, sharper, and stronger, though I knew the truth. I was still only one of the Six.

In the distance, Tan Jin fought Kong Huang and Tang Lan head-on, her movements crisp and merciless, proving exactly why I trusted her with that task.

I was the Asura Path.

My innate abilities stirred, and for a fraction of a moment, I reallocated half of everything I had into Dexterity. The world slowed, and I appeared before Mo Yu in a blink. My sword swung, and just before impact, I shifted everything into Strength.

Mo Yu parried with his fan. The swords above him descended in sequence, crashing down like falling stars, masked by lingering debris before bursting forth from impossible angles. I shifted back to Dexterity, chaining Flash Parry with Flash Step, slipping through the storm and reappearing in front of him.

"Divine Zone."

Aura folded inward, space locking down. Heavenly Punishment detonated inside the zone, the giant golden sword manifesting and striking instantly. Mo Yu reacted with terrifying speed, teleporting out of range of Divine Zone just in time, his expression tightening as the Heavenly Punishment followed him outside of my Divine Zone.

"Did you forget that this is a team battle?" asked Mo Yun. "Don't look down on us."

The remaining meteor fragments screamed toward me as Huo Zexi roared, "Transform!"

The debris twisted midair, reshaping into imps and fiends that lunged at me in a writhing tide.

"We never forgot," Shouquan said coldly.

A formation snapped shut, briefly trapping Xing Tuzi in place.

I Castled with Joan.

She appeared where I had stood, unicorn rearing as she unleashed a massive exorcism. Holy force washed over the battlefield, reducing the imps and fiends into tar, ash, and ruin in a single sweeping judgment.

I reappeared in front of Xing Tuzi and grabbed her by the face.

"Divine Zone."

Heavenly Punishment bloomed within her body, only for her to snap back with Judgment Severance, a golden cross-shaped rift tearing open and erasing all power within its radius. My spells were ripped apart, both the earlier Heavenly Punishment I'd cast targeted on Mo Yu and this one. However, this wasn't enough to stop me unleashing a killing blow.

"You'll have to do better than that," I said calmly. "Now, die."

Most of my power was already reallocated to Strength.

I closed my fingers.

Her skull collapsed under my grip, gore spraying beneath the golden cross as her body went limp. I smiled softly as her remains fell away.

"One down."

Xing Tuzi's words echoed faintly in my mind, sharp and mocking. "Count again."

The golden cross faded, and Mo Yu appeared through the empty space behind it, fingers weaving precise gestures. A sword erupted from beneath the ground, its edge grazing past me as I shifted, reallocating my stats to Dexterity. Even limited to half at minimum, the freedom to shift my attributes at will was still terrifyingly effective, though I knew just as well it cut both ways.

Pain bloomed.

Poison seeped through my pores, subtle and persistent, while a searing heat gnawed at my bones. I twisted just as Tang Lan and Kong Huang appeared behind me, flanking with practiced coordination. In the distance, Xing Tuzi was already clashing with Tan Jin, silver and emerald blurring together. Shouquan remained locked with Huo Zexi above, thunder and hellfire colliding, while Tao Long and Zi Cheng continued their duel in crackling arcs of lightning and steel.

Joan leaped from her unicorn.

The beast veered toward Tang Lan as Joan teleported to my side, her voice steady despite the chaos. "Protection. Blessed Weapon. Divine Grace." Her Divine Right surged as she continued, "Dome of Deniability. Angel's Embrace. Heavenly Foundation."

Power layered over me in rapid succession.

Tang Lan cursed as her poison arts unraveled, the unicorn charging her without hesitation. Kong Huang's flaming fist engulfed the creature, only for Joan to dismiss it mid-impact and summon it again elsewhere. She planted herself against my back, staff raised, guarding my blind side.

"Can we win?" she asked quietly.

Mo Yu watched us from afar, calm, fan covering his mouth as he murmured an incantation. The swords above multiplied endlessly, then vanished one by one, slipping into something unseen.

I shifted my stats into Intelligence.

Possibilities unfolded.

Mo Yu was the strongest, an Eleventh Realm cultivator with Six Path mastery. I shared that mastery, but I was incomplete and a realm below. Xing Tuzi and Huo Zexi, as Six Elders, could force Eleventh Realm strength through their techniques. Against them, only my realm allowed me to stand without being crushed outright. With Dave merged into me, I could barely keep pace with Mo Yu.

Joan had grown. Her Divine Authority elevated her to Dave's level, and her mastery of buffs, teleportation, and skill layering gave her real leverage, at least until someone like Xing Tuzi finished analyzing her. I remembered the Ghost Seat Elder the Animal Soul fought during his infiltration. If that account was true, then the Heaven Seat was even worse.

Tao Long and Zi Cheng were evenly matched. Shouquan could defeat Huo Zexi, but not quickly. Experience favored him, yet the Hell Seat's resilience would drag the fight out.

Kong Huang and Tang Lan.

They were the weakest links.

I shifted my stats into Wisdom.

Paths converged, risks aligned, and outcomes crystallized. In the span of a single blink, the chaos reorganized itself into something usable.

I had a plan.

In another blink, my plan flowed outward through Qi Speech, threading into every mind bound to me. It demanded sacrifices, and none of us were ignorant of that fact, yet death had long since ceased to be the final boundary for people like us.

Mo Yu's voice carried calmly through the chaos. "Kill the blonde."

He did not bother hiding it behind Qi Speech, and that alone told me his intent was not command but provocation. I met his gaze briefly, understanding the ploy even as I acknowledged the logic behind it. If I were in his place, I would have made the same call of dealing with Joan first, of course, that would be based on the knowledge that she was the healer. But, Mo Yu shouldn't have known that.

Dave disengaged from me without hesitation, the warmth of Divine Possession peeling away as it flowed into Joan. Her staff vanished into her pocket dimension as radiant light condensed in her hand, forming a glowing sword etched with holy sigils. Dave settled into her body seamlessly, his voice brushing my consciousness.

"My lord, I will fulfill my part."

I walked past them, my presence steady as I cast, "Divine Word: Life."

The word bloomed across our side, threading vitality through flesh, soul, and qi alike. At the same time, my true instruction followed in Qi Speech. "Protect the blonde in appearance. Protect the horse in truth."

The unicorn snorted, divine energy rippling beneath its hide as it took its place among us.

Dave moved first.

Quintessence and Holy Spirit coiled together as armor formed over Joan's body, and he vanished in a burst of blinding speed, colliding with Mo Yu in a cascade of shockwaves. I surged the opposite way, my feet barely touching the ground as Kong Huang snarled and clawed at the air.

Flames erupted.

Seven draconic heads tore free from the inferno as Kong Huang roared, "Nine Devils Dragon Reversal!"

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The heat was murderous, space warping as the dragons lunged. I vanished, swapping places with Tao Long mid-strike. Lightning screamed as Tao Long released his true form, azure scales unfurling as storm and flood wrapped around him. The dragons crashed into him, flames dispersing against thunder and rain as he tanked the full force head-on.

Zi Cheng barely had time to react.

I appeared beside him, Dexterity and Divine Speed carrying me faster than he'd ever be able to react. I tapped his shoulder and murmured, "Sleep it off. Divine Word: Rest."

Zi Cheng tried to resist as his eyes fluttered close.

However, I was not done yet as Fu Wu informed me he broke the formation that stopped greater spatial movement, thus allowing me to do this. Divine Possession flowed into a waiting Manasoul, and I cast Egress through it. Zi Cheng vanished, torn from the battlefield and hurled toward the Holy Empire, where other versions of me would decide his fate.

I cast Castling again.

Tao Long and I switched places mid-motion, and I drove straight at Kong Huang, casting Divine Word: Rest and dragging him into Egress with a Manasoul, the same trick I just performed with Zi Cheng. Space folded violently as we vanished, denying him the chance to regroup.

A shrill cry cut through the field.

The unicorn fell.

Mo Yu had slipped past Dave for a heartbeat, his strike precise and merciless. The divine beast collapsed, light scattering like broken glass. Shouquan snarled and pinned Mo Yu in place for half a breath, silver mist locking around him as I and Dave rushed together.

Huo Zexi intervened.

Fiendish runes tore open the air, forcing us back as Mo Yu escaped in a flash of teleportation. Without sustained healing from the unicorn, Tao Long staggered as Xing Tuzi and Tang Lan struck from opposing angles, silver blades and poison threads converging.

Tan Jin's roar answered them.

Her vine-whip cracked like thunder, tearing through Tang Lan's defenses as she closed the distance in a single bound with her aura mastery and unleashed a technique that pierced through barrier techniques. "You picked the wrong fight."

Tang Lan's head left her shoulders, spinning away as her body collapsed without ceremony.

Everywhere I looked, the battlefield burned and warped beneath overlapping techniques, space cracking as power collided without restraint. Chaos fed on chaos, and for the first time, doubt crept into me as I realized I had overestimated how much quintessence I could still draw. There was no room to hesitate now, because retreat had already become a luxury.

A new pressure slid into my senses like a blade against the spine. Through the eyes of my Guardians and the Three Constellations, I saw a robed man steeped in rot and curse, his presence heavy with disease and malice. His strength brushed the Eleventh Realm, and my heart sank as I understood the implication. If he joined the main battlefield, we would be crushed.

I lunged toward Xing Tuzi, intent on removing her the same way I had Zi Cheng and Kong Huang. She laughed lightly as her form split, bodies dissolving into mist and shadow. Even within Divine Zone, she slipped through clones and translocations, never staying where she should have been.

Tao Long roared, lightning and storm gathering in his throat as he prepared to drown the field in thunderous breath. He never released it. Invisible swords tore through him in a silent tempest, shredding scales and bone alike as Mo Yu's attack erased him from the sky.

Dave staggered back within Joan's body, his Qi Speech sharp in my mind. "Those swords aren't normal. They cut concepts, not just flesh."

Tan Jin did not retreat fast enough. The storm of swords returned, this time wreathed in flame, and her vines burned as they were severed. She fell without a cry.

I issued orders through Qi Speech on the Guardians, my will cutting through panic. "Withdraw. Regroup with the Martial Alliance. The Union has turned on us."

Shouquan charged Huo Zexi with a snarl, silver mirages colliding with hellish flame. The clash ended in mutual annihilation as Huo Zexi detonated himself, and Mo Yu's follow-up strike erased what remained of Shouquan in a single motion.

When the dark-robed man appeared within the vision of one of the Three Constellations, I knew it was over. We could still win, theoretically, if I burned the Guardians and their faith to fuel me, but that was a future I refused to choose.

I tore every fragment of quintessence from myself and roared, "Divine Word: Raise!"

Light screamed across the battlefield as Tao Long, Shouquan, and Tan Jin were dragged back from death, bodies reforged by divine authority. My voice cracked as I shouted, "Retreat! Now!"

I cast Egress without hesitation, wrenching Joan and Dave from the field and sending them back to the Holy Empire. Losing Joan was not an option. Not ever. We couldn't risk it.

Xing Tuzi tilted her head, smiling sweetly. "You're getting desperate."

"Run!" I bellowed, locking eyes with the resurrected three. "Leave them to me!"

Mo Yu snapped his fan shut, and the mirage peeled away. The sky darkened as countless swords revealed themselves, blotting out the light like a steel firmament.

"It's too late," he said calmly.

I cast, "Exalted Renewal," and followed it with, "Asura Path: Tyrant of Stars."

My body ignited, presence swelling as gravity bent and condensed around me. The ground screamed, collapsing into a crater beneath my feet as I burned with the weight and wrath of a star.

Mo Yu stared, awe slipping into his voice despite himself. "This is absurd. You're tearing apart the laws of nature, trampling the logic of realms."

I bared my teeth, fire and pressure warping the air. "Then stop trying to measure me by them."

The turmoil I unleashed bought them their escape. I felt it through the battlefield, the sudden absence of familiar presences as Shouquan, Tao Long, and Tan Jin fled beyond the edge of my senses.

Mo Yu frowned and flicked his fan. "It's pointless."

The sky answered him. The ocean of swords descended at once, blotting out light and sound as they fell toward me like judgment itself. I switched everything to Constitution at the final instant. The impact buried me beneath a mountain of steel, the ground collapsing inward as if struck by a falling star.

Then the swords shattered.

My Reflect activated in a ripple of invisible force, reducing every blade to fragments of light and dust. I understood why Mo Yu remained untouched. Each sword was its own existence, and the backlash had nowhere to return.

Xing Tuzi panicked. She tried to flee, silver light bursting from her feet, but gravity clamped down on her like a cage. Clones bloomed around her, dozens at once, yet none could move. All were dragged inward, frozen mid-motion.

I did not move. I invoked Divine Zone and unleashed Divine Smite from within her.

The clones burst first. Then her body followed, divine force detonating her from the inside out. Blood and light scattered, and the Seat of Heaven vanished without even a scream.

My power kept climbing. Exalted Renewal fed on the divine spark I had hoarded for two centuries, pushing me higher and higher. I knew the limit. Perhaps a minute and a half before it consumed me completely.

The soil darkened beneath my feet.

A figure stepped out of the rot-stained air, his robes crawling with curse and decay. "Do you require assistance?" he asked calmly, turning to Mo Yu.

I shifted my gaze to him. "And who are you supposed to be?"

He bowed politely. "Conquest. A visitor from the Greater Universe. Oh, how I've long to meet you, Your Majesty. I've heard far and wide of your feats. The stories cannot compare. Such unreasonable strength that breaks not just common sense, but what is right. You are wrong in all ways that it doesn't matter, because you are strong. And because you are strength, you are always right. Such an awesome existence that would shake the heavens beyond!"

He praised me at length, words dripping with admiration and hunger. I cut him off. "Conquest sounds generous. Pestilence seems more accurate."

His smile twitched. "I dislike that name."

"You'll live," I said. "Probably."

Mo Yu snorted. "I don't need help."

Pestilence chuckled. "Our overlord may disagree if you fail."

Mo Yu's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

A woman's voice answered instead. "The ritual was completed just moments ago, see… and there had been changes in management…"

I turned. A woman stepped forward, one eye blue, the other gold, her presence vast and suffocating. Yuan Shun, the Heavenly Master. She smiled brightly. "I finally get to introduce my master to this ignorant world."

Mo Yu stiffened. "I thought you were the highest authority."

"There had been changes," Yuan Shun replied lightly. "I am now one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Doesn't it have a nice ring to it?"

She gestured to Pestilence. "He is another." Then to Mo Yu. "So are you."

Mo Yu blinked once. "Then I would like to greet our master. I am blessed to be placed in such a high position and to think I can now call myself your equal. I am blessed. So, can you tell me more about this… new master that I now serve?"

"There's no need," a familiar voice said. "I'm already here."

The air folded. A man stepped out, wearing different armor, but carrying a presence that mirrored mine too closely.

He had my face.

"Nice to meet you," he said casually. "Sorry it took so long. I've been busy."

The air twisted again.

Another presence descended, heavier and colder than the rest, as if the world itself recoiled. Space peeled apart, and a man stepped through with deliberate calm. It was Ru Qiu. His gaze swept across the battlefield with detached familiarity before settling on me, dark eyes sharp and unmistakable.

"I believe the two of you were acquainted," Yuan Shun inclined her head slightly. "Ru Qiu, one of the Four Heavenly Kings."

My attention snapped back to the man standing before me, the one who had arrived first, the one wearing my face. I exhaled slowly, the realization settling like ice in my chest. "Just who are you?"

"That question took you longer than I expected." The man who shared my face met my gaze fully and answered softly, deliberately. "I am you."

Every heartbeat mattered. Exalted Renewal burned through me like a dying star, and I could feel the countdown etched into my bones. I needed time, nothing more, nothing less. As long as the others escaped, this body was expendable. The soaring vessels carried the latest warp arrays; once they jumped, even the Heavenly Temple would struggle to intercept them.

I turned toward Ru Qiu, my gravity warping the ground with each step. "Explain this," I demanded. "What is the meaning of this farce?"

Ru Qiu remained silent, eyes unreadable.

My gaze snapped back to the stranger wearing my face. "What did you do to him?"

He smiled faintly, almost indulgently. "This should be the part where I monologue, unveil my grand design, and get interrupted at the crucial moment." He shook his head. "That's a villain's indulgence. I don't see myself as one."

I frowned, irritation cutting through the burn of Exalted Renewal. "You're not making a lick of sense."

He sighed theatrically. "Very well. Introductions." He spread his hands. "Call me David. Another you. From another time."

I felt nothing but impatience. "I don't care," I said bluntly, then narrowed my eyes. "Was it you who killed the Ghost Soul?"

David clapped once, delighted. "Yeah. That happened."

At that moment, three violent bursts of qi flared at the edge of my perception. The soaring vessels warped out of reality, one after another. They were gone.

I exhaled slowly and pulled my stats into Charisma, preparing to invoke Final Adjudication. "Then this ends here."

Slowly, divine power bloomed above us.

Yuan Shun tilted her head. "That technique is dangerous."

Pestilence laughed, corrosive qi writhing around his fingers. "It won't matter."

Mo Yu stayed silent, yet the countless swords above began to hum in unison, eager and lethal.

David watched me with mild curiosity. "Now that they're gone, you probably feel invincible," he said. "Like you can finally stop pretending you care about living at all. Oh, the pretense! Do you really think a heroic death is the answer to everything?"

My brow furrowed as he continued, voice sharp and precise. "Aixin. The Supreme Void. The Civil War." He smiled. "You're consistent like that, always with the sacrifice play. You always were. Do you think you are better than me? Hah~! You just want to kill yourself every time the opportunity shows itself, and now you get one! Oh, poor Da Wei… Let me take over your burden, and just let go of everything… This life isn't just for you…"

"How do you know that?" I demanded.

David frowned slightly, as if testing something unfamiliar. "Is this how it's used?"

He raised his hand. "Ghost Path: Mark of the Hollow."

A black diamond bloomed on his forehead.

My breath caught. "What did you do to the Ghost Soul?"

David's eyes met mine. "What I'm about to do to you."

Something tore loose inside me.

The world hollowed out, sound fading into a distant echo. Exalted Renewal collapsed instantly, its fire snuffed out as if it had never existed. I tried to call upon the Asura Soul, to invoke gigantification and reassert my presence.

Nothing answered.

I stared at David in disbelief as he held something between his fingers. My Asura Soul. Struggling. Flickering.

The Final Adjudication never formed in full.

"Ru Qiu," David said casually, "destroy the ships."

The sky darkened. An eclipse swallowed the sun, and from its shadow burst nine colossal dragons, racing across the heavens in pursuit. Flickering images of my Guardians seeing them reflected through shared senses tore through my fading awareness.

David brought his hand to his mouth and swallowed the Asura Soul whole. He smiled thoughtfully. "Spicier than the last one."

Cold crept in.

My vision dimmed, my senses unraveling one by one, as gravity, fire, and will slipped beyond my grasp.

Then even that was gone, and 'death' finally claimed me.