The city lights flickered faintly in the distance as dawn approached, but Lin Tian did not return home. He stood at the edge of the Silent Forest, where the trees grew twisted, ancient, and heavy with lingering spiritual residue.
The Nexus inside him had gone quiet—too quiet.
Last night's battle had drained more than he realized.
He closed his eyes, sensing the forest.
A breath.
A pulse.
A whisper through the leaves.
"Come out," he said softly. "You've been watching since last night."
A low growl answered.
From the shadows, a figure emerged—towering, wrapped in a cloak of living crimson flames. Horns curled like obsidian blades from its head. Its eyes burned like molten magma.
A beast… yet not a beast.
Lin Tian's expression sharpened.
"A Crimson Watcher. One of the ancient guardians of the Abyss Gate."
The creature spoke in a guttural, rumbling voice.
"Immortal… your return disrupts the balance. You have slain shadow soldiers, shattered the veil, and awakened dormant powers. The Abyssal Court commanded me to observe… but if necessary, to stop you."
Lin Tian stepped forward.
"You wish to fight?"
The Watcher shook its massive head.
"No. Not unless forced. I am bound by the ancient pact—one that existed long before your celestial realm ever rose."
Lin Tian frowned. A pact older than the heavens?
"Explain."
But before the creature could speak, the air around them trembled—violently.
A shockwave burst through the forest, sending birds scattering. The ground cracked. Tree trunks shattered under invisible pressure.
Lin Tian's instincts flared.
"Something's approaching."
The Crimson Watcher's eyes narrowed.
"They followed me… impossible."
A hundred dark portals burst open around them.
From each portal stepped armored warriors adorned with crimson masks—each mask carved with a single tear-shaped slit. Their aura was cold, disciplined, lethal.
Lin Tian stiffened.
"The Red Tear Legion… assassins of the Abyssal Court."
The Watcher roared furiously.
"They dare trespass here! This is neutral ground!"
But the assassins ignored the creature and fixed their masked gazes on Lin Tian.
One stepped forward, voice hollow.
"The Celestial Returner must fall. The Nexus must be reclaimed or destroyed."
Lin Tian tightened his grip on his sword.
"You think a few assassins can defeat me?"
"No," the masked leader replied. "Which is why we brought this."
A massive iron coffin materialized behind them, chains glowing with cursed runes. The very air distorted around it as if reality feared its presence.
The Crimson Watcher stumbled back.
"No… they cannot have awakened it. The Sealed Executioner… a weapon that should never be used."
The Legion leader touched the coffin lightly.
"Release."
The chains snapped.
The coffin lid exploded outward.
A monstrous figure stepped out—eight feet tall, body forged of shadow metal, eyes burning with soulless hunger. It radiated killing intent so dense it made the forest kneel.
Lin Tian felt the Nexus shiver violently inside him.
This thing… was created to kill immortals.
Without warning, the Executioner charged.
BOOM!
The ground caved beneath its first step. Lin Tian barely leaped aside as the creature's fist obliterated an entire row of trees behind him.
Fast.
Stronger than the Shadow General.
Mindless.
Relentless.
Lin Tian raised his sword. Golden aura blazed.
"Then I'll just destroy it!"
He slashed—
—but the Executioner caught the blade in its bare hand.
Lin Tian's eyes widened.
Impossible. His celestial blade—
CRACK.
The sword fractured.
"MASTER OF THE NEXUS," the Executioner growled in a voice that echoed with a thousand whispers. "YOUR EXISTENCE ENDS."
It raised its arm to crush him—
—but the Crimson Watcher lunged, tackling the giant away.
"RUN, IMMORTAL! YOU ARE NOT READY!"
Lin Tian stumbled back, heart pounding.
Not ready? The Nexus trembled, unstable. The battle with the Shadow General… had drained too much.
But retreat?
No.
Lin Tian clenched his shattered sword.
"I'm done running."
He thrust his hand forward.
The Nexus erupted.
Light exploded through the forest, pushing the Executioner and Watcher apart. The assassins shielded themselves, their robes burning.
The ground beneath Lin Tian glowed with celestial patterns.
A new power—dormant until this moment—awakened.
A voice whispered in his mind:
"Second Nexus Gate… unlocked."
His eyes shone with divine light.
The assassins froze.
The Executioner roared.
The Watcher stared in shock.
Lin Tian rose into the air.
"This ends now."
The forest trembled as the world felt the awakening of something far beyond mortal limits.