---
The world broke apart around them.
Shards of moonlight scattered like glass, dissolving into the void. Lian Yue felt her feet leave the ground — falling, drifting, suspended in nothingness.
Then—
A warm, fierce arm wrapped around her waist.
Li Yun pulled her against his chest as they landed on a crumbling platform of floating stone. His fire glowed like a shield around them, barely holding back the rupture tearing the sanctuary into pieces.
Lian Yue clung to him instinctively.
"What's happening?!"
"The Executor is collapsing the realm to force you out," Li Yun growled.
"Stay behind me."
A blinding white flame descended through the crack, forming the shape of a tall figure — faceless, emotionless, radiating pressure that made even the air tremble.
A voice echoed, cold and distant:
"Sun God Li Yun.
Moon Goddess Lian Yue.
Your union has violated celestial law."
Lian Yue gasped. "Union—?! What does that mean?"
Li Yun's hand tightened protectively around her.
"Don't listen to them."
But the Executor continued:
"Your bond threatens the balance of heaven.
The Moon must be erased before her power returns."
Lian Yue felt the words like ice inside her chest.
"Erase…?" she whispered. "Why? What did I do?"
"For loving me," Li Yun said softly.
"That was your only crime."
The Executor raised an arm — white fire forming into a blade sharper than divine steel.
Li Yun stepped forward, golden flames spiraling wildly around him.
"Touch her," he warned, "and I will tear down every star you serve."
His voice shook the collapsing realm.
The Executor did not flinch.
"Sun God, you defied the heavens before.
You will not be permitted to do so again."
---
The First Strike
The Executor swung the blade — a flash of white that split the air.
Li Yun blocked it with one arm, his golden fire erupting like a roaring sun.
The impact blasted the stone beneath them, sending Lian Yue stumbling back.
"Yun!" she cried.
He didn't look at her — he couldn't.
His flames were burning too bright, too violently.
"Stay back!" he shouted. "You can't control your power yet!"
But even as she watched, the Executor pushed him down, overwhelming his fire with crushing celestial pressure.
Li Yun dropped to one knee, blood — liquid light — sliding from his lip.
Lian Yue froze.
She had never seen him bleed before.
"Yun…" her voice trembled.
He tried to stand — the flames around him flickering like a dying sun.
"You're… not taking her."
The Executor raised the blade again.
This time —
it was aimed at Lian Yue.
---
The Awakening That Shouldn't Happen
Something inside her broke.
A scream built in Lian Yue's throat — but no sound came out. Instead, silver light burst from her heart, racing down her arms, swirling around her like a storm.
Li Yun's eyes widened.
"No— Yue'er, don't! Your body can't—"
But it was too late.
Her power erupted violently.
The cracking sky froze mid-collapse.
The Executor faltered, its flame-body flickering.
Even Li Yun's fire wavered under the surge.
Lian Yue lifted both hands, silver threads spiraling around her fingers like living light.
"I'm not letting you kill him," she whispered.
"Not again."
The Executor turned toward her.
"Moon Goddess, your seal is not yet broken.
You cannot control that level of power—"
"Watch me," she breathed.
She thrust out her hands.
Silver power exploded.
A wave of moonlight slammed into the Executor, hurling it backward across the broken realm. White flames sputtered under the impact.
Li Yun stared at her — awe mixing with fear.
"Yue'er… you weren't supposed to awaken this fast."
She fell to her knees, panting.
Her body trembled violently, as if every cell was burning and freezing at once.
"I-It hurts…" she gasped, clutching her chest.
Li Yun ran to her immediately, catching her before she collapsed.
"I told you," he whispered desperately, pressing his forehead against hers,
"your mortal form can't support your true power yet."
Tears pricked her eyes.
"I don't care— I won't let them take you."
His breath caught.
"Yue'er…"
But the Executor's voice rang out again, distorted now — furious.
"Then you will fall together."
The crack above them widened — a second Executor began stepping through.
Lian Yue trembled in Li Yun's arms.
"Yun… are we going to die?"
He tilted her chin up, forcing her to meet his eyes.
"No."
His voice was steady.
Certain.
Burning.
"Because I made you a vow the day you died — and I will not break it again."
Her heartbeat slowed.
"What vow…?"
He lifted her gently, holding her as if she were the most precious thing in all realms.
"To protect you," he whispered, golden fire rising behind him like wings.
"In every lifetime."
"In every body."
"In every world."
"Even if the heavens burn."
The sky shook.
The Executor lunged forward.
Li Yun stood, holding Lian Yue against his chest, his fire blazing brighter than it ever had.
And he spoke seven words that cracked the collapsing realm:
"If heaven demands her death —
then heaven dies first."
Golden light exploded—
and the world turned white.
---