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The forest burned with shadow-blue flames, casting broken silhouettes across the ground as the cracked-armored figure staggered forward. Lian Yue's breath caught in her throat. The aura—faint and fractured—felt like a memory she had buried long ago.
Li Yun stepped slightly ahead of her, sunlight gathering around his fingertips like a defensive glare.
"Stay back, Yue. That thing—whatever it is—is unstable."
She didn't listen. She couldn't.
Her feet moved on their own, pulled by that flickering trace of familiarity.
"Brother…?" the word escaped her like a soft wound.
The figure paused.
A low, cracked voice leaked through the armor, distorted as if dragged through centuries of suffering.
"...Yue…?"
Li Yun stiffened. "So it recognizes you."
Lian Yue's eyes filled with trembling hope and dread.
"If it's him… if he's truly alive…"
Her brother, Lian Feng, had disappeared three hundred years ago—swallowed by a celestial rift during an attack no one had been able to explain. The Council declared him dead. She mourned him alone under countless moons. But now—
The armored figure lifted its head, and the broken helm split open slightly, revealing one dim blue eye.
"Yue… run…"
Before she could ask why, a violent pulse of corrupted star energy exploded from his body, blasting a ring of shadow through the trees. ⚡
Li Yun grabbed her waist and leaped back, shielding her from the impact with his own energy.
The shockwave rattled the sky; even the clouds seemed to tremble.
"Li Yun—!"
She looked up at him, startled by the closeness, his arm firm around her.
He swallowed tightly. "Don't move so recklessly. You'll get yourself killed."
But worry sharpened his tone more than anger ever could.
The shadow flames around Lian Feng intensified. His voice warped into something unrecognizable:
"He's coming… he's coming… Yue, you must hide…"
"Who?" Lian Yue asked, heart pounding.
"Who is coming?"
But he only roared in pain as another surge of corrupted starlight tore through him. The ground fissured beneath his feet, splitting like cracked ice.
Li Yun's voice dropped.
"He's losing control. Something inside him is devouring his celestial core."
"Then we save him," Lian Yue said firmly.
He stared at her, stunned.
"You're serious."
She nodded.
"He's my brother."
Li Yun clenched his jaw. He hated it—he hated the thought of her walking into danger—but he also knew she wouldn't bend. Her moonlight flared stubbornly, soft but unyielding.
"…Fine."
He released her waist slowly.
"But I'm staying next to you. I swear, Yue, if anything touches you—"
A sharp crack snapped through the air.
Lian Feng dropped to one knee, clawing at the ground.
"Yue! Don't come closer!" 🌙🔥
His voice was suddenly clear—desperate, protective.
She ignored the warning and stepped forward anyway, moonlight enveloping her like a gentle shield.
"Brother," she whispered, "I'm here. I'm not afraid."
He lifted his head slightly—the broken pieces of his helm glinting in the blue flames.
His single visible eye softened.
Little sister…
A wave of star-corruption surged behind him, forming the shadow of something enormous—like wings made of torn constellations. The shape of a Fallen Star Beast began forming in the air.
Li Yun cursed softly.
"This is worse than I thought."
"What do we do?" Lian Yue asked.
Li Yun's golden aura burned brighter.
"We separate him from the corruption."
"But how—"
He took her hand.
"Together."
For a moment, she stared at their joined fingers—the warmth of the sun and the chill of the moon merging into a glowing stream of light between them. Her heart thrummed.
She nodded.
Li Yun raised their hands, energy surging outward in a blinding arc.
"Lian Feng! Hold on!"
The corrupted energy recoiled violently as their combined light slashed through the air. The Fallen Star Beast shrieked, its form flickering like shattered galaxies.
Lian Feng roared in agony—half man, half monster—fighting against the darkness binding him.
The forest shook.
Lian Yue cried out, "Brother, fight it! Please! I'm here!"
Her voice reached him.
For a split second, the corrupted aura flickered and weakened.
Li Yun seized the opening, driving a spear of sunlight directly into the shadow-beast's core.
A shockwave burst outward—sending dark shards scattering like falling stars.
The beast shattered, dissolving into smoke.
Lian Feng collapsed, armor cracking apart.
The corruption shrank back into his chest like retreating ink.
Lian Yue rushed toward him—only for Li Yun to grab her wrist again.
"Wait—he's still unstable."
But Lian Feng slowly lifted his head, breathing raggedly.
"…Yue," he whispered, voice human once more, "you've grown."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"So have you."
He attempted a faint smile—but it collapsed into a grimace of pain.
"I don't have much time."
"What do you mean?" she whispered.
Lian Feng's cracked gauntlet lifted, pointing not at her—but at Li Yun.
"You must trust him," he rasped.
"The one who hunts me… is after you, Yue. And he won't stop until—"
A sudden blast of invisible force slammed through the trees, cutting him off.
A chilling voice echoed through the clearing:
"Found you."
The temperature dropped instantly, frost crawling across the scorched ground. ❄️
Lian Yue's blood ran cold.
Li Yun stepped in front of her without hesitation, sunlight flaring as a warning.
The shadows parted—
revealing a tall figure descending from the sky, wearing dark celestial armor marked with the insignia of the Heavenly Council.
Lian Yue gasped.
She knew that emblem.
"Impossible…" she whispered.
Li Yun's eyes narrowed.
"You have to be kidding me."
Because standing there—eyes sharp as obsidian, aura suffocating—was Lord Kezhong, one of the highest-ranking celestial enforcers.
And he looked straight at Lian Yue as he said:
"Moon Goddess, you are under celestial arrest."