The night did not feel like night anymore.
It felt like a battlefield.
Wind cut across the courtyard. The flames of lanterns flickered violently before dying one by one. Even the moon seemed to dim as if hiding behind a veil of fear.
Qi Shan Wei stood perfectly still, every muscle frozen.
Across from him, the assassin in black moved like a shadow made flesh. His hood concealed everything except two crimson eyes — burning embers full of malice.
He raised the Heaven Decree scroll, letting its divine glow illuminate the courtyard.
"It is written," the assassin whispered, voice cold enough to freeze bone,"Qi Shan Wei must die."
Drakonix hissed violently, feathers bristling, tiny body trembling with fury.
Ling Xueyao drew her frost sword, ice creeping up her arm.Feng Qingyue's phoenix staff ignited with soft blue-gold flame.
The assassin tilted his head.
"So. Two heavenly flames guard you… and a broken puppet stands behind you."A cold smile spread beneath the hood."Good. A worthy warm-up."
Jin Wei stepped forward, metal groaning.
"THREAT CONFIRMED.PROTECTING MASTER."
The assassin vanished.
There was no sound.No gust of wind.No blurred motion.
One moment he stood twenty steps away —The next, he was in front of Shan Wei with a blade aimed at his throat.
SHHH—KIK!
Shan Wei's instincts screamed.
He ducked — barely — the blade slicing a strand of silver hair.
"FAST—!" he gasped.
The assassin whispered beside his ear:
"Slower than death."
Ling Xueyao struck.
Frost Lotus Slash!
A crescent of ice shot toward the assassin.
But his body blurred — literally blurred — as if half-made of darkness.
He stepped through the frost slash like it was mist.
Qingyue's phoenix staff glowed fiercely.
"Moonfire Burst!"
A blast of blue-gold phoenix flame surged forward.
This time it connected—
The assassin's cloak caught fire.
"Persistent pests," he growled, extinguishing the flame with his bare hand.
Shan Wei's heart pounded violently.
He'd faced beasts.He'd faced Puppeteer Hunters.He'd survived divine lightning.
But this—
This was different.
This was someone who had killed Heaven-Blessed prodigies before.
Someone who knew exactly how to kill someone like him.
"Drakonix!" Shan Wei shouted. "Take the air!"
Drakonix launched upward with a screech, wings exploding with prismatic sparks.
The assassin glanced up.
"Ah… the little abomination. You die first."
He leapt skyward.
But Jin Wei moved with impossible speed — faster than even Shan Wei expected.
Jin Wei's shield-arm slammed into the assassin mid-leap.
BOOM!
The courtyard floor cracked.Stone splintered.Shockwaves blasted out.
The assassin staggered backward, eyes narrowing.
"What…? A damaged Guardian still hits like this?"
Jin Wei lifted his arm again.
"TARGET: DO NOT APPROACH.MASTER: PRIORITY ZERO."
Qingyue's eyes widened.
"Shan Wei… Jin Wei's combat core is syncing with your prismatic flame."
"That means—?" Shan Wei asked.
"His strength is rising every second."
The assassin snarled.
"Hmph. Then I'll kill the master first."
He vanished again.
A sharp chill struck Shan Wei's neck—
This time, Shan Wei reacted first.
Prismatic Burst!
A flash of crimson-gold lightning exploded from his wrist mark, repelling the assassin mid-strike.
The assassin slid across the courtyard, boots scraping stone.
He straightened slowly.
"…Interesting."
He threw off his cloak.
And the entire pavilion froze.
Beneath the cloak was a man covered in spiritual tattoos — each one glowing a morbid crimson, crawling across his skin like living serpents.
His arms were wrapped in bandages soaked with dried blood.His chest bore a massive branded mark burned into flesh:
影屠 — Shadow Executioner.
Elder Lu gasped.
"T-That's… impossible…!!"
Ling Xueyao's eyes widened.
"Shadow Executioner… a rank reserved for only the top ten killers of the Shadow Abyss Sect."
Qingyue's voice shook.
"Those killers aren't human anymore… they're altered. Twisted. Soul-broken."
The assassin smiled slowly.
"Qi Shan Wei, you aren't fighting a man tonight."
He raised his blade.
"You are fighting Heaven's butcher."
Shan Wei's blood ran cold.
The First True Kill
The assassin lunged.
Shan Wei's vision split as the man blurred again, this time appearing behind him.
"DIE."
Frost erupted.
Ling Xueyao appeared behind Shan Wei, sword blocking the killer's strike at the last possible moment.
CLANG!
Sparks flew.
Xueyao gritted her teeth, frost forming along her blade.
"He's too strong…!" she hissed.
"That's right," the assassin whispered, pressing the attack."Women like you are excellent bait. I will kill you first—"
A phoenix flame exploded beneath his feet.
BOOM!
He leapt backward, cloak singed.
Qingyue landed gracefully beside Shan Wei.
"Xueyao, protect his left."
She raised her staff.
"I'll take the right."
Xueyao flicked her hair and replied coldly:
"Do not order me."
Qingyue smirked.
"Then do better."
Even in life-or-death danger — they bickered.
The assassin laughed.
"Good. You'll all die together."
He blurred again—
But this time Shan Wei was ready.
He calmed his breathing.He focused.He remembered Jin Wei's positioning.Xueyao's frost pattern.Qingyue's flame rhythm.Drakonix's aerial advantage.
He saw it — the assassin's movement lines.
And he moved first.
Prismatic Step!
A lightning-fast step technique — improvised in the moment — pulled Shan Wei just out of the assassin's path.
The killer's blade sliced empty air.
"What—?!"
Shan Wei thrust his palm forward—
"Prismatic Flame——"
But the assassin grabbed his wrist and twisted.
Shan Wei cried out in pain, dropping to one knee.
The assassin grinned.
"Yes… break nicely for me."
Then he raised his blade—
And drove it toward Shan Wei's heart.
"SHAN WEI!""NO!""FWEEEEE!!!"
Time slowed.
Shan Wei's vision blurred.His heartbeat thundered.Cold steel glinted inches from his chest—
Then something snapped inside him.
A surge of emotion.Fear.Anger.Resolve.
I'm not dying.Not here.Not now.Not while they're watching.
His prismatic mark erupted.
Crimson lightning.Golden flame.Void shadow.
All three elements fused.
"PRISMATIC REJECTION!"
His palm released a blast of pure prismatic force.
BOOOOM!!!
The assassin was thrown across the courtyard, smashing through three pillars before crashing into a stone wall.
Shan Wei staggered, chest heaving.
Ling Xueyao stared.
Qingyue's lips parted in shock.
Drakonix screeched triumphantly, spinning in circles in the air.
Even Jin Wei froze — his core pulsing wildly.
"Shan… Wei…" Xueyao whispered.
Qingyue murmured, "That wasn't normal. That wasn't mortal. That was…"
But before she could finish—
The assassin laughed.
Blood dripped from his mouth as he stood.
"Good.GOOD."
His body contorted, tattoos glowing demonic red.
"Now I'll stop playing."
His voice deepened, distorted.
"Now I'll KILL you."
He rushed forward again.
Jin Wei moved at the same time.
Massive.Towering.Unstoppable.
The assassin's blade and Jin Wei's shield collided—
CRASHHH!!!
The courtyard floor shattered beneath them.
The assassin tried to twist around Jin Wei, but Shan Wei lunged in.
"Not this time!"
He channeled everything he had—
Prismatic Flame, Crimson Spark!
A concentrated crimson flame burst struck the assassin's arm—
And the assassin SCREAMED.
His entire arm ignited.
"W-What is—?!THAT FLAME—!!"
Shan Wei did not let him recover.
He grabbed the burning arm—
And he kicked the assassin in the chest.
CRACK!!
The assassin flew backwards, smashing into a pillar.
He coughed blood.
"You… brat…!"His voice trembled.
"You're a monster…"
Shan Wei's breath hitched.
He didn't like killing.He didn't want to kill.
But he remembered the Heaven decree.The fate waiting for him.The prophecy.The people watching him.The people who believed in him.
He lifted his hand.
"I won't let Heaven kill me."
The assassin laughed in despair.
"Fool… that's not up to you."
He lunged one last time.
Shan Wei thrust his palm forward.
"Prismatic Flame… BREAK."
KA-BOOOOM!!!
The assassin's body burst into prismatic fire, dissolving into ash.
Silence fell.
Real silence.
Shan Wei stared at the fading embers on his hand.
Ling Xueyao stepped forward.
"You… you killed him."
Qingyue whispered:
"Your first kill."
Shan Wei breathed slowly.
"I didn't choose this path."
He closed his fist.
"But I will walk it."
Drakonix landed on his shoulder, pressing his forehead to Shan Wei's cheek.
Jin Wei knelt behind him like a titan bowing to a king.
Then—
A whisper echoed across the courtyard.
A whisper not human.
A whisper from the sky.
"One has fallen.Nine remain."
Ling Xueyao's eyes widened.
"W-What… was that?"
Qingyue trembled.
"Shadow Executioners… travel in packs."
Shan Wei froze.
"How many?"
Qingyue swallowed hard.
"A… a full squad…"
Shan Wei stared at her.
"How many is a full squad?"
She whispered:
"Ten."
Shan Wei's blood ran cold.
"And you just killed the first."
Her voice cracked.
"The other nine…will come."
The sky rumbled ominously.
And something in the shadows watched the Pavilion with glowing red eyes.
To be continued..
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