The sky was silent for a heartbeat. Then, thunder rolled across the ruins like the growl of an ancient beast.
Ash drifted down like snow, veiling the corpses of the Jin clan's once-proud elites. Where a grand estate once stood, only ruin and despair remained.
And in the center of that devastation—two figures floated midair, facing each other.
One was Alex, robes torn and bloodied, yet standing tall, cold eyes burning with killing intent.
The other was Old Hu, last surviving pillar of the Jin Clan, a thousand-year-old monster trembling with equal parts rage and fear.
"...You killed him," Old Hu rasped, voice cracking as his sword arm quivered. "You killed Old Wu. My brother in arms for a millennium."
Alex's expression remained unreadable. "He chose to stand in my way."
Old Hu's aura erupted in a storm of emerald wind. The pressure split the earth below, carving deep fissures through the ruins. "Then you can die with him!"
He vanished.
The air screamed.
Alex barely crossed his arms before Old Hu's sword appeared from the void, slashing with a ferocity that distorted space itself. The impact flung him backward like a cannonball, his body smashing through two mountain boulders before he stopped midair, coughing blood.
Fast… he's burning his lifespan.
Alex's gaze hardened. Old Hu's once-smooth skin was now cracking, his qi surging wildly, uncontrollably. The man was feeding his life force into his attack—a final, suicidal technique.
"You think a child like you can destroy a clan founded in blood and history!?" Old Hu bellowed, dashing forward again. His sword blazed with green flame, slicing through the storm.
Alex raised his hand. A translucent dome of spatial distortion shimmered around him. The sword hit it—space shattered like glass, and the shockwave echoed for miles.
Alex countered instantly. He flicked his hand, freezing shards of ice spinning into the air, and then vanished—Spatial Step.
Old Hu's eyes darted around wildly, searching. Then—
"Behind you."
The cold voice made his blood run dry.
He twisted just in time to meet a downward swing of Alex's staff, now once again gleaming with faint runes of space and frost. The clash split the sky in two. The blast sent both men spiraling apart.
But Alex didn't stop.
He teleported mid-motion, his form flickering in and out of existence, launching an unrelenting barrage.
Each strike was sharper, faster, colder.
Each swing brought Old Hu closer to collapse.
"Monster!" the old man roared, deflecting blow after blow, his arms trembling.
Alex appeared above him, the air freezing solid. He raised a palm—Glacial Domain.
At once, a blizzard howled across the battlefield, freezing the very wind. Frost crawled over Old Hu's blade, numbing his grip. His movements slowed, just for a second—but in battle between Sages, a second was a death sentence.
Alex's eyes flashed silver. "End of the Jin."
The staff in his hand shimmered with layered light—space, wind, and ice coiling together until it became pure, focused destruction.
Old Hu saw the blow coming. He screamed, throwing everything he had into one final counterattack.
Sword and staff collided.
The explosion was deafening.
A shockwave of such magnitude rippled out that even the nearby mountain ranges trembled. Waves of qi tore the clouds apart, revealing the sun for the first time in hours.
When the light finally faded—
Only one figure still stood.
Alex hovered midair, body covered in frost and blood, breathing hard. His robes were shredded, but his eyes… his eyes were steady, unbroken.
Below him, Old Hu knelt in midair, sword cracked in two, blood pouring from every orifice. The man's qi was gone—completely exhausted.
He raised his head slowly, his voice barely more than a whisper.
"So… this is how it ends… the Jin Clan… finished by a boy not yet thirty…"
Alex said nothing.
Old Hu's lips curled into a bitter smile. "You've won, child… but you've set something in motion that even you cannot stop."
Alex frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"
But the old man only laughed—a dry, broken laugh that echoed eerily through the ruins. "Heh… you think the Jin Clan was acting alone?"
Before Alex could respond, Old Hu's body began to glow faintly—his final act of defiance.
"Then die with your secret," Alex said coldly.
He extended his hand, and a spear of pure spatial energy pierced Old Hu's chest. The laughter stopped instantly. The last elder of the Jin Clan crumbled into dust, scattered by the wind.
Silence.
The ruins of the Jin estate were nothing but ashes and snow.
Alex hovered for a long moment, staring at the horizon. The exhaustion hit him all at once, but there was no satisfaction in his victory—only heaviness.
He had avenged their betrayal, fulfilled his brother's wish, and yet…
the words of the dying elder echoed in his mind.
"The Jin Clan wasn't acting alone."
His gaze hardened. Somewhere out there, something—or someone—was watching.
Alex turned back toward the stronghold, whispering softly to the wind:
"Brother… it's done."
He vanished into the void.