Moonlight shone across the lake.
Silver waves exploded upward as Yue Xiang's crescent blade collided with the abyss serpent's descending jaws, the impact sending a shockwave across the entire Moonwater Realm.
Floating ruins trembled.
The Moon Palace groaned.
And I, once again, was left handling the part of the situation that involved not dying.
The chain captain stood at the palace stairs, moonlight-forged chains wrapped around both arms like living serpents.
Unlike the panicked archers and the fleeing assassins, he hadn't moved.
Calm.
Confident.
Annoyingly professional.
His mask was white-silver, marked with a single black crescent across the forehead.
Definitely villain material.
Behind him, the master suppression seal floated above a stone altar—an orb of silver crystal bound in chains of pale blue light.
That was the real problem.
If he used it on Yue Xiang while she fought that monster, the realm was finished.
No pressure.
I rolled my shoulders and tightened my grip on the broken moonlight chain I had stolen earlier.
The captain tilted his head.
"You are the outsider."
"Unfortunately, yes."
He stepped down onto the silver water without a ripple.
"The Sovereign should have killed you."
"People keep saying that. It's starting to feel personal."
No reaction.
Tough crowd.
His chains rose around him like a cage of living metal.
"You interfere with sacred order."
There it was again.
Order.
Apparently, evil organisations across dimensions all shared the same branding department.
I sighed.
"Does every villain get issued that speech?"
Then I moved.
Flame Step ignited beneath my feet.
Crimson light flashed against silver water as I rushed forward.
The captain's response was immediate.
Three chains shot toward me like spears.
Fast.
I twisted sideways, ducked beneath the first, let the second graze my sleeve, and grabbed the third with both hands.
Cold.
Cold.
The metal tried to bind itself around my wrist.
I pulled harder and used my momentum to yank him forward.
For the first time, his balance broke.
Good.
I drove my knee into his chest.
Solid hit.
His armour cracked.
Not enough.
He responded by punching me directly in the ribs.
Pain exploded through my side.
I flew backwards and skipped across the lake like an extremely unwilling stone.
Wonderful.
I stood up, coughing.
"Okay," I muttered, "you hit harder than expected."
Behind us, the abyss serpent roared.
I looked up just in time to see Yue Xiang leap across its massive skull, silver moonlight trailing behind her blade like falling stars.
She cut once.
A deep line opened across the serpent's eye.
Black moonwater blood rained across the lake.
The beast screamed.
Beautiful.
Terrifying.
And somehow still not my biggest problem.
The chain captain raised both arms.
The floating seal behind him glowed brighter.
The suppression chains on the altar began awakening.
No.
Absolutely not.
I sprinted again.
This time, he met me halfway.
Chains and fists.
Moonlight and fire.
He fought like discipline given human form—no wasted movement, no anger, only precise brutality.
Which was incredibly rude.
I blocked one strike, took another to the shoulder, twisted past a chain trap, and slammed my elbow into the side of his mask.
It cracked.
Good.
He retaliated by throwing me directly into a ruined palace column.
The column lost.
So did I.
Stone shattered around me.
Somewhere in the distance, I was pretty sure I heard ARINA judging my life choices.
The panel appeared anyway.
Combat Status Stamina: 34% Flamed Step Efficiency: Reduced Target Weakness: Heart Seal — chest armour
Yes, thank you; I remembered.
The problem was reaching it without becoming decorative ruin material.
I pushed myself up.
The captain was already walking toward me.
Calmly.
Like death with excellent posture.
His cracked mask revealed one eye.
Young.
Far younger than I expected.
Another person was consumed by duty before they learned how to live.
He stopped a few steps away.
"You fight without cultivation."
Not a question.
I wiped blood from my mouth.
"Mostly I fight with bad decisions."
His eye narrowed.
"Why?"
That actually made me pause.
Why?
Because Professor Mehra was missing.
Because Lian had been chained.
Because Yue Xiang was trying to hold together a world that kept trying to drown her.
Because every time power was gathered, greed followed.
I looked at him.
"Because someone has to stand in the way."
For the first time, hesitation flickered across his face.
Tiny.
But real.
Interesting.
Then, from above, a voice like frozen thunder echoed across the battlefield.
"Enough."
Yue Xiang.
She stood atop the serpent's skull, moonlight blazing around her like divine armour.
One hand was pressed against a bleeding wound at her side.
Blood stained her silver robes.
Bad.
Very bad.
The abyss serpent thrashed violently beneath her.
Its body was now wrapped in glowing lunar chains, but the corruption spreading through its scales was worsening.
She looked at the chain captain.
"Jian."
He froze.
Ah.
Name revealed.
Useful.
Her voice was colder than the moons above us.
"You were captain of my palace guard."
The silence that followed hit harder than battle.
Former loyalty.
Of course.
Another betrayal.
Because apparently, I had entered a multiverse powered entirely by trust issues.
Jian lowered his head slightly.
"My Sovereign."
Not mockery.
Respect.
Real respect.
That made it worse.
"Then why?" Yue Xiang asked.
Simple words.
Heavy enough to sink kingdoms.
Jian's hand tightened around the chain seal.
"Because protection was never enough."
His voice was low.
Controlled.
"The Lunar Council feared your mercy would destroy us."
He looked up.
"And they were right."
Yue Xiang's expression did not change.
But I felt the temperature drop.
"Mercy."
She repeated the word as if it tasted bitter.
"You call ambition survival."
Jian's gaze hardened.
"I call hesitation death."
There it was.
Not greed.
Fear.
Different motive.
Same disaster.
The serpent roared again.
Its corrupted body shattered part of the floating palace, sending white stone crashing into the lake.
ARINA's voice rang sharply.
"Warning. Abyss seal failure approaching."
Moonwater Stability: 29% Collapse Threshold Near
Too close.
No more philosophy.
I looked at Jian.
Then, at the heart seal on his chest armour.
Then, at the giant falling monster behind Yue Xiang.
Right.
Back to violence.
I tightened my fists.
"Sorry," I said.
"For the record, I do understand."
I stepped forward.
"But I still have to hit you very hard."
And this time—
I meant it.