The Zhao Mansion was not just a house; it was a fortress devouring the eastern hill, with ten-meter-high walls of black stone and a Grand Profound-Grade Defensive Formation that wrapped the mansion in a cold, invisible dome. The air around it crackled with energy, as if space itself refused to approach.
In an alley hidden by mist and shadow, two figures waited.
"Patriarch…" whispered Kael, his voice barely a thread.
His body trembled with fear and a hunger for revenge. Always in the shadow of his cousins, now Kael felt the edge of his resolve cold and sharp as the blade he clutched.
"I can feel the formation," Kael muttered, eyes fixed on the barrier. "If I touch it, they'll destroy us before I can scream."
Samael studied the dome with violet eyes. The Void pulsed in his veins, too large for his body, too cold for his soul, and yet, familiar.
"Formations follow the rules of Qi and matter," he said, raising his hand. A black and violet mist twisted the light. "But the Void doesn't respect rules; it devours."
He caressed the invisible wall.
The world seemed to hold its breath. A chill spread, freezing their skin. The point of contact turned black, the stone and Qi vanishing silently, as if they had never existed. A two-meter-wide hole flickered in the darkness, its edges bleeding unstable energy.
"Go in," Samael ordered. "Move like a ghost. If the captains catch you, you die."
Kael nodded and crossed, eyes bloodshot. Not even the best thieves of the Golden City could pull this off without being discovered, he thought.
They slid their bodies through the gardens, shadows within shadows. Kael stalked the first guard, a young man slumped at his post, daydreaming. Without mercy, Kael covered his mouth and snapped his neck. Warm, red blood spurted between his fingers; he dragged the corpse into the hedges.
The next guard barely had time to turn. Kael drove the rusty blade into the base of his skull; a jet of blood splattered the stones and the night smelled of rust and flesh.
He surprised the third guard from behind, slicing his throat so deep that the head nearly rolled to his feet. The gushing blood painted the wall, and Kael wiped it on the dead man's uniform.
Samael advanced differently: his body flickered, folding distance, appearing behind the elite sentries. Each time, he placed two fingers on their napes or throats, and the Void burned their souls from within. The sentries did not scream; they became piles of gray dust, bone and skin collapsing in silence.
A senior guard, eyes full of hate and fear, raised his voice:
"Alarm—!"
Kael drove the rusty sword through his mouth. The cry became a choking gurgle that ended in blood and teeth scattered on the gravel.
Finally, they reached the roof of the Jade Hall.
Below, the banquet boiled with music and laughter. Samael lifted a tile and scanned the hall with the Eye of Destiny:
[Threat Analysis – Jade Hall] Young Master Zhao Feng: Transcendence Stage 2. (Trash). Great Elder Zhao: Transcendence Stage 4. (Inferior to Host). Patriarch Zhao: Transcendence Stage 5. (Equal in Base). ALERT!: Massive energy fluctuation (Stage 7) sleeping 500 meters underground.
"Stage 7…" murmured Samael. "No room for mistakes."
At the head table, Seraphina served wine with shackles on her wrists. Her dress was in tatters, platinum hair dirty, but her blue eyes full of fury. A memory stabbed his chest: her cleaning his wounds in the rain, whispering, "You will be King, Samael."
The system flashed above her:
[Target: Seraphina] Aura: Black (Fate Breaker) / Gold (Empress). Lineage: Unknown Ancestral (Latent). Status: Sealed Memory. Physique: Supreme Yin Lotus.
Below, Zhao Feng pulled Seraphina's chain and she fell to her knees. "Look at you!" he mocked. "'Princess' Morningstar. Tonight I'll taste your body before sending you to the brothel."
Patriarch Zhao raised his cup, laughing: "Enjoy, son. The Morningstars are dead. No one's coming for a servant."
Seraphina lifted her chin, undaunted: "You're wrong. Samael will come. And when he does, you'll beg for death."
Zhao Feng raised his hand to strike her.
Time stopped.
Samael murmured: "Heavenfall."
The pressure of his cultivation and the Void poured down like a mountain. The roof of the Jade Hall imploded, rubble and tiles raining down on the banquet.
BOOOOM!
The table splintered, china shattered, nobles and guards screamed as they were crushed by the debris. A captain tried to get up, only to be impaled side-to-side by a spiked beam. Another was split in two by a slab of stone; blood and viscera splattered the walls.
Patriarch Zhao unleashed his Stage 5 Qi, but the shockwave dragged him three meters, shattering his spiritual shield.
In the middle of the dust, Samael landed with lethal grace, black robe billowing, the barrier of the Void keeping the chaos at bay. Kael landed beside him, rusty sword dripping blood, his eyes still red from the slaughter.
Samael raised a finger; the pressure vanished from Seraphina, who remained in a sphere of calm. "Rise, Seraphina," he said softly. "Forgive the delay."
Seraphina stood, trembling. Her lips bled, but her eyes sparkled. "I knew you'd come… You always keep your promises," she whispered, placing herself behind him, clinging to his spirit.
Zhao Feng, covered in rubble and urine, crawled backward on all fours. "Monsters…! How… how are you here?"
Patriarch Zhao emerged from the wreckage, saber red-hot in hand, aura overflowing with fury and fear. "Samael Morningstar! You were supposed to be dead! How did you break my formation?"
Samael touched the rusty ring. The Obsidian Fang appeared in his hand with a black flash. "Your formation has as many holes as your honor," he spat. "Kael, protect Seraphina. No one below Transcendence is to approach. Use your sword as if hell depended on it."
"Yes, Patriarch!" Kael roared, placing himself in front of the girl.
Samael pointed the sword at Patriarch Zhao, his eyes devoid of doubt, only hunger and determination.
[Combat Mission Activated] [Time before Ancestor (Stage 7) awakens: 180 seconds.] [Objective: Total Annihilation.]
Samael stepped forward. Space curved around him, light and sound being swallowed by the Void.
"You have three minutes to live," Samael declared. "Use them to pray. Though I doubt your ancestors can hear you from hell."