Tatsumi's steps faltered.
A sudden tremble echoed through her soul.
Her eyes widened and then glazed over, as if glimpsing sothing far away. Her hand rose instinctively to her chest.
No… not Bi Feng…
The soul bond had shattered.
A hollow crack rang through her spirit, and the world fell still. Her knees buckled.
Grief hit like a blade to the gut sharp, cruel, and final. Her heart clenched, not from pain, but from the empty silence left behind.
She staggered, whispering, "Bi Feng… you lost...?"
But Liu i didn't stop.
She lunged, eyes fierce, daggers gleaming in the dim light.
There was no hesitation nor pity in her eyes.
Not for soone who had tried to kill her.
Ace appeared atop a shattered spire, his robes scorched, skin charred and bloodied… but he smiled.
And beside him—
A mountain of muscle and fur.
Little Aoki.
The Tyrant Bear stepped forward, each movent shaking the earth.
His eyes glowed with an ancient, wordless fury, his breathing calm and heavy like a slumbering volcano finally stirring.
Then, he roared.
The sound rolled across the battlefield like thunder, shaking the sky itself. With a stomp, Aoki launched forward, claws gleaming, a force of nature crashing into the fight.
Liu i turned sharply, her eyes flashing with resolve.
She raised a hand. Little Aoki, the towering Tyrant Bear, froze mid-charge. A silent pulse passed between themvand he vanished in a shimr of light, unsummoned without a sound.
She faced Ace.
"Master," she said, voice steady, "can I take care of this?"
Ace, still standing on the crumbling spire, didn't hesitate.
His body was battered, his aura flickering faintly, he had just broken through to Legend Rank, and every part of him was still adjusting.
He nodded, voice low. "Sure."
Frankly, he had also wanted to lie down, maybe sleep, maybe understand whatever new realm he'd just stepped into.
And from the looks of it, the battle was already over.
Tatsumi was barely holding on, her parries weaker, slower.
Liu i had the upper hand now and she was pressing it without rcy.
Elsewhere, Giyo was being overwheld, locked in desperate defense against two unique-level soul beasts that had him on the verge of collapse.
Ace exhaled slowly.
He stepped off the spire, landing softly amidst rubble and broken stone.
The hallway that had once been grand was in ruins, columns shattered, walls broken, and even the sky above was exposed when it never should have been.
The entire battlefield had been torn open.
Near the edge of the devastation, Shan Yifeng knelt in concentration, drawing lines of light across the ground with his fingers.
He was rebuilding formations, etching them with careful, deliberate strokes.
Ace made his way over and dropped beside him, lying flat on his back with a deep sigh.
"Yifeng," he said casually, gazing up at the broken sky, "how's it going?"
Shan Yifeng didn't look up, but a small smile tugged at his lips.
"Better now," he muttered, "now that you've stopped blowing everything up."
Ace chuckled, eyes half-lidded. "Hey, you have half the bla."
* * *
"Don't look away now, Auntie," Liu i whispered coldly. "You're not done here yet."
Her blades slashed, forcing Tatsumi to parry on instinct. tal rang out, but the fire was dimming from Tatsumi's eyes.
Tatsumi's blade trembled as it clashed against Liu i's.
The damage to her soul from the severed bond with Bi Feng had left her hollow, but not broken.
Her movents had dulled, her aura faltered, but decades of honed instinct still guided her sword.
Every step back she took was asured, every swing ant to create space, to survive.
But Liu i wasn't giving her that chance.
She stalked forward, a smirk carved onto her face, it was not playful, nor was it cruel, just hungry.
For justice.
For revenge.
For the pain Tatsumi had tried to inflict.
"Still standing?" Liu i asked, voice light as silk. Her daggers danced in her hands, tips flickering with heat from her soul fla.
Tatsumi grit her teeth, blood trickling down the corner of her mouth.
"You think this… is over?" she growled.
Liu i's response was a sudden, jarring strike a dagger slashed across Tatsumi's ribs, the impact sending her skidding back, crashing into a broken pillar.
Before she could even breathe, Liu i was there.
She grabbed Tatsumi by the collar and slamd her knee into her gut. The older woman gasped, eyes wide. Her sword fell from her hand.
"Even if it's not, you will still be dead," Liu i whispered, dragging her down by the hair.
Tatsumi raised her arms weakly to block the next blow, but Liu i struck anyway, elbow to the temple, knee to the thigh, a flurry of precise, punishing blows ant to break, not kill.
"Wanting to hurt master and steal what is his. You deserve this, right?"
Another strike, a dagger through the shoulder.
Liu i twisted it slowly, eyes glowing, enjoying the scream it forced from Tatsumi.
"No quick end for you."
Tatsumi spat blood, defiant even through the agony. "You think you're righteous…?"
"No," Liu i murmured. "But I don't need to be."
With a flick, her flas ignited again, this ti dancing across her dagger.
She dragged the heated blade lightly across Tatsumi's cheek, searing flesh but not cutting deep.
It was a form of warning, a ssage.
"You should have never coveted what belongs to master," Liu i said coldly.
She dropped Tatsumi to the floor like trash.
But she wasn't done.
Tatsumi tried to crawl away, dragging herself across broken stone with one working arm.
Her sword lay forgotten behind her, and blood pooled beneath her torn robes. Her spiritual aura flickered, weak, unstable.
Liu i walked slowly, step by step, eyes never leaving her prey.
There was not even a bit of sympathy in her gaze.
Only judgnt.
Only wrath.
She kicked Tatsumi over onto her back and knelt beside her, straddling her chest as she raised one glowing dagger high.
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