Ash blanketed the land like snow from hell.
Xiao Ling emerged from the portal, her boots sinking into a field of black soot. The sky was a heavy gray, choked by dark clouds. The air was thick with the smell of burnt flesh and rotting corpses, her every breath tasting of death. A cold wind howled through the skeletal remains of her once-glorious homeland.
She pulled her scarf tighter over her face, but it didn't help much. Toxic spores floated in the air like ghostly embers.
She walked.
The grand gates of Jingyuan City—once the heart of Xianzhou.
The once-proud capital of Xianzhou now stood as a ghost city cloaked in death. Ashes drifted down like snow, painting the ruins in shades of gray and black. The air was thick with toxicity — a choking blend of smoke, decay, and scorched magic. Xiao Ling wrapped her cloth tighter around her face, but even that couldn't block the stench of death.
Beastmen patrols roamed the crumbling streets, their glowing eyes scanning the fogged ruins for signs of life. Xiao Ling moved like a shadow, her steps silent, her qi masked. She used shattered buildings and broken statues as cover, slipping past lumbering orcs and snarling dark elves. The city she once called home had become a hunting ground.
As she entered the heart of the city, her boots crunched over debris — and bones. The corpses lay twisted, faces frozen in terror. Some were so decayed they looked mummified, others freshly slain, as if time had no meaning in this cursed place.
Xiao Ling's heart clenched when she recognized a knight's insignia — one of her former comrades. She knelt beside the broken body, pressing her hand to their chest briefly. Cold. Still. She whispered a prayer under her breath.
And then she saw them: friends, fellow knights, and her captain… all lined along the palace walls like discarded trash. Their armors rusted, their swords shattered beside them.
Inside the shattered remains of the capital office, Xiao Ling activated the backup terminal — still powered by a fading spiritual core. The screens flickered to life, and a silent horror unfolded.
Recordings from crystal surveillance showed the siege of Xianzhou.
Children screaming.
Homes burning.
Women begging.
Men standing their ground only to be ripped apart by vampiric claws and orcish axes.
One clip showed a mother shielding her son before being impaled by a dark elf's spear.
And then… she saw him.
The body of Zadkiel, the former Shadow Emperor — lifeless, bloodied, being carried by beastman acolytes toward one location:
Xuanlong Temple.
She staggered back, her knuckles white against the desk. That temple... she remembered it. A place once sacred, now defiled. The realization hit like lightning: they're bringing him back.
Xiao Ling slipped into the underground canals, moving beneath the city toward the temple's direction. The air grew colder. Torches lined the tunnel walls — dimly glowing with cursed flame. She peeked through a crack in the surface, seeing the outskirts of the temple grounds.
The enemy was everywhere.
Orcs chanted war songs in deep guttural tones.
Vampires feasted near blood pools.
Beastmen stood as sentinels.
Dark elves prepared incantations in blackened circles.
And at the center, inside the half-collapsed temple gates… she saw Zadkiel's preserved corpse, suspended in dark magic, surrounded by ritualists.
This was it.
If the ritual succeeded… the war would become unwinnable.
Xiao Ling crouched silently above the temple's upper rafters, her eyes locked on the swirling black aura encasing Zadkiel's corpse. Dozens of Shadow Empire cultists stood in a perfect circle, chanting in unison as arcane symbols burned into the ground below them. The atmosphere was electric, pulsing with ancient necromancy.
She reached for her sword.
Her heart raced.
Just one strike — one well-timed move — and maybe she could stop it.
She was about to leap—
when a hand clamped over her mouth from behind, dragging her silently into the shadows.
She struggled, but the grip was firm. Precise. Controlled.
"Shhh," a calm voice whispered in her ear. "You'll die before you even touch the ground."
The man slowly released her mouth, stepping back just enough for her to turn and face him.
A young man in his late twenties stood before her — clad in tattered black robes stitched with dragon-scale patterns. His eyes glowed faintly gold in the dark, his long silver hair tied loosely behind him. He bore no insignia of the Shadow Empire… but his aura radiated suppressed strength.
Xiao Ling (whispering harshly):
"Who are you?"
Kai (softly):
"I'm Kai. Kai DragonHeart. And I am not your enemy."
The name struck her like thunder.
Xiao Ling (narrowing her eyes):
"DragonHeart...? That name... I've heard it before."
A pause.
His expression hardened, and his tone turned cold.
Kai:
"That shouldn't be any of your concern."
Xiao Ling instinctively reached for her blade, but Kai didn't move.
Kai:
"If you charge in now, you'll die. You won't even reach the altar before one of them rips your head off. I've watched four others try already."
He gestured downward — and sure enough, at the far corner of the courtyard, four corpses lay sprawled behind some rubble, faces half-burned and armor shattered.
Kai:
"They were knights. Like you. Brave. Foolish."
Xiao Ling (gritting her teeth):
"So what? We're just supposed to stand here and watch as they bring that monster back?!"
Kai:
"No. But you can't win by playing their game. I've been tracking this ritual since it began… and I know when the core moment will be vulnerable."
He pointed toward the altar.
Kai:
"The heart of the resurrection spell activates in the final phase. That's when you strike."
Xiao Ling studied him closely. His eyes were tired, like someone who had seen too much, lived too long in shadows.
Xiao Ling:
"Why are you helping me?"
Kai (quietly):
"Because I've already lost enough people to this war. And if Zadkiel rises again… more people will die."
The temple began to tremble.
A deep, unnatural hum rumbled through the cracked stone. The air thickened — buzzing with corrupted energy. The ritual circle flared with black and crimson light. Zadkiel's corpse rose slowly above the altar, veins of dark magic pumping through his flesh like black lightning.
Kai's eyes widened.
"They're ahead of schedule—! The spell's accelerating!"
Before Xiao Ling could respond, a sudden screech rang out from above — a winged vampire warden spotted them on the balcony.
Vampire (howling):
"INTRUDERS!"
The sky split with a guttural roar. From every shadow, every archway, enemies came flooding in — orcish berserkers, beastmen with jagged blades, pale dark elves hissing curses.
Xiao Ling:
"Looks like we're out of time."
She drew her sword — the steel humming with spiritual energy.
Kai's cloak dropped to the floor as he drew dual sabers forged from obsidian dragonbone, their edges glowing faintly gold.
Kai (quietly):
"Then we kill them all."
An orc leapt toward Xiao Ling, roaring with a double-headed axe.
She slid beneath his swing and sliced both his knees, making him collapse forward — then drove her blade upward through his mouth, splitting his skull in half.
Kai moved like water and fire. A beastman lunged at him —
He sidestepped and with a flash of his sabers, severed the creature's arms, then spun and decapitated him in one motion, blood spraying like a fountain.
A vampire pounced from above.
Xiao Ling jumped, twisting midair, and cut through its spine, her blade cleaving from shoulder to waist — the corpse hit the ground in two smoldering pieces.
Dark elf mages began casting spells — black bolts of death magic.
Kai hurled one of his sabers like a spear, impaling the first mage through the throat before he finished his chant.
He vanished in a blur of speed, reappearing behind the second.
Snap.
He twisted the elf's neck, the crack echoing through the chamber.
A massive orc rushed Kai with a warhammer.
Before it could swing — Xiao Ling vaulted off a broken pillar, landing on the orc's back.
She jammed her sword straight through his spine, then grabbed his tusks and twisted his head until it snapped free, tossing it to the floor.
Kai caught his thrown saber, now dripping in mage blood, and turned to her.
Kai (grinning):
"You fight well."
Xiao Ling (breathing hard):
"You're not too bad either."
Within minutes, the upper floor of the temple was a slaughterhouse.
Blood pooled in the cracked tiles. Limbs twitched, lifeless. The stench of death thickened.
But from the lower levels, the chanting hadn't stopped.
The ritual was reaching its climax.
Kai wiped his blade on a fallen vampire's cloak.
"That was the warm-up."
Xiao Ling:
"Then let's finish this before that thing wakes up."
They locked eyes. No words. No hesitation.
They descended a spiral of crumbling obsidian stairs, the glow of the ritual pulsing beneath them like a heartbeat.
Each step felt heavier — not from fatigue, but from the oppressive presence below. A dark pressure that clawed at the back of the mind.
As they reached the final level, they emerged into a colossal underground sanctuary. Shadowy banners bearing Zadkiel's sigil — a bleeding crown — hung from cracked pillars.
And in the center, the altar.
Zadkiel's corpse levitating, black veins pulsing like roots crawling across his pale flesh.
But in front of him… stood a lone figure.
Clad in black ceremonial armor, adorned with hundreds of silver runes and chains, his face hidden beneath a horned helm — The Black Oathkeeper.
The scent of decay and burnt metal surrounded him.
A massive greatsword rested on his shoulder, etched with ancient Shadow Empire language.
Kai (stopping cold):
"…Shit."
Xiao Ling:
"You know him?"
Kai (gritting his teeth):
"That's the Oathkeeper. Zadkiel's death warden. He was buried with him. Looks like someone woke him up."
The figure raised its head slightly. Its voice echoed — distorted and metallic, as if spoken by a chorus of the damned.
Black Oathkeeper:
"You trespass upon sacred soil.
You will not leave here alive.
Without warning—he charged.
The Oathkeeper's blade came down like a meteor. Xiao Ling rolled aside, the impact shattering the floor, sending debris flying. Kai clashed blades with him, sabers grinding against the massive greatsword in a blinding sparkstorm.
Kai (straining):
"He's fast for his size—!"
The Oathkeeper spun and slammed his fist into Kai's chest, launching him backward into a column, the stone cracking from the force.
Xiao Ling attacked from behind, her sword aiming for his neck.
But he twisted his blade backward with one arm, blocking it blind, then used his free hand to grab her by the face and slam her into the ground, leaving a crater.
Blood trickled from her lip, but she gritted her teeth and kicked upward —
her boot connecting with his helmet, knocking him off balance.
Kai blinked to his side, rejoining the fight with a flurry of dragon-style slashes, carving glowing wounds into the Oathkeeper's side — black blood hissing from his armor.
But the Oathkeeper roared — a dark spell glyph igniting under his feet.
Kai screamed:
"MOVE!"
Too late — a shockwave of corrupted energy blasted outward, sending both warriors flying.
Xiao Ling stood, battered but alive.
The Oathkeeper staggered too — armor cracked, cape torn, half his helm melted away, revealing a glimpse of a withered, inhuman face beneath.
Xiao Ling (furious):
"You guarded a tyrant. Let's see if you can guard your own life."
She charged.
He swung.
She slid beneath, slashing both of his Achilles tendons, forcing him to his knees.
Kai leapt from behind, driving both sabers into the gaps in the Oathkeeper's back armor, piercing his corrupted lungs.
Xiao Ling finished it.
With a yell, she drove her blade through the front of his chest, and out his back, piercing straight through his black heart.
The Oathkeeper trembled… then went still.
Black blood poured from his body as it slumped forward, crashing to the floor — the greatsword clanging beside him.
Heavy breathing.
The chamber now echoed only with the crackling sound of unstable magic.
But the ritual… was still going.
Kai (panting):
"He was just the gatekeeper."
Xiao Ling (grimly):
"Then we've only just started."
They looked up — at the corpse of Zadkiel.
And saw his fingers begin to twitch.