The cloaked figure stepped onto the crystal bridge, the surface groaning under his weight. Silver mist rolled around his feet like wary spirits, retreating from the sinister aura he carried.
Ethan narrowed his eyes,
He could feel it now murderous intent, sharp as a blade, focused entirely on him.
Seraphina raised a hand,
The air shimmered as a protective barrier activated around the platform. Her voice rang out, calm and commanding. Identify yourself, or be erased.
The figure paused.
Then, with one smooth motion, he threw back his hood.
A pale face. Sunken eyes. A dark sigil pulsing on his neck. His aura was fragmented, twisted as if his body had endured multiple failed breakthroughs.
Elena, watching from a hidden vantage beyond the grove, inhaled sharply. That mark it's from the Dead Lotus Cult.
Liora's voice trembled,
They shouldn't be this far north.
Ethan stepped forward,
You're after the sword, aren't you?
The assassin tilted his head,
Not just the sword. The blood that awakened it.
Without warning, he vanished.
Ethan spun, drawing the Dragon Slayer Sword just in time to deflect a blow aimed at his spine. Sparks exploded. The assassin reappeared mid-air, a curved dagger in each hand.
They clashed again steel ringing under the moonlight.
Seraphina did not interfere,
She watched, eyes narrowed. This was a test as much as a threat.
The assassin moved like smoke, striking from impossible angles. Ethan blocked, parried, and ducked but even with his refined senses, he barely kept up.
Then he felt it a shift in the assassin's rhythm. A subtle pattern.
He waited.
The next strike came. Ethan sidestepped not back, but forward grabbing the assassin's wrist and slamming him to the moonstone with a thud.
You're not the first one who tried to take it, Ethan growled.
The assassin hissed and vanished again, reappearing behind Seraphina's barrier but the moment he touched it, the shield flared and flung him back violently.
Foolish, Seraphina murmured.
Wounded, the assassin landed on his knees, coughing blood. But he wasn't done.
He reached into his robes and pulled out a small, black orb.
Liora screamed,
Shadow Bloom! It's going to explode!
Ethan lunged forward.
With a roar, he activated his Qi, the Dragon Vein pulsing in his chest. A golden arc burst from his sword, slicing through the assassin and the orb in a single sweep.
The orb shattered harmlessly.
The assassin froze, then collapsed his body dissolving into ash.
The grove fell silent.
Seraphina stood.
You stopped a Deathborn assassin. That is not something even my elite could manage so cleanly.
Ethan sheathed his blade, breathing heavily. He was the warning. There will be more.
She nodded,
Then it's time we prepare. You will remain as a guest of the Moon Sect. For now.
But Ethan knew this was only the beginning.
Beyond the veil of the mountains, something ancient had stirred.