He stood within the storm of leaves and branches as if untouched by it. Eclipse Mourne rested low, black edge tilted downward, waiting. His eyes reflected nothing.
Only when Yu Jinzhen's first wave of strikes neared him did his arm rise. His motion was unhurried, almost lazy in its simplicity, and yet when Eclipse Mourne cut across the air, silence followed. There was no sound of metal slicing, no cry of qi bursting. Only absence.
The phantom leaves that Yu Jinzhen had carved with his life force dissolved into dust the moment they touched the black edge. The canopy of trees broke apart, branches withering into void. The rustling of forest wind died, replaced by an eerie stillness that smothered sound itself. Where Yu Jinzhen's blade had summoned creation, Rylen's blade devoured it without trace.
