The air cracked.
A silent flash — then steel hissed through the night as the Wraithbound Assassins charged, their footsteps making no sound, only dread.
Tianming felt the Heavenbreaker burn against his palm — not in pain, but purpose.
Beside him, Mei moved like falling petals in a storm. Her energy shaped itself into luminous blades that hovered and spun like spirits long untamed.
"They don't stop," she warned, striking down the first assassin in a blur. "Wraithbound have no fear. No voice. No soul."
Tianming didn't answer. He didn't need to. The Heavenbreaker roared alive as it met the first blade. Sparks flew, and in that instant, he realized — he wasn't fighting with the sword.
The sword was fighting with him.
Each strike was heavier. Sharper. Guided.
One of the assassins reached Mei's blind spot. Tianming moved without thought, intercepting the blow with his arm — pain seared through him, but he stood firm. Mei looked back, surprised — just for a moment — then nodded.
More figures emerged from the shadows. Dozens now. A coordinated purge.
Mei whispered, "They're not here just for you."
Tianming's voice was low. "Then we make them remember why they feared us."
The sky above cracked again — not from thunder, but from a scream. A monstrous shape began to form in the darkness above — something summoned.
Something old