The moon hung low over the Hollow Empire's capital, half-veiled behind thick fog that rolled in like a ghostly tide.
It wasn't natural.
The fog carried silence with it—no chirping of crickets, no echo of footsteps. Only the occasional whisper, too faint to understand.
Liu Shen stood atop the eastern tower, eyes fixed on the distant treeline.
"They're here," he said.
Lei Qing emerged beside him, spear resting against his shoulder. "Assassins?"
"No," Liu Shen replied. "Something worse."
---
Within the mist, the first shadows slithered between the buildings—barefoot, silent, robed in gray.
They wore no emblems. No faces. No scent.
Even beasts in the city failed to sense them.
But Liu Shen could.
He closed his eyes. His soul sense pulsed once—and in return, dozens of icy presences flickered like dying candles.
"A Silent Sect strike," he murmured.
Lei Qing's brow furrowed. "They vanished after the Southern Reaping War. No survivors. No trace."
"They were never gone," Liu Shen said darkly. "Just waiting for someone bold enough to sit on this throne again."
---
Inside the palace, Yu Meixing paced before a cluster of robed elders from the Sect of Shadows.
"They're testing the wards?" she asked.
One elder nodded. "Five layers have failed. But the sixth—the Abyssal Thread—still holds."
"And Liu Shen?"
"Already in position."
She turned to Yue'er, who was tracing formations in the air with her fingers.
"Activate the mirror array," Meixing said.
Yue'er pressed her palms together. A ripple passed through the air.
All across the capital, hidden inscriptions began to glow faintly.
---
Within the fog, one of the assassins suddenly froze.
It was a mistake.
A blade of light tore through his chest. There was no cry, no sound—just a muffled thud as he collapsed into dust.
Liu Shen stepped into the mist, his figure barely visible.
Each step he took, a pattern lit beneath his feet—old abyssal runes, war markings from the forgotten age. They twisted and burned away the fog.
"I see you," he said calmly.
The assassins lunged.
But their weapons passed through illusions.
Liu Shen's real form was behind them.
One gesture—five fell.
A thought—three more screamed silently, blood freezing in their veins as their souls were bound by invisible threads.
He moved like a shadow given purpose.
But he wasn't alone.
---
From the rooftops, Lei Qing descended like a thunderbolt, spear glowing with condensed rage. He impaled one assassin, then spun, releasing a ring of lightning that blasted a dozen more.
"These bastards are fragile," he muttered.
Another wave leapt at him—but they exploded mid-air.
Yu Meixing appeared, her eyes darkened, palms glowing violet with forbidden qi. "They're not assassins. They're offerings."
Liu Shen appeared beside her, a grim expression on his face. "A summoning?"
"No. A distraction."
---
Suddenly, the earth shook.
Beneath the imperial palace, a chasm opened.
From the darkness below, a black pillar surged upward—an ancient fang-shaped monolith pulsing with celestial bindings.
And upon it, bound in runes, floated a coffin of clear jade.
Inside…
A man with golden eyes slept, a crown shattered beside his head.
Liu Shen's breath caught.
"That's…"
Yu Meixing stepped back. "One of the Sealed Kings."
---
In the age before betrayal, nine kings had stood beneath the Demon Sovereign—each wielding dominion over a fragment of his abyssal empire.
This one… was Kuren, the Crownless Flame.
Supposedly killed during the fall.
But someone had entombed him, preserved him—beneath the palace Liu Shen now ruled.
Liu Shen's hand twitched.
More memories surged—Kuren's loyalty, his last stand, the flames that consumed half a continent to delay the celestial armies.
"They buried him under the throne," Liu Shen whispered. "To mock me."
Or to keep the last piece of resistance sealed.
---
A voice echoed from the fog, dry and hollow:
"The pact forbids resurrection."
Liu Shen turned.
At the edge of the battlefield stood a single figure—robed in white, mask of bone, holding a blade forged of crystal silence.
He did not breathe.
A Heaven's Pact Inquisitor.
"Step aside," the man said. "Or the heavens shall deem you apostate once more."
Liu Shen stepped forward, raising his hand.
The fog parted.
The stars dimmed.
And the Hollow Throne pulsed.
"I was always apostate," he said coldly.
And then the battle truly began.