The man's jeers fell from his lips like stones into a still pond—disturbing, but ultimately ineffective. Xiao Hu stood firm, halberd clenched in calloused hands, his jaw tight as steel. The scent of incense from a shrine down the corridor barely reached them now, overpowered by sweat and the stink of bloodlust.
This man will not leave until one of us is dead… and if I delay, more of his ilk may descend like vultures.
With a sharp inhale, Xiao Hu braced himself. His foot slid back, heel digging into the wooden floor of the inn—once a sanctuary, now a battlefield.
Then—BOOM!
The stranger's fist flew forward like a star flung from the void. Air warped around it, a tearing gale screamed in protest. The first form of the Black Dragon Fist Art — Ascending Roar had been unleashed.
Jie Mei screamed. "Xiao Hu!! Do something!!"
His halberd lifted—a crimson streak—meeting the oncoming fury.
CLAAAAANG!
A shockwave erupted outward, knocking chairs against walls and toppling lanterns from their hooks. The ceiling groaned above. A golden blaze surged from Xiao Hu's weapon—the Rising Sun, third form of his Flaming Halberd Technique—engulfing the inn in burning light.
Staff members yelped and scattered. One tripped over a stool, another threw himself beneath a table. The brilliance blinded even Jie Mei momentarily. But the halberd kept swinging, its arc defiant and radiant, slicing through the black qi.
Smoke coiled in the rafters. The demonic martial artist stepped back, chuckling, unbothered.
"Well done… but that won't suffice," he drawled. The shadows around him thickened, as though summoned by his malice.
Xiao Hu staggered.
His halberd cracked. Blood poured from his lips. SPLAT He fell to one knee, vision swimming.
"No… not yet…" he growled. He forced himself upright, bracing on the halberd shaft. Jie Mei reached toward him but dared not interfere.
The man before them grinned—a serpent savoring the mouse.
Outside, thunder rumbled.
Within, Xiao Hu's breath evened.
This may be the last stroke I strike… so let it be my truest.
He channeled his final strength.
[Fourth Move — Extinction Slash]
The halberd howled as it lifted. Energy surged—a monstrous qi—so heavy the floor split beneath his feet. The air thickened, bending to the will of the technique.
"This ends now!"
He swung.
The slash tore through space, a fiery crescent of devastation, and even the inn's foundations groaned beneath its fury.
The demon's smile faded.
With a roar, he met the blow head-on.
[Second Move — Black Dragon Fist Art: Vanquishing Descent]
A crushing punch shattered the halberd qi mid-air. The inn itself seemed to shriek. Windows shattered CRASSHHHH, beams split, and patrons far below collapsed from sheer pressure.
Jie Mei gasped. "Xiao Hu—!"
But the man was already there. He moved with terrifying speed, appearing before Xiao Hu in a blink.
"You've lingered too long, little boy," he hissed. His fist rocketed toward Xiao Hu's head.
THUD!
Xiao Hu barely twisted in time. The blow grazed him—blood splashed the floor. Another strike. Then another.
He bent but did not fall. Gritting his teeth, Xiao Hu launched his own counterattack—a flurry of swift strikes with the halberd's shaft, spinning and battering back his foe.
A blur of fists and blades collided—CRACK, THUNK, BAM!
Then a sudden lunge—
[First Move — Vengeful Dragon Finger Art: Approaching Death]
Two fingers aimed for Xiao Hu's eyes—a cruel, vicious technique.
But Xiao Hu pivoted and kicked—WHUMP!—driving his boot into the man's midsection. The attacker reeled back, wheezing.
"You dare… strike my ribs?!"
Shadows burst from his body—blackness seeping from every pore, cloaking his form in twisting smoke. His presence grew oppressive, suffocating. The room dimmed.
Xiao Hu staggered under the weight of it. His arms trembled. His halberd drooped.
Still, he did not flee.
'I must defeat him… for Jie Mei… for everyone in his path.'
He steadied his breath. His soul cried out for survival.
Then came the final threat.
"I… am Luo Shao! Remember the name as you die!"
[Third Move — Vengeful Dragon Finger Art: Reaper's Scythe]
A cold, silver light surged from Luo Shao's finger. It coalesced into a scythe-shaped arc that shimmered like moonlight on a tombstone. The power it exuded was dreadful—death in tangible form.
"Such… strength…" the innkeeper whimpered from a collapsed corner. Gray light swirled around him. His skin withered in real-time, his joints buckled. The others—servers, guests—crumbled like autumn leaves.
Jie Mei screamed. "No!!"
But there was no time for mourning.
Xiao Hu's halberd rose once more.
His eyes blazed—not with desperation, but grit.
"How dare you harm others in such a brazen manner?"
Xiao Hu's voice rang out, clear and furious—a bell tolling against the darkness. His eyes swept the inn, where the staff and patrons collapsed under the mere pressure of the wicked Daoist's presence. They coughed blood, limbs spasming, breath shallow.
If I don't act now… these people will perish without even touching the edge of his cloak!
He bit down on the rising dread and summoned every ember of strength within him.
With a roar that echoed through the bones of the building, he surged forward.
"Flame and fury, unleash—Extinction Slash!"
[Fourth Move of the Flaming Halberd Technique — Extinction Slash]
The halberd burst into brilliant crimson flames. Firelight danced across the broken walls, casting Jie Mei's awestruck face in gold and shadow. Xiao Hu's entire body pulsed with heat, his qi flaring like a wildfire.
The very air hissed and cracked. Zzzzztt! Arcs of lightning threaded through the atmosphere as if the heavens themselves bore witness.
He brought the weapon down with punishing speed.
BOOOOOOOM
A pillar of flame carved the air, splitting the battlefield in two.
Luo Shao met him mid-strike.
[Third Move of Vengeful Dragon Finger Art — Reaper's Scythe]
Gray light, sickly and cold, rippled from Luo Shao's index finger—condensing into a jagged crescent. The Scythe met the Slash with the sound of worlds colliding.
CRASHHHH!
The building shook. Tiles rained from above. The innkeeper screamed and fled into the cellar. Light and dark battled like gods made flesh.
'I must persevere…'
Xiao Hu gritted his teeth. For one golden instant, it looked as though the Extinction Slash would overpower the Reaper's Scythe. The flame roared, swallowing the gray light—
Then Xiao Hu's eyes widened.
Within the swirl of smoke and cinders, he saw movement—wrong, deliberate, deadly.
SWISH SWISH SWISH
Three arrows—black as night, silent as death—whipped from the shadows. Each bore an obsidian shard at its tip, sharp enough to slice fate itself.
The first arrow sped toward his throat.
"You think such parlor tricks will work?" he growled.
CLANG! His halberd spun mid-air, cleaving the first dart into glittering dust.
The second came faster—its tail blurring like mist.
He shifted weight, summoned a gust of heat-qi—WHOOSH—and the second arrow disintegrated in flight.
The third—
No!
It didn't aim for him.
It raced past his shoulder—straight toward Jie Mei, who stood frozen in fear, still dazed from the collision of energies.
Her eyes widened.
The arrow neared.
Xiao Hu didn't think. He moved.
His body blurred—a streak of red.
CRACK
The halberd intercepted the dart a mere breath before it struck. The obsidian tip shattered, fragments falling harmlessly.
Jie Mei stumbled back, gasping, hand over her chest. Her lips moved without sound, trying to comprehend what had happened.
"You really lack shame," Xiao Hu hissed.
"You value that woman too much," Luo Shao sneered, stepping forth. "That will be your undoing!"
The Daoist surged forward, cloak trailing like a funeral banner.
His fist burned with venomous energy.
[Third Move — Black Dragon Fist Art: Unrelenting Tyrant]
"This move… is too powerful!" Jie Mei cried, backpedaling.
The space warped. The fist descended—like the decree of a cruel heaven.
THOOOOOM!
Time slowed. The wind stopped.
Xiao Hu inhaled. His grip tightened.
He raised his halberd in one smooth, perfect arc.
The two met in mid-air—fist against blade—locked for a heartbeat outside of time.
The inn groaned beneath them. Plaster rained from above. Sparks cascaded like falling stars.
They hung in balance, two wills clashing above a world too frail to hold them.