Blood dripped from Elder One's nose, warm and thick, splashing against the shattered stone beneath him.
Then—another cough.
Wet. Violent.
He barely managed to turn his head before crimson spilled from his mouth, staining his sleeve. His vision swam, the edges darkening as pressure thundered behind his eyes. When he forced them open again, thin trails of blood slid from the corners of his sight.
…From my eyes too?
The realization sent a chill racing down his spine.
His gaze snapped back to the lizard.
It was still standing—but only just.
Its massive frame swayed, as if even the ground refused to bear its weight. Blood streamed freely from its eyes, matting the scales along its face. The once-blazing golden glare had dulled, unfocused, flickering like a candle on the verge of extinction. Lightning crawled weakly across its body, stuttering and unstable.
Elder One's breathing hitched.
What… is happening to it?
This was not the posture of a creature preparing to strike. There was no gathering power, no desperate counterattack.
This was collapse.
Sudden. Violent. Unnatural.
Moments ago, it had been a breath from death beneath his blade—and yet now, this strange reversal. No resurgence. No transformation.
Just blood.
Just weakness.
His mind raced despite the agony tearing through his meridians.
Are its wounds finally catching up to it?
The thought struck like a spark.
He narrowed his eyes, studying every tremor, every ragged breath. The way its claws dug into the stone—not in readiness, but desperation. The way its chest heaved, uneven and shallow.
It looks… worse. Not better.
The lizard coughed, thick blood spilling from its maw.
A hoarse laugh almost escaped Elder One, cut short by another violent cough of his own.
Its wounds… are they catching up to it?
Or did it suffer backlash from whatever it used against me?
His pupils constricted.
That wasn't from my strike.
A dangerous realization took shape.
Whatever it did… it paid a price.
His breath came ragged as his Qi surged violently, slamming against his meridians like a flood against shattered dams. Pain flared—white-hot, screaming—but his eyes hardened.
His thoughts pushed through the chaos clawing at his cultivation.
Either way—
This was an opening.
A dangerous one… but an opening nonetheless.
So we're the same.
Two broken beings, standing on borrowed seconds.
For a fleeting moment, doubt surfaced.
What if this is a trap?
His fingers twitched as Qi flared erratically in response.
What if it's baiting me?
What if this is the opening it wants—while I'm struggling to restrain my Qi?
The thought gnawed at him. His cultivation was in turmoil, energy tearing through his body like a raging river without banks. Forcing another technique now could shatter his meridians beyond repair. Decades of cultivation—gone in an instant.
But then he saw it again.
The blood.
The trembling.
The fading light in those eyes.
No.
This isn't a trap.
This is collapse.
Elder One's jaw clenched.
If that's the case…
Then I cannot hesitate.
A predator does not wait for its prey to recover. And neither would a cultivator who wished to live.
If I give it even a breath… even a heartbeat… I may never get another chance.
His Qi screamed in protest as he forced it into motion, dragging the unruly energy through pathways already cracked and burning. Pain detonated through his body, white-hot and blinding. Something tore inside him—he felt it—but he ignored it.
Meridians could be rebuilt.
Life could not.
Even if this destroys me… I must kill it now.
His hands shook violently as he rose, blood dripping from his chin, vision blurred red. The world felt distant, unstable—but his intent sharpened to a single point.
Kill it.
Not later.
Not after recovery.
Not after control.
Now.
He took one staggering step, then another, forcing his cultivation into motion despite the internal storm. The air around him warped, trembling under the strain of his unstable power.
"I won't give you…" he rasped, blood bubbling at his lips, "…a single moment."
His gaze locked onto the lizard—two shattered beings staring each other down, both knowing the truth.
This next move would decide everything.
And neither of them could afford to survive it.
Elder One's vision swam red as he forced his Qi to move.
Not flow.
Crash.
The instant he pushed, agony erupted inside him. His meridians screamed as raw energy tore through them like a flood through brittle stone channels. Blood sprayed from his mouth as his knees buckled—but he did not stop.
He couldn't.
The ground answered his will.
Stone shuddered.
Then the earth erupted.
Jagged bands of rock burst upward around the lizard, twisting and coiling like colossal stone serpents. They wrapped around its limbs and torso—tightening, grinding, crushing—locking it in place before it could react.
The lizard felt it a heartbeat too late.
Huh—?
Its eyes widened as pressure slammed into its body, pinning it in place. Stone ground against scale, locking joints, squeezing tighter with every breath.
It's alive…?
It wasn't killed by the soul attack—and it's trapping me again with that earth art?!
Its blurred vision caught only shadows surging upward, too fast to evade. Stone slammed into its sides, pinning its wings, crushing its chest.
Panic spiked through the haze.
Blood poured freely from its eyes now, streaking its snout as it thrashed instinctively. The world dissolved into motion and pressure.
I—I can't see clearly.
Its thoughts raced.
If it attacks now… from where?
Its eyes burned as it forced them open wider, scanning blindly through the distortion.
Where… where is it attacking from?
Then—
A surge.
Its head snapped wildly from side to side, golden eyes glowing faintly through the blood. Its senses screamed danger—but without clarity, without direction.
Above.
Pressure.
There—!
Through the haze, it felt him.
High overhead, a blazing concentration of Qi tore through the distortion. Elder One descended like a falling star, his body wrapped in violent, unstable energy.
In his hands—
A massive jade-edged halberd, its crescent blade glowing with earthen light, veins of Qi crawling along its shaft.
He raised it high.
The lizard's pupils contracted.
If that strikes—
I can't let it reach me!
With a violent heave, it threw its head back and roared.
The sound was not mere noise.
It was force.
A compressed wave of power detonated from its jaws, the roar tearing through the air like a shockwave. Space buckled as the descending Qi collided with it—
BOOM.
The sky exploded in light and debris.
Qi and sound annihilated each other in a blinding detonation. Stone shattered. Air screamed. The earth bindings cracked, vibrating violently as fragments rained down.
The lizard's eyes were wide, blood pouring freely as the explosion swallowed its vision.
Did I—?
The pressure loosened slightly. Cracks spread through the stone coils, though they still held.
Its eyes darted frantically through the dust-choked sky.
Where is he?
Nothing.
No presence.
No Qi signature.
Where—?
Its heart slammed painfully against its ribs.
I can't see his energy anymore…
The dust was too thick. Lingering power distorted everything, smearing the battlefield into noise and pain.
Fear crept in—cold and sharp.
Then—
A presence.
Right behind it.
Too close.
Too late.
The dust parted for a single heartbeat—
And Elder One emerged above and behind the lizard, descending in silence, his body twisted into a killing arc. The halberd was gone.
In its place—
A familiar weapon.
A white crescent blade, condensed from pure intent. Moonlight coiled tightly along its edge—smaller than before, denser, sharper.
Lunar Severance reborn.
His earlier strike had never been meant to kill.
It had been a distraction.
A feint.
His face was twisted in agony, blood streaming freely as Qi tore him apart from the inside—but his eyes burned with absolute resolve.
"Caught you," he rasped.
The blade rose.
The earth bindings tightened violently around the lizard's neck, forcing its head upward, exposing its throat.
The lizard's eyes widened as understanding struck.
That roar.
That explosion.
It bought him nothing.
And now—
The real strike was coming.