'It can't be... am I going to die here?'
'I can't die. I don't want to die!'
'I won't... I won't allow it. I won't die here. I...!'
Crashed into the stone-paved streets, the construct-cojuring man, this cowardly man, consoled himself.
"I want to live!"
Stepping towards the edge of a rooftop, Dawn peers down at the street where the man fell.
"I, Myriad-Weapon Tyrant, refuse to die here!"
The air grew heavier and murkier. White wisps were drawn from the air and coalesced.
Dawn took a step back out of caution.
"I will not die... I will survive!"
His desperate ramblings brought forth a surge of power.
Swords. Daggers. Axes. Spears. Halberds.
A myriad of different weapons was conjured, although they lacked the size of their preceding constructs, they made up for it through sheer numbers.
"I...!"
Roaring ferociously, the myriad weapons flew upwards towards Dawn, carving the rooftop like chisels on marble.
As tiles and debris flew through the air, Dawn stepped back and evaded the initial attack.
Following her to the adjacent rooftop, swords slashed, daggers stabbed, axes fell, while spears and halberds pierced through the air.
Dawn's defensive Dao Art—Hallowed Shine—continued to burn furiously. Raising her Iron Lotus, she tore into the storm of weapons.
While the sounds of metal and Qi collided above, Myriad-Weapon Tyrant began to drag his body.
'I want to live. I want to live. I want to live.'
'I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die!'
Dragging his body across the stone-paved street, the cowardly man desperately tried to flee.
This did not go unnoticed.
Dawn's Iron Lotus shone white hot; a searing heat emanated from the spear's blade. Dawn's Qi Trait ignited the blade with terrible heat.
Swinging her Iron Lotus and cutting a clean arc in the air, Dawn sent forth a crescent blade.
It shattered several constructs, and the bellows of heavy wind followed the dispersion of the conjured weapons.
"Agh—!"
Writhing on the ground, Myriad-Weapon Tyrant clutched at his chest as a terrible pain assaulted him.
Raising her hand, Dawn grabbed the shaft of a spear, letting her Dao Art—Hallowed Shine—destroy the construct.
"Hah...Ha—Argh!"
Another cry of pain resounded through the street.
Relentlessly, Dawn battled and destroyed the flying constructs; neither spears nor halberds, nor swords, axes, or daggers could pose a threat to her.
From three-figure numbers to two-figure numbers, the number of weapons dwindled, and the more she destroyed, the easier the process of destroying them became.
Myriad-Weapon Tyrant's eyes were shaking intensely, fear and pain bundling relentlessly within.
"In order to create a myriad constructs, you use your Qi Core, specifically the one in your heart, as the medium, no?"
The Tyrant's eyes darted upwards.
Whether it be the cries of steel or the bellows of a heavy gust, nothing resounded above.
Dawn had shattered the storm of weapons. Calling down to the man writhing on the ground, she stepped off the rooftop and landed on the ground a few steps away from him.
"I've experienced a similar Dao Art from a friend. You must use a Dao Art medium to sustain such conjuring, except, you use your very own Qi Core as the medium. As a result, you can conjure more constructs, larger ones, too. However..."
Dawn stepped forward, towards the man.
The pain of being stabbed, the pain of being slashed, the pain of being pierced, and the pain of being cut into, all of these different kinds of pains tore into the Tyrant's chest.
"The backlash of your Constructs getting destroyed inflicts damage to the Dao Art medium, if not wholly destroying it. Consequently, as you use your own Qi Core, the Qi Core of your heart, you suffer the backlash."
"What surprises me is that your Qi Core suffers pain; I'd expect its total destruction as a more befitting punishment."
Dawn snorted as she stood above the man, lowering her Iron Lotus to be an inch from his nose.
"Wait!"
"...?"
"Please, don't kill me!"
While clutching a fistful of his robes, his nails digging into the skin of his chest, he pleaded desperately.
There was no malice nor deceit in his eyes, and the killing intent had long since left him.
"Please! I know I did wrong, but I haven't done anything yet, right? Maybe a few buildings were ruined, but I haven't harmed a life!"
"..."
"Spare me! Don't kill me! I'm begging you!"
"..."
"Please!"
"Everyone has agency, the right to live according to their own will or desires."
Stepping her boot on the man's chest, the flames wreathing Dawn's body flowed into the man's body.
The searing pain seemed to ease. Dawn had erased the assimilated Dao Art within the Qi Core of the Tyrant's heart.
"To take away one's agency does not sit well with me. To have my own agency taken would only infuriate me. I believe Heart Tethering Maiden was also displeased as you took away her agency."
"You tell me that you were forced into this position, that you had no other choice? Then, I can only sympathise with you, who had your own agency taken."
"However, that does not wipe your slate clean. You bore the frail intentions of taking another's life, another's agency, therefore."
Myriad-Weapon Tyrant's eyes went wide with fear.
"W...Wait—!"
With a clean arc, Dawn's Iron Lotus severed the man's head from his shoulders.
It was a quick kill, a painless death, for the Tyrant whose fear was frozen on his face.
"This is how far my sympathy goes."
Watching the life drain from the man's eyes, Dawn rested on her staff to catch her breath.
This man's Dao Art was fierce and powerful; his introduction left Dawn subtly stifled in her approach to him.
Yet, his disposition was a complete letdown.
How could someone who imposes on others have such a weak will?
Sighing, Dawn did not idle any longer.
'Maiden must still be fighting with that fire-wielding Demonic Cultivator... Senior Silver and Wolf King Lan must also be stuck in their situations...'
'Should I support Senior Silver, or aid in Maiden and Lan's retreat?'