Tian Rui's breath caught in his throat. The man before him didn't move, yet his presence was suffocating—like gravity had thickened, wrapping around Tian Rui's limbs and lungs.
"A collector of broken things?" Tian Rui echoed, backing slowly toward the altar. "What does that even mean?"
The man tilted his head, amused. "It means I find value where others see weakness. And you, little Root, are overflowing with potential."
"Little Root?" Tian Rui's voice sharpened. That name… he hadn't heard it in years. It was what his mother used to call him when he was small—back when they still lived in the village, before the fire.
"Ah," the man said, smiling thinly. "So you remember."
Tian Rui's blood ran cold.
"Who are you really?"
The man didn't answer. Instead, he stepped forward, and with every step, Tian Rui felt his own body tense in resistance. He instinctively reached for the relic's power—and it surged to meet his call, hotter, faster, more reactive than before.
A blazing light formed at Tian Rui's fingertips, swirling with unstable energy.
"Careful," the man said, raising a brow. "That power will devour you before I even get the chance."
"I'm not afraid of you."
The man laughed quietly. "You should be."
And then, as suddenly as pressure had risen, it eased. The man raised both hands in a gesture of peace. "I'm not here to kill you, Tian Rui. Not yet. I came to offer a choice."
Tian Rui didn't drop his guard. "What kind of choice?"
"A pact. Power, guidance, protection—from the things that are coming. In return, I ask only one thing: your loyalty."
Tian Rui frowned. "Loyalty to what?"
The man's eyes gleamed. "To the Crimson Accord. A sect outside the bounds of heaven, unchained by the rules of the Five Great Clans. We bend no knee to false gods or sacred trees. We write our own fate."
The name rang unfamiliar, yet something about it felt ancient—almost forbidden.
"And if I say no?"
The man's smile remained, but it no longer reached his eyes. "Then you'll be hunted. Not just by me—but by the relic itself. You've already begun to awaken it. You felt the mirror, didn't you? That was its voice. Soon, it won't be whispers. It will scream."
Tian Rui's hands tightened into fists.
"What do you want from me?"
The man stepped closer, slowly, and held out a scroll bound in crimson thread. "Read this when you're ready. It will tell you where to find us. But be warned—the moment you unseal it, your journey will truly begin."
He turned, his cloak rippling behind him like liquid shadow.
"Wait," Tian Rui called. "What's your name?"
The man paused. Glanced back.
"You may call me Veylan. We'll meet again, Tian Rui. You are no longer just a boy with a relic. You are the Heaven-Breaker now."
And just like that, he vanished.
Tian Rui stood alone in the ruined shrine, the crimson-bound scroll in his hand, his heart a storm of fire and fear.
He didn't know if he would open it.
But part of him already knew—it was too late to turn back.