Xuan Li didn't give Ethan a chance to breathe. He moved with a heavy, crushing speed, his halberd carving a crescent of crimson light through the air. Ethan raised his daggers to parry, but the impact was like being hit by a falling mountain.
CRACK.
The sound of shattering bone echoed across the plains. Ethan was sent hurtling backward, his body skip-loading across the earth like a stone on water for hundreds of meters. When he finally came to a halt, a massive trench had been carved into the dirt.
Ethan struggled to stand, his breath coming in ragged, bloody gasps. His left arm hung at a grotesque, sickening angle, the white of the bone peeking through the skin at the elbow. Blood poured from his mouth like a river, staining his chest.
"Is that all?" Xuan Li asked, his voice calm as he began to walk toward the crater, each step cracking the ground. "Your Void power is a formidable shield, but it cannot compensate for the gap between a mortal and a Peak Spiritual Core."
