The battle between the golden phoenix emissary and his clone grew fiercer with every passing breath. The ground cracked beneath their feet as each strike shook the earth, golden flames surging like a tempest, scorching the trees into ash. Their speed was so fast that only afterimages remained, colliding in mid-air like two blazing suns.
Tie Hongchen sat upon a jagged boulder with her sword laid lazily across her lap. Her robes rippled in the turbulent winds, yet she seemed unaffected, as though a mere observer at a play staged for her amusement. Her crimson eyes reflected the two figures locked in battle, one genuine, one false, yet both carrying the same aura of destruction.
"How pitiful," she muttered softly, her lips curling upward. "A man who once stood as the shadow guild's pillar, reduced to fighting himself."
The golden phoenix emissary's expression twisted with rage as he clashed blades with his clone. "Submit! You are a fragment of me, nothing more!" His golden sword howled with energy, arcs of light tearing through the battlefield like cracks of thunder.
But the clone only laughed, parrying with bare hands wrapped in golden fire. "Fragment? No—I am your reflection without restraint. Where you doubt, I am decisive. Where you waver, I am firm. It is you who should bow to me!"
Their words clashed as violently as their blows, and in that instant Tie Hongchen's laughter rang out like silver chimes. Though faint, it seemed to stab directly into the golden emissary's heart.
"You hear it, don't you?" she called mockingly. "The truth of your weakness. If even your clone sees through your cowardice, then what right do you have to boast of standing above a million?"
The emissary's strikes faltered, his heart trembling at her words. Every syllable she spoke carried an invisible blade, cutting into the deepest parts of his will. Even as sweat dripped down his face, he could feel the phantom of Tai Jian's disdainful gaze upon him.
For a moment, despair flickered in his eyes.
But before it could fully devour him, the skies above shifted. Clouds thickened unnaturally, their black weight pressing down upon the battlefield. A suffocating aura descended like a curtain of iron. The golden flames of both emissary and clone dimmed beneath its shadow, and the howling winds stilled in fearful silence.
Tie Hongchen's brows arched. The playful glint in her eyes hardened into sharp vigilance. She lifted her gaze toward the heavens and whispered, "So… you've finally decided to appear."
A figure emerged from the shadows above, tall and slender yet emanating boundless oppression. His cloak fluttered without wind, woven from darkness itself. His face was obscured, but his presence alone was enough to silence the forest. Even the clone's rebellious grin froze into caution.
The golden phoenix emissary staggered back, his sword trembling in his hand. His voice cracked with disbelief. "You—! The… Shadow Lord!"
Tie Hongchen's lips curled into a dangerous smile. "The master of the shadow guild, playing his hand at last. How fortunate I am to bear witness. All this time, you hid behind pawns and faceless emissaries, yet here you are, dragged onto the board by your own greed."
The figure did not answer. He simply stared down at her, his gaze like blades piercing through flesh and soul alike. Even so, Tie Hongchen did not flinch. She placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, and in one fluid motion, unsheathed it.
The ringing of steel split the oppressive silence.
Her aura erupted like a tidal wave, clashing against the shadow that smothered the world. The very ground quaked beneath her presence. For the first time, the blade's edge was revealed—gleaming with killing intent so sharp it seemed ready to cleave the heavens.
"Let me guess," she said coldly, her crimson eyes narrowing. "The clone was your insurance, wasn't it? A leash on your emissary, a test for my strength. How amusing. But now, both pawn and leash have slipped your control."
The Shadow Lord's voice finally echoed, deep and calm, each word carrying the weight of inevitability.
"All pawns serve their purpose. And when their role is fulfilled, they are discarded. The golden phoenix emissary is no exception."
The emissary trembled as those words struck him harder than any blade. His knuckles whitened around his sword, his mind in chaos. Decades of loyalty, battles fought in the shadows, his belief that he stood as the guild's strongest blade—all of it shattered in an instant.
"Discarded…?" His voice cracked with despair. His body wavered, and the clone's mocking laughter rang out again.
"You see now, don't you?" the clone said with venom. "You were never the phoenix. You were the ashes beneath its wings."
The emissary roared in defiance, unleashing a flurry of strikes that pushed his clone back. Yet it was not strength born of confidence—it was desperation, the last struggle of a man who had realized his entire life was but a cruel joke.
Tie Hongchen observed in silence for a moment, her sword held lightly at her side. Then she exhaled slowly, her gaze turning colder than frost. "This world is nothing but a chessboard. You thought yourself a knight, perhaps even a rook, but in truth, you were always just a pawn. Even now, you cannot break free of the hand that moves you."
Her words stabbed deep. The golden phoenix emissary's eyes turned bloodshot, his mind shattering beneath the weight of her truth and the betrayal of his master.
The Shadow Lord raised his hand, shadows coiling around it like serpents. "Enough."
The sky dimmed further, and an immense shadow descended, as if intending to erase both emissary and clone in a single strike.
But Tie Hongchen moved first. Her sword flashed, brighter than the golden flames and sharper than the shadow's grasp. She stepped forward, her aura surging with defiance.
"If this is the next piece you place upon the board," she declared, her voice ringing like thunder, "then I will carve my path through it. Whether shadow or flame, pawn or master—it makes no difference."
Her blade sliced upward, and for the first time, the Shadow Lord himself paused. The oppressive darkness cracked beneath her strike, a faint fissure opening in the sky.
The battlefield held its breath.
And in that silence, Tie Hongchen's voice was a whisper sharp enough to pierce eternity.
"Let the game truly begin."