The attack came at dusk, just as the caravan was settling into a defensible box-shape for the
night. There was no roar, no warning.
There was just... a scream.
Bo, who had been setting a snare-trap on the perimeter, just... vanished. One second he was
there, and the next, a black-on-purple blur had snatched him, dragging him into the thorny
brush. His scream was cut off with a sickening, wet-gurgle.
"By the heavens!" Jin shrieked, his face ashen. "Bo!"
"Formation!" Meilin roared, drawing her saber. A faint red Qi enveloped her blade. "It's a
Shadow-Stalker! Get to the wagons!"
Jin, half-mad with fear and rage, charged into the brush after his brother. "Bo! I'm coming!"
"Idiot! Get back!" Meilin bellowed, but it was too late.
The forest erupted in a flurry of silver-blue light. It was a beautiful, terrifying spiral of ice. It
lanced out from... Yue's wagon.
"What...?" Merchant Guo, who was hiding behind a wheel, gasped.
The "frail" passenger, Lin Yue, stood atop the wagon. Her plain cloak had been discarded,
revealing an immaculate, embroidered blue and white dress that seemed to shimmer with its
own light. Her veil was gone, showing a face of breathtaking, cold beauty. In her hand, she held
a simple, jade-green flute, and the air around her was visibly freezing, forming intricate,
deadly-sharp lotuses of ice.
She was a vision of terrifying grace. Her Qi was so vast, so pure, it made Meilin's red-glowing
saber look like a child's toy.
"A Sky-Veil Sect disciple," Meilin breathed, her eyes wide with a mixture of terror and awe.
"She's... Foundation-Establishment. At her age?"
Lin Yue didn't look at them. Her eyes were fixed on the shadows. "You," she said, her voice like
chimes, "are a 3rd-rank Spirit Beast. You are too strong for these fools."
A pair of glowing, yellow eyes emerged from the darkness. A massive, panther-like creature, its
fur a shifting mass of shadow and dark purple, slunk into the clearing. Bo's body was a
mangled, unmoving heap nearby. The beast was wounded—one of its legs was frozen solid by Jin, who had frozen at the sight of his brother's body, finally broke. He screamed, "You bitch!
You killed him!" and charged, not at the beast, but at Lin Yue, his spear glowing with his own
pathetic Qi.
Lin Yue didn't even look at him. With a sigh of annoyance, she flicked her wrist. An ice lotus, no
larger than a coin, shot out and hit him in the chest. It didn't pierce him. It just... froze. He was
encased in a block of solid ice from the neck down, his face a mask of rage and shock.
"He will live," she said, her voice cold. "Now, stay out of my way."
The Shadow-Stalker, seeing its chance, lunged at her.
The fight was a blur. Lin Yue was a dancer. Ice lances, frost waves, and ethereal, sharp-edged
music from her flute filled the air. The beast was a demon of shadows, teleporting short
distances, its claws leaving trails of dark, corrosive energy.
Kael had his sword out, his body planted in front of Merchant Guo's wagon. He was in
[Guardian's Stance], his stamina draining, but he wasn't watching the main fight. He was
watching the edges.
Lin Yue was dominant. She was a prodigy, a true "protagonist." But she was also... arrogant.
She was focused on her opponent, on the dance of battle. She wasn't focused on the dirty
tricks.
The beast, realizing it was outmatched, let out a howl. As it dodged another ice lance, its tail,
which had been ignored, suddenly snapped rigid. A single, black, crystalline barb—a hidden
stinger—shot from the tip, not at Lin Yue, but at the block of ice holding Jin. It was aiming for
her, but its angle was off.
No. Kael realized. Its angle was perfect.
The barb wasn't for her. It was a feint. The real attack was from its shadow. A second, smaller,
shadow-clone of the beast, no bigger than a dog, ripped itself free from the ground and leaped
at Lin Yue's unprotected back.
She didn't see it. Meilin was too far away. The merchant was useless.
Kael moved.
He wasn't fast. He couldn't intercept it. He just... was. He was already in [Guardian's Stance].
He took three, solid, earth-shaking steps and planted himself directly behind Lin Yue.
He didn't try to block. He didn't try to parry. He just took it.
The shadow-clone, a being of pure, corrosive Qi, slammed into his back.
[Aura of Protection (Passive) Lvl 3 - ACTIVATED!]
A dull, bronze-colored light, visible only to Kael, flared for a microsecond. The shadow-clone,
expecting to rip through flesh and bone, hit a wall of solid will.
The impact was still monstrous. Kael felt his ribs crack. He felt a burning, corrosive energy try to
invade his body.
[HP: 150/150 -> 112/150] [Status Effect: Corrosive Shadow (Minor)] [Your [Iron Will
(Passive) Lvl 2] is resisting spiritual corruption... Resistance Successful!] [Aura of
Protection (Passive) Lvl 3 - Skill EXP Gained: 50/300]
Kael grunted, his knees buckling but not breaking. He was an unmovable man.
The shadow-clone, its energy spent, dissolved into wisps of smoke.
Lin Yue, feeling the impact and the sudden thud of a body behind her, spun around. Her flute
was at her lips, ready to kill... and she froze.
The "mortal" guard, Kael, was standing there, his face pale with pain, his back smoking. He had
a bloody nose from the impact. But he was alive. He had just... tanked... a 3rd-rank Spirit
Beast's shadow-assassination.
She looked at him, her eyes wide with an emotion he'd never seen: pure, unadulterated shock.
"You..." she began. Kael just coughed, spat a glob of bloody saliva. "Heads up," he grated.
The main beast, enraged at its failure, was lunging one last time.
This time, Lin Yue didn't hesitate. With a cry, she unleashed her full power. A torrent of
silver-blue ice, a true blizzard, engulfed the beast, freezing it into a magnificent, tragic statue,
which then shattered into a million pieces.
Silence.
Meilin stared. Merchant Guo was sobbing. Jin was still a statue.
And Lin Yue, the prodigy of the Sky-Veil Sect, was staring at the mortal guard who, for some
reason, was still standing.
"How...?" she whispered, her voice no longer cold, just... confused. "How are you alive?"
Kael just deactivated [Guardian's Stance]. The pain hit him all at once. He leaned heavily on his
sword, his legs trembling.
"I'm... sturdy," he panted.