"Dan Feng, stop pretending. Show your real face already."
In Blade's eyes burned a bloodthirsty gleam. With Kafka's Spirit Whisper no longer suppressing him, the consciousness of his Mara-struck body turned violently feral, completely seizing control.
"I told you already. My name is Dan Heng, not him!"
Facing Blade like this, fury surged in Dan Heng's chest. He raised his spear and met Blade's relentless barrage head-on.
"And I told you too." The aura in Blade's eyes did not fade. It only grew stronger.
"You think changing your face, changing your identity, can erase the sins you committed in the past?"
Blade's laughter grew more unhinged, his strikes wider, heavier, more vicious.
Already caught off guard by a moment's distraction, Dan Heng was immediately forced into a losing position.
"Hahaha… hahahahaha!" Blade roared with laughter. Red light flared along his sword, and with a single blow, he slammed Dan Heng to the ground.
He lifted the sword high above his head, ready to cut him down on the spot.
"!"
"This is bad." Staring at the blade descending toward him, Dan Heng knew it was too late to dodge. A chill ran through him.
"Die!"
Blade showed no hesitation. He brought the sword down.
"Stop!"
The blade never reached Dan Heng. Another sword intercepted it instead.
"I told you. Today, you are not doing anything."
"Come back with me like a good boy. I might even get your sentence reduced."
"Hmph." Blade snorted at Jing Yuan's little follower, clearly not taking Yanqing's words seriously.
The red glow in Blade's eyes deepened, and the black miasma spilling from his body grew thicker.
"This is… Mara?" Yanqing cried out inwardly, staring at Blade in shock.
Those who fall into Mara lose all reason, all morality, all sense of human bonds.
That saying had circulated for ages, and on the Xianzhou Luofu, the Mara-struck truly were monsters.
But this man in front of him…
Why, why could he still think clearly, still speak and reason like a normal person?
The more Yanqing thought about it, the colder he felt. Beads of sweat soaked down his back, and even his movements as he defended grew stiff.
"Heh." Blade chuckled, then seized an opening and flung his sword forward.
"!"
Yanqing froze for an instant. Throwing your weapon? What kind of fighting style was this?
He had no time to think. With a quick flash step, he easily dodged the flying blade.
"Ugh…"
Just as Yanqing was about to subdue the now unarmed Blade, a pained groan suddenly sounded behind him.
His heart skipped. Realizing what had happened, he spun around.
Just as he feared, Blade's sword had pierced straight through Dan Heng's body.
"Hahahahaha."
Blade slowly walked toward the two of them, his hands spread wide, a smile plastered across his face.
"You!" Rage flashed through Yanqing's eyes as he raised his sword at Blade, trying to block his advance.
Blade ignored him completely and laughed.
"Jing Yuan's little follower, since Jing Yuan never bothered to introduce him properly…"
"Allow me to do the honors."
Behind him, the Dan Heng who had been impaled was suddenly surrounded by surging currents of water. They spiraled around his body as he slowly floated into the air.
"The one behind you bears the Ten Unforgivable Sins, betrayed the Xianzhou, and plunged it into chaos…"
Drip.
Water gathered around Dan Heng's wound, forming a sphere. The sword lodged in his body dropped to the ground with a soft clink.
"…a criminal exiled for eternity."
The water sphere burst. A dragon's roar echoed as a water dragon surged out, then plunged back into the torrent, slowly condensing into a human figure.
That figure stood atop a lotus, one hand behind his back, his gaze cold and majestic.
Dragon-like eyes swept over them, the oppressive presence of a ruler crashing down like a tide.
"The Vidyadhara High Elder, Imbibitor Lunae."
Blade stepped in front of Yanqing. Staring at that familiar face, his grin widened, the red in his eyes burning ever deeper.
"So, Jing Yuan's little follower? Did you really think the only ones sneaking into the Xianzhou were the Stelleron Hunters?"
Yanqing fell silent.
Lowering his head, he listened to Blade's words as the surrounding ice element thickened.
Then his entire body rose into the air. Several ice swords, formed purely from condensed frost, appeared and orbited around him.
Since all his real swords had been shattered by Jingliu, he had no choice but to make do with ones formed from ice.
Yanqing's aura climbed steadily, reaching its peak. He pointed his sword at Blade and Dan Heng, now Imbibitor Lunae.
"In that case…"
"I'll take both of you down and hand you over to the General for judgment!"
Blade burst into wild laughter.
Imbibitor Lunae Dan Heng blinked.
Wait, seriously? You know who we are and you still want to fight?
…
"This Yanqing… why is he so confident?"
Feeling the thin aura around Yanqing, then comparing it to the overwhelming presence of Dan Heng and Blade, Firefly could not help but mutter in disbelief.
If she had that kind of confidence from the start, then back then she would have already…
Her thoughts drifted to the past. A trace of sadness crept into her eyes.
Clara: …
Firefly's shift in mood did not escape Clara's notice. Those ruby-like eyes turned thoughtfully, as if she had just come up with a brilliant idea.
Leaning against Firefly, Clara reached out and sized up her chest with exaggerated seriousness, smiling as she spoke.
"Firefly, you know…"
"If I stabbed you with a sword right here, do you think you would transform too?"
"…Huh?" Firefly's sadness vanished instantly. She stared at Clara, completely speechless.
"I do not have any hidden power. There is no way I could transform."
"But what if?" Clara tilted her head.
"What if there really is something hidden inside you, and you just do not know it yet?"
"So…"
A grin spread across Clara's face. A sword appeared in her hand, one she had casually formed earlier while fighting Yanqing.
"Let me try the sword!"
"Wait wait wait wait wait!" Firefly waved her hands frantically, shouting as she tried to stop her.
But there was no way Clara was going to listen. She thrust the sword straight at Firefly.
"Fall for me!"
…
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