The stone pillar flew beautifully.
There are moments in life when a man realises that all his years of education, strategy, and careful planning have led to one perfect decision.
For me, that moment was launching ancient architecture at professional assassins.
The broken pillar spun across the silver lake like divine punishment and crashed directly into the capture team.
Moonlight-forged chains snapped.
Three masked attackers disappeared beneath shattered stone and freezing water.
One of them screamed something that sounded deeply personal.
Excellent.
I landed hard on the lake surface, water splashing around my boots, and exhaled sharply.
Yue Xiang stood several metres away, crescent blade in hand, staring at me with an expression somewhere between disbelief and reluctant approval.
Mostly disbelief.
Fair.
The suppression chains around her wrist flickered and loosened.
Good.
The archers on the floating pathways above immediately adjusted formation.
Also bad.
One of them shouted, "Take the outsider first!"
I pointed at myself.
"Rude."
Then the arrows came.
Dozens.
Moonlight arrows rained down like silver meteors, each one freezing the water wherever it touched.
I triggered Flame Step.
Crimson light flashed beneath my feet.
I moved.
One step.
Two.
Three.
Water exploded behind me as arrows shattered the lake.
I slipped past the first volley and reached the nearest masked chain wielder.
He raised his blade.
Too slow.
I drove my fist into his throat, grabbed the moonlight chain from his hands, and spun it like a weapon.
Improvised combat.
Professor Mehra would either be proud or deeply concerned.
Probably both.
The chain wrapped around another attacker's leg.
I pulled hard.
He lost balance and crashed face-first into the freezing water.
Behind me, Yue Xiang moved again.
And honestly, watching her fight was educational.
Lian Xueyi fought like fire.
Violent.
Dominating.
A queen reclaiming her throne through destruction.
Yue Xiang fought like moonlight.
Precise.
Silent.
Beautiful enough to make murder look elegant.
She stepped through three assassins without seeming to touch them.
Then blood bloomed across the lake.
Three bodies fell.
She flicked the blood from her blade and looked toward the archers.
Cold.
Unimpressed.
The lead archer hesitated.
That was probably the smartest thing he had done all night.
Then the lake beneath us shook.
Not from battle.
From below.
Yue Xiang's expression changed instantly.
Serious.
She looked down.
"No…"
The silver water darkened.
A black ripple spread across the moonlit lake like ink bleeding through paper.
Every assassin froze.
Even the archers stopped moving.
The temperature dropped so suddenly that my breath turned white.
ARINA's voice rang sharply.
"Corruption signature detected."
A blue panel unfolded.
Moonwater Realm Stability: 37% Hidden Threat Detected: Lunar Abyss Seal Breach Priority Level: Critical
Abyss.
I hated that word immediately.
The lead archer stepped backwards.
His confidence vanished.
"This wasn't supposed to happen…"
Yue Xiang's voice turned deadly.
"You fools."
The black ripple expanded.
The centre of the lake split apart.
Something beneath the water moved.
Huge.
Ancient.
Wrong.
The assassins weren't the real problem.
They were just idiots standing near the real problem.
The lake exploded.
A massive creature burst upward from the darkness below—scaled in black and silver, with glowing blue cracks across its body and eyes like dead moons.
A serpent.
No.
A dragon-shaped nightmare born from frozen oceans and bad decisions.
Its roar shook the floating ruins.
Every assassin forgot about us immediately.
Reasonable.
I stared upward.
"Please tell me that's normal."
Yue Xiang's answer came without looking at me.
"That is the prison beast beneath the Moon Palace."
Great.
"Please tell me it's supposed to stay imprisoned."
"It was."
Even better.
The serpent's body coiled around the floating ruins, massive enough to wrap around half the palace.
Its corrupted scales dripped black moon water that froze everything it touched.
The archers panicked.
Several tried to flee.
The beast swallowed one whole.
Fast lesson.
Yue Xiang's jaw tightened.
"The Lunar Council…"
Her voice lowered.
"They were trying to use the suppression chains to weaken my seal."
Everything clicked.
This wasn't just an arrest.
They wanted her authority suppressed so the prison beneath the realm would fail.
And if the Obsidian Covenant had influenced that—
Then Ashborn was already moving faster than us.
Again.
The serpent turned.
Its dead-moon eyes locked onto Yue Xiang.
Predator recognising jailer.
Wonderful.
ARINA's panel flashed again.
Emergency Main Mission Triggered: Save the Moon Sovereign. Prevent Lunar Abyss Collapse. Failure Result: Moonwater Realm Destruction
Of course.
Another world-ending problem.
Tuesday's behaviour at this point.
Yue Xiang stepped forward.
Moonlight gathered around her blade until it looked like she was holding a crescent moon itself.
"I will reseal it."
She looked at me.
"For that, I need time."
I already knew what came next.
"You need someone to do the stupid part."
She blinked once.
"…yes."
Progress.
Relationship development.
I nodded.
"Good. I'm getting experienced."
Before she could respond, the abyss serpent lunged.
Its jaws opened wide enough to swallow a building.
Yue Xiang vanished into silver light, meeting it head-on.
Their collision exploded across the lake like a second moon rising.
I turned toward the remaining assassins.
Some were running.
Some were regrouping.
And near the palace stairs—
The chain captain.
Still alive.
Still holding the master suppression seal.
That was the real target.
Because if Yue Xiang got bound again while fighting that thing, we were all going to die.
I grabbed the broken moonlight chain tighter.
"ARINA."
"Ready."
"Tell me something useful."
A panel flashed.
Target: Chain Captain Weakness: Heart Seal on chest armour Recommendation: Hit very hard
I stared at the panel.
"…you and I define strategy differently."
But honestly?
It was solid advice.
I looked toward the captain.
He looked toward me.
Both of us understood.
Only one of us was walking away.
I rolled my shoulders.
Then smiled.
"Alright."
I stepped across the moonlit water.
"Let's break some chains."