I looked at Min-Ah. "Cover us. Don't let anything get within ten paces."
Min-Ah looked at the dying scout, then at me. She understood. She turned her back, her frost-aura expanding into a protective dome that blurred the view from the outside.
"Be quick. I can feel more of them coming." She said.
I ripped open He-Ran's vest. Beneath the leather and linen, her skin was burning, not with the cold rot Min-Ah had, but with a frantic, chaotic heat.
She was a scout of the Whistling Wind sect, her energy was built for speed, and the poison was turning that speed into a wildfire that was melting her insides.
The moment I touched her bare stomach, she gasped, her back arching off the cobblestones.
"What... what are you—?"
"Saving your life," I said, my voice thick with the sudden, overwhelming surge of her Wind-Yin energy.
It was different from Min-Ah. Where Min-Ah was a deep, steady lake, He-Ran was a mountain stream, erratic, sharp, and biting.
The System roared as I pulled her against me. My cock was already straining against my trousers, fueled by the leftover resonance from Min-Ah and the desperate need to dump my 'Fire' into He-Ran's 'Wind.'
I didn't even take my pants off all the way. I just freed myself and pushed her legs back, the urgency of the ticking clock overriding any sense of decorum.
"Ah!" she yelped, her hands flying to my shoulders. Her grip was different, not the refined hold of a noblewoman, but the calloused, iron-hard grip of a survivor.
As I plunged into her, the 'Wind' and 'Fire' collided.
It felt like a cyclone. The friction was intense, the heat between us skyrocketing as I began to pump.
He-Ran wasn't passive. Even in her weakened state, she fought back, her hips snapping up to meet mine with a raw, feral hunger. She bit my shoulder, her teeth sinking in as the first wave of refined Qi hit her fractured soul-core.
[Resonance: 30%... 55%...]
[Integrating 'Wind-Step' Essence...]
"Faster," she hissed into my ear, her voice a jagged edge of pleasure and pain. "Give me... more!"
I didn't hold back. Each thrust felt like I was hammering a piece of broken glass back into a window. I could feel her soul-core mending, the black soot of the Void being blown away by the gale-force winds of our combined Qi.
The street outside was a symphony of screams and clashing steel, but inside the dome of Min-Ah's frost, there was only the sound of our skin slapping together and He-Ran's frantic, high-pitched whimpers.
She reached her peak fast, a violent, explosive release that sent her nails raking down my back. I followed her, my seed hitting her like a brand, anchoring her soul to the physical world.
[Resonance 100%!]
[Reward Unlocked: Passive Skill 'Wind-Flash' – Movement speed increased by 50%.]
[Subject He-Ran: Stabilized. Rank Increased.]
I pulled back, gasping, as He-Ran slumped against the stones. Her amber eyes were wide, glowing with a fierce, new intensity. She didn't look grateful, she looked like she'd just been hit by a lightning bolt and was deciding whether to thank the storm or curse it.
"You... you bastard," she panted, her chest heaving as she sat up and began frantically tying her uniform back together. "You're a... a Dual Cultivator? In the middle of a siege?"
"You're welcome," I grunted, standing up and checking my dao.
I felt lighter. Faster. When I moved my arm, there was a faint blur of after-image.
Min-Ah dropped the frost-dome, her face flushed pink, refusing to look at He-Ran's disheveled state. "Done? We have company."
A massive shadow fell over the street.
One of the Sun-Zhen Void-Ships was descending, its obsidian hull humming with a low-frequency vibration that made my bones ache.
A hatch opened, and dozens of Void-Hounds, monstrous, multi-limbed beasts made of shadow and teeth began to pour out.
He-Ran stood up, her movements a blur of speed. She pulled two jagged daggers from her belt, spinning them with a lethal grace. "I don't know what you did to me, Officer, but I feel like I could run to the capital and back without breaking a sweat."
"Good," I said, looking toward the harbor. "Because we need to reach the Great Shell before that ship turns the pier into a crater."
"I'll scout the path," He-Ran said, and before I could even blink,
she was gone, a literal streak of green light disappearing into the smoke.
Min-Ah stepped up beside me, her sword ready. "She's fast. But she's reckless."
"And you're precise," I said, glancing at her. "Between the two of you, I might actually survive the day."
[System Goal Updated: Reach the Pier.]
[New Target Acquired: The Sea-Priestess at the Harbor Core.]
"Let's move," I ordered.
We ran. With the Wind-Flash skill active, the world slowed down. I could see the path He-Ran was clearing, shredded Void-Hounds and severed Sun-Zhen heads marking our trail.
But as we neared the water, a new sound drowned out the screams. A deep, mournful horn blast.
The Great Shell was preparing to leave. And the Sun-Zhen weren't just trying to sink it. They were trying to board it.