"Kill him."

Seira growled, looking Rynn in the eye as she spoke. "Rynn, look at me! Look at me! Just a day ago you were apologising for your actions, and now you’re spitting on everything you’ve worked for! I — I might have been able to accept that you were a lost cause if you joined them, but if you try and kill my brother..."

A shadow passed over her. "I will never forgive you."

Even now, Kiro was collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air as he stood to face them. He had stood with her for their entire lives, supporting her no matter how much the outside world condemned him. She would not lose him.

Rynn clenched his fists, sensing the killing intent simmering just below her skin. "Honored Saint, is that really necessary? He is weak, not even worth facing with my power. I could find another —"

"No." Rythian Marlowe slowly shook his head, drawing back his aura. "You will kill him, or I will not accept you into the sect. And trust me, joining the sect would be in your… best interests."

Mai stepped closer to comfort Rynn, oblivious to the invisible cloud of mana that gathered beneath her.

His eyes widened, and the Saint chuckled. "Hurry, Hong Tian Rynn. Your time is ticking."

“I —” their former friend closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “Of course, honored Saint. This humble disciple will carry out his master’s wish.”

She flared her aura, gripping storm so tight her knuckles went white. “Rynn… don’t do it.”

Suddenly, a blast of smoke emanated from Kiro, spreading through the entire valley with the help of the swirling gusts around them. She coughed, forcing herself upright.

"Kiro!"

"Seira," he whispered, appearing beside her and tugging at the chains binding her limbs, "let's go."

“Right.”

Without the Saint’s aura restricting her power, she unleashed a wave of destructive flame from her skin, disintegrating the iron in a single burst. Kiro grabbed her hand in his own, and their connection instantly grew stronger.

“Now.”

She felt mana channel to his legs, and she activated her movement technique at the same time. They shot off to the side, tumbling out of the cloud and behind a piece of melted rock.

“Ah, how unexpected.” The Saint’s sarcasm carried throughout the valley, cutting through the rushing wind. “Consider this a test — Hong Tian Rynn, you must track down and kill the boy within an hour. However, I am not as dimwitted as your old master. Take this.”

A moment of silence, and then Rynn responded. “Of course, honored Saint. I am eternally grateful for this kind gift. Mai, I will be back shortly.”

Kiro tugged at her, and she nodded. If they could get further away from the Saint, maybe he could be reasoned with. “I’ll try and lead him away. You just hide out, okay? I don’t think he’ll kill me.”

He shook his head. “Seira, I’m not letting you get hurt again. We can take him together. We’ve already proven that.”

“He’s far more powerful than before, and the Saint gave him something he can actually use. Right now, I don’t even think I have enough mana to use Storm twice.”

“Then we just get more mana. The smoke should last for another few minutes, so we can just run away and ambush him —”

The winds around them stilled, syncing to push the smoke away, and a crimson-red flying sword came shooting towards them. They ducked back under the rock, letting the blade embed itself deep into the stone.

“Run?”

He nodded.

They took each others’ hands again, fleeing the valley in a burst of force.

Rynn’s killing intent flared, and he followed suit in a sprint. “You won’t be able to escape forever!”

The surrounding debris turned to a blur as they pushed their bodies to the limit, but Rynn was faster. The flying sword slashed at their hands, and they were forced to let go of each other to dodge. Kiro knocked it away with Rain, grabbing her again, but she slowed, turning to face their assailant.

“Go, Kiro! I’ll hold him off!”

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He tugged her along, pleading with her. “No! I can’t lose you, Seira! We can both get out of this together!”

“No. Kiro, he’s going to —”

Rynn propelled himself forwards, jets of flame shooting from his feet.

Kiro met him with a flaming fist, and a burst of power emanated where the two connected. “Stop this, Rynn!”

“Die.” A flurry of strikes came, and he was barely able to block in time.

"Rynn..." She shot an explosion towards them, and Rynn growled, shielding his face with a mana-enhanced arm.

Kiro snuffed out the last of his attacks, and she gave a hopeful smile. Maybe they could actually defeat him!

She slashed down with the Blade of Tempest, and her mana flowed smoother than ever before as it filled the first rune. A razor-sharp blade of shimmering wind whipped from her sword, and relief filled her as it impacted with a spurt of blood. Yes! She had… The man smirked, and a red blur shot past her shoulder.

No! How had he advanced so far? She desperately forced her mana out, and a blast of green light emerged from her palms, knocking the sword slightly off-course. But it wasn’t enough. Kiro turned, eyes wide, just as the blade cut into the flesh of his shoulder.

“Kiro!” She tackled him, channeling more mana than she had ever used before into her shroud. They rolled onto the cracked rock a few feet away, and Rynn slowly stepped towards them, frowning as she rose in front of him.

“Move, Tang Seira. You can come with me to the sect, and the Saint will show you true power, not whatever Aer was spouting. All we need to do is kill your brother.”

Kiro groaned, and she brought storm up to a neutral stance. “Rynn, what would Aer say if she saw you doing this?”

He harrumphed. “Your faith in her disgusts me. She kidnapped us, Seira.”

She motioned for Kiro to run, and finally, he didn’t object. She let a wave of relief wash over her — all she had to do was buy him time.

“Oh? She kidnapped us? Not the matriarch? Where did that jade slip go, Rynn? I didn’t think you would need to witness the deaths of our ancestors again!”

He readied himself, shaking his head. “I’m not going to argue with you, Seira. However, for the faith you showed me, I will at least leave you alive. I want you to know that I also take no pleasure in killing your brother.”

“But you’ll still kill him.”

“Yes. Power must come at any cost.”

“Even if you had to sacrifice Mai?” she spat, her aura flaring brighter and denser than ever before.

For a second, he hesitated, and she struck. A screen of emerald fire wrapped around him, and he barely got an earthen defense up in time. She stabbed towards him, but he shattered his protection, shooting the shards of stone at her with a roar. “I will never have to sacrifice Mai!”

She weathered the attack, cursing at the amount of damage it had done. Had he really advanced to Soul Formation?

It didn’t matter. Kiro’s life was at stake. Her channels strained, but she steeled herself and forced even more mana into her techniques. The final fist glowed in her hand, and she charged, propelling herself with the full force of her movement technique.

She wouldn’t let him hurt Kiro any more.

He caught her attack with a single palm, using the same strategy he had used in their previous duels, but she would have been a fool if she didn’t anticipate that. Storm slashed at his neck, and he jumped back, right into her second attack.

A beam of green fire, concentrated to the point of being near liquid struck his chest, burning through his robes and drilling into the open slash she had previously inflicted. But Rynn just gritted his teeth, pointing a single finger at her.

Then, she didn’t have room for thought. The flying sword came aiming for her back, and it was only due to her sense for the flow of battle that she was able to block with Storm. But, Aer had been right when she had said that Storm wasn’t a defensive tool. The blade glanced off too narrowly, with too much force left, and it gouged into her left arm. Right next to where the scars from her mother’s flames had stopped.

Four streams of compressed mass shot towards her, and she blasted them apart with her hands. But now her channels were being pushed past their limit, and her mana was steadily dwindling. She reached into her robes to retrieve a vial of Starlight’s Drop, but Rynn send a gust of wind to her feet, knocking her off balance and forcing her to drop it in favor of flipping backwards. He then dashed forwards, catching the elixir and stabbing towards her with a spear of fire.

She needed to be faster! Her shroud intensified, and she threw herself to the side with another full-powered blast. Another jet of corrosive fire shot towards Rynn, but the flying sword came up to block it. The flying sword…

She grinned, moving into a defensive stance. Aer had never trained them in flying swords, meaning she was the only one out of them that could adequately handle one!

She moved from side to side, shooting out little attacks to harass his guard.

There are a thousand different ways to harm your enemies, but it is up to you to figure out the most efficient.

The sword looped around him, catching the attacks but consuming a large amount of Rynn’s concentration in the process. She could do this!

He huffed, finally shoving the sword forwards. “You think that your minuscule strikes will be able to harm me?”

This was it. She plunged her spirit into the incoming sword, fighting his for dominance inside the runed weapon. She had every advantage in this situation — he hadn’t been using the sword enough for it to recognize his mana, and the Volcanic Saint had a fire-adjacent aspect. Their wills clashed, and in the split second before the blade impacted, she gained the advantage.

Yes! Without the flying sword, he would have a much harder time dealing with her mana, and she would finally have a good way to hurt him! She sent it back at him, pouring every ounce of her will into making it drive home. He reached out to grab it, and it cut deep into his palm, eliciting a cry from his lips. She had done it!

She drew on her core one final time, closing the distance between them and slashing with Storm… only for the flying sword to whip around and block it. Rynn’s control suddenly grew ten times stronger, and he smirked as he redirected the blade into her chest.

She forced her legs into a retreat, but the ground beneath her turned to mud. She went crashing to the floor, and golden manacles wrapped around her flailing limbs.

She blinked the spots from her eyes, and Rynn grabbed her fallen sword, pressing it against her neck. “Surrender.”