“They’re getting stronger,” Abby mumbled, feeling the rising power within her and the crazed Bloodthorne Cultivators.

But why me, too? Were there still remnants of the crimson pill inside me?

Abby shook away the notion and focused on the battle before her. Her watery whips latched around two bloodthorne cultivators, colliding and tossing them towards a building with enough force to break down the walls.

Behind her, a bloodthorne cultivator sprouted out roots from their arms that dug them into the ground and bit their tongue. From the blood rushing out of their mouth, Wood Qi condensed within and fired at Abby with explosive power.

Abby’s feet dodged as she twirled behind another Bloodthorne Cultivator, watching as they tanked the blow and rapidly melted away like acid meeting stone.

Abby’s watery whips snapped towards the rooted cultivator, the edges of the whip turning sharp enough to cut through. The roots that drilled through the ground to attack her never surfaced; she wouldn’t let the cultivator get that chance.

Abby pulled out a pill from her robes to replenish her strength and rushed to the sect's top. She was nearly there when the battle raging in the sky above her took a sharp turn.

“Sun Cai! You’re too late!”

Countless smaller blades of fire proliferated from Sun Cai’s sword, slashing away at Gou Da, aiming to inflict multiple wounds that would add up over time. Unfortunately, Gou Da’s Metal Qi reinforced his body to alarming levels.

“You’re not the only one with a reinforcement technique!” Sun Cai announced, and a bright light shone from his body that made Abby shield her eyes.

When Abby looked once more at Sun Cai, he was taking on the moniker of his given name and embodied the grace and brightness of the raging sun.

Bright yellow flames burned along his fingertips, racing up his sleeves but not affecting his clothing in the slightest. With the utmost control over his Fire Qi, Sun Cai let the flames shroud his entire body, and the faint image of glowing armour covered his body. The most stunning was the crest of a three-legged crow that proudly burned on his back. With a stare down of his burning eyes, Sun Cai addressed Gou Da with the stature of an elite.

“Die!” Sun Cai shouted, and the burning sword in his hand lanced down in a speeding line.

Gou Da raised his sceptre, clashing against the burning sword, and the air quivered under the might of the two cultivators. Fireworks returned as the two fought in the air, but Abby noticed Sun Cai’s advantage now that he had transformed into his armoured state.

“Abby!”

Abby turned around to see her brother, with cut wounds all over his body, and she appeared before him with a pill that she practically forced down his throat.

“How could you already be this injured? We haven’t even faced off against the Gou Brothers yet!” Abby complained but hurriedly spoke again in a concerned tone.

“Wait, did you face them by yourself!? Where are they?” Abby made to ask more questions, but Arden silenced her with raised eyebrows and hands like stop signs.

“Easy, sis. They aren’t there. I can’t find them anywhere.”

“What do you mean you couldn’t find them? They couldn’t have gone far, not with their entire sect in a rebellion!”

BOOM!

There was a fiery explosion above as Gou Da and Sun Cai separated. Both fighters breathing deep breaths as they channelled their Qi to heal them. Both fighters eyed each other, looking to see if one would pounce and attack when Gou Da broke the natural rhythm.

“It’s useless. You may save a few, but dying as a martyr and saviour of people far beneath you holds no meaning. They will continue their lives as nobody of importance, and they’ll die within the harsh confines of this world.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Sun Cai’s brows furrowed, but he responded to the odd provocation.

“It's better to die having an open heart than to rot from the inside out from your actions. At least, if I die here today, it will mean something to more people than you will ever stand for.”

Gou Da seemed shocked at first by Sun Cai’s words, but laughter escaped him that squeezed the shock away.

“You would rather stick your neck out for others, is that it? If you gave them a chance for power, they would strike you down and usurp your power for themselves.”

“Like you did with Gou Jing?” Sun Cai questioned, and Gou Da laughed again, this time for longer and harder. His breaths wheezed a bit and choked away like an old car engine sputtering to its death. When he faced Sun Cai again, it was with chilling eyes.

“A martyr should die for their cause, but they should also make sure it's worthwhile. Not like you, who will accomplish very little in death.”

“We have yet to see.”

Chuckle.

“We will soon.” Gou Da spoke as his gaze finally averted from Sun Cai and stared into the sky.

Frolicking among the shifting clouds, the full moon raised to its highest point in the sky, raining down a splendour of moonlight upon Abby’s face. Something inside Abby shifted as the Water Qi inside her popped with the energy of a hyperactive child. It was so unlike its usual nature that Abby briefly closed her eyes to focus on calming it down.

But it didn’t calm.

The white light dancing down from the moon tripped and fell to a melody that crunched worse with each note. Its tune turned higher pitch as the light shifted and swayed down from heaven, skipping past earth and taking on the colour of the fiery red depths of hell.

The red moonlight painted over Abby’s face, and when her eyes opened, it was with the sensation that the sect around her had awakened its true face.

The blood moon had arrived.

BOOM!

Unwilling to witness the strange event, Sun Cai dashed to the lulled Gou Da, and his burning sword raced into Gou Da’s unprotected side.

Clang!

Sun Cai’s burning sword vibrated with the aftereffects as Gou Da’s arm gashed with blood. However, the blood healed within moments, revealing a fresh set of skin that took on its signature metallic hue. Then, the metallic hue deepened into a crimson red that matched the destroyed robes hanging from Gou Da’s sides.

With a cackle, Gou Da shot toward Sun Cai, and the fireworks in the sky from their clash only lasted a few moments before something horrific occurred.

Sun Cai shot toward Arden and Abby, who hurriedly ducked for cover. A loud crash shook the buildings to rubble, and the duo hurried to protect themselves as Abby conjured a watery sphere, and Arden’s body cloaked itself into a fiery robe similar to Sun Cai.

Smoke and steam erupted as the aftermath of the battle and temporarily shrouded the area. The water sphere around Abby swirled the dust and rubble away, revealing the unharmed figures of her and Arden.

“Master!” Arden shouted and instantly ran back out into the open.

“Don’t go out there!” Abby yelled, but her brother’s instincts were faster than her watery whips could travel, and he arrived at a deep furrow in the ground containing a battered Sun Cai.

Arden rushed over, hands aimlessly wandering in the air as he tried to figure out what to do, and Abby followed soon after with replenishing pills. Though feeding them to Sun Cai did little to nothing against his heavy injuries.

“Hurry, get away from here—”

Sun Cai coughed blood as the flames around his stomach died down, revealing the sceptre imprint from Gou Da’s attack. Flames escaped Sun Cai's hand, shrouding the area with a bright light at the cost of more blood running from Sun Cai's mouth. Even a Qi Condensation cultivator like Abby could sense how Sun Cai weakened with each moment.

“Sun Cai, where did you go in there!?” Gou Da yelled from above, and a tremor sounded as he landed not too far away, searching for them.

To think Sun Cai was beaten this badly from only one of Gou Da’s attacks. How powerful is Gou Da now? Abby wondered.

“No! We won’t leave you! We have to save everyone!” Arden denied it, but Sun Cai smiled at him instead.

“Go! You must escape! The true tragedy would be you dying here. Save as many as you can, but Arden…” Sun Cai pulled on Arden’s robes and brought his face close to his.

“…Don’t try and save them all. You will only end up killing them all that way. There are no happy endings where they are all saved, not with your strength.”

The determination in Arden’s eyes wavered, but with a quivering lip, he spoke.

“No! I’m not leaving you!”

“Escape!”

“NO!”

“ESCAPE, YOU IDIOT!” Sun Cai hit his fist against Arden’s head, but the blow didn’t shake Arden. Instead, he looked up with more resolve in his eyes. Arden didn’t say anymore, but he didn’t need to. Sun Cai shook his head with regret for choosing this knucklehead of a disciple, but a burden lifted from his heart.

“Why are you like this?” Sun Cai shook his head and unsheathed Arden’s sword in an instant. Sun Cai quickly guided his hands onto the sword, and before Arden could react, Sun Cai stabbed himself.

“Then, we can only do it like this.” Sun Cai spoke with a smile as a crow’s call echoed into the world, and a miniature fire nova expanded outwards from the master and disciple.