The Fading Protection
Over the next few days, Jade's life became a grueling cycle of tactical briefings and monster-taming sessions within the Citadel. She quickly learned the topography of the Western territory and the key points Seraphina was targeting. Her command over the Yaoguai expanded rapidly; she now had a small, loyal cohort of Level 15-35 creatures, including the powerful Chiwen and the loyal Bao.
Despite Aether's public coldness, their private meetings were intense. They would pore over maps in the deep silence of the Citadel archives, the flickering lamplight highlighting the sharp angles of Aether's face. Jade found that the only time Aether seemed truly human was when he spoke of his father, the Western Dragon King.
"The King's protective elemental barrier is fading fastest around the ancient borders," Aether explained one night, pointing to a shimmering, translucent line on the map.
"Seraphina is pushing her corrupted beasts right up to that line, testing where it will break first."
"If the barrier fails, what happens?" Jade asked.
"The Eastern forces flood in, and the King is vulnerable. His magic is what holds the territory together. If he dies, this entire mountain range will collapse."
Jade looked at the map, then at the Dragon Prince. "The problem isn't the monsters; it's the corruption. That purple magic is alien. It's not standard Dragon magic."
Aether's eyes narrowed. "Precisely. That is the third party Lin warned us about. They weaponize the Yaoguai's fear. We must find the source of that corruption."
The Ambush at the Azure Pass
Aether decided they needed to reinforce the most vulnerable point: the Azure Pass, a narrow, high-altitude trail where the King's barrier was thinnest. It was also the closest point to Seraphina's known staging camps.
Aether took Jade, Bao, and two Dragon guards. The weather at the pass was violently unstable, shifting from freezing sleet to intense, electrical storms.
Jade felt the danger immediately. Her Divine Eye pulsed, screaming warnings. Instead of the typical green and blue energy of the surrounding environment, a dense, toxic black-purple energy cloaked the entire Pass.
"It's here," Jade warned, her voice tight.
"Heavy corruption. Not just a few monsters—it's saturated."
Aether drew a magnificent sword forged from pure, glowing sapphire. "Stay behind me, human. This is a trap."
They advanced slowly. The air shimmered, and the sound of silence—a heavy, unnatural absence of wind or wildlife—pressed down on them.
Suddenly, the black-purple energy coalesced in the center of the path, solidifying into a terrifying humanoid figure over three meters tall. It was encased in spiked, segmented armor that seemed to be woven from shadow itself. It held a massive, wickedly curved war scythe that radiated lethal energy.
[Yaoguai Classification: The Shadow General (Rank A+). Level: 80. Temperament: Absolute Hostile. Authority: Seraphina's Enforcer.]
The Shadow General moved with impossible speed, a blur of dark energy. It ignored Aether's guards, targeting the Prince and the human with the luminous blue eye.
The Power of Command
Aether roared, meeting the Shadow General's charge. Sapphire sword clashed against shadow scythe in a burst of destructive elemental power. The force of the impact ripped the ground apart and sent the two Dragon guards flying.
Aether was strong, but the General was relentless, powered by Level 80 rage and the foreign corruption. The General managed to slash Aether's obsidian armor, drawing a streak of iridescent blue blood.
"Jade! Command the air to crush him!" Aether bellowed, trying to hold the General's enormous strength back.
Jade was shaking, the sight of Aether's blood—Dragon blood—jolting her. Level 80 was terrifyingly high, but the Divine Eye refused to back down.
She focused her azure sight. She saw the Shadow General's core—a relentless engine of disciplined hatred. She knew she couldn't tame it, but she could momentarily disrupt its attack rhythm.
Focus on the armor joints! Jade commanded with desperate clarity.
"FREEZE—HIS LEFT LEG!"
The command was directed not at the monster itself, but at the stone and metal fibers woven into its armor, using her Earth Spikes ability on an elemental level.
For a critical second, the General's left knee joint locked. The powerful Yaoguai stumbled, giving Aether the opening he needed. Aether drove his sapphire sword into the joint, shattering the dark armor.
The Shadow General shrieked, a sound of tearing shadow. It stabilized and, realizing the threat the human posed, turned its full fury on Jade. The scythe swept toward her head in a deadly arc.
The Forbidden Touch
Jade was too slow. Even with the Divine Eye warning her, her human reflexes were inadequate.
In a move fueled by primal instinct, Aether abandoned the fight, lunging across the path and tackling Jade hard, sending them both tumbling off the pass and down the icy slope.
The Shadow General's scythe sliced through the air where Jade's head had been a second before.
They slammed hard onto a narrow, snow-covered ledge, hidden just below the path. Aether shielded her entirely with his obsidian body.
He rolled them upright, pinning her beneath him. His face, inches from hers, was tight with adrenaline and fury. His amethyst eyes were burning.
"Never be a target!" he snarled, his Dragon strength pinning her completely.
The Shadow General, enraged, was preparing to leap down after them.
"Bao! Get us back up there! Now!" Jade commanded Bao, who had followed them over the edge.
Bao, loyal and ferocious, used its strength to quickly pull them both back onto the pass.
Aether, regaining his position, met the General's final attack with overwhelming elemental power—a concentrated blast of ice and lightning that shredded the weakened General's armor completely. The Shadow General, defeated and exposed, screamed and melted back into the shadows.
Aether stood, breathing heavily, ignoring his injured arm. He looked down at Jade, who was still breathless on the ground.
"You saved my life, human," Aether admitted, his voice low and ragged. "That was not part of the pact."
Jade sat up, brushing the snow and bits of obsidian scale from her jacket. "You broke the pact first, Dragon Prince. You risked your life protecting a mere weapon."
The air between them was electric, thick with danger, unspoken emotion, and the profound, terrifying intimacy of shared survival. The forbidden line had not just been crossed; it had been utterly destroyed by the ambush.