The air above Li Tian's village shimmered with heat and desperation. Flames devoured the eastern granary, their crimson tongues licking at the night sky as smoke choked the stars. Mei Ling stood amid the chaos, her hands raw from channeling the last dregs of the Spirit Gathering Array's failing energy. Around her, the militia fought in fractured pockets—Yan Mei parrying a flame-wreathed blade with her dagger, Renshu's cousin Guo dragging wounded villagers into the shattered remains of the blacksmith's forge, children huddled beneath a buckled cart.
"Hold the square!" Yan Mei shouted, her voice fraying. A fire demon lunged at her, and she pivoted, driving her dagger into its molten eye. It collapsed, thrashing, as the Ashbringer's laughter rolled across the battlefield.
The warlord descended from his obsidian chariot, molten armor dripping embers onto the cracked earth. "Your resistance is quaint," he sneered, leveling his blade at Mei Ling. "But all kindling burns."
Mei Ling raised the Array's fractured control stone, its light guttering. "You'll choke on our ashes."
The Ashbringer's strike never landed.
---
**The Calamity's Arrival**
A thunderclap split the sky. Primal energy tore through the battlefield, hurling fire demons aside like leaves in a gale. Li Tian materialized at the village's heart, his body radiating a corona of gold and obsidian light. The Primal Core's sigil blazed on his chest, its energy intertwining with the Codex's corruption—black veins threaded through luminous qi, his left eye a void, his right a star.
The Ashbringer staggered back. "Impossible. You were—"
Li Tian moved.
The ground ruptured where he'd stood, primal energy cratering the earth as he closed the distance. His fist connected with the Ashbringer's chestplate, the molten metal buckling. The warlord flew backward, carving a trench through Flame Emperor ranks.
"To me!" Li Tian roared.
His group surged into the fray—Jin and Daiyu harrying flanking forces, Renshu and Bo shoring up the militia's crumbling lines, Xia and Old Guo weaving through the wounded with healing qi.
---
**The Tide Turns**
Li Tian became a storm. Primal energy lashed from him in whipcord strikes, severing siege constructs at their joints. Fire demons disintegrated mid-leap, their essence absorbed by the corruption's hungry veins. The Ashbringer rose again and again, each blow from Li Tian cracking his armor, each reprisal met with contemptuous ease.
"You're killing yourself!" the Ashbringer spat, his blade shattering against Li Tian's palm. "That power will consume you!"
Li Tian seized the warlord's throat, primal energy searing through his armor. "Then I'll take you with me."
The Ashbringer's scream echoed as Li Tian unleashed the Core's fury—a concentrated beam of light that vaporized armor, flesh, and bone. Where the warlord had stood, only scorched earth remained.
---
**The Cost of Salvation**
The Flame Emperor forces faltered. Without their commander, their advance fractured into panicked retreat. Jin and Yan Mei chased stragglers beyond the walls, while Renshu and Bo collapsed the ruined gates to seal the breach.
Li Tian stood amidst the carnage, the Primal Core's glow dimming. The corruption had spread—his left arm was fully encased in blackened veins, his breaths coming in ragged, sparking gasps.
Xia found him swaying, his star-bright eye flickering. "You've done enough. Let me—"
"Not yet." Li Tian's voice echoed with the Hollow Star's timbre. He pressed a hand to the village's central well, primal energy surging into the earth. The Spirit Gathering Array reignited, its dome flaring gold and black.
Mei Ling limped to his side, her face ashen. "Li Tian… your arm…"
He followed her gaze. The corruption was creeping toward his heart.
---
**The Hollow Star's Whisper**
In the sudden quiet, the relic chamber's sealed door groaned open. From its depths wafted a cold, keening wind—and a voice only Li Tian could hear:
*"You think this a victory? You've only fed the flame. Come. Claim your true power before the corruption claims you."*
Li Tian turned away. "Seal the chamber. Now."
But as the militia cheered their salvation, he stared at his blackened hand. The Primal Core pulsed once, mockingly, and the Hollow Star laughed.
---