The village burned. Smoke choked the sky, and the stench of charred timber and seared flesh hung thick in the air. The Flame Emperor Sect's war drums pounded like a death knell as fire demons scaled the crumbling walls, their molten claws tearing through the militia's last defenses. Mei Ling stood at the village square's center, her hands trembling as she funneled the remnants of her qi into the shattered Spirit Gathering Array. The barrier flickered weakly, its golden light dimming under the onslaught.
"Fall back!" Yan Mei roared, her dagger slick with demon blood as she dragged a wounded fighter from the fray. "To the relic chamber!"
But retreat was a fantasy. The Ashbringer's lieutenant, a hulking cultivator clad in magma-forged armor, carved through the militia with a blade of liquid flame. Behind him, siege constructs belched fireballs, reducing homes to ash.
"Where is your chief now?" the lieutenant sneered, kicking aside a fallen villager. "Hiding? Or already dead?"
The ground answered.
---
**The Storm's Arrival**
A thunderclap split the sky. Primal energy—raw, untamed, and furious—slammed into the battlefield like a meteor. Fire demons disintegrated mid-leap, their essence sucked into a vortex of swirling gold and obsidian light. The militia froze, their faces lit with desperate hope, as Li Tian descended.
The Primal Core burned in his chest, its power radiating in visible waves. Gold-and-black veins pulsed beneath his skin, his left eye consumed by darkness, his right ablaze with starlight. The Codex's corruption coiled around the Core's energy, a tempest held in fragile balance.
"You're late," Yan Mei rasped, her voice raw from smoke.
Li Tian's gaze locked on the Ashbringer's lieutenant. "Not late enough."
---
**The Dance of Annihilation**
Li Tian moved.
Primal energy lashed from him in whip-like tendrils, shearing through Flame Emperor ranks. Cultivators in crimson armor burst into ash, their screams cut short. Siege constructs collapsed, their molten cores quenched by the storm. The lieutenant raised his blade, its flames roaring—
Li Tian caught the strike barehanded.
The sword shattered. The lieutenant stared at his empty hilt, disbelief twisting his face. "What—?"
Li Tian's fist closed around the man's throat. Primal energy surged, incinerating armor, flesh, and bone. The lieutenant's remains crumbled to dust, scattered by the scorching wind.
"Retreat!" A Flame Elder shouted from the rear. "Fall ba—"
A tendril of energy silenced him.
---
**The Corruption's Toll**
Li Tian's breaths came in ragged, sparking gasps. Every surge of power eroded him—the Codex's veins spread up his neck, his vision blurring at the edges. Xia's voice cut through the haze:
"You're killing yourself! Stop!"
He couldn't. The Core demanded more.
Fire demons swarmed him, a final, desperate push. Li Tian roared, unleashing a shockwave that atomized the horde. The blast tore through the sect's remaining forces, scattering them into the wastes.
The Ashbringer's banner fell, its fabric igniting midair.
---
**The Vow**
From the smoldering ruins, a surviving Flame Elder emerged, his robes singed, his face a mask of hatred. "This isn't over, Li Tian! The Flame Emperor will reduce your bones to cinders! Your village will be a scar on this earth!"
Li Tian raised a hand, primal energy coalescing—then faltered. The corruption clawed at his heart, his veins blackening. The elder fled into the smoke, his vow echoing:
"This is a delay, not a defeat! *We return!*"
---
**The Aftermath**
Silence fell, broken only by crackling flames and the militia's weary sobs. The Primal Core's light dimmed, leaving Li Tian swaying on his feet. Mei Ling caught him, her qi brushing against the corruption.
"What have you done?" she whispered.
He didn't answer. His gaze drifted to the horizon, where the Flame Emperor's retreating forces vanished like embers in the wind.
---