Blood dripped from Luo Tian's knuckles as he stared at the spot where Grand Elder Hong had vanished. The armory lay in ruins around him, precious artifacts reduced to rubble. But his mind wasn't on the destruction - it was on that name.
Sky Empire.
[QUERY: DATABASE SEARCH - 'SKY EMPIRE'.]
[RESULT: CORE MEMORY FRAGMENTS CORRUPTED. ACCESS DENIED.]
Echo's mechanical voice stuttered, something Luo Tian had never heard before. The nanomachines in his veins pulsed erratically, as if disturbed by the mere mention of that name.
"What aren't you telling me?" he demanded silently.
Before Echo could respond, the ground trembled. Not from battle - something was coming. Something big.
Mei Ling ran until her lungs burned. She'd warned the sect, just as Luo Tian commanded. Now, as she collapsed at the foot of the Ancestral Hall, she saw the Sect Master preparing for war.
Luo Zheng stood before the ancient stone seal that had remained untouched for generations. His hands moved in a complex ritual, blood dripping onto the carvings.
"Father, no!" Feng croaked from his stretcher. "Not that! The cost is too-"
"Silence!" Luo Zheng roared. "That monster has left us no choice!"
The seal cracked open.
A skeletal hand emerged.
Luo Tian sensed the disturbance in the qi currents before he saw it - a vortex of dark energy forming at the sect's heart. The very air screamed in protest as something ancient woke from its slumber.
[WARNING: CATASTROPHIC ENERGY SURGE DETECTED.]
[RECOMMENDATION: IMMEDIATE RETREAT.]
"Not a chance," Luo Tian growled.
He moved toward the epicenter, only to freeze as blue warning symbols exploded across his vision.
[ALERT: FOREIGN NANOTECH SIGNATURE DETECTED.]
Pain lanced through his skull as a voice that wasn't Echo's spoke directly into his mind:
"Subject located. Containment protocol initiated."
The world turned white.
When Luo Tian's vision cleared, he found himself in a perfect sphere of silence. No wind. No sound. The battle raging around him continued, but he stood in an invisible bubble where nothing could reach him.
Before him stood the hooded observer, now with his mask removed. A young man with metallic veins visible beneath his skin regarded Luo Tian with cold, calculating eyes.
*"Designation: Echo Unit Sigma-9,"* the stranger said. "You are property of the Sky Empire Reclamation Division. Prepare for extraction."
Luo Tian's fist flew - and stopped inches from the man's face, frozen in space.
"Interesting," the agent mused. "This unit has developed independent will. That will need to be purged."
From his cloak, he produced a device that made Echo scream inside Luo Tian's mind.
[CRITICAL THREAT: NULLIFIER DETECTED.]
[EVASION IMPERATIVE.]
For the first time since gaining his power, Luo Tian felt true fear.