**Chapter 23: The Sacrifice**
The dust cleared. The General's body was half-destroyed, yet still he laughed.
*"How dramatic. And how *pointless.*"*
Shen collapsed to his knees. *"...No."*
His swords lay shattered. His hands trembled.
The General loomed over him. *"Your leader is gone. Your weapons are broken. Your fate is sealed."*
Shen's shadow surged—not from blades, but from his very soul.
*"You took my Commander,"* he whispered. *"Now all that's left... is *me.*"*
Darkness swallowed the battlefield.