The fortress ruins were still smoldering when the first message arrived.
A single black feather drifted from the clouds, landing at Russ's feet. The moment he touched it, a voice like poisoned silk filled his mind:
> "Russ Talen, Void's Heir. Your power is unclean. Your allies will brand you a threat.
Your enemies will smell your blood.
Let the hunt begin."
The feather dissolved into smoke. Moments later, the horns began to sound—not from the enemy, but from the city gates.
---
Kael cursed under his breath. "That's the High Council's war signal. They're mobilizing against a… single target."
Russ didn't need to ask who. The Hollow King's whisper had been a warning—and a taunt.
From the east, columns of armored cultivators surged forward, their armor glowing with inscriptions that resisted shadow. From the west, rogue clans came in droves, drawn by the promise of absorbing Russ's hybrid power.
And from the north… came the assassins.
---
They arrived in silence—black cloaks, faces covered, qi masked so tightly that even Russ's heightened senses could barely detect them.
The first one struck without warning, blade aimed at his spine.
Russ's shadow flared instinctively—[Shadow Cloak] activating mid-turn, absorbing the impact and letting him slide into the assassin's blind spot. His counter came as a [Blood Fang Strike], crimson qi bursting from his palm and drilling through the assassin's chest.
The corpse didn't hit the ground—it dissolved into black smoke, reforming behind him.
"Shadows," Russ muttered. "They're using my own element."
---
The fight became a blur.
Assassins phased in and out of his vision, each blow reinforced with void-resistant qi. The ground was littered with sealing talismans meant to suppress his shadow movement.
Russ adapted fast—pulling qi into his legs, he used [Blood Surge Step], blasting forward with explosive speed instead of relying on teleportation. His scythe cut through two assassins at once, but a spear from the west forced him to spin away.
That's when the cultivator army reached him.
---
The first wave came in formation, shields raised, glowing with Anti-Void Sigils. They advanced like an unstoppable wall, trying to pin him in place for the assassins to finish the job.
Russ's blood boiled—not from rage, but from the Void Heart's hunger.
[Blood Reign: Field of Crows].
The air tore open, a murder of shadow-blood constructs flooding the battlefield. They slashed, pecked, and detonated on impact, breaking the cultivator formation long enough for Russ to leap high into the air.
From above, he unleashed [Qi Shadow Tempest], mixing pure qi into his shadows until they became cutting winds. Dozens fell—but the armies kept coming.
---
Kael's voice rang from behind him. "Russ! They're not stopping! We need to retreat—"
"Too late," Russ said.
The ground shook. From the north, a single figure walked through the chaos untouched. His presence warped the air; his qi was sharp enough to cut without a blade.
Russ recognized him instantly—the Heaven Executioner, an S-Rank cultivator known for killing rogue prodigies.
And his eyes were locked on Russ.
---
The Executioner didn't speak. He simply raised one hand, condensing qi into a silver spear of light. When he threw it, the weapon didn't travel—it appeared in front of Russ instantly.
Russ barely managed [Shadow Split], leaving a decoy to take the hit. The spear vaporized the copy and detonated with a flash that blinded half the battlefield.
Russ's instincts screamed—this wasn't just a fight, it was the fight.
He tightened his grip on the scythe, blood flames licking its blade. Shadows coiled at his feet like hunting beasts.
"Fine," he said, voice low but steady. "Let's see who's hunting who."
The Executioner smiled faintly—and vanished.