Lin Yue's breath hitched. She had been ready to defend him. But he had just... shrugged off a
Golden Core attack. She looked at Kael. He wasn't looking at the monster. He was looking at
her. And in his eyes, she saw it: total, absolute trust. He wasn't her shield. Not right now. He
was her anchor. He was giving her the freedom to act. A slow, cold, furious smile touched her
lips. This was not the man she had to protect. This was the man who believed in her. "He's
mine," she said. "I'll... be here," Kael replied, his voice warm.
Lin Yue stepped forward. She floated into the air, her blue robes a stark, clean contrast to the
raging, filthy sky. She was no longer a half-step. The presence of her old master, his shame,
and his belief... it had been the final push. As she rose, her power blossomed. A great, swirling
storm of pure, blue-white light erupted from her, pushing back the blackness. The air itself froze
and sang. She had broken through. She was Golden Core. "WHAT?!" Yan Fei roared, his
arrogance momentarily broken by disbelief.
"You are an imbalance, Yan Fei," Lin Yue's voice rang out, cold and pure as a glacier. "A 'wrong'
path. And you... you threatened him." "YOU WHORE! YOU THINK A NEW CORE CAN FIGHT
ME?! I AM THE ASURA!" He charged, a torrent of black-red flame. "[WILL-ICE DAO:
ETERNAL PRISON]!" Lin Yue didn't flinch. She played. Her flute's song was one of absolute,
logical rejection. The world froze. Jagged, pure-white mountains of Will-Ice erupted from the air
itself, crashing down on Yan Fei. For a moment, he was trapped. Then, the ice boiled. "IT
BURNS!" he cackled, bursting from the ice, his Bloodflame stronger, having fed on her Qi. "Your
ice is just fuel, you fool!"
The battle was joined. It was a war of philosophies. Her cold, unbending will against his hot,
chaotic madness. She was a duelist, a genius. She moved like a ghost, her [Thousand-Petal
Ice] arts surrounding him, her [Echo of the Void] trying to shatter his mind. But he was a
monster. He didn't have a mind to shatter. He was a creature of pure, burning id. He tore
through her constructs, his Bloodflame devouring her ice, his laughter a painful shriek. "YOU
ARE WEAK! YOU WERE ALWAYS WEAK! YOU NEEDED A MORTAL TO MAKE YOU
STRONG!" He was too strong. His "wrong" path was simply, brutally, more powerful than her
new, pure one. He broke through her defenses. A backhand of pure, fiery force sent her
crashing down onto the rooftop, her flute skittering from her grasp, a small trail of blood at her
lips. Kael's Vow flared, and he was at her side. "Yue!" "I'm... I'm alright..." she panted, her Core
shaking. "Kael... it... it feeds on my power. I... I can't... I can't beat it..."
"AHAHAHAHA!" Yan Fei gloated, descending, his form a towering, 20-foot-tall Asura of pure
flame. He looked at Kael, kneeling by her side. "And now, the ant," he sneered. "I have saved
the best for last. You will watch, Lin Yue. You will watch as I unmake him, molecule by molecule.
Then, when you are truly broken... you will be mine." He raised his hands. The blackness, the
red light, all of it... it funneled into him. "BEHOLD!" he roared, a sun of pure, black-and-red
annihilation forming above him. "THE ASURA'S... BLOODFLAME-SUN! THIS IS THE END!
OF HIM! OF THIS CITY! OF EVERYTHING!" The attack was pure malice. An
end-of-the-world-level spell. Lin Yue, her body broken, felt true despair. Kael... just... helped her
to her feet. "Yue," he said, his voice impossibly gentle. "Thank you. You did beautifully." "Kael...
no..." "You held him off. You showed him what you are." He kissed her forehead. "Now... stand
behind me."