The warrior monks were coming up on the Zhao palace, when they heard fighting.
"Looks like they started the party without us boys!" Haitao announced to the warriors. Once they reached the gates, the Titan Monks charged in, and a shout cut through the chaos.
"ISHU CHU IS HERE!" One soldier screamed at the top of his lungs.
All eyes turned toward the gates, the people had completely forgotten about their civil war, instead they turned their blades toward the giants. One soldier roared and charged at the giants, and every single soldier followed suit, the warrior monks stepped in, coming from the shadows.
Archer monks supported them by firing arrows from the trees and on top of the palace gates. Haitao scanned the battlefield, he noticed Wen Siyuans presence, but he knew he wasn't Weilong Zhao. He scanned further into the palace, and saw a presence, "Yo, big man, can you toss me in there?" Haitao pointed toward the palace.
Tianlei lifted him up and chucked him across the battlefield.
Inside the palace…
The moment the trio entered the palace halls, they were intercepted. Warriors from the Close Quarters Combat Division stepped into formation, blades raised.
"Looks like twelve," Renxuan said calmly. "Shouldn't be an issue for you, Lihua."
"I'd rather not waste my mana on fodder," she replied flatly.
Renxuan sighed, drawing his blade.
"Then I suppose it's up to me."
He moved.
In a blur of steel and motion, Renxuan dashed forward, cutting through the warriors with clean, precise strikes. Each step flowed into the next with perfect footwork and flawless timing. Bodies fell before screams could even form.
Xuanming clapped lightly.
"It is always a joy to witness Lord Renxuan's Tiger Dance."
Seconds later, the hall was silent.
"Let's move," Renxuan said, sheathing his sword. "This won't be the last of them—so you'll have to step in eventually, sister."
They sprinted through the palace corridors toward the Emperor's chambers—
When suddenly something massive tore through the open hallway overlooking the battlefield. The stone shattered as it flew past.
"Was that a boulder?!" Lihua shouted.
"Everyone, look outside!" Renxuan yelled.
Beyond the palace gates, a colossal force advanced. Giants. Dozens of them, marching with earth-shaking steps.
Lihua's breath caught. "Those garments…"
"They're Ishu Chu soldiers!" Renxuan yelled.
Xuanming staggered back. "I recognize the man leading them. We need to finish this. Now."
"Who is it?!" Renxuan demanded.
"The Heavenly Titan… Tianlei Wang. They say he can move mountains. If he's here, then—"
The sentence died as a figure crashed through the window behind them, stone exploding inward.
The man stood, brushing dust from his shoulders, visibly irritated. "Damn it, Tianlei. Did you really have to throw me through a window?"
Xuanming instantly opened a portal. Renxuan grabbed his arm. "Xuanming, what are you doing?!"
"Saving your lives," Xuanming snapped, shoving Renxuan and Lihua toward the portal.
"Unless you want to die, you finish the coup now, Young Lord!"
"Who is that guy?!" Renxuan shouted as they stumbled back.
"One of the strongest swordsmen on the continent of Dunterra," Xuanming said grimly. "They call him The Wandering Blade. His real name is Haitao Zhou."
Renxuan grimaced. "Alright. I get it. He's strong."
He and Lihua leapt through the portal.
Xuanming sealed it shut.
"Hey, ugly!" Haitao called out lazily. "Where's Weilong Zhao? I've got unfinished business with him."
Xuanming drew his twin blades, "I couldn't tell you."
Haitao squinted. "You look familiar… oh! You're that guy who tried to assassinate the Abbot but couldn't even get past the village guards!" He laughed.
"That disguise was awful."
Xuanming's expression darkened, "First I'll make you realize just how much I've changed. And then…
I'll kill you."
A massive portal opened behind Haitao.
"Forbidden Technique: Monster Summoning."
A horde of tall, hunched humanoid monsters walked out. They had about too many joints, and their mouths were wide open all the way down to their chest.
Haitao stepped back, then smirked, "so that's how you want to play it."
Sabers of light started to form around Haitao, blades started to emerge from them once the light dimmed. There were nineteen blades floating around Haitao, they all attacked the monsters. Shredding them down.
Some tried to fend them off, swinging, but their hands would be cut off in the effort. "Guess that leaves just you and me, fake king."
Xuanming raised an earth wall between them.
By the time Haitao cleaved it in half—
Xuanming was gone.
"Tch," Haitao clicked his tongue. "Really wanted to kick that guy's ass."
He turned away to see all the monsters dead. "Better go find this Weilong kid."
Down by the back walls stood Silas, Killian, Liwei, Deandre, and the warrior monks stood before the gates.
Liwei punched straight through a stone wall. "Alright," he said, rolling his shoulders. "Showtime. You guys will move through the opening in the middle to join the forces at the front. We'll be able to attack the enemy from both sides and easily defeat them. Expect heavy resistance, let's move fast."
The monks nodded in unison and charged forward, running through the underpass to regroup with the rest of the force.
"We'll enter through the windows, Silas and Deandre will enter on the left side, Killian and I will go on the right, clear your sides, if you see the targets, do not engage unless I'm with you."
The boys nodded and split up, Killian and Liwei jumped into the windows, "alright Silas let's head out."
They ran, and Deandre jumped into the air, only to be tackled mid air by a blur, they fell through the stone wall into the forest.
Silas noticed a white figure descending from the roof. He had pale blue eyes and a cold murderous look. His steel-blue hair flowed calmly in the wind, and his white and silver robes shimmered under the moonlight.
"I'm afraid this is where your advance ends," the man said calmly.
"Turn back, if you value your life."
"Can't do that," Silas replied. The man revealed his blade, it looked frozen over with ice, "Then I'm afraid this is where you meet your end," the man said coldly.
Silas studied his opponent. He was just standing there, the speed of Silas's attack would at least be able to graze him in that defenseless position. Silas gripped the handle of his blade tight, he took a quick step forward, swinging from the left with murderous intent, aiming for the man's head. An attack of that speed, and skill would've cut the head of anyone, but he easily moved his head to the left.
Silas brought the blade up to eye level, placing his hand on the pommel, and thrust forward.
The man redirected the strike with his own sword using a single, calm hand. Silas released his blade and quickly dropped down and attempted a leg sweep, forcing the man to jump. Silas caught his blade mid-motion, spun around in one fluid arc, and swung upward, channeling his water magic to increase the range and power of his strike.
"Shīluò zhī Rèn. Water Form: Rising Stream!"
It knocked the man into the air, but he blocked it, Silas saw at the last second.
The man fell back down gracefully, calmly landing on the ground, but it felt off, like the ground was wet.
He looked down and saw the entire area was surrounded in water, he looked forward to see the boy in front of him, eyes closed, sword pointed down. He recognized the stance, "Haitao," he muttered under his breath. "This could be interesting after all boy," the man yelled over to Silas.
"But this must be bad luck for you kid."
Silas couldn't help but open his eyes. He watched as the man formed a sword of ice in his hands, he felt the cold as a powerful gust erupted from the blade when it struck the ground.
"Clearly you didn't do your homework. Had you, you would've realized this was a losing battle. A water user, challenging me, Leng Shiming. I'll show you why they call me 'The Demon In The Ice', this is over now."
Ice spread outward from the blade, freezing the water. It had become Leng's now.
"A technique I like to call Tundra, freezing the ground makes it slippery, and boosts my attacks. Unfortunately for you, you happen to use water magic, which makes you weak against my ice."
Silas stood strong, unwavering even in the face of a great disadvantage. He focused his Ether into his feet, stabilizing himself on the slippery ice. It didn't matter if the water had frozen over, he was still standing on water. Silas closed his eyes, concentrating, he could still feel the ether in the water, could still sense the presence of the man as he stood on the ice. He was confident he could get away with the win. He pointed his sword downward, left foot at a forty-five degree angle, blade inward, just like he had practiced so many times before.
He patiently waited for any movement, and as soon as Leng took a single step, water burst through the ice, Leng narrowly missed the attack. He stared directly at Silas, he had never met anyone who could do that. Not even Haitao. This would truly be more interesting than he thought.
This was only one of many battles on the palace grounds.
On a night drenched in blood, ambition, and betrayal.