—WHOOOOOM—
The wind screamed through the shattered spires of the Forgotten Battlefield, carrying with it the metallic stench of ancient blood and the faint, acrid bite of lingering void corruption. Snow fell in heavy sheets, burying broken weapons and collapsed fortifications beneath a veil of white—
all except where crimson stains bled through the stone, refusing to freeze.
They never froze here.
Kai trudged forward, boots crunching against frost-coated rubble.
His ash-gray cloak snapped violently behind him, tattered hems fluttering like the wings of a dying bird. Weeks—no, months—of relentless travel and slaughter had stained it beyond cleaning. Across his back rested a long sword wrapped in black bindings.
Void Edge.
—mmmmmm—
The blade hummed faintly, a low, predatory resonance only he could hear, as if the weapon itself sensed what lay ahead.
Kai shouldn't have come here.
Everyone knew the stories.
The Forgotten Battlefield was cursed.
Thousands of years ago, the Eternal Dragon Sovereigns had clashed with the Butterfly Goddesses, a war so violent it cracked the heavens and scarred the earth forever. When it ended, neither side remained—only ruins, wandering spirits, and things that should have stayed dead.
Yet here he was.
Driven by a rumor whispered in a dying tavern by a man missing half his jaw:
An azure dragon… mortally wounded… hiding in the heart of the ruins.
Dragon blood could shatter mortal limits.
It could give him the strength to finish everything.
Revenge.
The word burned like cinders on his tongue.
Three years.
Three years since the Crimson Lotus Sect burned beneath void-tainted flames.
Three years since Kai returned to find his master's corpse nailed to the gates—eyes gouged out, face frozen in defiance.
The elders had sold them all to a void cult in exchange for promises of immortality.
Kai survived only because he'd been sent away on a mission.
He survived.
And he hunted down every traitor he could reach.
But the final one—the sect master who orchestrated it all—had escaped, reborn with void-tainted power far beyond Kai's reach.
…Until now.
—GRRRRMMMM—
A low rumble rolled through the ground.
Kai stopped.
His hand slid to the hilt over his shoulder.
Ahead, the snowfall twisted violently, revealing a massive stone archway half-collapsed into a yawning cavern. Black ichor oozed from its cracks, —SSSS—, hissing where it touched the snow.
Void beasts.
Kai exhaled slowly.
—SHING—
Void Edge left its sheath in one fluid motion.
The blade was matte black, drinking in the light, its edge traced with faint violet veins—the unmistakable mark of a forbidden forging technique.
Three shapes crawled out from the darkness.
Eyeless.
Too many limbs.
Bodies stitched together from corrupted flesh and shadow.
Their maws dripped acidic saliva that melted snow on contact.
Kai's gray eyes sharpened.
The first lunged.
—FWOOSH—
He stepped inside its reach.
One diagonal cut.
Clean. Silent.
The creature split in half and dissolved into black mist before it hit the ground.
The second and third attacked together—one high, one low.
Kai spun, cloak flaring.
Void Edge drank the impact of the high strike, redirecting the force in a brutal horizontal arc—
—SCHRRRRAK—
The lower attacker was severed at the torso.
The final beast screeched and tried to retreat into shadow.
Kai didn't allow it.
A flick of his wrist sent a crescent of dark sword qi screaming through the air.
—VWEEEE—THUNK—
The creature was pinned to the archway like a butterfly on display.
Black blood sprayed across the snow.
Silence returned.
Kai wiped the blade on his cloak and stepped into the cavern.
The air grew warmer—unnaturally so.
Ancient murals lined the walls: towering dragons with sapphire scales locked in combat against ethereal women bearing wings of obsidian butterflies.
Their faces were not twisted with rage.
They were filled with sorrow.
Kai didn't linger.
—ROOOOOAR—
A guttural roar echoed from deep within—pain, fury, something impossibly ancient.
Kai ran.
The cavern opened into a vast underground chamber.
Pillars of blue crystal rose like frozen flames.
At the center—
An azure dragon, easily fifty meters long even coiled in agony.
Its scales were dulled and cracked, void corruption crawling across its body like living ink. One wing was torn clean off. Its molten-gold eyes fixed on Kai with fading intelligence.
Around it, dozens of void beasts fed.
The dragon roared again—weaker.
Its tail crushed several attackers, yet more swarmed in.
Kai's grip tightened.
He could leave.
Let it die.
Harvest the blood later.
…But something in those golden eyes stopped him.
Pride.
Defiance.
A refusal to die quietly.
He knew that look.
He saw it every morning in the mirror.
"…Damn it," Kai muttered.
—BOOM—
He charged.
Void Edge sang.
Step. Cut. Pivot. Absorb.
Kai moved like a ghost, purple-black sword qi tearing through corrupted flesh. Vitality poured from his enemies into the blade—into him.
But there were too many.
—WHIP—CRACK—
A tendril lashed across his side.
Pain exploded.
Blood soaked his ribs.
Kai gritted his teeth and pushed forward.
Closer.
The dragon's chest heaved. Void corruption pulsed at its heart—a black vortex devouring scale and spirit alike.
A massive void amalgam surged toward the dragon's throat.
Kai intercepted.
—KRAAAAAANG—
The impact numbed his arms and hurled him backward, boots carving trenches through crystal.
His vision blurred.
Corruption burned through his wound.
He couldn't win.
The dragon lowered its head.
One golden eye met his.
A voice echoed in his mind.
Young swordsman… why fight for a dying relic?
Kai spat blood.
"Because I know what it's like… to be hunted. To have everything taken."
Silence.
Then—
Then take what remains. My blood. My will.
Break the cycle… or become it.
Its tail wrapped around him gently.
A single scale lifted.
A glowing azure heart was revealed.
Drink. Bind. Live.
Kai didn't hesitate.
He plunged Void Edge into the heart—not to kill, but to open it.
Blue blood welled forth, defying gravity, flowing toward him like a living river.
He opened his mouth.
—FWOOOOOM—
Fire.
Agony.
His bones shattered and reforged.
Blue flames crawled across his skin.
Behind him, the amalgam charged.
Kai turned.
His eyes burned gold—slitted and draconic.
He raised his hand.
—ROOOOOOSH—
Azure dragon flame erased everything.
When the light faded, Kai stood alone beside the dragon's dissolving corpse.
Blue motes ascended peacefully.
From the heart wound, something else emerged.
A black butterfly, wings veined in crimson.
It fluttered weakly…
Then plunged into Kai's chest.
—THUD—
Visions flooded him.
A woman with white hair.
Butterfly wings blotting out the sky.
Tears as she drove a spear of light into a dragon's heart.
If the cycle must continue… let it be through mercy.
The vision shattered.
Kai looked down.
On the crystal floor lay a woman.
Pale.
White-haired.
Unconscious—but breathing.
Alive.
Kai knelt, fingers finding her pulse.
"…What the hell did I just awaken?"
Outside, snow continued to fall.
But within the ruins—
The Cycle of Blood and Wings had turned once more.