The city walls of Nansha were usually a place of boredom for the guards, but now, they were a scene from a nightmare. The black-winged demons dived from the clouds like hungry crows, their claws scraping against the stone. Screams echoed from the streets below as families ran for cover.
Xiao Yan stood at the entrance of the restaurant, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the chaos. He didn't feel the fear he used to feel back when he was the "Trash Prince." Instead, he felt a strange, hot energy bubbling up from his chest.
[Master, the demonic energy is thick here. You need to use the Merge if you want to clear a path,] Michael's voice sounded in his head. The little golden spirit was hovering near his ear, invisible to the others.
"I know, Michael. Just keep the balance steady," Xiao Yan whispered.
Jinyao and Shi Lieya were already moving. Jinyao's hands were glowing with a bright orange flame, while Lieya was slamming her gauntlets together, creating small sparks of thunder.
"Xiao Yan, stop staring and help us!" Lieya shouted, her eyes burning with battle-lust. She didn't wait for an answer. She lunged forward, her fist hitting a low-level demon so hard its chest collapsed. "These weaklings aren't enough for a warm-up!"
Xiao Yan grinned. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a split second.
"Michael... let's go. Red Thunder Merge!"
Suddenly, the air around Xiao Yan began to vibrate. His hair lifted as if caught in a windstorm, and arcs of deep, blood-red lightning started to dance across his skin. His eyes snapped open, glowing with a sharp red light. The ground beneath his feet cracked from the sudden pressure.
Whoosh!
In a blink of an eye, Xiao Yan disappeared. He moved so fast that the human eye couldn't follow. A demon was about to jump on a crying child near a fruit stand, but before its claws could reach, a red bolt of lightning struck it. Xiao Yan appeared right in front of the beast, his hand grabbing its throat.
"Too slow," Xiao Yan said. With a flick of his wrist, he sent a surge of red electricity through the demon's body, turning it into ash instantly.
He didn't stop there. He dashed through the alleyways, a red blur that left behind the smell of ozone and burnt sulfur. Every time he moved, a demon fell.
"Wow... his speed is even higher than before," Jinyao muttered, throwing a fireball at a winged beast. "And that red lightning... it feels so heavy."
But while they were fighting the small fry, the temperature in the air suddenly dropped. It wasn't the natural cold of the night. It was a freezing, bone-chilling frost that made everyone's breath turn into mist.
CRACK!
A massive wave of ice, shaped like a dragon's claw, shot out from a nearby roof. It slammed into a group of twenty armored demons, freezing them solid in a heartbeat. They looked like statues, their faces trapped in expressions of pure terror.
Xiao Yan stopped moving and looked up. High above, standing on the edge of a tall clock tower, was the woman in the white veil. Her dress fluttered in the freezing wind she had created. She looked like a goddess of winter looking down on a mortal world.
(It's her again,) Xiao Yan thought, his heart racing. (The one from the restaurant. Who is she?)
The woman—Yan Bingxue—didn't look at him directly, but she knew he was watching. She raised her hand, and more ice spears formed in the air around her. With a simple wave, the spears shot down like rain, pinning demons to the ground and turning the street into a frozen graveyard.
"She's amazing..." Jinyao said, her voice full of awe. "Is she a Mid-Heaven realm master?"
"I don't care who she is, she's stealing my kills!" Lieya barked, though she looked worried. Even she could feel the massive power coming from the tower.
Just then, a loud, deep roar shook the entire city. The ground trembled, and the heavy gates of the Southern entrance were blown off their hinges. A massive demon, over ten feet tall and covered in black armor, stepped through the smoke. It held a giant rusted axe that dripped with green poison.
"A Divine Realm General," Michael warned. [Master, your current merge only has three minutes left. If you don't finish him fast, you'll be drained.]
Xiao Yan gripped his fists. The red lightning around him became even more violent. "Three minutes is plenty. Lieya, Jinyao! Take care of the small ones. The big guy is mine!"
"Don't you dare die, Xiao Yan!" Jinyao yelled, her face pale with worry.
Xiao Yan didn't answer. He charged straight at the giant demon. The monster saw the red light coming and swung its massive axe. The wind from the swing was enough to shatter the windows of the nearby houses.
Xiao Yan didn't dodge. He used his Codex Eye, and the world slowed down. He saw the path of the axe, the gaps in the demon's armor, and the flow of its dark energy. He slid under the axe, the blade missing his head by an inch, and punched upward with everything he had.
"Red Dragon Fist!"
His fist, covered in concentrated red lightning, slammed into the demon's stomach. A massive explosion of red and black energy lit up the night. The giant demon was lifted off its feet, flying backward and crashing through two stone buildings before finally stopping.
Xiao Yan landed on his feet, panting. His arm was shaking from the impact, and the red lightning was flickering.
On the clock tower, Yan Bingxue watched him. A small, hidden smile appeared behind her veil. He's learning to combine the paths on his own, she thought. But the real danger hasn't even arrived yet.
She looked toward the dark forest outside the city. She could feel a much darker presence watching from the shadows—something that made even her frost-covered heart feel a chill.
Xiao Yan looked up at the tower, trying to see her face. For a second, their eyes met across the distance. He felt a deep connection, like a memory he couldn't quite reach.
"Who are you?" he whispered, but his voice was lost in the sound of the wind and the screams of the remaining demons.
The battle for Nansha was just beginning, and the true nemy was still waiting in the dark.