The earth quaked beneath them. Every breath in the air was heavy with killing intent. The mist that hung over the village of Tashi no longer felt peaceful it writhed like a living thing, sensing the rage, sorrow, and power that now collided within it.

Master Vince stood unmoving amid the chaos, his old eyes studying every motion the strike of Garron's fist, the arc of Sierra's blade, the flicker of Ryn's Shinrei as it fought between restraint and destruction. Behind him, the children Khael had been watching just minutes ago had vanished into the temple's shelter, the echo of their laughter replaced by the ringing clash of steel.

Khael clenched his sword tighter, the wind swirling violently around him. "We can't keep holding back, Master."

"I know," Vince murmured, setting down the teacup he had been holding as if finishing the last calm moment of his life. "But remember what I told you, boy, power without heart is only ruin."

Then, the air split. Garron lunged again his body a moving wall of muscle and steel. His arms glowed faintly, etched with molten sigils, the marks of the Ironclad Order's Taishin Reinforcement Art. His Taishin energy amplified flesh, bone, and tendon into weapons of living armor. He roared as his punch came down like thunder.

Khael barely twisted aside, the strike pulverizing the flagstones beneath him. Dust exploded upward, and before it could settle, Sierra swept through the haze. Her daggers flashed a red blur and the faint hum of her Crimson Veinwalker Shinrei filled the air like a burning hymn.

"Wind Wall!" Khael snapped, raising his blade. A spiraling gale burst forth, deflecting one dagger, then another but Sierra was too fast. She twisted through the air, riding her own Shinrei aura like a dance of blood and flame, and her heel slammed into Khael's ribs, sending him skidding back.

Vince moved before Khael even hit the ground. His hand snapped upward—two fingers extended and the faint white glow beneath his skin pulsed.

"Taishin Gate—First Form: Root."

A circular wave rippled outward. Garron's next punch met it and stopped dead, as if slamming into an invisible mountain. His eyes widened. "What the hell—"

"Body refinement path," Vince said quietly. "You think you're the only one who's mastered the flesh?"

He struck with an open palm. The air cracked. Garron's massive frame was hurled back, crashing into the half-broken walls of a nearby building.

Khael stared, astonished. "You opened the Gate, Master?"

"Only the first," Vince said, exhaling smoke as if it were nothing. "The others cost more than an old man's bones can pay."

Ryn watched from the edge of the chaos, mask glinting in the pale light. His twin blades trembled slightly in his hands not from weakness, but from the conflict that burned within him. Every shout, every blow, was an echo of the life he'd chosen to leave behind.

Mari's voice broke through it all. "Ryn! Stop this! He's not your enemy!"

Ryn turned his head, the black steel of his mask reflecting her desperate face. "I told you to wait, Mari. I told you I'd come back when it was done."

Her eyes filled with tears. "You were never meant to do it alone."

K's voice sliced through the air like venom. "Enough sentiment."

The world seemed to dim. Behind Ryn, a shadow took form an outline of a man woven from smoke and malice. K's true body shimmered faintly through the dark fog, his voice cold, detached.

"You disappoint me, my apprentice. You still cling to the rot of your past."

Ryn's hand shook. "Leave my sister out of this. I'll do what you want. Just don't—"

"Don't beg." K's tone was almost amused. His arm extended, and voidborn began to manifest around him dozens, then hundreds rising from black circles that bloomed across the ground. "You wanted the Hollow Heart. Earn it."

The creatures screamed as they emerged twisted forms of once-human shapes, their bodies slick with voidlight, their cries like whispers of lost souls.

Khael's breath hitched. "Voidborn inside the village?!"

Vince stepped forward, jaw tightening. "So it's true… K has returned."

The old master spread his stance, veins glowing faintly beneath his skin. His aura shifted no longer calm and tempered, but burning with raw vitality.

"Taishin Gate—Second Form: Pulse."

The ground cracked beneath his feet. Energy surged through his muscles, his heartbeat resonating like a drum across the battlefield. He blurred forward, striking faster than Khael could track his fists shattering two voidborn at once, the shockwave rippling out like rippling thunder.

"Master Vince!" Ceyla shouted from the ridge, pulling her bowstring taut, her Shinrei arrow humming. "We're with you!"

"Stay back!" Vince's roar cut through the chaos. "These things eat Shinrei, they'll consume your aura if you get close!"

Khael gritted his teeth, slashing through the advancing horde, his wind spinning like blades. "Then we fight without mercy!"

Sierra flipped backward, landing beside Garron, panting. Her scarf was torn, her daggers slick with voidblood. "This is suicide, Garron. He's not the same Ryn we followed."

Garron wiped his mouth, glancing at her. "I know… but money's money."

"Still?" she whispered. "Even now?"

He hesitated just a flicker but it was enough for Ryn to hear.

"Money," Ryn said bitterly, voice trembling. "That's all it ever is to you two, isn't it?"

He raised his blades again, Shinrei flaring violet-blue, unstable, beautiful. "Then fine. Let's end this like mercenaries."

He dashed forward his speed breathtaking, his strikes like thunderclaps. Sierra met him, her blades ringing against his, sparks scattering like starlight. Garron swung from the side—but Ryn ducked under, driving his knee into Garron's chest, then flipping backward into a graceful arc.

"Still holding back," K sneered. "Pathetic."

The ground behind Ryn split open as more voidborn poured out. Mari screamed his name—but before she could run to him, Vince appeared before her, blocking the path with his arm.

"Stay behind me. You'll only distract him."

"But he's my brother—"

"I know," Vince said softly. "And that's exactly why you must let him fight his own chains."

Then, the old master moved again.

He clasped his hands together, his aura collapsing inward like a star about to explode. His skin glowed faintly gold, cracks of light running up his arms.

"Taishin Gate—Third Form: Resonance."

The pulse that followed silenced even the voidborn's screams. Everything within a fifty-meter radius froze for a split second then erupted. Shockwaves blasted outward, turning soil to dust, breaking the ground like shattered glass. Voidborn disintegrated by the dozen, their dark energy flickering out like dying embers.

Khael shielded his face from the gale, barely keeping his footing. "Master… you'll tear yourself apart!"

Vince only smiled grimly. "If that's the price to protect my students, I'll gladly pay."

Across the battlefield, Ryn froze. His mask cracked slightly down the center, and for the first time, his eyes were visible flickering between guilt and fury.

"Sis," he murmured. "You were right. It's not my fault."

Mari's lips trembled. "Then come home."

He shook his head. "I can't. Not yet."

Behind him, K's presence thickened, the void twisting around his shape. "You've wasted enough time on weakness. If you will not obey then be consumed."

He raised his hand. The voidborn gathered, their forms merging, merging until a massive, dragon-shaped shadow formed above them, its wings blotting out the moon.

"Voidborn Dragon… Devour them all."

To be continue

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