"What?!"


    Lucian''s blood ran cold; he jerked Dragonyer Sword across his body, metal shrieking against the rush of gray brilliance as he tried to throw up ast-second guard.


    ng!


    The Dragonyer Sword wrenched from Lucian''s grip and spun away.


    The gray beam sheared across his breastte and bit into flesh, carving a burning line straight through armor, muscle, and bone.


    Pfft!


    A geyser of golden blood burst from the wound. The blow flung Lucian back a thousand yards before he skidded to a stop, armor cracked and chest split to the bone.


    "Senior Disciple!" Lyria streaked after him, skirts snapping in the wind as she caught his crumpling figure with both arms, her flight breaking under theirbined weight.


    Every corner of the battlefield fell silent, as though the world itself forgot how to breathe.


    The three-hundred-thousand Celestial Army and the hundred-thousand Beastfolk Army alike stared, mouths open, stunned beyond speech.


    A prodigy of the Fourteenth Firmament, bearer of the Divine King Bloodline, Lucian


    at the Top Level High Immortal Realm Level Seven ...


    Defeated?!


    Struck down by a single sh from Jared?!


    The Grand Venerable went sheet-white, shoulders shaking in disbelief.


    Finished..... even the envoy from the Fourteenth Firmament has fallen...


    Just what sort of monster is this Jared?!


    Lyria braced Lucian against her shoulder, shock and fury swirling in her wide eyes.


    "Jared! How dare you hurt my Senior Disciple!"


    Her teeth ground, voice trembling with rage. "I will see you dead!"


    She flicked her jade-pale wrist; a golden talisman red into being between her fingers, runes rolling across its surface.


    It was the Divine Seal Sigil!


    "Master''s gift-seal the heavens and earth! Jared, die!"


    The talisman streaked upward, exploding into countless golden letters that spread across a hundred-mile circle of sky.


    In the blink of an eye, the veryws of heaven and earth locked tight.


    The Chaos Sword Domain vanished.


    The Chaos Convergence Array failed.


    Every formation, technique, and treasure on the field lost much of its bite.


    "Hahahaha!"


    The Grand Venerable threw his head back, roaring, "Jared, your death hour is here! All forces-charge! Leave none alive!"


    The three-hundred-thousand Celestial Army surged forward once more like a tidal wave of steel.


    This time, no array stood in their path.


    Jared nced at the rain of golden runes, then at the charging mass of soldiers, a shadow of concern tightening his gaze.


    The Divine Seal Sigil was indeed formidable.


    Even the chaotic force had been suppressed.


    And yet so what?


    He tightened his grip on the Dragonyer Sword and turned to the hundred-


    thousand Beastfolk Army behind him.


    "Brothers, final battle-follow me and kill!"


    "Kill!"


    With death-defying resolve, the Beastfolk ranks stormed toward the three-hundred- thousand Celestials.


    The decisive sh truly began.


    Above, the Divine Seal Sigil nketed the sky; golden runes twined through the air like chains tightening around the world itself.


    The normally roaring gray chaotic force shrank under that pressure, like a strangled beast fighting for breath.


    Inside Jared''s body, every current of chaotic force slowed, each draw of power costing him several times the focus it once did.


    The Chaos Sword Domain dispersed, and the gray sheen on the Dragonyer Sword guttered like a candle in a storm wind.


    "Kill!"


    The three-hundred-thousand Celestial Army rolled forward like a tide, war drums pounding so loudly they shook the air while battle cries cracked like thunder over the field.


    Sunlight shed off ranks of golden te; spears and swords rose dense as a forest. Every hoof that struck the soil sent another tremor racing through the ground beneath Jared''s boots.


    The hundred-thousand Beastfolk Army met the charge head-on, their morale unbroken.


    Yet sheer numbers pressed in from every side, and within moments the line bent, steel and w locked in a grinding struggle.


    Luther, Morvane, and Madam Nightfox carved bloody arcs through the melee, each trading blow for blow without retreat.


    But the celestial venerables, their


    power swollen by the sealing talisman answered with force thats cut twice as deep; beastfolk bodies fell in horrifying numbers.


    "Jared, die!"


    Laughing wildly, the Grand Venerable burst through the dust cloud.


    The dark-gold staff in his grip stretched into a-thousand-yard pir and came crashing down toward Jared''s skull.


    Celestial runes rippled along the pir''s surface, each sigil glowing hotter than the


    The blow carried at least a third more power than it ever had before.


    At the same instant, Lyria flicked her jade wrist.


    Nine violet streaks slid through the air like spirit serpents, weaving a cage that


    sealed off every path of retreat around Jared.


    Purew energy pulsed inside each streak, refined to a frightening rity.


    Only a veteran of the Fourteenth Firmament could have shaped such a technique.


    A full-force strike pressed in from the front.


    A killing closed from behind.


    Jared drew a slow breath and leveled the Dragonyer Sword across his chest.


    He forced chaotic force through every channel of his body, each vein burning as it moved.


    "Chaos Ward!"


    A gray barrier blossomed over his skin, thinner than before but still stubbornly intact.


    Even in its frailty, it radiated a will that refused to bow.


    Boom!


    The dark-gold pir mmed into the barrier.


    The shield shuddered, and cracks spread across it in a spiderwebttice.


    Jared grunted; a thread of blood slid from the corner of his mouth.


    The impact hurled him backward a hundred yards before his boots dug in.


    The nine violet streams chased after him, knifing through the failing barrier and driving straight for his vital points.


    The sword in his hands whirled like a living dragon.


    des of after-imageyered in front of him, just barely swatting aside seven of the


    deadly lights.


    One remaining light skimmed his left shoulder, tearing a ssh of blood.


    Thest sank into his right nk; warm blood soaked his robe in an instant.


    "Mr. Chance!" Luther shouted, desperation cracking his voice.


    He tried to break free, but three celestials locked him in ce with relentless blows.


    The Grand Venerable threw back his head andughed.


    "Jared, this day is yours to die! Your chaotic force means nothing-under our seal you are meat on the block!"


    Cold light shed in Lyria''s eyes.


    "My senior''s blood will be avenged today. Jared, I will rip out your soul and grind it to crystal so you never know rest!"


    Jared nted the Dragonyer Sword in the scorched earth and leaned on it.


    Blood streamed from his wounds, pattering onto the ckened soil below.


    He swept the battlefield with a single, steady nce.


    More than half of the Beastfolk Army alreadyy dead; bodies littered the ground, rivers of blood running between broken gs.


    Luther dripped crimson head to toe, Morvane''s bone armor hung in shards, and Madam Nightfox fought on with only one tail intact.


    Every Beastfolk Warrior stood their ground, yet celestials poured forward like


    endless locusts.


    Was the battle already lost?


    Jared shut his eyes.


    ???


    Images shed-King Ironhide''s final grin, Elder Hartcrest''s gentle face, the fearless gazes of the warriors who had followed hi death.


    He saw Rania''s tear-filled farewell in


    Jade Immortal Manor, Elder Gloam''s Nether City, and


    earnest charge


    and


    Cyris silent support in the frozen


    north.


    No.


    He could not lose.


    His eyes snapped open, golden light searing out like des.