## Liam''s Perspective
The world inside my chamber had shrunk to a single point of focus. Twenty days of cultivation had transformed my body. Looking down at my hands, I could see through them—almost translucent, as if I were bing pure energy.
Something was wrong outside. The sounds had changed. No longer the steady rhythm of battle, but desperate,bored fighting. Mariana was in trouble.
I pressed my palm against the sealed door, frustration burning through me. My spiritual sense couldn''t prate the wards fully, but I felt multiple powerful auras converging on a weakening golden light.
Her light. Fading.
"Damn it!" I mmed my fist against the unyielding barrier.
---
Outside, dawn painted the devastated grounds of the Celestial Apothecary Guild in harsh light. The beautiful gardensy in ruins. Ancient trees were reduced to splinters. Buildings that had stood for centuries now crumbled as silent witnesses to the brutal conflict.
Mariana Valerius stood at the center of destruction. Blood stained her once-immacte robes. Her legendary golden sword trembled slightly in her grip—not from fear, but exhaustion.
"Surrender the boy," Elder Foster demanded, circling her like a predator. "Knight isn''t worth dying for."
Mariana''sugh was bitter. "If you believe that, you understand nothing."
With startling speed for someone so wounded, she lunged at Foster. Her de traced a golden arc through the air. Foster barely dodged, losing several strands of hair to her precision strike.
"Still dangerous," Maxim Huxley muttered from the sidelines. The burly cultivator nursed a deep gash across his shoulder—a parting gift from Mariana during yesterday''s sh.
"She can''t maintain this much longer," Dudley Lowell observed clinically. "The Spirit Severing Pill has had twenty days to work. Her meridians must be in tatters."
Tang Wei, the First Elder turned traitor, stepped forward. "Pavilion Master, see reason. The Guild can survive this if you step aside."
"The Guild is more than buildings," Mariana spat back. "It''s principles. Loyalty. Things you''ve forgotten."
Tang Wei''s face darkened. "Then you leave us no choice."
At some unspoken signal, all seven attackers moved at once. Each was a half-step Martial Marquis—formidable in their own right. Together, they formed a deadly constetion around Mariana.
She met them with fluid grace that belied her injuries. Her sword became a golden blur, deflecting attacks from all sides. For a moment, it seemed impossible that one woman could stand against such odds.
Then Skyler Howe found an opening. His de slipped past her guard, opening a fresh wound across her ribs.
Mariana staggered but didn''t fall. Blood soaked through her robes, but still she fought on.
"Why?" Dudley asked, genuine curiosity in his voice. "Why endure this for someone who isn''t even your blood?"
Mariana parried his strike. "Because some things matter more than blood." <var ss="meta-ref-static">Content sourced from * – My Virtual Library Empire.</var>
She spun, catching Tang Wei across the chest with a surprise counterattack. The traitor stumbled backward, shock evident on his face.
"That''s for the Second Elder," she hissed.
Another attacker closed in from behind. Mariana sensed him toote. The de struck her back, not deep enough to be fatal, but enough to send her to one knee.
Blood dripped onto the stone beneath her. Her breathing came in ragged gasps.
"It''s over, Mariana," Elder Foster said, almost gently. "You''ve lost."
Mariana looked up, her eyes still defiant despite the pain etched on her face. "The battle, perhaps. Not the war."
With visible effort, she pushed herself back to her feet. Her golden aura flickered weakly around her.
"Come then," she challenged. "Finish what you started."
---
Inside my chamber, something changed. The energy I''d been cultivating suddenly surged, responding to some external stimulus. My body hummed with power seeking release.
A connection I hadn''t felt before—like a tether between myself and Mariana—pulled taut. She was dying. The realization hit me with physical force.
"NO!" I roared, channeling everything I had into breaking the seal.
---
The battle resumed with savage intensity. Mariana fought with the desperation of someone who knew they were outmatched but refused to yield.
Her sword moved in precise arcs, each movement calcted to conserve her dwindling energy while maximizing defensive coverage. Where she once attacked with overwhelming force, now she relied on redirection and precision.
"You should have epted our offer three days ago," Skyler taunted as she narrowly deflected his thrust.
"And you should have stayed away from my Guild," she replied, voice steady despite her wounds.
A brutal exchange of blows followed. Mariana managed to wound two more attackers, but at great cost. A sh across her thigh slowed her movements. A ncing blow to her shoulder numbed her left arm.
Still, she fought on.
The Second Elder watched from a distance, supported by the two remaining loyal disciples. Tears streamed down his weathered face as he witnessed his Pavilion Master''sst stand.
"She can''t win," one disciple whispered.
"She knows that," the Second Elder replied sorrowfully. "She''s buying time."
"For what?"
The old man shook his head. "I pray we live to find out."
---
By midday, the oue was no longer in doubt. Mariana Valerius stood alone, her golden sword dimmed with blood, her legendary strength reduced to stubborn defiance.
Her attackers formed a tight circle around her, wary despite her weakened state. They had all felt her de at some point during the prolonged battle. None underestimated her, even now.
"Enough dramatics," Elder Foster said. "Knight cannot be worth this sacrifice."
Mariana smiled through bloodied lips. "You fear him. As you should."
"We fear nothing," Dudley countered. "We simply eliminate potential threats."
"Then you are fools," Mariana replied. "Some threats cannot be eliminated. They can only be dyed."
She raised her sword in a formal salute—a warrior''s acknowledgment that the end was near. Then, with startling speed, sheunched herself at Elder Foster.
Her de nearly found his heart. At thest instant, Tang Wei intervened, deflecting her strike with his own sword. The sh of weapons rang out across the devastated courtyard.
Mariana hadmitted everything to that final attack. The miss left her exposed.
Six des struck simultaneously.
She didn''t scream. Her body arched, suspended for a heartbeat on the points of multiple weapons. Then they withdrew, and she copsed to the stone floor.
Blood pooled beneath her. Her golden sword ttered beside her.
"Check if she lives," Foster ordered coldly.
Dudley approached cautiously, kneeling beside the fallen Pavilion Master. He ced two fingers against her neck, then looked up. "Barely. Should I finish it?"
Foster considered, then shook his head. "Not necessary. The poison willplete its work within hours. Besides, I want her to witness our victory when we extract Knight from his chamber."
He turned to the others. "We rest for three days. Recover our strength. Then we break the seal and take what we came for."
Maxim Huxley frowned. "Three days? Why wait?"
"Because," Foster exined patiently, "that chamber is sealed with Mariana''s most powerful formations. Even at full strength, breaking it would cost us. In our current condition, it would be suicide."
The attackers nodded in grim agreement. They gathered their wounded and retreated, leaving Mariana where she had fallen.
Only when they had gone did the Second Elder rush forward with his disciples. They gently lifted Mariana''s broken body and carried her to what remained of her private quarters.
"Can you save her?" one disciple asked desperately.
The Second Elder''s hands trembled as he examined her wounds. "I can keep her alive a little longer. But the Spirit Severing Pill... there''s no cure I know."
Mariana''s eyes fluttered open. "Second Elder," she whispered.
"Don''t speak, Master," he urged. "Save your strength."
She gripped his sleeve with surprising force. "Listen carefully. They will return in three days. Knight must be ready."
"But how? He''s sealed in cultivation. We can''t reach him."
A ghost of a smile touched Mariana''s bloody lips. "He''ll reach us."
---
Night fell on the devastated Guild. In what remained of Mariana''s chamber, the Second Elder kept vigil. His healing techniques had stabilized her immediate wounds, but the poison continued its work, strangling her spiritual pathways with ruthless efficiency.
"Why did no onee to our aid?" one of the young disciples asked, his voice breaking.
"Politics," the Second Elder replied bitterly. "Other factions see opportunity in our fall."
Mariana''s eyes opened. "Water," she rasped.
After helping her drink, the Second Elder dismissed the disciples. When they were alone, Mariana spoke again, each word clearly costing her.
"We''ve been abandoned," she stated. "The other Guilds hope to im our territories once we fall."
"Cowards," the Second Elder spat.
"Pragmatists," Mariana corrected. "But they''ve miscalcted. They don''t understand what Knight represents."
"And what is that, Master?"
Mariana''s gaze drifted toward the sealed chamber across thepound. "Change. Inescapable, unstoppable change."
---
A week passed. Elder Foster and his allies recovered slowly in a nearby safe house, nursing wounds that should have healed faster.
"Her strikes carry some cursed energy," Skylerined, examining a cut on his arm that refused to close. "I''ve never seen wounds resist treatment like this."
Dudley nodded grimly. "Mariana Valerius earned her reputation honestly. Even dying, she ensured we would feel her de for weeks toe."
Foster stared out the window toward the distant Guildpound. "She was truly extraordinary. In another life, we might have been allies."
"Instead, she''ll be dead within days," Maxim noted without emotion. "And Knight will be ours."
Foster wasn''t so certain. Something about the ease of their eventual victory bothered him. Mariana had fought beyond human limits, yet in the end, she fell almost... predictably.
"Be ready for anything when we return," he warned. "I won''t believe this is over until Knight is secured."
---
On the twentieth day of my seclusion, I felt it. A shift in the energy around me. My body, nearly transparent now, suddenly began to solidify. The breakthrough I''d been pushing for was finally happening.
Outside, unknown to me, Elder Foster and his six allies had returned to the Guild. They marched unopposed through the ruined gates, confident in their impending victory.
Mariana Valerius stood waiting for them in the central courtyard. Her once-vibrant presence was a shadow of itself. Her golden robes had been reced with simple white—the color of mourning in some cultures, of surrender in others.
But she still held her sword.
"You should be dead," Foster remarked, genuinely surprised.
"Many have thought so before," Mariana replied, her voice barely audible. "They were all disappointed."
Dudley assessed her critically. "The poison has nearly finished its work. Your aura is less than ten percent of what it was. This is futile, Pavilion Master."
"Perhaps," she acknowledged. "But I made a promise."
With visible effort, she raised her sword into a guard position. The seven attackers exchanged nces, almost embarrassed by this patheticst stand.
"Very well," Foster sighed. "If you insist on this final act of defiance, we won''t deny you a warrior''s death."
The battle was brief and brutal. Mariana fought with technique rather than power, each movement precise despite her failing body. She even managed to wound Skyler once more—a shallow cut across his cheek that would leave another scar.
But the oue was never in doubt.
Within minutes, she was disarmed, her golden sword ttering across the stones. She fell to her knees, blood running freely from reopened wounds.
Foster stood over her, his own de raised for the killing stroke. "Anyst words, Pavilion Master?"
Mariana looked up, her eyes suddenly focusing on something beyond Foster''s shoulder. A smile touched her lips.
"Yes," she whispered. "Look behind you."
Foster hesitated, suspecting a trick. But something in her expression—not fear, but satisfaction—made him turn.
A man stood at the edge of the courtyard. His face was obscured by shadows, but his presence filled the space with palpable menace.
"Who are you?" Foster demanded, sword still poised above Mariana''s neck.
The figure stepped forward, and the shadows seemed to move with him.
"Your death," the stranger replied simply.