## Liam''s Perspective


    "You failed." Phoebe''s words hung in the air like a death sentence.


    I stood there, my body still trembling from the failed breakthrough attempt. The Ice Heart''s power had not been enough. So close, yet ultimately unreachable.


    "I''m sorry," I said, the admission burning my throat. "The Military Marquis realm... I couldn''t break through."


    Phoebe''s face fell. The hope that had been there moments ago vanished like morning dew under a harsh sun.


    A slow p echoed through the chamber.


    "How utterly pathetic," Josiah Hale''s voice dripped with mockery as he stepped forward. "The great Liam Knight, failing when it matters most."


    His eyes gleamed with cruel satisfaction. I could feel his aura now—overwhelming and suffocating. A true Military Marquis, worlds apart from my Military General realm.


    "I wondered why you seemed weaker than reported," Josiah continued, circling me like a predator. "Now I know. All that bravado, and you couldn''t even break through when your life depended on it."


    I straightened my back, refusing to cower. "I don''t need your realm to defeat you."


    "Bold words from a dead man." Josiah''s smile was cold. "Mr. Ashworth has withdrawn his protection. Your time is up."


    My heart skipped a beat. Michael Ashworth had been shielding me?


    Before I could process this revtion, Josiah attacked. His palm thrust forward, trailing golden energy.


    I activated the Absolute Beginning Sacred Fist technique, meeting his attack head-on. Our energies collided with a thunderous boom.


    Pain shot up my arm. I skidded backward, my feet carving trenches in the stone floor.


    "Is that all?" Josiahughed. "The famous technique of the Heavenly Sect?"


    I wiped blood from my mouth. "I''m just warming up."


    Iunched myself at him, fists glowing with concentrated spiritual energy. My punches were perfect—each one aimed at vital points, each delivered with maximum power.


    None of themnded.


    Josiah moved like water, effortlessly flowing around my attacks. His counterattack came without warning—a single finger strike to my chest.


    The impact felt like being hit by a mountain. I crashed through a pir, stone fragments raining down around me.


    "Liam!" Phoebe cried out.


    I forced myself up, ignoring the stabbing pain in my ribs. "Stay back!"


    Josiah approached slowly. "I could have killed you with that strike. But where''s the fun in that?"


    I spat blood. "You talk too much."


    His eyes narrowed. "Then let me speak with my fists."


    What followed wasn''t a fight—it was a ughter. Each of my techniques was countered before I couldplete it. Every defense was shattered like ss.


    I unleashed the Nine Dragons Palm Strike. Josiah dispersed it with a casual wave.


    I activated the Mountain Crushing Fist. He caught it with two fingers.


    I even risked the forbidden Venerable Fifth Mountain technique, draining my reserves for a desperate attack.


    Josiah simply sidestepped it, then drove his palm into my back.


    "ARGH!" I screamed as I felt something crack inside me.


    I copsed to my knees, struggling to breathe.


    "Get up," Josiahmanded. "Show me this strength everyone fears."


    I staggered to my feet, summoning every ounce of willpower. Blood streamed from my nose and mouth. My vision blurred.


    I threw myself at him one more time.


    This time, his palm strike hit me directly in the chest.


    The world went white with pain. I felt myself flying through the air, then crashing through a wall. Stone and timber copsed around me.


    "How disappointing," Josiah''s voice reached me through the haze of pain. "I expected more from the man who''s been causing such trouble." <i ss="ref-acd908">Need character sheets and glossaries? Visit *.</i>


    I tried to stand but couldn''t. My body wouldn''t respond.


    "Stay down, Liam!" Phoebe shouted from somewhere distant. "Please!"


    But I couldn''t. I crawled from the rubble, every movement agony. Blood dripped from a dozen wounds.


    Josiah raised an eyebrow. "Impressive resilience, at least."


    With what felt like myst strength, I rose to my feet.


    "You should be dead," Josiah observed, genuine surprise in his voice.


    "Not... yet..." I gasped.


    Anger shed across his face. "Then I''ll remedy that."


    He moved faster than my eyes could track. His palm came straight for my heart—a killing blow.


    At thest possible moment, I twisted, activating the Venerable Fifth Mountain technique one final time. The blow nced off my shoulder instead of piercing my heart.


    My corbone shattered on impact.


    Josiah''s eyes widened. "You dodged that?"


    I couldn''t answer. The pain was too great.


    His surprise quickly turned to rage. "Enough games!"


    He grabbed me by the throat and mmed me into the ground. The impact cracked the stone beneath us.


    "Now you die," he snarled, his fingers forming a w.


    Blood-red light gathered at his fingertips. He struck with precision, jabbing at specific acupoints across my body.


    Each strike felt like a burning needle being driven into my core. I couldn''t even scream.


    "I''m sealing your spiritual power," Josiah exined calmly. "Every pathway, every meridian. You''ll die as you lived before your awakening—powerless and pathetic."


    The red light spread through my body like poison. I felt my connection to my spiritual energy weaken, then vanish entirely.


    Defenseless. Helpless. Just as I''d been before all of this began.


    Josiah stepped back, admiring his work. "How does it feel, Liam Knight? To have everything stripped away again?"


    I couldn''t answer. My mouth filled with blood.


    "No clever retort?" He kicked me in the ribs, flipping me onto my back. "No miraculous technique to save you now?"


    Another kick. Then another. Each impact sent fresh waves of agony through my broken body.


    Through swollen eyes, I saw Phoebe being restrained by two of Josiah''s disciples. Her face streaked with tears.


    "I''m sorry," I thought, unable to speak the words. "I''m sorry I failed you all."


    Josiah grabbed my hair, lifting my head. "Anyst words for Isabelle Ashworth? I''ll be sure to tell her how pathetically you died."


    Isabelle. Her name brought a fresh surge of despair. I''d failed her most of all.


    "Nothing?" Josiah dropped my head back to the stone. "Disappointing to the end."


    He raised his foot above my chest. "This will crush your heart. A merciful end, all things considered."


    As consciousness began to fade, something strange happened. In the darkness of my mind, I saw patterns forming. Energy pathways I''d never noticed before. The barrier to the Military Marquis realm appeared not as an obstacle to ovee, but as a transition to embrace.


    All this time, I''d been trying to break through the barrier. But that wasn''t the way.


    "I get it," I thought, rity washing over me like a wave. "I know how to step into the Military Marquis realm...!"


    Josiah''s foot descended toward my chest.