## Liam''s Perspective


    The guards rushed toward me with weapons drawn, their faces twisted with determination. Phoebe stood before them, arms spread wide, a final line of defense.


    "Stay away from him!" she shouted, pulling out a short de from her belt.


    The first guard swung his sword at her. She parried the blow but staggered backward from the force. Another guard circled around, trying to nk her.


    "Phoebe, get out of here!" I yelled, straining against the light columns that still impaled me.


    She didn''t listen. Instead, sheunched herself at the nearest attacker, her de finding a gap in his armor. He howled in pain but three more took his ce.


    Joshua Hess watched from a distance, a smirk on his face. "How touching. More sacrifices for the great Liam Knight."


    Inside me, the fusion of energies continued building. I was so close to breakthrough that I could feel power vibrating through every cell. But these damned columns held me in ce, and Phoebe wouldn''t survive much longer.


    A guard''s de sliced across Phoebe''s arm. She hissed in pain but kept fighting. Her movements were bing slower, more desperate.


    "Stop this!" I roared at Joshua. "Your quarrel is with me!"


    "Precisely," he replied coldly. "Which is why I''ll eliminate every obstacle between us. Starting with your loyal dog there."


    Five guards surrounded Phoebe now. She spun and struck with incredible speed, but she was outnumbered and outmatched. Blood streaked down her face from a cut on her forehead.


    "Liam," she called out between ragged breaths. "Just focus on your breakthrough. I can handle this."


    But she couldn''t. Even as she spoke, a guard''s sword caught her in the side. She stumbled, barely managing to stay upright.


    Joshua stepped forward, his patience evidently wearing thin. "Enough of this farce."


    He raised his hand, gathering energy for what would surely be a killing blow. Phoebe saw iting but stood her ground, refusing to expose me to danger.


    The energy in Joshua''s palm brightened to blinding intensity. I pulled against my restraints with renewed desperation, but they held firm.


    "Die," Joshua said simply, and released his attack.


    Phoebe didn''t flinch. She met the st head-on, channeling what little energy she had left into a defensive shield. It wasn''t enough. The impact lifted her off her feet and mmed her into one of the chamber''s stone pirs.


    "PHOEBE!" I screamed as she slid to the ground, her body limp.


    Joshua turned to me, satisfaction clear in his expression. "Now, where were we?"


    Suddenly, Phoebe stirred. Blood covered half her face, but she pushed herself to her knees.


    "Not... done... yet," she gasped, somehow finding the strength to stand again.


    Joshua''s eyes widened in disbelief. "What is wrong with you people? Do you enjoy dying for this nobody?"


    Phoebe spit blood onto the floor. "He''s worth dying for. You wouldn''t understand."


    She charged at Joshua with reckless abandon. It was suicide, and we both knew it. But she was buying me time—precious seconds for my breakthrough toplete.


    Joshua didn''t even bother using a technique. He simply stepped aside and drove a sword of pure energy through her chest.


    Phoebe''s momentum carried her forward a few more steps before she copsed, the energy de protruding from her back.


    "There," Joshua said, brushing imaginary dust from his robes. "Now we can proceed without further interruptions."


    He approached me slowly, savoring his victory. Behind him, the bodies of his fallen Ascendant Saints and my loyal Jade Moon Vi members littered the chamber floor. Caspiany motionless in a pool of his own blood. Phoebe was still, the energy sword in her chest gradually dissipating.


    "I must admit, Knight, you inspire remarkable loyalty," Joshua said. "It''s almost a shame to kill you."


    The fusion inside me was nearlyplete. Just a few more seconds...


    "But kill you I must," he continued, raising his hand toward me. "You''ve be far too dangerous to—"


    A low rumble interrupted him. The entire chamber trembled, dust shaking loose from the ceiling.


    Joshua paused, looking up in confusion. "What now?"


    The rumble grew louder, more insistent. The air around us became charged with energy that made my skin prickle.


    "No," Joshua whispered, his eyes widening with realization. "It can''t be."


    Above us, the ceiling seemed to disappear, revealing dark storm clouds swirling in an impossible vortex. Lightning shed within the clouds, each bolt more brilliant than thest.


    "A tribtion," Joshua breathed. "You''ve triggered a heavenly tribtion."


    My breakthrough had seeded despite the restraints. I was crossing into the Martial Marquis realm, and the heavens themselves had taken notice.


    The first lightning bolt struck without warning, hitting the light column nearest my heart. The column shattered instantly, freeing part of my body. Energy surged through the opening, elerating my transformation.


    Joshua backed away, his face pale. "This isn''t possible. Your tribtion shouldn''t be this powerful!"


    Another bolt struck, then another, systematically destroying the columns that held me. Each impact sent waves of pain through my body, but also incredible power.


    When the final column broke, I copsed to my knees, finally free but wracked with agony as my body restructured itself. The tribtion wasn''t finished with me—it was just getting started.


    Joshua watched in horrified fascination as ck clouds descended lower, filling the chamber with the scent of ozone and raw energy.


    "Your tribtion was nothing like this," I managed to say between gasps of pain.


    "Because I''m not a monster," he replied, backing toward the exit. "What are you, Knight? What unholy power have you tapped into?"


    I didn''t answer. I couldn''t. My body seized as silver-white lightning gathered above me, preparing for a direct strike.


    Joshua reached the doorway, clearly intending to flee. "Perhaps I''ll let the heavens finish you for me."


    The first major bolt struck me directly. The pain was beyond anything I''d ever experienced—worse than the Eight-Armed Demon''s torture, worse than having my meridians shattered. Every cell in my body seemed to ignite simultaneously. <code ss="meta-ref-static">This chapter was made possible by the *munity.</code>


    But instead of destroying me, the lightning poured into me, filling the new pathways created by my breakthrough. My injuries from the fight began to heal, flesh knitting together at an elerated rate.


    Joshua paused at the threshold, watching with undisguised shock as I absorbed the lightning that should have reduced me to ash.


    "Impossible," he muttered. "No one survives a direct strike."


    The clouds above darkened further, building toward an even more powerful discharge. The energy in the air was so thick it distorted vision, creating a haze around everything.


    I rose to my feet, my body still crackling with residual lightning. Every movement sent jolts of pain through me, but I stood firm, facing the gathering storm.


    Joshua''s eyes darted between me and the exit, calction evident on his face. "This tribtion will kill us both if I stay."


    Another massive bolt formed above, this one twice the size of the first. The silver-white energy pulsed and grew, preparing to strike.


    In that moment, I made a decision that surprised even me. Instead of attempting to defend against the next bolt, I sat down cross-legged on the floor.


    Joshua stared at me in disbelief. "What are you doing? Are you mad?"


    I closed my eyes, extending my awareness upward toward the gathering storm. "Maybe. Or maybe I understand something you don''t."


    "You''ll die!" he shouted, genuinely perplexed.


    I took a deep breath, centering myself as the massive lightning bolt descended. "We''ll see."


    Thest thing I saw before closing my eyes was Joshua''s face—a mixture of fear, confusion, and reluctant respect.


    Then the silver light poured down upon me, and the world disappeared in a blinding sh.