"You should have saved us the stress and remained crippled," the leader sneered, stepping forward with deliberate menace.
Chen Mo pressed his back harder against the sealed Tomb entrance, the cold obsidian biting into his skin through his torn robes.
Blood trickled warm from the gash across his chest, soaking the fabric and pooling at his feet.
"Even if I die," Chen Mo growled, "I'll take all of you with me."
The leader laughed, a harsh, echoing bark that reverberated off the cliff walls.
"Take some of us with you? Please don't be stupid. You're dying alone. Unlike that trash elder, we won't hold back."
He gestured sharply.
"Kill him!"
The nine assassins behind him surged like living shadows, silent, coordinated, blades glinting faintly in the dim moonlight.
Chen Mo's heart pounded.
He channeled what qi remained, forcing it through his damaged meridians.
"Heaven's Ascension!"
