The moment Gabriel crashed into the ground, his unit surged forward.
Blades sang as they were drawn. Divine energy crackled in the air. Every paladin's face was twisted with fury their captain had been struck down, and they would make the Eastern warriors pay for it.
"Don't."
Gabriel's voice cut through the tension like a blade.
The paladins froze mid-step. They turned to see their captain pushing himself up from the rubble, dust and blood clinging to his golden armor. He wiped his mouth with the back of his gauntlet, smearing crimson across the metal.
Then he walked toward the Fist King.
In a blur of golden light, Gabriel activated his flash step. He reappeared inches from Chen Wuji, face to face, close enough to feel the man's breath. His left hand was already moving a dagger materializing from nowhere, its edge kissing the Fist King's throat.
Chen Wuji's hand shot up and caught the blade.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then the Fist King smiled.
"Not bad," he said, his grip tightening around the dagger's edge. "There's no one in the Murium world who can surprise me." He tilted his head slightly. "But you did, paladin."
Gabriel held his gaze. "My name is Captain Gabriel Velk of the Holy Empire. I came on the orders of the Warherald and His Excellency the Pope." He withdrew the dagger in a single, fluid motion. "We don't want to fight you or your warriors. We're only here to help."
Chen Wuji studied him for a long moment. Then he inclined his head.
"I understand. It's our fault." He clasped his hands and bowed slightly. "You have my apology, Captain."
"FIST KING!"
Jeong Myeong's voice cracked through the air like a whip. The Mount Hua Sect Leader staggered forward, his face twisted with rage and humiliation.
"How can you disgrace us Murium warriors by apologizing to those bastards?!" he snarled. "They killed and injured my sect warriors!"
"Silence."
Chen Wuji's voice was quiet. But it carried the weight of absolute authority.
He turned slowly to face the Sect Leader, his eyes cold.
"It was you who attacked them first," he said. "And it was among your number that the scoundrels who denied the Holy Empire's aid in the alliance meetings . Because of that foolish arrogance, many innocent lives have been lost."
He stepped closer, his presence radiating pressure that made the Sect Leader flinch.
"The Alliance Leader himself has given me the authority and power to crush those sects who cannot work with the Holy Empire." He gestured broadly at the carnage surrounding them. "See to your surroundings, you mindless fool."
Jeong Myeong's eyes followed the gesture and his face went pale.
The battlefield was a graveyard. Bodies lay everywhere, broken and bloodied, their limbs twisted at unnatural angles. Some had been half-eaten, their torsos hollowed out by monsters that had feasted before moving on. Children small, lifeless forms lay among the dead, their faces frozen in terror.
The Sect Leader's hands trembled.
"Make your decision now, Sect Leader of Mount Hua," Chen Wuji said quietly. "Or else be ready to be extinct from the Murium world."
Silence stretched.
Then Jeong Myeong sank to his knees. He bowed his head to the Fist King, his voice barely a whisper.
"We will obey the orders from the Alliance Leader. And we will avenge our fallen brethren."
Chen Wuji nodded. "Good. You are a wise Sect Leader."
Gabriel stepped forward, his expression shifting from steel to concern.
"Where are the civilians? Are they safe?"
Jeong Myeong looked up, his eyes hollow. "We have prepared shelters, but they're on the verge of collapse. We cannot hold out much longer."
Gabriel turned to his unit immediately.
"Paladin Ash!"
A young paladin with silver hair and sharp eyes stepped forward. "Yes, Captain?"
"Use your teleportation magic. Send the barrier magic orbs to every area in need and activate them. Fast."
"Yes, Captain!"
Ash raised his hands, and the air around him began to shimmer. Mana coiled around his fingers like threads of silver light, weaving into intricate patterns. The space beside him tore open not with violence, but with precision revealing a swirling portal that hummed with spatial energy.
He reached through it and withdrew a small, glowing orb one of the defense barriers mass-produced in the magic towers of Presia and Ephor. He tossed it through another portal, and it vanished.
Then another.
And another.
Across the Eastern Territories, the orbs materialized in the sky above collapsing shelters and desperate survivors. They activated one by one blossoming into shimmering domes of translucent light that pushed back the monsters and shielded the people within.
The Murium warriors watched in awe. Some of them had never seen magic like this before. The seamless blend of spatial transportation and barrier creation was beyond anything their sects could achieve.
Chen Wuji observed the barriers with a quiet, appreciative nod. He turned to Gabriel.
"We are grateful, Captain."
Gabriel shook his head. "It's our duty to protect humanity."
The Fist King was silent for a moment. Then he asked the question that had been burning in his mind.
"Who is the Warherald? How can he order even the Pope? I've heard the Holy Empire only answers to its goddess Aria."
Gabriel's expression softened. "He is the Warherald. The chosen warrior of Goddess Aria destined and tasked with the responsibility of saving this world."
Chen Wuji nodded slowly, absorbing the words.
But deep beneath them far below the blood-soaked earth, in the womb of the world something stirred.
A smile.
The creepiest of smiles spread across a face that had no right to exist.
And a voice,
low and ancient, whispered through the darkness.
"It's time."
The smile widened.
"Fine. I'll do it myself."