The peak of the Whispering Mountains, a place that had known only the silent passage of clouds and the lonely cry of the wind for centuries, was now the stage for an absolute, suffocating suppression. Fengliu, the proud Zephyr-Tide Roc King, was frozen in the heart of his own domain, a majestic statue of iridescent feathers held in the unbreachable, invisible cage of Khaos's void-lock.
Before him, the colossal, terrifying form of the Stygian Void-Crusher stood, its galaxy-filled shell blotting out the sun, its immense presence a weight that made the very mountain tremble. The Roc King, a sovereign of speed who could outrun the storm, had not even perceived the attack. It was a humiliation so profound, so absolute, that it shattered his ancient pride more effectively than any physical blow.
Fengliu, trapped and helpless, felt a wave of pure, defiant fury surge through his paralyzed spirit. He was a sovereign, a king of the sky. To be so utterly dominated was a fate worse than death. He focused every last ounce of his will, forcing a single, defiant thought out into the open.
"I would rather have my soul scattered to the winds," he projected, his mental voice a shriek of pure, unyielding pride, "than submit to an alliance born of a human's ambition!"
Khaos let out a silent, mental laugh, a sound of cold, pitying amusement that was more insulting than any physical attack. "Submit? You mistake my offer for a negotiation, little bird. This king does not require your consent to acquire your service."
One of Khaos's colossal, void-black pincers rose slowly, its razor-sharp tip not aimed at the Roc King's throat, but at his forehead. A small, complex, and terrifyingly powerful symbol, a master-servant seal woven from pure void energy, began to form just before the pincer's tip.
"Your will is an amusing, but ultimately irrelevant, factor," Khaos's voice boomed with the finality of a god. "This king can brand your very soul whether you wish it or not. Your pride will be the first thing I erase."
Fengliu's spirit recoiled in absolute horror. It was one thing to be killed; it was another, far more terrifying, prospect to be turned into a mindless slave, your very being rewritten by an outside force. His pride, his memories, his very identity—all of it was about to be stripped away.
It was in this moment of absolute, soul-shaking terror that Li Yu finally stepped forward, his voice calm but firm, a quiet anchor in the storm of sovereign pressure.
"Khaos, that is enough."
Khaos paused, his pincer hovering, and turned one of his immense, stalked eyes to look down at the small human. "Boy, you dare to interfere in this king's judgment?"
"I am not interfering with your judgment," Li Yu replied, his tone respectful but unwavering. "Forcing him into servitude would be simple for you, I have no doubt. But we need his skills with his mind and will intact. A broken slave makes a poor spymaster. We need a willing partner, not a mindless tool."
He then turned his attention to the trapped and terrified Roc King. "Sovereign Fengliu, your pride is admirable. But this is Lord Khaos, a being whose power is well beyond yours. Your continued defiance will only lead to your annihilation, or a fate you would find far worse. Apologize for your insult and we can all walk away from this mountain today."
He was offering the Roc King a way out, an off-ramp from the highway to oblivion. He was offering him a chance to keep his life but lower his pride..
Fengliu, hearing the unexpected intervention, felt a flicker of something he had not expected: a chance. He looked at the colossal, terrifying crab, then at the small, calm human who seemed to be the only being in existence who could speak counter to the monster and not be instantly annihilated. Khaos's power gave him a hope that was extinguished for hundreds of years, he took his chance.
"Wait," Fengliu's mental voice was no longer a defiant shriek, but a tight, urgent plea. He looked at Li Yu, his sky-blue eyes filled with a desperate, calculating light.
"We require a leader for a new intelligence branch," Li Yu said, having a feeling that the roc king already knew why they had come. His intel must have been that good for him to be so well known in these parts.
"I will not serve you out of fear," Fengliu stated, his voice gaining a sliver of its former strength. He then looked at the power "But… if you can grant me my revenge… if you can deliver the justice I have sought for centuries… then my life, my soul, my eyes, and my ears are yours to command. Willingly. And for all eternity."
A profound, ancient sorrow, a grief so deep it seemed to have stained his very soul, washed out from the Roc King.
Khaos let out a mental snort of derision. "Revenge? The pathetic, driving force of mortals and lesser beings. This is a waste of time, boy."
"Please let him speak," Li Yu said back to Khaos, his curiosity piqued.
Fengliu began his tale, his thoughts a torrent of grief and rage that had been bottled up for hundreds of years. "You are not the first human I have encountered in my life," he projected, his mental voice laced with a venomous hatred. "Centuries ago, I was not alone. I had a sister. My twin. We were the twin sovereigns of the Whispering Mountains, the twin joys of the sky. She was faster than me, more graceful. Her feathers shone brighter than my own."
His thoughts became a vivid, painful memory. He showed them a vision of two magnificent, iridescent Rocs, dancing in the clouds, their joyous cries echoing through the mountains.
"We were exploring an ancient, pre-human ruin that had surfaced after a great earthquake in the Blasted Lands to the east. It was a place of immense power and danger. And we were not alone. We were attacked."
The memory shifted. The sky was red, the air thick with the smell of ash and brimstone. A new creature appeared, a monster of horrifying power. It was not a beast of flesh, but a colossal golem of jagged, black volcanic rock and obsidian. It moved with a slow, grinding inevitability, and in the center of its massive chest, a sphere of pure, white-hot magma pulsed like a malevolent heart.
It had no true face, only two burning embers for eyes set in a crude, humanoid head. It did not breathe flame; it exhaled a shimmering wave of pure, incinerating heat that turned the very air to glass. This was the Molten Heart Colossus.
"It was around an 8th-level Core Formation beast back then," Fengliu's thought was a choked sob. "A power that already surpassed our own. It was a creature of pure, mindless destruction. But it was not acting alone."
The memory focused. Standing on a high cliff overlooking the battle, cloaked in shadows, was the figure of a human. They were clad in dark, concealing robes, their face obscured by a deep hood. But they were undeniably human, and they fought in perfect concert with the beast.
"The human… was probably it's partner. They fought in perfect sync, a pact of destruction for mutual gain. The human would cast strange, corrosive curses that weakened my sister's defenses while the Colossus attacked with overwhelming force. They toyed with us, drove us into a trap. My sister… she fought to protect me, to give me a chance to escape. The Colossus's heat-wave… it consumed her. I saw her burn. I saw her fall. And the human… simply watched."
A wave of pure, undiluted agony and hatred, so powerful it made the air itself grow cold, pulsed from the frozen Roc King.
"I fled. I was a coward. I have lived with that shame every single day since. I have spent the last three hundred years gathering information, watching the world, searching for any clue, any whisper of a monster that exhales pure heat, or of a human who fights with such dark arts. That is the reason for my network. That is the reason for my neutrality. I deal with all sides because any one of them might hold the key to finding my sister's murderer."
He focused his desperate, pleading gaze on Li Yu. "My hatred of your kind… it is born of that day. But you… your power… the beings at your command… it is a power I have never seen. I am a Mid-stage Core Formation expert. But my network has tracked its movements, its signs of devastation. Its aura has grown over the centuries. It is no longer at the 8th-level. It has long since reached the peak. I can never face it alone. But you… you could. If you help me kill that beast, if you help me find the human who fought alongside it and deliver my vengeance… then my life is yours. That is my price. My oath. Sworn on my shattered soul."
The story ended, leaving a heavy, sorrowful silence on the mountaintop.
"A touching, if pathetic, tale," Khaos's voice rumbled, his contempt returning in full force. "A Peak Core Formation beast? A slightly larger insect. Disposing of it would be a waste of this great one's time. This bird is not worth the effort."
Li Yu was silent for a long moment, his mind processing the story. He looked at the proud, ancient sovereign, now a prisoner, his entire existence bent around a single, burning purpose. He was not just a potential spymaster. He was a powerful, motivated, and now deeply desperate, potential ally.
"Khaos," Li Yu's voice was firm. "Please release him."
"Boy?"
"Please release him," Li Yu repeated. "He has been humbled. He has told us his truth. There is no more need for this."
With a final, mental snort of disapproval, Khaos retracted his power. The invisible cage of void energy vanished.
Fengliu stumbled, his great wings catching the wind as he regained his balance. He was free. He looked at Khaos with a new, terrified respect, then at Li Yu, his eyes full of a desperate, questioning hope.
"Your story is a sad one, Sovereign Fengliu," Li Yu said, his voice full of a quiet, sincere sympathy. "And your quest for vengeance is a heavy burden to bear alone."
He took a step forward, his expression now that of a shrewd negotiator making a final, unmissable offer. "I will not offer you false promises. Finding the human who wronged you could take a lifetime, even with a vast network. But the beast, the Molten Heart Colossus… that is a tangible target. A problem that can be solved with sufficient power."
He looked the Roc King directly in the eye, his voice calm and clear. "So let us make a bargain. You want the Colossus dead. I require a spymaster. We will go with you. We will hunt this creature down, and we will extinguish its fire from this world. That is my part of the deal."
He held the Roc King's gaze, his own eyes as deep and profound as an abyss.
"And when it is done," he said, his voice a quiet, unbreakable promise, "you will be the eyes of our empire."