Rain poured in the cliffs, mixing with mud and blood. Jin Seiryun stood alone, sword in hand, staring at the battlefield. His sect lay in ruins—friends fallen, banners shredded.
"You… really think you can stop me?" a voice hissed.
Jin's chest tightened. His so-called brother, the one he trusted most, stood there, eyes cold and unreadable.
"Why?" Jin shouted, gripping his sword tighter. "Why did you betray us? After everything we've been through?"
His brother didn't answer. Just a blank stare. Jin tried again. "Answer me! We trusted you!"
Still nothing.
Jin's mind raced. "What's wrong with him…? This isn't my brother that I knew."
His brother lunged. Jin blocked and countered, but his strikes were met with precision and calculated aggression. He realized—this wasn't just betrayal. Something else was at play.
Pain lanced through his side as a blade grazed him. Damn it… He suppressed the injury. One last move, one forbidden technique he never think one day he'll use. He let his soul stretch beyond this world, beyond the storm, beyond life itself.
Light swallowed everything.
When he opened his eyes, he wasn't Jin Seiryun anymore. He was a newborn in the arms of strangers. The Duke and Duchess Ardelion stared down at him, crying. Their prayers for a child had finally been answered.
Jin Ardelion. That would be his name. A miracle child… a sword saint reborn.
And one day… he thought, even as the world spun around him, I'll find out why my brother wasn't himself. Someone's behind this… I know it.