The souls closest to the tear hovered around it, their ethereal forms merging with the jagged edges of the rift, causing the opening to pulse with an unnatural, ghostly light that distorted the surrounding air like heat waves rising from scorched earth.
"No," Chen Wo muttered under his breath, his voice a hoarse whisper filled with defiance as he forced himself to rise up, his muscles screaming in protest against the agony coursing through his battered body.
He refused to lose his life without exacting revenge on Aaron, the burning hatred in his chest fueling a last surge of determination that pushed him beyond the limits of his broken frame.
Chen Wo held his ground, his stance wavering but resolute, blocking attacks from all angles with desperate swings of his sword that whistled through the air, clashing against the intangible yet deadly forms closing in on him.
