The sky burned gold.
Wings of light tore through the clouds, scattering the storm like dust. The wind howled, carrying a sound that was neither thunder nor flame, but something older, deeper. A voice that made the world itself tremble.
Yue Shan froze mid-step. Even her breath faltered. "It's here…"
Behind her, Jian Wu forced his eyes open. His body shook with every heartbeat, the seal on his chest pulsing so bright it hurt to look at.
Through the mist above, a shape descended, humanoid, but vast, its wings stretching wide enough to blot out the horizon. Its armor shimmered with molten gold, engraved with patterns that shifted like living scripture. Where its eyes should've been, two suns burned quietly.
And when it spoke, even the snow stopped falling.
"The Seal awakens again. The cycle repeats."
---
Yue Shan pulled Jian Wu behind a frozen boulder. "Don't move. Don't breathe."
He gave a tired half-smile. "Kind of hard to do both right now."
"Not funny," she whispered sharply. "That thing isn't a cultivator. It's a Seraph, Heaven's executioner."
"Guess Heaven's running out of patience."
Her grip tightened. "If it finds you, it won't stop. Not until there's nothing left."
Jian Wu leaned back against the stone, exhaling slowly. "So? What's new?"
Yue Shan glared. "You really can't stop mouthing off, can you?"
He smiled faintly. "It's a bad habit."
---
The Seraph landed.
The impact shook the valley. Ice cracked for miles. Waves of divine pressure rolled outward, crushing trees, flattening snow, and driving every creature nearby to its knees.
Yue Shan's protective barrier flared, thin, trembling under the weight of it. Jian Wu felt his lungs seize as the air itself turned heavy.
The Seraph's voice echoed across the mountain.
"Bearer of the Seal. You are summoned to judgment."
Yue Shan hissed, "Stay down."
But Jian Wu pushed himself to his feet, swaying, eyes locked on the glowing figure. "Judgment? For what? Breathing?"
"For existing."
Jian Wu laughed weakly. "Then Heaven's standards are getting desperate."
The Seraph raised its hand. Golden fire gathered in its palm, spinning into a sphere brighter than the sun. The air screamed.
Yue Shan lunged in front of him, forming a seal with both hands. "Barrier of the Silent Sky!"
A wall of shimmering ice rose before them. The blast hit a heartbeat later.
The world turned white.
---
The explosion hurled them both backward. Yue Shan hit the ground hard, coughing blood. Jian Wu slid across the snow, barely conscious.
When the light faded, the ice wall was gone, melted into steam.
The Seraph stepped forward, unscathed, halo of flame swirling gently behind it.
"Resistance is futile. Mortal flesh cannot bear divine weight."
"Yeah?" Jian Wu rasped, dragging himself upright. "Then maybe it's time someone tried."
He thrust his hand forward. The seal on his chest ignited, flooding the air with blue light. It spread through the snow like veins of lightning.
Yue Shan's eyes widened. "Stop! You'll destroy yourself!"
"Too late," he whispered.
The ground erupted.
Pillars of blue flame surged upward, meeting the Seraph's golden fire mid air. The impact split the clouds apart, revealing a sky that bled light and shadow in equal measure.
---
The Seraph paused.
For the first time, its voice carried something almost like surprise.
"Impossible. The Heaven-Breaker energy cannot exist without its host's death."
Jian Wu wiped the blood from his mouth. "Guess I'm bad at following rules."
"You mock creation itself."
"I've been mocked enough for one lifetime."
The Seraph raised its sword, pure radiance forged into form. The ground around it fractured under divine weight.
"Then be unmade."
It swung.
Yue Shan's heart stopped. "Jian!"
The world blurred. Jian Wu stepped forward, the seal blazing like a second sun. His hand caught the blade, barehanded.
The impact was cataclysmic.
The mountain roared. Lightning crawled across the heavens.
And yet, he held it.
The Seraph tilted its head slightly. "How?"
Jian Wu's voice was raw, trembling with fury and pain.
"Because Heaven doesn't decide when I die."
He twisted his wrist. The blade shattered.
The Seraph staggered back. For a moment, just a heartbeat, the divine figure faltered.
Jian Wu collapsed to one knee, gasping. His right arm was burned black, flesh seared to the bone. But his eyes never left the Seraph.
---
Yue Shan rushed to his side. "You idiot! You just grabbed Heaven's fire with your bare hand!"
He coughed, smiling weakly. "And I'm still here."
"Barely!" she snapped.
"Still counts."
She bit back a curse, then looked toward the Seraph. "It's recovering. We need to run."
"Go," he said. "You're faster."
She froze. "Don't you dare.."
"Yue Shan." His tone softened. "If I don't stop it here, it'll follow us. Someone has to hold the line."
Her fists trembled. "You can't even stand!"
He smiled faintly. "Then I'll fight kneeling."
---
The Seraph's wings flared again. Its armor regenerated, the cracks sealing with golden flame.
"Defiance will not change destiny."
"Good," Jian Wu muttered. "I'm not asking permission."
He rose again, every movement agony. The blue seal burned brighter, spreading veins of light across his chest and arms. The snow around him began to evaporate.
Yue Shan whispered, "He's… changing."
The Seraph lifted its hand. "This form… it cannot be…"
Jian Wu stepped forward, his shadow stretching behind him like a broken halo.
"Heaven-Breaker Form, First Gate."
The world shook.
The wind stopped.
Even sound seemed to vanish.
Then, boom..
Blue light exploded outward, swallowing everything in sight. The Seraph was thrown back, wings flaring desperately to resist the blast. Cracks spread across its armor again.
Jian Wu's eyes glowed faint white. "Not so divine now, huh?"
The Seraph's voice thundered through the silence.
"You are not mortal."
"Guess I'm something in between."
"Then you must not exist."
The Seraph's wings ignited, forming a burning cross across the sky. The heavens split open, golden rain falling like tears of fire.
Jian Wu stood beneath it all, smiling through the blood.
"Then come erase me."
---
The two forces clashed again, Heaven and defiance.
Light and shadow collided until the line between them vanished. The valley trembled, mountains cracked, and ancient seals shattered beneath their feet.
Yue Shan watched from afar, shielding her face from the light. She could barely see him through the storm of fire, but she could feel him.
That impossible heartbeat.
The heartbeat of the boy who refused to die.
---
At last, silence.
The light faded. The snow returned.
The Seraph fell to one knee, its armor cracked, golden blood dripping onto the ice.
It stared at Jian Wu, who stood trembling, barely holding his body upright.
"This is not over," the Seraph said. "Heaven remembers."
"Good," Jian Wu whispered. "So will I."
The Seraph's wings folded, its form dissolving into light. In seconds, it was gone, leaving only a faint golden mark burned into the air.
Yue Shan ran toward him. "Jian!"
He turned to her slowly, smile weak but defiant. "Told you I'd fight kneeling."
Then his legs gave out.
She caught him before he hit the ground. His eyes fluttered clo
sed, the blue mark on his chest dimming once more.
Above them, the clouds began to close again, hiding Heaven's gaze. But even now, far beyond mortal sight, something stirred.
"The Heaven-Breaker lives."
And this time, Heaven truly began to fear.