Chapter 53 – Sorrow of a Race
The moment Jin felt the tug on the blood-stained strand of Gorr's hair that he'd entrusted to Lyra, he shot to his feet.
"Someone called us," Gorr muttered, his eyes snapping open. Though he had been dozing in a nearby cave, he instantly sharpened like a blade being drawn. "It's her."
Jin nodded. "Let's go."
Without further words, space twisted. A ripple swept across their surroundings, folding the world like paper. The two vanished in a burst of silvery distortion.
They reappeared within a darkened mountain hollow, saturated with elemental turbulence. Jin's instincts flared. Lyra stood at the edge of a large circular formation etched deep into the mountain stone, facing a group of rogue cultivators—none of whom had noticed the sudden arrival of two monsters.
Three men stood in the center, all early-stage Adept Realm cultivators, surrounding a glowing seal embedded in the floor. Symbols flickered violently, threatening to shatter. Lyra held off six Initiate Realm guards alone, her water and wind elements swirling in defense and counterstrike.
"What the hell are they doing…" Jin muttered, narrowing his eyes.
Then he saw it—an insignia on the glowing seal, unmistakably identical to the one in the ancient ruin he'd just left. His blood chilled.
"The ancient race," he whispered. "They're trying to break the seal."
Jin's pupils constricted, and without hesitation, he launched forward.
No waiting. No hiding. No mercy.
A vortex of fire and earth burst from his limbs as he descended like a falling star. The nearest Adept Realm cultivator turned too late.
"Burning Fang!" Jin roared, a crimson blade of fire and hardened stone forming along his arm. He cleaved down, striking the man's shoulder. The cultivator screamed as the essence inside him began unraveling.
"Elemental Devastation," Jin murmured coldly.
The man froze, his body glowing from within as his own elemental essence began to rupture violently. In seconds, he fell to his knees, his fire and lightning affinity dispersing like smoke. He collapsed, unconscious—his core shattered beyond recovery.
The second adept roared in fury and launched a spear of condensed lightning. Jin sidestepped, the wind folding around him. With a flick of his wrist, a torrent of water exploded upward, turning into icy spears mid-air.
"Azure Tempest Lance!"
The second adept was impaled across the shoulder, but before he could react, earth spires erupted around him, pinning him in place. Jin blurred forward, his aura exploding.
From behind, the third Adept Realm cultivator tried to strike Jin's blind spot.
But then Gorr appeared.
Space twisted as if reality hiccupped, and Gorr materialized behind the attacker. Without warning, he slashed with a blade of space essence—a shimmering violet crescent.
"Spatial Rend."
The attack cut clean through the air, and the Adept barely managed to dodge. A deep gash appeared across his side.
"You should've run," Gorr said lazily, teleporting again.
The man retaliated with wind-enhanced punches, but each strike hit nothing but air. Gorr flickered around him, untouchable.
Jin, meanwhile, was finishing off the second Adept. He unleashed his Wind Drill, a spiraling punch imbued with howling winds that blew straight through the man's chest plate and knocked him out cold. The man fell, convulsing.
With a growl, the third adept lashed out at Gorr using twin sabers wrapped in lightning. "You're not fast enough to touch me!"
Gorr exhaled, amused. "I don't need to touch you."
He raised a hand.
"Spatial Turbulence."
A swirling maelstrom of space folded in on itself right where the man stood. The Adept Realm cultivator blinked—then screamed. His entire body was sucked into the rift, contorted and shredded by chaotic spatial folds.
It collapsed shut a second later.
Jin glanced at Gorr and gave a curt nod. "You really do cheat."
"You love it," Gorr grinned.
Across the cavern, Lyra stood her ground. She wielded a twin-bladed halberd glowing with wind and water elements. Her control was fierce, and her strikes sharp—each one enough to delay or injure. Though not yet in the Adept Realm, she was close. Her footwork danced along the battlefield, kicking up wind barriers and slicing water blades to hold back the Initiates.
Jin flicked his wrist. "Let's finish this."
He erupted forward with explosive force. Earth hardened beneath his feet for traction while fire laced his palms. He reached one Initiate Realm cultivator and struck him with a sweeping wave of fire, knocking him across the chamber.
Another tried to run, but a torrent of water lifted him mid-air. Jin snapped his fingers.
"Icicle Break."
The water froze instantly around the man's legs and arms, then shattered with a pop, knocking him unconscious.
Gorr simply teleported through them. His space slashes left no trace, warping the battlefield with elegant brutality. Two more fell before they even realized they'd been hit.
Lyra dealt the finishing blow with a slicing gale that knocked the last guard unconscious. She stumbled slightly, breathing hard.
Jin caught her. "You okay?"
She nodded, wiping her forehead. "I saw the symbol. I didn't know what it meant. But I knew… it wasn't something they should be touching."
Jin turned to the fractured seal. It pulsed faintly now, still dormant.
"We were too late to stop the attempt. But at least we halted the ritual," Jin muttered.
"But what were they even trying to do?" Lyra asked.
Jin stared at the fading glow. "They were trying to awaken something. From the ancient race. They didn't know what they were dealing with."
Beneath the cracked stone, something pulsed once more—barely noticeable. A hum… a heartbeat?
Gorr stepped closer and frowned. "Whatever it is… it's not gone. We only delayed it."
Jin nodded grimly. "Then we need to get stronger. Fast."
He turned to Lyra, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you. Without you, they might've succeeded."
She smiled faintly. "You trusted me enough to leave that strand. I wasn't going to let you down."
Jin looked down at the collapsed cultivators around them, then at the fading remnants of the seal. His hands clenched.
He had a new skill. A terrifying power. But even now… he wasn't strong enough to protect what mattered.
He looked at Gorr. "Time to move again. There are more ruins, more clues."
"And more enemies," Gorr added, grinning.
Lyra stepped forward. "You'll let me come next time?"
Jin smiled. "No need to ask. You're already part of this."
But even as they left the desecrated ruin, Jin's thoughts remained troubled. Something deep within the earth still stirred. And the seal, though disrupted, had already leaked… just a little.
Just enough.