The air was thick with ash and tension.
A dozen shadows clawed at the barrier—an unholy union of shape and hatred.
Shadow mages loomed at the treeline, their cloaks billowing like ink bleeding into the wind. They chanted in low, guttural tones—words soaked in ancient malice—that scraped against the mind like rusted blades dragged across stone. Their fingers moved in twisted synchrony, carving dark sigils into the air that pulsed with malevolent energy, feeding the siege.
Beside them, hulking Shadow Warriors surged forward. Their forms were monstrous—flesh laced with shadows, eyes burning with hollow fury. Wielding war-hammers and axes far too large for ordinary men, they struck the barrier with brutal rhythm, each impact reverberating like war drums echoing from a toad's cavernous throat.
Croak. Slam.Croak. Slam.
The forest shook with every blow. Trees shivered. The very earth seemed to flinch.
Inside the trembling ward, Mei Lin gasped. Her knees buckled. The pain of the poison and the strain of sustaining the ward collided within her like twin storms. A flicker of light left her eyes—just for a heartbeat—and the barrier nearly shattered with it.
She clung to consciousness as the barrier absorbed yet another impact, the force rippling through her bones. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and still the sound pressed in—
Croak. Slam. Croak. Slam.
And it was only getting closer.
The sound echoed through the ruined forest like the heartbeat of a dying world.
Bo Jian's brows furrowed. "That one—" He nodded toward the Shadow warriors, its form half-shrouded in smoke, eyes glowing like coals. "Qi Condensation… level eight at least."
Tian Lian's grip tightened around her spear. "That's no scout. That's a Siege Breaker."
The barrier flared as another blow landed, sending spiderweb cracks of energy across its surface. Mei Lin stirred, but her breath was ragged. The ward—her ward—was dying.
Lu Chen's jaw clenched. He scanned the shadows, the enemy ranks, the flickering ward, and then—his gaze snapped to Bo Jian's trembling hand.
The talisman.
Its surface flickered with ancient power, unstable.
"This is it," Bo Jian said grimly. "The talisman can break the dimensional fold. Get us to the gate."
Ke Zhen's eyes narrowed. "How many?"
Bo Jian looked up, sorrow sharp in his expression. "Two."
Silence.
Then came the sound again.
Croak. Slam.
Croak. Slam.
And beneath it, the ward screamed.
Lu Chen exhaled sharply. "The Qi is unstable. You feel that?"
Tian Lian nodded slowly, her breath shallow, as if the very air around them had thickened into fog. "Even if we tear through, it might collapse before anyone crosses."
Bo Jian's voice was hoarse, frayed with exhaustion. "Then what choice do we have?"
Lu Chen's eyes locked onto the shimmering barrier, his brows knitting into a sharp line. He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he stepped forward, his gaze flickering between the shifting glyphs, the cracks spiderwebbing along the surface, the flow of energy pulsing erratically like a dying heartbeat. He dropped to one knee, pressing his palm to the ground, feeling the reverberations in the earth, the chaotic ebb and flow of spiritual force from the shadow mages and warriors hammering from the outside.
"There's a pattern," he murmured, mostly to himself. "The ward matrix—it's not broken, just destabilised. The energy isn't lost, just… misaligned."
A blast struck the barrier. The ground trembled. Mei Lin cried out in pain, her fingers clenching as the backlash tore through her focus.
Lu Chen's mind raced. He recalled the way Mei Lin had channelled energy into the defensive core, the way the glyphs had flickered just before stabilising—only to collapse moments later under the weight of the assault.
"If we take turns reinforcing the outer circuit, we can siphon off the strain. Keep the core from burning out. That'll give the potion time to work… and buy us a fighting chance."
Bo Jian blinked. "You want us to hold the line while we keep the ward alive?"
Lu Chen stood, eyes hard. "It's either that… or watch her die while the rest of us fall beside her."
Bo Jian's jaw clenched. "You're gambling on a half-broken ward and a healing potion that may not work in time."
"And what would you suggest?" Tian Lian snapped, turning toward him. "Let her go through the gate alone while we stay and die buying time?"
"That might be the only way," Bo Jian shot back, voice rising with frustration. "If she doesn't make it, none of this matters. We have to protect the Healer."
"Two can go through," Tian Lian said coldly. "Who decides who stays?"
Silence fell, thick and choking. Outside the barrier, the croak-slam rhythm of the Shadow Warriors echoed like the tolling of a death bell. The barrier flashed red with strain.
Croak. Slam.
Croak. Slam.
Lu Chen's voice cut through the argument, calm but edged with steel. "We won't survive if we split. Not like this. If we run, we leave Mei Lin vulnerable. If we all stay without a plan, we're dead within minutes."
He looked each of them in the eye, his tone unwavering.
"There's no perfect choice. But if we rotate the burden of the ward—hold the glyph lines steady while Mei Lin recovers—we can stall them. I'll anchor the circuit first. Tian Lian, you're next. Bo Jian—"
"She won't last if they break through," Bo Jian said, still resisting, but his voice had softened, wavering.
"She won't last if we give up," Lu Chen countered, stepping forward. "This is the only path where we all have a chance."
Another blast cracked across the barrier. Mei Lin let out a strangled gasp as energy sparked violently across her skin.
Bo Jian looked at her, then at the shadows gathering outside. Finally, he exhaled, long and bitter. "Damn it all. Fine. We do it your way."
Fan Tuo's hand was already moving, sketching stabilisation glyphs into the air. "Let's give her that chance."
Lu Chen's eyes narrowed, focusing inward. "Then hold fast. They're coming."
And from beyond the tree line, a new shadow emerged—taller, heavier. A Shadow Warrior unlike the rest.
Qi Condensation. Peak of Level Eight.
As the group braced for Lu Chen's plan, a sudden pulse of defensive Qi shimmered along the northern arc of the barrier.
Fan Tuo stood there—silent, focused, his hand pressed against the flickering ward. Pale light pulsed from his palm as he reinforced the weakest point with raw energy, sweat glistening on his brow. His robes were torn, his breathing ragged, but his stance was unshaken.
A deep boom resounded as another Shadow Warrior hurled himself at the barrier, and Fan Tuo's arm buckled slightly under the backlash. But he didn't fall. Not yet.
Lu Chen dropped to one knee beside Mei Lin and pulled a small glass vial from his sleeve—the health potion, glowing faintly with golden warmth. Her face was pale, lips tinged blue.
"Drink this," he said, his voice steady but low, urgent. He helped tilt her head, pressing the vial gently to her lips.
The liquid slipped down her throat, searing hot for a heartbeat—then a rush of warmth pulsed through her chest. Mei Lin gasped, her eyes fluttering. Colour crept back into her cheeks, and her breath, which had been ragged and shallow, deepened into something steadier. Her fingers twitched with returning strength.
"It's working," she whispered, barely audible.
But there was no time for relief.
Boom.
The third Shadow Warrior—larger than the rest, its Qi like a storm compressed into flesh—charged from the darkness and brought its great blade down on the barrier with a thunderous crack. The ward lit up in a blaze of blinding silver, lines of energy dancing like lightning through the air.
Fan Tuo, still lingering just behind Tian Lian to assist with the transition, took the brunt of the feedback.
He staggered back, clutching his chest as a tremor rippled through the earth.
Then—cough!
A thick, violent burst of blood splashed from his lips. He dropped to one knee, one hand braced against the ground, the other still glowing faintly with the remnants of his Qi.
"Fan Tuo!" Bo Jian called out, already leaping toward him.
"I'm—fine," Fan Tuo rasped, though blood dripped freely from his mouth. "Just—damn thing hit harder than I expected."
Lu Chen's eyes flicked between Mei Lin and the shaking barrier. The potion was stabilising her, but not fast enough. And Fan Tuo's condition... if they didn't rotate fast enough, he'd be the first to fall.
Lu Chen's gaze swept the battlefield, calculating. The shadow mages were amplifying the warriors—if they didn't buy time now, the barrier wouldn't last another minute.
"Ke Zhen. Bo Jian." His voice cut through the chaos like a blade. "With me."
They both snapped to attention, nodding without hesitation.
"We hit them hard—fast. Keep the pressure off the barrier. Don't try to win. Just buy time."
Bo Jian tightened his grip on his staff, his fingers glowing faintly with residual barrier Qi. "Got it."
Ke Zhen rolled his shoulders, eyes sharp with resolve. "Let's give them something to chase."
Lu Chen drew his blades with a sharp shhk, its edge catching the faint glow of the wardlight. The three of them broke from the barrier's edge like shadows erupting from light, vanishing into the mist with the silence of trained killers.
The moment they crossed the line, the third Shadow Warrior turned with a low growl, its massive frame rotating with terrifying speed. The shadow mages faltered slightly, their rhythm disrupted.
That was the window.
Lu Chen lunged forward first, his blade a silver arc aiming for the Warrior's wrist—forcing it to shift its stance and pivot. Ke Zhen followed up immediately, unleashing a flurry of light-speed strikes toward its flank. Bo Jian, a step behind, launched an explosive spell into the treeline, scattering the mages and breaking their incantations.
"How long do you need to fully activate the ward, Mei Lin?" Fan Tuo's voice was sharp, filled with urgency as he gripped his blade tightly, his eyes never straying far from the battle. His focus was still split between their defense and the fragile condition of Mei Lin's ward.
Beside him, Tian Lian stood with her spear poised, her body a perfect balance of grace and readiness, every muscle taut with anticipation. Her eyes darted across the battlefield, scanning for any sign of movement, before snapping back to Mei Lin, her gaze softened by concern but hardened by the urgency of the moment.
Mei Lin's voice, though soft, cut through the chaos of battle. "A few more moments. I can feel the ward stabilizing, but the energy is still volatile." Her words were strained, as though the effort of maintaining the barrier was draining the last reserves of her strength. "I need more time, but if we don't hold them off... the ward won't be able to fully form."