Shu Mingye didn’t say a word. He just kept half an eye on the demon, and half an eye on the woman currently trying to outshine the blood-red moon with fming butterflies.

  The Red Phantom Maiden snapped its head around like a broken puppet. The bony cws stabbed into the ground as it flung its body backward, narrowly avoiding the swarm. The butterflies hit the soil where it had stood and—

  BOOM.

  The field exploded into a series of small, sparkling bsts. Dust and ash billowed into the air as blue fmes licked hungrily at the ground.

  The Red Phantom Maiden screeched. The sound vibrated through the battlefield, rattling the soldiers’ teeth. Its shredded gown snapped like banners in a storm as it hunched lower, cws digging deep into the dirt, wind screaming louder around its fragile-looking but horrifying frame.

  Linyue’s eyes narrowed as she watched. The wind barrier was thick, swirling so fast it bent the light around it. Could it be broken? Or would they have to wait for the demon to burn out its spiritual energy?

  She gnced at the battlefield. Soldiers scattered, some bleeding, some barely standing. A few were crawling away, clutching their limbs.

  Nope. Too risky. If she waited, more would get turned into meat skewers by those spear-like hands.

  Shu Mingye didn’t wait either. He charged, bck robes slicing through the red-dyed air. His sword fred crimson as he swung it in a wide arc. A wave of fire burst forth—violent, searing, and loud enough to make the soldiers cover their ears. It smmed into the demon’s wind barrier with a sound like thunder. And then—

  Fwoosh.

  Gone. The fmes were snuffed out instantly. The wind barrier didn’t even flicker. The demon’s head twitched. Then it snapped its neck toward Shu Mingye with a horrible crack.

  Linyue tilted her head, thinking. “Shu Mingye is in peak stage third level,” she murmured to herself. “But even his fire can’t break it.”

  The demon raised its grotesque arms, wind screaming around its cws. Spiritual energy condensed until long, curved bdes of air took shape—crescent-shaped gusts, razor-sharp and spinning so fast they sliced through stray debris like paper. With a violent swipe, the demon unched them all. Dozens of wind bdes shrieked across the battlefield, a deadly swarm slicing toward Shu Mingye. They carved into the ground, gouging deep scars into the soil, slicing rocks, snapping broken weapons like twigs.

  Soldiers scrambled out of the way, shouting warnings. “Get down!”

  Shu Mingye didn’t move. He raised his sword and his spiritual energy surged, crimson fmes roaring to life.

  Linyue, still standing calmly on the side, sighed. “Ah. He’s showing off again.”

  She flicked her fingers, blue sparks lighting up her palm. “Fine. I’ll show off too.”

  The wind bdes closed in on Shu Mingye. One was a breath away from slicing his face. And then—WHOOSH!

  A wall of blue fme erupted from the ground in front of him, tall and twisting. The wind bdes smmed into it and disintegrated on contact, their edges breaking apart in a hiss of steam and sparks.

  Shu Mingye froze. His crimson fmes still burned, but the air smelled faintly of… gardenia?

  He turned his head. Linyue stood there, one hand raised zily, blue fme dancing between her fingers. She didn’t even gnce at him, her eyes were locked on the demon.

  From somewhere on the battlefield, Boyi muttered, “She’s insane.”

  Not far from him, Shanjun grinned. “No. She’s perfect.”

  Linyue didn’t know the Red Phantom Maiden’s weakness. But guessing wasn’t ideal with tornadoes and demon cws flying around. Not that the demon pnned to wait for anyone either. Because suddenly the air changed.

  The battlefield warped as if reality itself was bending under the Red Phantom Maiden’s rage. Wind screamed, tearing boulders from the ground, snapping trees. Soldiers were ripped off their feet and sent tumbling through the storm. The cracked earth splintered even more, fissures crawling outwards like jagged spiderwebs, swallowing weapons, and one unfortunate soldier nearby.

  At the storm’s heart stood Linyue and Shu Mingye, the eye of the chaos. Her blue fmes and his crimson fire curled around them in wild, cshing ribbons like two dragons circling each other.

  Then they moved. Linyue darted forward, weaving through flying debris swiftly. Her blue fmes traced elegant arcs around her, burning away razor-sharp wind bdes before they could touch her skin. Beside her, Shu Mingye carved through the gales with powerful sweeps of his sword, each swing unleashing crescents of bzing crimson fire. His movements were precise, efficient, and maybe a little dramatic, but it worked.

  A particurly vicious gust tore toward Linyue’s face. Without blinking, she caught it between two fingers. The deadly slice of wind cracked apart like fragile gss against her blue fmes.

  Then the demon also moved. It didn’t charge. It unched. One second it was hunched low, the next it rocketed skyward with a screech that rattled bones. For a suspended moment, it hung silhouetted against the blood-red sky, its shredded gown billowing like a cursed banner. Then it plummeted. Cws extended like jagged spears. Wind howled around it in a deadly spiral, the pressure so intense the ground cratered before impact.

  Linyue and Shu Mingye didn’t need words. They exchanged one gnce—hers calm, his sharp—and moved in perfect sync.

  Blue fme erupted beneath Linyue’s feet, unching her upward. Crimson fmes trailed Shu Mingye as he mirrored her, his bck robes snapping like wings.

  The three cshed midair.

  Shu Mingye’s fist, wrapped in roaring red fire, smmed into the demon’s ribs. A crunch echoed. At the same moment, Linyue’s fming heel arced down, caving in the demon’s cracked skull.

  The wind barrier howled. Cracks spiderwebbed form around it like breaking gss. But the demon wasn’t finished. With a guttural shriek, it grabbed its own ribs, snapped them out of its chest one by one and hurled them at Linyue and Shu Mingye like a rain of bony missiles.

  Shu Mingye’s eyes widened. “…What?!”

  One rib-missile whistled past his face, narrowly missing his nose. Another spun toward Linyue, only for her to flick her wrist and disintegrate it midair in a burst of blue sparks.

  She didn’t even look fazed. “Resourceful,” she murmured. “Ugly, but resourceful.”

  The soldiers below stared in awe and horror.

  “Did… did that thing just throw its own bones?!”“Are they losing or winning?”“I don’t know, but I think I’m in love again.”

  Shu Mingye ducked low as another jagged rib-missile sliced the air where his head had been a second ago. His crimson fmes shed out, coiling around the Red Phantom Maiden’s legs with a hiss. The fire seared through its tattered robes and cracked skin. The demon shrieked, its cws stabbing wildly. Before it could retaliate, Linyue was already airborne. She twisted in the air, a single elegant flip that sent her long ponytail swirling around. Blue fmes gathered in her hands, condensing into the shape of a give—its bde glowing with a sharp, sapphire brilliance.

  She smmed it down. The blue give sliced cleanly into the demon’s wind barrier. For a heartbeat, the barrier screamed in protest, but the bde carved through anyway. It hit the creature’s shoulder with a sickening CRUNCH, splitting charred bone and leathery skin.

  The soldiers below gasped as glowing embers rained down from above, but the demon still wasn’t done. It spun on its crooked legs with unnatural speed, its elongated arm whipping around like a massive scythe.

  Linyue twisted her body midair, narrowly dodging. But the follow-up wasn’t physical, it was a sudden bst of compressed wind. The force smmed into her ribs, and she went flying. She hit the ground in a low skid, boots digging trenches into the dirt as she tried to brake. Her crimson robes fred around her.

  Shu Mingye’s figure blurred with a streak of bck and crimson across the battlefield as he lunged forward. His fist was already wreathed in a spiraling helix of red fire, heat radiating so intensely it warped the air around him.

  BOOM.

  The punch connected square with the demon’s twisted spine. The resulting explosion of fire and force sent the Red Phantom Maiden hurtling like a broken doll. It crashed straight through a withered tree. The tree snapped in half and toppled, smoking from the heat.

  The soldiers cheered faintly.

  “Did you see that?!”

  Then their voices cut off.

  Suddenly, the air shifted again.