Elaine noticed a sudden crushing pressure in the room a moment before Douglas. Without thinking, she grabbed Douglas's broad arm with both hands and twisted her body to haul him to the side.

"What?" Douglas yelped in surprise. Their fall was accompanied by a shockwave filled with shards of glass that threw them further than intended, and Elaine was blinded by a flash of white.

"Ugh," Elaine groaned as she hit the floor hard. She hadn't done much body tempering as neither void nor illusion Qi was suited for it, and she had cushioned Douglas's fall.

Blinking away the blinding light, vague shapes and outlines gradually sharpened until she could see clearly again. Frozen shards of glass once belonging to the control room's window coated the room like spikes. Close to the window, a Mudcloak stood as a statue of ice with its hand stretched out toward her as it had been caught in the path of the moonbeam.

Elaine followed the frozen path of the moonbeam and found it led to a set of feet poking out of pristine white robes wreathed in dancing white flames.

"It's one of them," Douglas hissed under his breath with a grim expression.

Oh no. Elaine felt her heart jump to her throat in fear as she hauled her body around the table to get a better look. Sure enough, one of the Lunarshade Elders stood there, glaring at them with pupilless eyes. They were nothing but white, much like his robes and flames. He stood at an impressive height, towering over the shorter tables used by the Mudcloaks, and his entirely bald head almost scraped the ceiling.

"Protect the King!" The Mudcloak, who was most well-versed in speech, brandished a crude dagger from his cloak and charged toward the far superior cultivator. Murky brown flames ignited its entire form and weapon.

Douglas stood up and shouted, "No! Stand down."

The Mudcloak briefly paused its charge before redeciding its allegiance. "Protect the Queen!" it shouted as it resumed its one-man crusade.

"No, damn it" Elaine gasped out in horror as the looming Lunarshade cultivator stared down at the approaching monster with an amused smirk.

"What a pathetic little creature." The Elder's Star Core pressure pulsed out, and Elaine felt her breath stolen from her lungs. The charging Mudcloak fared even worse. It stumbled at the last step and face-planted before the Elder's feet. Desperately, it tried to raise its head and sword, but its limbs trembled due to the pressure weighing down upon it.

Elaine was mortified as she saw the Elder raise his sword like an executioner.

She loved the little guys. Move dammit. Elaine cursed her body and soul for trembling before a foe. MOVE. The void answered her prayers, tearing open and swallowing her whole. She was now floating in the in-between. No matter how carefully woven heaven's reality was, there were slight gaps between the rivers of Qi as they shifted about. It was these gaps that void cultivators used to traverse great distances.

Now floating in the void and unaffected by the Elder's pressure, Elaine freely traversed the void to position herself behind the Elder.

You can do this, Elaine lied to herself to calm the raging nerves. Defeating someone from a higher realm was almost unheard of, as their mere presence alone was enough to make lesser cultivators kneel at their feet and await death.

Elaine wasn't a fighter. She spent years studying and researching alongside her uncle in Darklight City. After joining the Ashfallen Sect, she began to catch up, but compared to the others, she was still lacking.

No. Stop thinking logically. Elaine shook her head and pulled on her 9th-stage Soul Core to draw upon her illusion Qi and a pitiful amount of void Qi. If the logical outcome was to escape and let this Elder slaughter everyone, then she would rather take the stupid approachfight till the bitter end. Translucent flames that shifted between various colors wreathed her hands as she narrowed her eyes.

I can do it. No, I have to do it. I am not the same as before. I have been blessed by the help of Ashlock and Mars to further myself by unlocking and developing this second affinity.

A mere second had passed, yet it felt too long. Elaine emerged silently from the void as the Elder's sword blurred, horizontally cutting the trembling Mudcloak in two. Blood flew through the air as the sword completed its arc, splattering the far wall and Douglas's horrified face.

The Elder seemed to notice the sudden person behind him as he turned, but Elaine threw herself onto his back. The burning chill of the lunar Qi bit deep into her bones. Unable to hold back, she screamed in agony as she reached up and clamped both her hands on either side of the Elder's head.

"Elaine?!" Douglas roared as he staggered forward despite the immense pressure bearing down on him. His face was a deep red due to the splattered blood of the executed Mudcloak and the veins bulging through his skin.

Elaine felt more confident seeing Douglas daring to resist the Elder's wrath alongside her. They were in this together, and if she failed, Douglas's head might even be the one flying next.

Instead of running or begging for his life, he is more concerned about me. Elaine smiled slightly through the burning cold as she merged her pitiful void Qi with her illusion Qi to pierce the Elder's mental defenses and went straight to his consciousness. Flooding his mind with her void and illusion Qi combo, she gave the man a suggestion inspired by her enduring agony.

The moonlight burns you.

"Agh!" The Elder staggered away from the broken window and deeper into the control room to escape the moonlight streaking in. Mudcloaks trembled all around as his pressure pinned them to the ground.

Elaine desperately held on with her legs wrapped around the Elder's waist and one hand gripping his shoulder. With a flash of silver, she summoned a dagger to her free hand and coated it in all the void Qi she could muster.

Die, you bastard! Elaine rarely felt genuine rage, but seeing the dead Mudcloak, who had died trying to protect her, awakened an indescribable anger.

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Bringing her hand up, she aimed for the Elder's neck and stabbed downward. Her body was thrown to the side by the Elder's aggressive movements. The blade instead bit deep into his shoulder. Most of the void Qi on the dagger was consumed to penetrate the layers of lunar Qi, and the man's body was tempered to the point it felt like she had struck marble rather than flesh. Yet, despite their gap in cultivation and body constitution, the dagger made it all the way in.

The Elder howled in even more agony and desperately reached over his shoulder. Grabbing her wrist that was still holding the dagger hilt, Elaine heard an audible crack as every bone in her hand was crushed to dust.

Elaine's body took a second to register the shocking pain, and once she did, her entire body seized up as she cried out in pain, and tears welled in her eyes. Perhaps someone like Douglas could keep fighting through the pain, but Elaine had long reached her limit as she was thrown off the Elder's back and tumbled to the floor.

I did my best. Was all Elaine could think as she lay there on the floor, watching the Elder stumbling about the room like a raging drunk as he believed the moonlight was burning him alive.

A small smile appeared on Elaine's lips. Even she was surprised at how ruthless of a suggestion she had given the Elder, and because the illusion Qi had been merged with some void Qi, dispelling it would be more problematic.

But at the end of the day, it's just an illusion. The moonlight isn't really harming the Elder. If he could ignore it, he could keep fighting like normal. Also, it was a suggestion. It wouldn't have worked if it was something he deemed impossible.

"What did you do to me?!" The Elder collapsed to his knees and clutched his head, "The moonlight, why does it reject me? Why does it burn me?" The white lunar flames dancing across his skin diminished as he returned to screaming.

"Because you killed one of my people," Douglas trudged over to the collapsed Elder. The pressure on the room had lessened considerably so he could move. He kneed the Elder in the face, sending the man sprawling onto his back, and before the Elder knew what was happening, Douglas rammed his earth Qi wreathed walking stick into his heart.

The Elder's eyes widened, and he wheezed. "You think... such a wound... will kill me?"

"No," Douglas said simply as he put his entire weight onto the Elder by sitting on his chest and brutally ripped out the dagger embedded in his shoulder. "But this will," Douglas's earth Qi coated the blade as he swiftly cut the Elder's head off.

The Elder's hand briefly lifted before it fell limp. All at once, the pressure blanketing the room vanished, and Elaine was able to let out a nervous breath. It was over.

"Elaine, you were amazing," Douglas let out a sigh of relief as he looked to the ceiling, his shoulders drooping as the tension left. "Since when could you do that?"

"Um..." Elaine felt her face go red, "I practiced hard recently."

"I could tell. That was very impressive," Douglas said, rolling off the Lunarshade Elder's corpse and staggering to his feet. He was clearly exhausted as he gave the corpse a half-hearted kick. "That was for my chief commander," he muttered sadly as he glanced at the other much smaller and gruesome corpse.

A portal suddenly rippled into existence, and three thick black vines covered in thorns wielding swords surged through. They seemed to wave around in the middle of the room in confusion.

"He's already dead?" Ashlock's voice echoed in Elaine's mind. "How...?"

"Elaine"

"We killed him together," Elaine interrupted Douglas, and they exchanged a knowing, weary grin.

"I see, though I still don't see how. You are both in the Soul Fire Realm and lacking combat experience. That was a seasoned Elder in the Star Core Realm... whatever, I don't have time. Good shot, Douglas, you hit the Grand Elder."

"Thank you boss," Douglas briefly bowed toward Willow in the distance.

The black vines picked up the Lunarshade corpse and carried him through the portal, likely to be turned into an Ent or devoured by the demonic tree.

"Boss, I know you are busy," Douglas picked up the two bloody halves of the dead Mudcloak. "But is there anything you can do about this one?"

"I can't revive the dead, but I can turn the Mudcloak into an Ent. Is that agreeable?"

Douglas nodded, "Please."

"Very well." Spatial Qi enveloped the Mudcloak as it rose via telekinesis and was taken away through the portal.

"To heaven!" A Mudcloaked cheered, and the others joined in.

"Saved the King!"

"Mudcloak ascension!"

"No, no, no." Douglas shook his head, "What he did was very stupid. This is bad, understand?"

The Mudcloaks gathered around their King and exchanged confused glances. Their glowing blue eyes peeked through their black cloaks, which Elaine had verified was part of their body and acted like skin.

"Ugh, whatever." Douglas sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "If I tell you guys not to fight, listen to me in the future, okay? The King is strong. I don't need your help sometimes."

"The King doesn't need us?" One of the Mudcloaks muttered, sending the rest into a frenzy.

Douglas grumbled, "That's not what I said..."

"We will die for the King! Don't abandon us!" They grabbed onto his legs and begged as he tried to pry them off.

Elaine chuckled at the scene as she used the table to support herself as she got to her feet. Ow ow ow. How many bones did I break? She flopped her crushed hand and winced. It would be better to ask how many bones remain in my poor hand.

A new portal rippled into existence, and Elaine recognized Red Vine Peak through it. Home.

"You two leave and take the Mudcloaks with you," Ashlock told them. "I'll have Geb return once the battle is over, but it isn't safe for you two here anymore, and I can't spend time protecting you myself."

It was a very kind way to say they were in the way. This fact saddened Elaine a little, but he wasn't wrong. They had barely managed to kill a single Lunarshade Elder by ambushing him, and Elaine was all out of void Qi.

Douglas managed to get the Mudcloaks off him and let Elaine lean on him as they walked through the portal. She gasped in pain with every step as the adrenaline faded and the repercussions of her almost suicidal attack set in.

Before they passed through, Elaine looked through the frozen window at the avatar of moonlight impaled by a pillar of metal. He was surrounded by the remaining Lunarshade Elders, and she could feel the Qi fluctuations of the fight happening over there despite the distance.

It looks like we're winning, Elaine thought as her ears popped and the cold winds of Red Vine Peak ruffled her hair. The portal snapped close behind her, and she hated to admit it, but it was nice to be back to safety.

Douglas ran his fingers through her hair and gently caressed her back.

Elaine answered his advances by leaning further into his embrace, "We survived," she whispered.

Douglas's chest rumbled slightly as he hummed in agreement. "That we did."

"I was so scared," Elaine admitted. Her heart still pounded in her ears, and her legs shook.

"Honestly... me too." Douglas met her gaze, "That I would lose you."

Elaine clicked her tongue and winced as she pushed him off, "Classic earth cultivator. Always having to act tough."

Douglas chuckled and scratched the back of his neck, "Okay, okay, you caught me. I was fucking terrified, alright? Though, isn't it crazy to think Stella is at a stage of cultivation beyond that guy?"

"That's true," Elaine nodded and glanced at the demonic tree that lorded over the peak. And the Patriarch is at a level even higher than that. I have a lot to catch up to if I want to be useful to this sect.

A low thumping sound drew Elaine's focus. Turning around, she saw the light Ent trudging toward them. It collapsed to one knee and offered her a healing wisp.

"Thank you," Elaine said, accepting the offering and shivering in ecstasy as the pain washed away and the bones in her crushed hand reformed. Douglas led the Mudcloaks back to the citadel, and she chose to collapse onto Stella's bench under the tree and just take it all in.

After such an experience, she had a lot to think over. A while passed, and as her gaze drifted across the mountain peak, she noticed something large emerge from the library atop the citadel.

"Kaida?" Elaine tilted her head as the Lyndwrym tasted the outside air with his tongue. "What is he doing out here?"

A rift appeared beside Kaida, and the snake shot her a look before he slithered through.

"Did Kaida just join the fight?" Elaine's eyes widened. What was the situation on the other side?