Shattered Destiny

The silence after the explosion was deafening. The battlefield was no longer a place of war—it had become a graveyard of fallen warriors and broken dreams. The last remnants of Ling Yue's radiant light faded into the dark sky, and in its place, an eerie stillness took over.

Yan Xi, his breath ragged, pushed himself off the ground. Blood dripped from the corner of his lips, his body barely holding together after the devastating clash. His flames had been weakened, flickering against the cold wind.

Across from him, Ling Yue stood, her eyes distant, unreadable. The remnants of her unleashed power still crackled around her, yet something was… different.

"Ling Yue," Yan Xi called out, but his voice wavered. Something was wrong.

She lifted her gaze to him, and in that instant, his heart clenched. Her once familiar eyes, filled with quiet strength and defiance, now carried something foreign. A shadow of something he couldn't name.

"Ling Yue?" he tried again, stepping closer.

She didn't move.

Then—she smiled.

It wasn't the smile he knew. It wasn't hers.

The realization struck him like a blade to the chest.

The entity—the force that had tried to bind them—had not been destroyed. It had simply found a new vessel.

And it had chosen her.

Yan Xi's hands trembled. His flames surged instinctively, ready to fight, ready to save her. But deep inside, a cold truth settled within him.

He was no longer fighting with Ling Yue.

He was fighting for her.

Or perhaps… against her.

And the worst part.

She didn't seem to mind.