Chapter 44: The Cold Floor

The chamber was a storm of broken stone and Qi, echoing with the harsh ring of clashing power. Kai's feet skidded across the cracked floor as Han's fist slammed into his side, launching him into a pillar. The impact fractured stone and rib alike. Kai collapsed onto one knee, blood already dribbling from the corner of his mouth.

His breathing came ragged. Every muscle screamed. Every thought, every plan, crumbled under the weight of Han's raw strength.

Han Long didn't give him a second.

The Feral Beast Technique surged again. Han moved with the ruthless precision of a predator, spiraling through the air with clawed Qi that shimmered like silver fire. Kai blocked the first strike with his weakened Celestial Eclipse, but the second tore through his defense, raking across his shoulder and chest.

He cried out, staggering back, arms trembling.

Nothing's working.

Kai's mind raced, trying to find an opening, any opening, but Han's pressure was unrelenting. Every counter was met with overwhelming force. His Celestial Eclipse techniques weren't enough. His footwork couldn't keep pace. The absorption technique from the Cave of Trials—his trump card—was useless. Han never let him get close enough to use it.

"Still standing?" Han said between strikes, a snarl in his voice. "At least you're persistent. But persistence without power is… inadequate."

Kai lunged desperately, drawing on the last of his internal Qi for a blinding palm strike.

Han met him with a roar.

Their attacks collided and Kai flew.

He hit the ground hard, rolling until his body stopped itself with a sickening jolt. He coughed, blood splattering the stones beneath him. His vision swam, everything dimming at the edges.

Han stood tall above him now, barely winded, blood on his knuckles but not his own.

Kai couldn't even lift his arms.

"Let's end this," Han muttered, raising his hand.

But then… Han paused.

He looked down at Kai. Something in his expression shifted—disgusted, almost disappointed.

"You're not worth it," Han said flatly. "We're not evenly matched. You're not even close."

He turned, slipping the Metal Ring onto a cord and tucking it into his robes. His voice echoed across the chamber like a verdict.

"You're not worthy to be killed by me."

And with that, he walked away.

Silence.

Kai lay there, broken and bleeding, staring up at the shadowed ceiling. The weight of the battle, of defeat, pressed into his bones like a burial stone.

This was it.

His body couldn't move. The wounds from Han's Feral Beast Technique were deep, jagged and blood kept flowing. His Qi refused to respond. Even the pain began to dull. He was slipping.

So this is dying.

It didn't feel like he thought it would. It wasn't terrifying. It felt quiet, almost peaceful. His cheek was pressed against the stone floor and he could feel the pulsing of the ancient chamber beneath him, as if the place itself had a heartbeat.

I tried. The thought flickered and faded. It wasn't enough. This would not have happened if I were still a Librarian.

Then something stirred.

A tremor, not in the ground, but within him.

A pulse.

He blinked. His fingers twitched, brushing something tucked inside his torn sash. Something faintly warm.

The metal talisman.

The one the ghoul had pressed into his hand in the Cave of Trials. He'd nearly forgotten it, convinced it was just some relic of a bygone era.

It was glowing.

Kai struggled to lift it, pain flaring through his ribs. His blood-slick fingers gripped the charm and held it up.

The talisman pulsed again and flared.

Light burst forth, a luminous strand connecting the talisman to the bronze mirror still perched on the altar. The mirror vibrated, humming like a tuning fork struck by fate itself. The air shifted. Symbols along the altar's edge began to shimmer.

The chamber… awakened.

Kai gasped.

The blood that soaked into the floor beneath him began to flow along ancient channels in the stone, lighting up old carvings that snaked toward the altar. The mirror responded, its surface warping like water touched by wind.

A voice flooded the space.

"Metal Resonance Attuned. Initiating sequence."

What in the world is happening?