Trapped on all sides

The moon hung high over Blackwater Mountain, its pale light barely piercing the thick mist that clung to the jagged cliffs. A tense silence filled the air, broken only by the low growls and restless shuffling of a vast beast horde.

At the center of their encirclement loomed a massive cave—the domain of the Flaming Striped Python. Hundreds of demonic beasts lurked in the darkness, their glowing eyes forming a ring of flickering lights, ghostly lanterns in the night. The air was thick with suffocating killing intent.

As time passed, the horde inched closer. To the east, a pack of Shadow-Fanged Wolves prowled, their pitch-black bodies melting into the darkness. They moved in eerie silence, muscles coiled, ready to strike.

To the west, a battalion of Iron-Tusked Boars scraped the ground with their hooves. Their massive, armored bodies gleamed under the moonlight, curved tusks dripping with the blood of past battles. Their savage grunts sent shivers through the night.

To the north, high in skeletal trees, Corpse-Feathered Vultures perched in clusters, their beady eyes locked onto the python's cave. Their decay-tinged feathers ruffled in anticipation. They were waiting.

Meanwhile, just south of the cave, two figures fought with effortless precision against the monstrous beasts that threatened to tear them apart.

MeiYing's sword danced like a storm of petals and emotions. Every beast that dared step into her range was shredded into a bloody mess, their flesh scattered within the tempest of her blade.

Beside her, Gojo frowned. Ever since they entered the core regions, attacks had come from all sides. Yet something nagged at him—every beast bore the same bloody red stain in their eyes, which disappeared upon death.

He didn't like it. His instincts screamed for him to turn back. Yet, a thin thread of anticipation coiled within him. A part of him wanted to see how this unfolded.

A massive Frostclaw Tiger lunged. Gojo sidestepped a swipe, flipping over an eruption of jagged ice. The beast, undeterred, hurled itself forward with a snarl.

Gojo smirked. With a sweep of his hand, a burst of Yuan Power erupted. The air cracked as spatial distortions shredded through the tiger's torso. The gaps between dimensions frayed as cracks in the air tore into the tiger's body causing a large shattering to occur. Blood shot out like a geyser as the beast collapsed, lifeless.

Regrouping, he and MeiYing turned to the distant cave, now fully encircled by the horde. MeiYing shot him an 'I told you so' look. Gojo facepalmed in response.

"We'll attack from the west. The Iron-Tusked Boars will be easier to cut through. The Flaming Striped Python is in labor—it'll give birth at any moment. We have to move now."

Gojo's gaze lingered on the encirclement, lost in thought. MeiYing tapped him with the butt of her sword. "Are you even listening?"

"Yes," he replied before glancing at her. "But before we go, can you call your little birdie companion?" MeiYing narrowed her eyes. "Why?" Gojo flashed an innocent smile. "I miss him."

She sighed. "It'll take him more than eight hours to get here." Yet, she pulled out a whistle and blew. "Fine. But we won't wait."

With that, they blurred into motion, their figures streaking toward the west like piercing swords. Before they reached their target, a group of massive apes broke from the encirclement, roaring as they charged. A crushing wave of demonic Qi surged toward them.

Gojo's silver Yuan Power slammed outward, fracturing space and dispersing the incoming force.

"I'll handle them. Create an opening for me!" MeiYing commanded, her tone cold as ice. Her sword surged with blinding radiance.

"Empress' Ascendance: Heartless Whisper."

She vanished into a storm of sword light. The apes were swallowed whole.

His eyes snapped ahead, and his face turned serious. A platform of shattered space materialized beneath his feet and took him up into the skies.

Taking in a deep breath, he brought his arms to chest level and began to utilize hand seals. The Yuan Power he could command casually was not enough for the magnitude of the attack he wanted to unleash. He could take off his blindfold and go all out, but he wanted to conserve his stamina for the real mess that was gonna happen later.

A sword light tore through the skies, and a mess of blood and gore dyed the hurricane red, before it dispersed. A moment later, a stream of light zoomed into the distance, aiming for a weak point in the encirclement.

"Sigh. When have I been the one to hold back.." Gojo laughed inwardly and unleashed the attack he had been preparing.

He flooded the air around him with energy, the shattering of the space around him distorted his appearance, reflections distorting to his left and to his right, offset by just a few centimetres. The shaking of the air caused a mirage like effect, the bouncing of light between the hundreds of forming shards distorted the space around him slightly.

He clasped both palms together above his hand and slashed downwards with incredible might. A wave of crackling folding mirrors launched from the point of impact, in a sheering space splitting attack.

A large arching split tore out, continuing on a destructive path towards the group of unsuspecting Iron Tusked Boars who were furiously roaring, readying themselves for some kind of stampede.

MeiYing who was blitzing towards the encircling in a stream of golden light turned her head towards the incoming disturbance. She was stupefied for a moment which almost made her falter in her steps. A large wave of folding space and shattered mirrors blitzed past her, faster than she could react, leaving a massive rift in the Earth and the air itself. She didn't think she would survive if she got hit point blank with such a powerful attack.

Lifting her head into the distance, she saw the attack tear into the beast horde. The immense destruction gave her the opening she needed to slip into encirclement amidst the blood and gore effortlessly.

A smile even beamed up on her face as she did, and without hesitation, she headed towards the Flaming Striped Python's cave.

"Bullseye," Gojo murmured before his smile faded. His gaze pierced through layers of earth beneath MeiYing's path.

Something was moving. Fast. Sighing, he stepped forward, shattering space beneath his feet as he launched forward. Taking a step into mid air, Yuan power surged around him and space was ripped apart, another platform of shattered space formed.. With all seriousness he tore through the air at shattering speed, his step never missing a platform of shattered space as he ran on the air itself.

Above the skeletal trees, the Corpse Feathered Vultures that had been idle for a while screeched loudly, flapped their wings and soared to meet him in mid air. Their bodies cut through their like arrows, aiming towards the targets without the slightest shred of mercy.

Meanwhile, Gojo had seen through the disturbance around him. His gaze however was mainly focused on MeiYing. He could sense the creature swimming through the layers of Earth drawing closer and closer with each passing second.

The moment he overtook her in terms of distance, he corkscrewed on the last platform of shattered space into mid air, dodging an arrow like Corpse Feathered vulture's beak that could've ripped into his body.

As he began to fall, he manoeuvred his figure, and flipped himself forcefully, dodging another Corpse Feathered Vulture, once more displaying unnatural feats of agility.

His gaze turned to the side for a moment and he couldn't help but click his tongue in annoyance. The vultures wanted to trap him in mid air and tear him apart right then and there. He couldn't allow himself to be attacked or distracted, otherwise, he might not get to her on time.

With this, Gojo's right hand swept out. Strands of silver Yuan Power ripped into the air around him, fraying the gaps between dimensions. With a hand seal, he summoned the shattered mirrors and cracks in the air with a command and drowned himself in them, forming a ball of shattered mirrors that soared through midair like a meteor.

The unlucky vultures who had picked that moment to attack were instantly ripped into shreds by the spatial disturbance around him, as blood and gore rained down from the skies.

BANG!

A colossal beast erupted from the ground, its cavernous maw poised to swallow her whole. She had no time to react. Then, in a blur, a hand snatched her away. A heartbeat later, they crashed to the ground, rolling before skidding to a stop. Blinking, MeiYing found herself staring into Gojo's blindfolded face. His lips curled into a sly smile.

"This would be a perfect moment if we were in private, don't you think?" Her expression darkened, hiding the blush that crept onto her cheeks. "I just saved you from the jaws of death. Literally." Gojo sighed dramatically as he lay back, arms behind his head.

MeiYing stood, rolling her eyes. Gojo kicked up from the ground and surveyed their surroundings. They were surrounded. Massive grey moles surfaced, their beady eyes fixed on the duo. The beast horde inched closer.

MeiYing tensed, summoning her sword. But Gojo merely smirked.

"You see why I told you to call the little birdie?" MeiYing frowned. He knew this was going to happen. How?

Ignoring her suspicion, Gojo stretched lazily. "Alright, alright. Swords are drawn, beasts have encircled. You have our attention. Are you gonna show up, or keep wasting our time?"

His gaze shifted above the Flaming Striped Python's cave.

Right on cue, a massive black crow descended, cawing ominously. Yet, Gojo's focus wasn't on the bird. His attention was on the dozen figures standing on its back, their gazes locked onto him.

"Interesting."

His lips curled into a small, fearless smile. Then, with utter audacity, he waved at them.

A/N: Enjoy😮‍💨. Stones? Maybe.