The Aura Demand
The Nexus King's eye loomed overhead, its pupil a vortex of swirling void energy. The air thickened with pressure, every grain of sand vibrating under the weight of his aura—a suffocating miasma of ancient malice, deep purple and bleeding crimson. Li Chen's own aura crackled in response, a storm of ice-blue light laced with jagged streaks of black corruption. Beside him, Xuě Húlí's new body radiated a shimmering silver aura, but fissures of void energy spiderwebbed through it, unstable and wild.
"You're leaking," Li Chen muttered, frost crystallizing on his breath.
Xuě Húlí flexed her hands, silver sparks dancing at her fingertips. "And you're *dull*. I preferred the glowing corpse aesthetic."
Xiao Lan crouched behind a rock, Clamps perched on her shoulder. "Less flirting, more fighting!"
The eye narrowed. *"You defy me with *jokes*? How mortal."*
---
**The Clash of Auras**
The Nexus King struck first. Tendrils of void energy lashed down, each strike erasing chunks of the desert. Li Chen's ice surged, meeting the darkness in a deafening explosion of light. Their auras collided—blue-white frost against devouring purple—sending shockwaves that ripped the sky open.
Xuě Húlí darted forward, her silver aura flaring. She carved symbols into the air, Progenitor runes burning with starlight. "*Bind!*"
The runes snapped around the eye, but the Nexus King laughed. *"You are but a shadow of your former self, little fox."*
His aura pulsed, shattering the runes. Xuě Húlí stumbled, her silver light dimming.
---
**The Corruption's Allure**
Li Chen's corruption writhed, drawn to the Nexus King's power. The crown on his brow hissed, *"Embrace it. Let us *devour* him."*
"No," Li Chen growled, but the black veins in his aura thickened, reaching hungrily for the void.
Xuě Húlí grabbed his arm, her touch freezing even through the chaos. "Don't. That's *his* trap."
He shook her off. "You're one to talk. Your aura's falling apart."
"*Yours* is eating you alive. So we're even."
The Nexus King's voice boomed. *"Fight yourselves. It amuses me."*
---
**Xiao Lan's Gambit**
While the titans clashed, Xiao Lan and Clamps crept toward the eye's base. The crab's pincers glowed with stolen Progenitor energy, a tiny but fierce golden aura.
"Ready, Clamps?" Xiao Lan whispered. "Aim for the glowy bit."
The crab launched itself at the eye's pupil, shredding through void tendrils. The Nexus King roared, his aura recoiling.
"That's my boy!" Xiao Lan whooped, firing a plasma torch into the gap.
The eye flickered, its aura dimming.
---
**The Aura Merge**
Li Chen seized the opening. He channeled his ice into a spear, its core blazing blue-white. But the corruption twisted it, blackening the tip.
Xuě Húlí stepped into his aura, her silver light intertwining with his. "You're *not* doing this alone."
Their merged auras erupted—a blinding helix of ice and starlight. The Nexus King's void energy faltered, recoiling from the light.
*"You cannot destroy me!"* the King bellowed, but fear tinged his voice.
"Watch us," Li Chen snarled.
Together, they drove the spear into the eye.
---
**The Sacrifice**
The Nexus King's aura imploded, void energy collapsing inward. But the corruption in Li Chen's aura surged, feeding on the chaos.
Xuě Húlí shoved him back. "Go! I'll hold it!"
"You'll die!"
"Temporary inconvenience!" Her silver aura flared, crystallizing into a cage around the collapsing void. "Take Xiao Lan and *run*!"
Li Chen hesitated, but Xiao Lan dragged him away. "She's a drama queen! She'll be fine!"
The last thing he saw was Xuě Húlí's smirk as the void consumed her.
---
**The Aftermath**
The desert fell silent. The Nexus King's aura vanished, leaving only a crater of glassed sand. Li Chen's corruption had receded, his aura pale and fractured.
Xiao Lan kicked a rock. "She'll be back. Annoying people is her hobby."
Clamps clicked mournfully.
Then—a flicker. A wisp of silver light rose from the crater, condensing into a small, fox-shaped aura.
Li Chen knelt. "...Xuě?"
The fox nipped his hand, her voice faint but familiar. *"Don't get sentimental. And get me a *real* body this time."*
---
**The Lingering Storm**
That night, Li Chen sat by the fire, the fox-shaped aura curled in his lap. His own aura had stabilized—blue-white, but thinner, as if part of it had been erased.
Xiao Lan tossed Clamps a scrap of meat. "So, what now?"
The fox's aura flickered. *"The Nexus King's essence isn't gone. Just… scattered."*
Li Chen stared into the flames. "Then we scatter it further."
The crown, now silent, pulsed once—a dark reminder.
---
**End of Chapter 11**
**Next**: Xuě Húlí's fragile aura form forces the rebels into a race against time to find a permanent vessel. But remnants of the Nexus King's cult hunt them, and Li Chen's weakened aura may not survive another battle.