Chapter 9: The Vermilion Phoenix Rebellion

I. The Weight of Shadows

Xiao Chen flexed his demon-clawed left hand, watching the obsidian talons catch the dying light of the Ashen Wastes. The transformation wasn't just skin-deep—his bones had thickened, his muscles now interlaced with dark filaments, and his blood smelled of iron and something far older.

Leng Xueyi watched him from across the campfire, her frost-serpent coiled around her shoulders like a living shroud.

"You're losing yourself," she said, her voice colder than the dead wind howling through the canyon.

Xiao Chen dug his claws into his own thigh, letting the pain ground him. "I know."

Mei Ling, curled at his feet like a loyal hound, licked the wound clean, her venom-mutated saliva sealing the flesh. "My king is perfect as he is," she murmured, her black-veined eyes glowing with fanaticism.

Princess Luo Ying snorted, sharpening her dagger against a rock. "Perfect? He looks like a discount Fiend."

Xiao Chen backhanded her—not hard enough to break bone, but enough to send her sprawling into the dust.

Luo Ying laughed, wiping blood from her split lip. "See? Still human enough to get angry."

II. The Fiend-Blooded Girl

The knife-handed survivor from the Sand Reapers knelt at the edge of the firelight, her amber eyes reflecting the flames like a predator's.

"Name," Xiao Chen demanded.

"Shā," she rasped, her voice raw from disuse. "They called me Shā."

Mei Ling hissed, her fingers twitching toward the finger-necklace around her throat. "She's dangerous."

Xiao Chen gestured Shā forward. "Show me."

The girl moved faster than sight, her blade-fingers carving a shallow cut across Xiao Chen's throat before he could react.

Leng Xueyi's frost-serpent struck, fangs bared—

Xiao Chen caught it by the throat, his demon-claw crushing without killing.

"I like her," he decided.

Shā bowed, pressing her forehead to the dirt. "My life is yours."

Luo Ying rolled her eyes. "Great. Another psychopath."

III. The High Priestess' Defection

The Vermilion Bird's high priestess came to them at midnight, her golden robes stained with blood, her phoenix-winged headdress broken.

"The Emperor is mad," she gasped, collapsing at Xiao Chen's feet. "He's sacrificing entire cities to awaken the True Fiend God beneath the imperial palace!"

Leng Xueyi froze the woman's tears before they could hit the ground. "Prove it."

The priestess tore open her robes, revealing a brand—a Fiend-mark, still smoking. "He did this to all of us. We're batteries now."

Xiao Chen studied the mark, his Heavenly Demon stirring in recognition.

"Where?"

"The Bloodbone Catacombs," she whispered. "Beneath the palace. He's breeding something down there."

Mei Ling giggled, her fingers dancing along her necklace. "Let's kill it."

IV. The Siege of Crimson Spire

They struck at dawn.

The Battle Unfolds:

Leng Xueyi froze the outer gates, shattering them with a single kick.

Luo Ying's Solar Phoenix set the barracks ablaze, her laughter echoing over the screams.

Shā carved through elite guards, her blade-fingers finding gaps in armor like a surgeon.

Mei Ling poisoned the water supply, her venom turning soldiers into twitching puppets.

And Xiao Chen?

He walked straight through the chaos, his Abyss-Shell Predator now SS-rank, its Worldbreaker Charge pulverizing entire platoons.

Then—the Emperor appeared.

Zhu Yan descended from the sky like a falling star, his Vermilion Bird Genome engulfing the battlefield in holy fire.

"Xiao Chen!" he roared. "You dare defile my home?!"

Xiao Chen flexed his demon-arm.

"I'll do worse."

V. The Bloodbone Catacombs

Beneath the palace, the walls pulsed like living flesh.

The high priestess led them deeper, her brand glowing brighter with every step.

"He's close," she whispered.

Then—they saw it.

A massive egg, veined with black and gold, suspended over a lake of blood.

Inside, something stirred.

The True Fiend God.

Not a fragment. Not a whisper.

The real thing.

Xiao Chen's **Heavenly Demon screamed in his skull.

"KILL IT!"

VI. The Emperor's Last Stand

Zhu Yan materialized from the shadows, his sword aimed at Xiao Chen's heart.

"You don't understand," he hissed. "This world is already dead. The Fiend God won a thousand years ago. We're just playing in the carcass."

Xiao Chen grabbed the blade, letting it pierce his palm.

"Then I'll rewrite the ending."

He ripped the sword free—

—and plunged it into the egg.

VII. The Birth of a Nightmare

The egg shattered.

And nothing emerged.

Silence.

Then—

A hand gripped Xiao Chen's ankle.

Small. Pale. Human.

A child's hand.

The True Fiend God looked up at him, its eyes wide and innocent.

"Daddy?"

Chapter 9 End