The Qilin Got Scared

The sudden return to reality was jarring. One moment, I was floating in the serene, blinding white void, the next, I was back in the Azure Cloud Sect's viewing box, surrounded by the terrified screams of thousands.

The searing heat of the Crimson Qilin's flames was already washing over me, a terrifying inferno that promised instant incineration.

My [Minor Kinetic Shield] flared, struggling valiantly against the impossible heat, but I knew it was useless. My Ninth Layer Qi, barely a flicker, was no match for a Second Layer legendary beast's full power.

"RAAAAAAAAAOWOR!"

The Qilin's roar ripped through the air, and the volcano of fire engulfed the entire area. My vision blurred, the heat was unbearable, and the screams of the crowd were deafening.

I was dead. Again.

Then, a flicker. A brief, almost imperceptible shift. I wasn't dead. Not yet. I was back in the exact moment before the flames consumed me, but with a crucial difference. My dashboard.

[Points: 10,000]. Glorious, life-saving points!

King Theron was still floating on his glowing white sword, Dravo by his side, both looking like tiny, desperate dots against the backdrop of the gargantuan, approaching Qilin. Sect Master Gu Ran, beside me, was still trembling, his face a mask of despair.

"It's... it's the legendary Qilin!" Gu Ran choked out, his voice filled with terror. "It can burn mountains and cities in mere moments!"

"I know, I know!" I yelled, my voice hoarse, sweat pouring down my face.

"Calm down, Sect Master! I'm… I'm now in the past! Just a few seconds ago! Before the fire hit!"

Gu Ran stared at me, bewildered. "The past? Alex, what are you talking about?! The Qilin is about to incinerate us all!"

"Look, it's complicated!" I shouted, my mind racing.

"Just trust me! I've been given a second chance! But… but what the fu** should I do now?!"

My eyes darted to my dashboard. [Points: 10,000]. I had to find something. Something to get us out of here. Not to fight the Qilin, the Facilitator had said that was useless. But to escape. To save the Sect Master, Lyra, Urg, Zephyr, and my disciples.

I opened the [SYSTEM SHOP].

My fingers (mentally) flew across the categories. [WEAPONS]? No. [CONSUMABLES]? Maybe a super-speed potion, but not enough to outrun that.

[SYSTEMS]? I scrolled and scrolled, desperately searching for anything that sounded like "escape," "teleport," or "not dying in a fiery inferno."

My eyes darted past [Greater Fireball System]

(tempting, but useless against a Second Layer Qilin), past [Minor Teleportation System]

(only 5,000 points, but too short-range for this), past [Martial Arts System (6th Layer)]

(great for fighting, terrible for escaping a cosmic barbecue).

And then I saw it. Tucked away under a rarely visited category, almost hidden.

[Portal System (Low Rank)] - Cost: 11,000 Points

(Creates a single-use portal to a random, safe location within the same dimension. Cannot be controlled or targeted.

WARNING: User must be alone to activate. Cannot transport others. High risk of ending up in an inconvenient or embarrassing location. One-time use only.)

"Oh my god! A portal?!" I exclaimed aloud, a surge of desperate hope. A portal! That was it! Escape!

Then I saw the cost. "Cost: 11,000 points."

My dashboard stared back at me: [Points: 10,000].

"Tch!" I hissed, utterly frustrated.

"I don't have enough points! And it's for me alone?! What good is that?! I can't leave everyone here to burn!"

The Qilin let out another earth-shaking roar, its mouth glowing with an even more intense, terrifying light. The fire was seconds away.

Scroll. Scroll. Scroll.

I desperately scrolled through the shop, looking for anything cheaper, anything that could save us all. My heart pounded. Sweat poured down my face.

My [Minor Kinetic Shield] was already starting to crack under the immense heat.

Just as I stared in despair at the system shop, and the Qilin prepared to unleash a wave of fire that would obliterate everything, suddenly:

A maniacal laugh, loud and chilling, shook the very sky.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The Qilin, for the first time, paused. Its fiery maw, seconds from unleashing its devastating attack, closed slightly. Its glowing red eyes darted around, searching.

A man in a black cloak with long, black hair descended from the heavens.

He wasn't flying on a sword or a dragon. He simply descended, as if gravity itself had no hold on him. His cloak fluttered like living shadows curling around him, and his eyes glowed with a deep, unsettling crimson light. He stood in midair, directly above the colossal Qilin, wearing a wild, confident grin that sent shivers down my spine.

"My dear brother… you are a weak king now," he shouted, his voice echoing across the arena, a voice that made hearts tremble, a voice filled with an ancient, terrifying power.

King Theron, who had been preparing to make his suicidal stand, froze, his eyes wide with shock and a dawning horror. "You… you're alive?!"

The man in black glanced at Alex and the others in the viewing boxes with cold disdain, as if we were mere insects. Then, he spoke again, his voice calm yet commanding, cutting through the stunned silence. "Leave this to me."

In an instant, his shadows spread like storms across the sky, plunging the entire arena into pitch-black darkness. It wasn't just darkness; it was a living, breathing void that seemed to absorb all light, all sound. The Qilin, for the first time, let out a roar of fear. A primal, terrified sound that was utterly out of place for a legendary beast of its power.

I couldn't see anything. The darkness was absolute, suffocating. But I could feel it. A power far beyond anything I had ever encountered. A power that made King Theron's Fourth Layer seem like a flickering candle. A power that made the Second Layer Qilin tremble.

And then, I heard it. Not the roar of the Qilin, but a new sound. A sound of struggle. Of immense, unimaginable power clashing in the absolute void. The shadows pulsed, and I felt a brief, chilling cold.