Oath of Loyalty

Cold rain tapped against the window. Xiang Yi curled up on the window seat, his forehead pressed to the cold glass, trying to dispel the fragmented nightmares in his mind—the smoke from the old warehouse explosion, the afterimage of Lanling King falling bloodied... Every recollection brought sharp dizziness and bone-deep fear.

He spread his palm. The jade pendant engraved with the dark patterns of the Ten Rings was ice-cold. His 130-point mental-power limit had opened up a new world of perception: the rustle of his father turning newspaper pages downstairs, the paths of raindrops beyond the window... all were crystal clear. But behind that surging power was the agony of a body hollowed out, his meridians like plowed wasteland, every breath tugging at a dull ache in his chest.

[Spiritual Power: 35/130 (Severely overdrawn, recovering at a snail's pace)]

[Energy Points: 250]

[Hero: Lanling King (Loyalty: 120%, Status: Critically wounded and dying, under forced containment)]

Lanling King's status panel was a glaring, bloody red. Forced containment! The system's last resort when a hero was on the verge of death. Xiang Yi's heart clenched. He called out in his mind, "Lanling King!"

Silence. Their connected mental link lay as still as dead water. Only a faint life pulse, so weak it could snap at any moment, reached him like a candle flame in the wind.

"Lord... Master..." A barely perceptible fragment of thought brushed the edge of Xiang Yi's consciousness like a feather, carrying agonizing pain and endless apology before sinking into darkness.

Xiang Yi clenched the jade pendant until his knuckles turned white. That apology was like a blunt knife stabbing into his heart! He was the one who should apologize! He had underestimated the enemy's madness and that one-eyed old man's ruthlessness! He had failed to complete the absorption in time, forcing Lanling King to take that fatal bullet for him!

Self-reproach, guilt, fury... they gnawed at him like venomous snakes. Forcing himself to calm down, he sank his consciousness into the system space.

Lanling King's resting area was no longer a stable play of light and shadow, but a violently fluctuating dark-red vortex that flickered in and out. At its center, Lanling King's figure was as illusory as glass, ready to shatter at any moment. His eyes were shut, his face white as paper. Most horrifying were his right shoulder and back—there were torn energy voids there! Countless dark-red fragments, alive in appearance, were leaking from the voids, corroding and contaminating the surrounding energy structure like maggots clinging to bone! They were remnants of the metal shot from Scarface's homemade gun, carrying special-metal contamination!

[Warning! Hero "Lanling King"'s core has been corroded by Demon-Breaking Metal!]

[Contamination Source: Special alloy metal shot (containing trace amounts of Adamantium Derivative)]

[Corrosion Progress: 27%... 28%...]

[Contamination spreading! Estimated time until complete collapse: 3 hours 17 minutes!]

[Consequence: Core annihilation, permanent destruction!]

Adamantium Derivative! Xiang Yi's pupils contracted sharply! How could the Black Serpent Gang have such a thing? But there was no time to investigate! That ticking countdown was a death warrant!

[Emergency Treatment Options:]

[Option One: Consume the host's spiritual power for Deep Spiritual-Power Purification (requires sustained guidance and enormous consumption). Estimated success rate: 65% (affected by host condition). Risk of failure: host mental exhaustion / accelerated hero collapse.]

[Option Two: Consume 200 Energy Points to exchange for a "Lesser Hero Repair Core." Success rate: 100%. Effect: Remove contamination, stabilize core, partially repair damage.]

Two hundred points! Xiang Yi's gaze locked onto [Energy Points: 250]. Enough! Exchanging for the core was the safest choice! His thoughts were about to issue the command!

"No... Lord Master... energy... precious... save it... summon... subordinates... I... can endure..." Lanling King's weak yet resolute thought fragment pierced him again!

Xiang Yi froze! He stared fixedly at that agonized vortex. Lanling King was stopping him! This foolishly loyal assassin, standing on the brink of annihilation, was actually thinking of saving Energy Points for summoning new heroes! He would rather fade into eternal silence than consume resources needed for his lord's growth!

A hot, aching bitterness surged into Xiang Yi's eyes and throat. He took a deep breath and forced down the turmoil, but his gaze hardened like tempered steel.

"Shut up!" Xiang Yi roared in his mind, his voice carrying unquestionable authority. "Follow my order!"

He no longer looked at the repair core. His gaze locked onto [Option One: Deep Spiritual-Power Purification]! A 65% success rate, enormous risk—but he had no other choice! He could not let Lanling King vanish for such foolish loyalty!

"System! Execute Option One! Maximum output! Immediately!" His thoughts were like a blade drawn from its sheath!

[Command confirmed! Initiating Deep Spiritual-Power Purification!]

[Warning: Host's spiritual power is severely overdrawn. Forced guidance carries an extremely high risk of backlash! Confirm?]

"Confirm!"

Bzzz—!

A pale-blue torrent of spiritual power, far purer and more concentrated than the night before, burst fiercely from Xiang Yi's brow. Ignoring the barriers of space, it instantly enveloped the dark-red vortex!

"Urgh!" Xiang Yi's body shook violently, as though his soul had been drained dry in an instant! What little spiritual power he had left poured out madly! His mind felt as if ten thousand needles were stabbing into it, golden sparks exploded across his vision, and darkness crept in from the edges! He bit his lip hard enough to taste blood, barely maintaining a shred of clarity.

Like the finest surgical scalpel, the pale-blue spiritual power cut into the heart of the contamination. The moment they touched, a violent, chaotic energy carrying cold metallic malice launched a frenzied counterattack! The dark-red fragments were like living venomous insects, madly tearing at and contaminating Xiang Yi's spiritual power. They also released a sinister, freezing curse, trying to burrow into the depths of his soul!

"Hmph!" Xiang Yi groaned, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth again. Enduring the soul-rending agony and the nauseating corrosion of the curse, he concentrated all his will and controlled the pale-blue spiritual power, stripping away, binding, and purifying those living contamination fragments thread by thread!

It was like dancing on a blade's edge! Every second was torment! Xiang Yi's spiritual power plummeted, his consciousness becoming a dying candle in the wind. His soul seemed to be repeatedly scorched between blazing fire and bitter ice, the ultimate pain nearly shattering his will.

[Spiritual Power: 35 → 28 → 21 → 15...]

[Contamination Corrosion: 28% → 27% → 26%...]

The progress was despairingly slow! Xiang Yi was slipping toward collapse! His body trembled uncontrollably, cold sweat soaked through his pajamas, his face bloodless, his breathing as faint as a thread.

Within the system space, Lanling King's core, wrapped in pale-blue light, gradually steadied. A faint consciousness reached out, filled with shock, pain, and... even deeper fear! He could clearly feel the terrifying pain his lord was suffering! That resolute will, burning his soul for Lanling King, branded itself upon his core like red-hot iron!

"No... Lord Master... stop... please..." Lanling King's shattered consciousness wailed and struggled.

"Hang the hell... on!" Xiang Yi roared in his mind, every word stained with blood! He squeezed out the last potential within himself! The soul-flame in the core of his consciousness, already dim, erupted at the brink of death under the nourishment of pain and obsession, bursting into a dazzling blue brilliance beyond all limits—a soul-burning beacon like a star torch igniting itself in an abyss of eternal night to light the way home! Instead of diminishing, his spiritual power erupted amid extreme agony with even purer, more blinding light!

[Spiritual Power: 10 → 8 → 5 → 3...]

[Contamination Corrosion: 15% → 10% → 5%...]

When the final stubborn dark-red fragment was annihilated within the pale-blue torrent, the fluctuations of Lanling King's core finally stabilized. The fatal aura of collapse and the curse dispersed.

[Purification complete! Contamination removed! Core stabilized!]

[Warning! Host's spiritual power depleted! Vital signs plummeting! Forced unconsciousness!]

The notification was like a verdict. Xiang Yi's taut nerves snapped at once. His vision went completely black, and his body slid from the window seat like a limp rag doll, crashing heavily onto the cold floor as he lost consciousness. Yet his hand still clutched the Ten Rings Jade Pendant tightly.

Within the system space, the dark-red vortex vanished. Lanling King's figure reformed, illusory and translucent, his aura as weak as a dying candle, but the contamination had been removed. He slowly opened his eyes. Those calm, sharp eyes now churned with indescribable shock and lingering terror.

He "saw" the outside world. His lord—the twelve-year-old boy—lay on the floor like a broken puppet, his face ashen, lips stained with blood, his breathing almost completely gone. Everything was to save him!

Pain far more intense than any physical wound coiled around Lanling King's soul like poisonous vines! Self-reproach, guilt, and the flame of loyalty that nearly incinerated his soul burned wildly within his chest! He had failed his lord! He had made his lord pay such a terrible price for him!

His figure vanished instantly, forcefully condensing in reality! The immense expenditure and his injuries made him stagger, but he immediately steadied himself on one knee.

He cautiously approached the unconscious Xiang Yi, moving as gently as if holding fragile glass. He laid a hand over Xiang Yi's cold forehead, trying to examine him. But he himself was severely injured and depleted, utterly powerless.

"Lord Master..." His voice was hoarse and dry, trembling in a way it never had before. Looking at the boy's bloodless face and feeling that pulse, so weak it was nearly gone, enormous fear seized this shadow assassin who had never feared death.

He gently lifted Xiang Yi's small body as though cradling a priceless treasure. He laid him on the bed and carefully tucked in the blanket. Then he stepped back twice and, with a thud, dropped heavily to both knees beside the bed!

The cold floor bit into his knees, but he did not feel it at all. He kept his back straight and bowed his head deeply, his forehead nearly touching the floor.

Time passed in dead silence. At some point, the rain outside stopped. Pale moonlight crawled over the window frame, passed across the desk, and finally disappeared behind the heavy curtains. Downstairs came the sound of his father getting up in the night; in the distance, police sirens approached and then faded away. Only the glowing hands of the clock at the bedside ticked forward, one notch at a time, in absolute silence, recording three hours that felt as long as centuries.

Lanling King knelt like a stone statue, utterly motionless. The illusory wounds across his shoulder and back still slowly shed red motes of light, like the sands of life slipping away. Each leak took a sliver of his life essence, bringing piercing cold and weakness. After kneeling for so long, everything below his knees had gone completely numb. Only his iron will and the strength in his waist and back kept his tottering body upright.

His gaze remained fixed on the boy's face upon the bed without blinking. Every time Xiang Yi's breathing grew lighter, his core tightened and fear gripped his heart; every time it quickened slightly, a sickly hope flared again. The 120% loyalty value had become a massive irony.

The moonlight vanished, and darkness returned. Lanling King's consciousness blurred as the cold and weakness of his body surged against his defenses like waves. Beyond the window, the ink-black sky gradually revealed the faintest gray-white. Dawn was near.

Then, in the deepest silence before dawn, a soft whimper like that of a kitten came from the bed.

Xiang Yi's eyelashes trembled almost imperceptibly.

This tiny movement struck Lanling King's senses like thunder! He sprang up as if flung by an invisible force, only for his numb, stiff legs to send him crashing heavily beside the bed! He immediately propped up his upper body with trembling hands, heedless of his shoulder and back wounds splitting open and shedding more light motes. Desperately, he brought his face close, his bloodshot eyes fixed on those trembling eyelashes! His voice rasped like sandpaper, carrying humble caution and the wild joy of something lost and found again:

"Lord Master?"

Xiang Yi struggled to open his eyes. A piercing buzz rang in his ears, his mouth was filled with thick blood and bitterness, and his body felt as heavy as if a boulder lay upon it. Every slight movement pulled at tearing pain throughout his body. His vision was blurry, and he could only see a hazy black figure kneeling by the bed. His mind was heavy and muddled, as though filled with lead. With great effort, he focused and saw Lanling King's face.

The handsome face usually hidden beneath his hood was now fully exposed in the faint morning light. It was pale as paper, his lips cracked, cold sweat covered his brow, and his crimson eyes churned with worry, ecstasy, and a deep, bottomless guilt. Even more glaring were his illusory right shoulder and back. Though the grotesque energy voids no longer leaked contamination, they were still horrifying to behold, slowly shedding motes of life-light.

Xiang Yi's gaze lowered to Lanling King's knees, still planted upon the cold floor. That straight back, that humble posture, the loyalty and pain nearly overflowing from his eyes...

Everything from last night rushed back like a tide—the chaos in Ghost Ward, the rampaging ancient jade, the explosion's flames, Lanling King's bloodied fall, the soul-rending agony during his purification... and Lanling King's faint thought before he fainted, trying to stop him from spending Energy Points.

All those images finally froze upon the face before him, written with loyalty and self-reproach, and upon the figure that had knelt through the entire night.

This had long surpassed a system contract! It was a bond of lives entrusted to one another! A vow to follow each other through life and death!

"Get up..." Xiang Yi's voice was hoarse and weak, but it carried an order. He struggled to sit up, but the movement pulled at his overdrawn body, and a violent coughing fit curled him over.

"Lord Master!" Lanling King cried out. He tried to rise and support him, but his legs were numb from kneeling and his injuries had left him weak. He stumbled and nearly fell. He immediately braced himself against the bedframe, looking at Xiang Yi with urgent concern.

Xiang Yi stopped coughing and, panting, raised a powerless hand to point at the chair beside the bed. His tone allowed no refusal. "Sit... down."

Lanling King looked at Xiang Yi's pale face and determined eyes. His lips moved, but in the end, he did not disobey. He slowly and painfully rose from the cold floor, his movements stiff and sluggish. Pulling over the chair, he sat beside the bed with his back straight and his body slightly leaning forward, his gaze fixed unblinking on Xiang Yi.

The room fell briefly silent, filled only with faint breathing. Morning light filtered through a gap in the curtains, casting a gradually brightening strip of light across the floor.

Xiang Yi looked at Lanling King sitting there, at the wounds on his shoulder and back, at the intense loyalty and guilt in his eyes. The churning emotions within him burst through their restraints.

He wanted to say, "You didn't have to do this." He wanted to say, "It wasn't your fault"... But every word caught in his throat, becoming a choked sigh.

Seeing his lord's reddened eyes and complicated gaze, the crushing guilt and surging loyalty in Lanling King's heart became like steel cast into a furnace! The instant Xiang Yi awakened, every shadow of pain in Lanling King's eyes melted away like snow meeting flame, replaced by a purity and resolve unlike anything before—a determination to forge his very soul into it!

He hesitated no longer and no longer cared about the customs between lord and subordinate. He stood again, faced Xiang Yi, and dropped to one knee!

This time, it was not an apology, but the most solemn salute of a knight!

He raised his right hand and pressed it heavily against his violently heaving chest, over his energy core. His gaze burned like stars as he stared at Xiang Yi. Every word drained all his strength, carrying the imprint of his soul as it rang through the room at the first light of dawn:

"From this day onward, my life is your shield."

"Shadow is my body; the blade is your command!"

"By my soul, I swear this oath, until death!"

The instant his words fell, the system interface in Xiang Yi's mind shook violently! Lanling King's loyalty value of 120% boiled and roiled like molten gold, erupting into brilliant golden light that pierced through the consciousness space! At last, the light solidified into a perfectly clear number—[150%]! Beneath it, four blood-red words—"Unwavering Devotion"—were carved deep like the most profound imprint upon the soul!

Xiang Yi stared blankly at the shadow assassin kneeling before him, his eyes blazing. Through their soul link, he felt that lava-hot, bedrock-firm will. All the danger, pain, and exhaustion of last night gained meaning in that moment.

Slowly and solemnly, he reached out and gently pressed his hand over Lanling King's hand on his chest. Through his palm, he felt the weak pulse of the other's core—cold, yet containing incomparably burning loyalty.

"Good." Xiang Yi's voice was still hoarse, yet it carried unprecedented strength, echoing like an oath. "I accept your life."

"From this day onward, your wounds are my pain. Your life is my responsibility."

"I, Xiang Yi, swear here that I will never betray this loyalty—while I live, your shadow will follow; when I die, your blade will be extinguished with me!"

The rising sun completely tore apart the darkness, pouring its first pure, warm golden light into the room, wrapping the clasped hands and the figure kneeling on one knee. Dust motes danced like golden powder within the beam. The cold, blood, and despair of the previous night quietly melted beneath this life-filled dawn. On the morning after surviving disaster, the boy and his shadow assassin forged an eternal vow that transcended life and death, bound by blood and loyalty.