Chu Zihang's pupils contracted sharply. Ignoring the blade flashes before him, he forcibly twisted around and lunged back.
In doing so, a long gash was carved across his back, and blood poured from it.
He knocked the shuriken away with Murasame, but in that instant, the muzzle flash of another ninja's short gun flickered faintly in the dim stairwell.
"Pfft."
A muffled sound rang out. Xia Mi's body gave a slight jolt, and a rapidly spreading dark red stain bloomed across her left shoulder. Her still somewhat dazed eyes looked at Chu Zihang. Her lips parted as though she wanted to say something, but no sound came out. Her eyelids slowly drooped, and she collapsed limply to the floor.
Time seemed to stretch out and freeze in that instant.
Chu Zihang remained frozen in the posture of turning to swing his blade. He stared at the glaring "bloodstain" on Xia Mi's chest, at the girl's unconscious face. Every sound in his ears—metal clashing, footsteps, even his own heartbeat—receded like a tide. In their place came the crisp sound of something snapping deep within his mind, followed by surging, sky-consuming fury.
"You—" Completely disregarding the wound on his back, he raised his head and looked at Fuma Kotaro and the surrounding ninjas.
His Golden Eyes had never burned as fiercely as they did now. Heat waves visible to the naked eye rose explosively around him, warping the air. The terrifying temperature made the nearest ninjas instinctively retreat, horror appearing on their faces.
"Flame of the Monarch."
The two low words were like a demon's decree.
Crimson flames erupted from nothingness! Centered on Chu Zihang, they fanned out ahead of him.
The fire carried a devastating shockwave, instantly devouring everything around the stairwell landing. Metal railings melted and warped, concrete walls blackened