Black Robe stood in that light, blood cascading like a waterfall down his left side, all the way to his shoes. Everything hung wet and heavy, while the tattered robe on his right side still snapped in the surging wind. In those brief moments, his fury at losing an arm had already subsided. The bizarre painted Play Mask watched him quietly, and Snow Blade slowly slid back into its sheath.
Upright, unfathomable, composed, sharp-a savage battle had honed his entire bearing into stark relief.
Pei Ye still wanted to struggle to do something more, but his body felt shattered, his mind was in turmoil, and the raw sensation in his heart felt like blood gushing out. Amid that total collapse, only when a glimmer of bright, familiar white suddenly appeared in his vision did the boy's mind abruptly relax, and he fell irresistibly into darkness.
At the edge of the sky, a white line stretched out like a feather of cloud.
Before anything could even be seen, a cool, light gaze had already descended upon the entire scene, then immediately fixed on that black robe.
Black Robe brought the fingers of his remaining hand together in a seal.
"Golden Rope Opens the Awakening Path, Precious Raft Crosses the Lost River."
The low chant beneath the Play Mask echoed across the scene. A moment before that sword spanning the sky arrived, the Celestial River poured down. The Array Patterns carved into the courtyard over several days and nights were consumed in their entirety, sweeping away everything within the formation.
All around fell silent. The mist of Cloud-Locked Vermilion Tower slowly dispersed as well. No blood would remain; beneath the rain-washed autumn night sky, there was still only a cold, crystalline clarity.
The roiling clouds abruptly halted within that clarity, scattering like