The secret room’s entrance rose before them like a slab torn from night itself, black stone veined with faint silver, every inch etched in interlocking charms.
They pulsed with a muted glow, the hush of a living ward breathing beneath the rock. Flaxseed whispered, “The restriction is still active, how do we crack it?”
“Let me try,” Jared murmured. He slid a restriction-breaking charm from his coat, pressed it to the door, and backed away. Its script shimmered, strobing brighter each heartbeat until the charms on the stone guttered out, surrendering their light like dying embers.
The two eased the heavy door inward. Silence flooded past them as they slipped into the secret room. Inside, Baldric leaned close to the stooped elder as they conversed. Flickering lantern fire carved hollows across their faces.
“Master…” Baldric muttered. “Do you think the Blackshade Demon Palace has learned we were part of the massacre against the Flaxseed clan all those years ago?”
“Unlikely,” the elder replied, tone brittle yet assured. “We acted in deep shadow, and their people also had blood on their blades that night. They will not expose themselves.”
Baldric released a ragged sigh. “Good…. I fear they’d seize any excuse to storm Blackwind Stronghold.”
“Ease your mind,” his mentor said, voice hardening. “Blackshade Demon Palace is caught up in their troubles. Still, keep our blades ready.”
“Understood, Master,” Baldric responded. Hidden just beyond the threshold, Jared and Flaxseed caught every word. A hot spark of fury ignited behind Jared’s eyes.
So, Blackshade Demon Palace and Blackwind Stronghold participated in the massacre together… They all deserve death!
Just then, the elder’s lids snapped open, pupils narrowing toward the doorway.
“Who lurks there?!” barked.
The game was up. Jared and Flaxseed burst into the room, no longer shadows but righteous storm. Baldric’s face twisted from shock to rage. “You two! How dare you eavesdrop on us!”
Flaxseed spat the words like venom. “Baldric Blackwind, you treacherous cur! You helped slaughter my Flaxseed clan. I’ve come to settle the debt in blood!”
Baldric sneered. “Revenge? With just the pair of you? Since you’ve heard what you shouldn’t, you leave here as corpses!”
Steel hissed and spirit power howled as Baldric and the elder struck in unison, lunging for Jared and Flaxseed.
Prepared for battle, Jared’s Dragonslayer Sword blazed into his grip, meeting Baldric’s cyclone of dark energy in a clash that rattled the Chamber’s bones. Meanwhile, Flaxseed unfurled glowing talisman papers, hurling charms toward the elder.
The secret room became a tempest of fury, tables pulverized to splinters, chairs shattered into raining shards.
Baldric fought with the strength of an Earthly Immortal Realm Level Three Peak cultivator, driving Jared back step by grinding step.
Though Jared held his ground, struggled to turn the tide.
Across the debris, the elder’s power proved unfathomable still. Flaxseed reeled beneath swirling strikes, danger licking at his throat.
“Mr. Flaxseed, watch out!” Jared shouted, desperate to help, yet Baldric’s relentless assault chained in place, every breath a race against ruin. At that critical moment, Flaxseed’s fingertips trembled, then steadied.
A forgotten charm from his ancestors’ legacy blazed across his mind. He snatched several sheets of talisman paper, moving in a blur as drew a formidable charm.
Raising the paper high, roared, “Might of the ancestors, shatter this foe!”
With that, flung the charm. Mid-air, it erupted into radiant light that fused into a colossal golden hand, crashing toward the elder.
Seeing this, the elder’s eyes widened, had never imagined Flaxseed capable of creating such a potent charm. Panic slicing through his calm, hurled his spiritual energy outward, knitting a swirling black shield that dropped before like a midnight wall.
The impact was thunder itself, one deafening boom shook the sky as gold met obsidian. As the shield shattered into dust, the giant palm hammered the elder, hurling backward. Blood sprayed in a dark arc before his body tumbled across the cracked earth.
