"Huuuh…Haaa…Huuu…"
Zun Zhao could hear his own heavy breaths mix with the subdued sound of his own rushing blood. He felt ecstatic, almost euphoric as his gaze bore into the man who should be the leader of the Storm Dancers. The man was strong, stronger than any enemy Zun Zhao had ever fought. But now that man had been brought to his knees, a bit of his shoulder torn out as if a wild beast had bitten down on it, a myriad of other wounds scattered across the rest of his body.
Zun Zhao had done that. It was him, and just him alone. An entity he couldn't even dream about in the past, a realm he didn't even know about, those things were now falling because of him. He could almost get drunk on that fact, on the sheer gulf between the powerless and helpless past him and the strong him that he had become now.
Naturally, he had a few wounds of his own, but the first thing the benefactor did was make sure that he wouldn't have to worry too much about getting hurt while fighting. The leg that had been torn off was already growing back, the blood-like sludge that was getting extracted from the innumerable dead bodies littering the city getting funnelled into his wounds.
"Ah, you know, I feel like it's almost not right. My young master suffered greatly before he died, everything became ruins and there was so much suffering, so many cries. You and your people probably revelled in it, didn't you? That's why you took your time, wasn't it? And yet here you are, getting a much quicker end, it really doesn't feel fair."
Zun Zhao's teeth grit as he spoke, the emblem he still saw on the opposing man's chest digging at his mind. Yes, things here had really ended oh-so quickly, far too quickly. The citizens failed to handle the poison so they probably died in less than 30 seconds, the stronger people lasting almost one minute. The leader on the other hand could fight for almost a full two minutes before they reached this moment. Compared to his young master and their city it really was far too quickly, the suffering just wasn't equal.
The auburn-haired man gasped for breath while listening to Zun Zhao, his eyes glaring just as fiercely. He was strong, but finally, so was Zun Zhao. And even if he was strong, Zun Zhao had poison, that scary thing that would creep in no matter how strong you were. So the man could glare all he wanted, no one saved Zun Zhao's family when he glared so he wouldn't allow anyone to save this man now.
He grasped his weapon, a long halberd that seemed to have been made using a spider's leg and a mantis' scythe, its blade jagged and sharp. His benefactor had given him this weapon after he survived his second surgery, a present for his strong determination. It had served him well so far and helped him achieve a great part of his revenge. But as he took a step closer to the beaten man, his senses finally caught on to something, something that was falling down from above.
"Zhi?!"
His mind jolted as he recognized the thing, his head hurriedly tilting back so that he could look into the sky. There she was, his sister, falling towards the earth like a meteor. She was close to the ground, extremely close. Humans could only fall so fast without using Qi, so judging by how high up the array was she had probably jumped down from it mere seconds after he had landed and started his attack. If she hit the ground like that then she was dead, there would be zero chance of survival.
His five-clawed legs kicked off of the ground and his wings flapped as he shot into the air, the already shattered streets crumbling to dust beneath him. He rapidly approached her, but she suddenly winced as he got closer, blood suddenly spurting from the arm that was closest to him. He had forgotten about the vibrations that surrounded him, the pair of wings responsible for them quickly retracting into his back with a sound akin to meat sliding across metal.
The wind surrounding the other pair of wings rushed forward and surrounded his sister, quickly reducing her falling speed so that she wouldn't just crumble when he caught her. By the time her speed had been reduced enough and he could take her in his arms, they were only two or three metres away from the ground. It really had been far too close, Zun Zhao's eyes swimming with worry as he inspected his sister.
"Zhi, what are yo… GH!"
His words were cut off with a groan, a hot pain spreading from his lower back. A small patch of skin on his neck slid open to reveal another eye, one shaped like a chameleon's. The leader of the Storm Dancers had forced his arms forwards, launching a metal knife directly into Zun Zhao's back. The small weapon was branching out inside him, but it was doing it so slowly that it was probably just a final attack to anger him rather than an actual attempt at killing him.
Zun Zhao clenched his teeth as his chest heaved, he wanted to spin around and tear off the man's head. But he was holding his sister right now and she was so normal that a single hasty move would turn her bones to pulp so he had to be extremely careful. He carefully landed on the ground again, but Zun Zhi wriggled out of his grasp just as he was about to put her down. She rushed past him and stopped in front of the kneeling man, spreading out her arms as she faced her brother. Zun Zhao looked directly at her, occasionally glancing at the man behind her.
"Zhi, you need to step away. That man is dangerous, so please step aside quickly and let me finish this."
He held out one arm like he was trying to soothe a puppy, his other arm reaching behind him and extracting the branching knife. He tore out some flesh, but more of the blood-like sludge that was extracted from the corpses was funnelled into the wound to fill it. He wanted to rush forward, but he had to wait for Zun Zhi to step away so that he didn't hurt her in the process. But she didn't budge, her eyes clear and strong.
"No. This has gone far enough, too far even."
She had heard things before, but this was the first time she actually saw her brother carry out their revenge. But the things she saw… They were worse than what she had heard, far worse. She couldn't accept it, she really couldn't. And she didn't want her brother to walk down a road like that, he had to stop before it became too late. But the question was, was it perhaps already too late for that?
"Too far? Zhi, they killed our young master, the robbed us of what little family we had left. They burned our city, the ruined our home! How can anything be too far?"
Zun Zhao swept out his arms in a violent motion as he spoke, gesturing towards the broken city around them. This was what had become of their own home, this was the fate that these people had imposed on them. How could equal justice ever be too far, too much?
"They? Who are they? I've never seen any of these people before, Zhao. And what about those children? Their mothers, their siblings, their friends? Did they kill the young master, did they burn the city? They're not even old enough to understand what's going on so how can they not deserve mercy?"
Zun Zhi was sad, she was angry, the loss of their young master had hurt her greatly. But these people? These citizens just going about their daily lives? How could they have anything to do with the death of their young master? And even if they did, there was no way that everyone here deserved to die for that, there was simply no way that everyone here had something to do with that death. She needed her brother to understand that, but in truth it was something she should have told him long ago, many many deaths ago.
"They didn't know us either, Zhi! They had never seen us or the young master before, we were nothing but strangers! WE were just children, Zhi! WE didn't understand anything that was going! The kids in the neighbourhood, the children of the other families, the children that were just visiting, none of them understood anything. Did they not deserve mercy? Did WE not deserve mercy? So why didn't they give us mercy, why did they try to kill us all the same?"
Zun Zhi had no choice but to stumble over her response when her brother rebutted her fiercely, his teeth grinding against each other. It was the unavoidable truth, they had also just been kids back then, and the attackers had never seen them before yet tried to kill them all the same. But even so, she couldn't bring herself to accept something like that, not when she looked at the carnage it caused. A cycle like this, it was too cruel. But as was often the case with cycles like this, they fuelled themselves because they couldn't be stopped when they first began.
"Do you remember what big brother Chen said all those years ago? Just having a good heart and the will to do right isn't enough, it's worthless if you don't have the strength to see it through. I have gained that strength, I can finally see it through in the way that they would have wanted, in the way that is deserved. I know that it sits in your stomach like a disease, but this is right, Zhi. It is justice decreed by the heavens."
The Big Brother Chen that they had met all those years ago, despite the relatively short time they had spent together, left a strong impact on both the twins. The things he said, the way he acted, what they had heard about him afterwards, it was all engraved in them in different ways. The big brother they met in the desert, he had rushed out alone and eradicated the Stone-Soul King and his entire herd containing thousands of beasts so that they wouldn't harm the city. He would see this as justice, he would surely understand and accept it.
Zun Zhao took a step forward, blurring as he vanished from his original position. He breezed past his sister, taking great care that his wind didn't harm her. But he arrived directly in front of the still kneeling man, his arm swinging out so that the shaft of his halberd crushed his skull and ended his life.
With the last man dying, the halberd he was holding sank into Zun Zhao's arm and vanished, leaving only the twins who now had their backs to each other. Zun Zhao could see his sister tremble thanks to the eye on his neck, was it fury, fear, or mental pain that made her quiver? He didn't know, but there was one thing he knew, one thing he remembered well.
"All those years ago, do you remember when Big Brother Chen asked if I would defend you even if it resulted in feeling pain? I still stand by my answer from back then, I will protect you from all danger. That answer doesn't change even if the pain I have to suffer comes from your anger or disappointment."
He still remembered the scars that had dug deep into Liang Chen's body at the time, he looked as if he was just a step away from death. The pain must have been harrowing, but he barely flinched at it, acting like normal. And now, now it was finally his turn to do the same.
"…It's just as he said, all pain is worth bearing if you bear it while living the life that you've chosen to live."
His words still lingered in the air as he grabbed hold of his sister and flew into the air, controlling his speed as he shot towards the sky-borne array that would take them back to their benefactor's complex. He couldn't think of anything to say at this moment, and his sister seemed to be unwilling to say anything in turn so the quick return trip was done in silence. Only when they were finally back in the complex and the waves of exhaustion that followed the usage of his powers did he finally open his mouth again.
"It'll be over soon, very soon. Please, just stay here and be safe until then. Once everything is over… Then I'll be willing to do whatever to earn your forgiveness, so let me make you angry until then."
He started to walk away when he was done, his lungs were starting to burn within him, it didn't seem like he was as accustomed to them as he first thought. He needed to rest to recuperate, but then again, it was the same every time he used his newly acquired powers so it wasn't exactly a new sensation.
Zun Zhi looked at her brother's back as he walked away, clenching her fists and biting the corners of her lips. It was worse than she had expected, so much worse than she ever could have imagined. This… This was a path to ruin, one she had to stop in any way she could.
She returned to the room she had been given, quickly going over everything she had there. She knew what to do, who could help, she just had to find him. But she didn't leave right away, she needed to wait. She wasn't sure if she would be allowed to leave, and if someone told her brother then he would definitely stop her. So she proceeded to wait.
She counted the hours, checking the clock ever so often as she prepared and re-prepared everything she had. When the hours had passed and the deep night had finally descended, that was when she made her move. Just about everyone would be sleeping at this point, and her brother would practically be in a coma since he just used so much of his powers.
She quietly opened the door and snuck out, holding a cloth bag close to her chest. The bag contained almost everything she owned, but most importantly, it contained a Spirit Stone she could use to activate one of the many arrays that would take her away.
Just as she expected, just about everyone was asleep, only a dim light resembling moonlight laying her path bare. She had already memorised the path since she had been waiting there so often so she would be able to navigate it even if it was pitch black. And thus, she quickly reached the hub that held all the arrays. But her breath caught in her chest when she reached the entrance, someone she hadn't expected to see was standing inside, his back turned.
"So you came. I always wondered when the time for you to leave would come. It seems that you've chosen today to be that time."
Brown hair and blue eyes, a sky-blue robe decorated with feather-like markings. The benefactor that had saved them, the doctor that gave her brother his power, he had been waiting for her to come here.
"Are you… Going to stop me from leaving?"
She clutched the bag tightly, she didn't think she had any chance of leaving if the benefactor tried to stop her. She'd be forced back to her room and would have no choice but to remain there, no different from a caged bird. But contrary to her expectation, the doctor turned around with a gentle and caring smile on his face.
"No, I would never stop you. Do you know why?"
He looked at her like a father would at his daughter, speaking in such a gentle tone that it seemed like he would teach her a lesson. He also didn't wait for her to come up with an answer, his gaze sweeping across the myriad of arrays.
"I don't determine what path in life you take, I don't do that for anyone here. I simply give you the freedom of choice and do what I can to help you once you've made your choice. You've made your choice, and I will respect that and try to help you. That's all I'll ever do."
He spoke so kindly, his eyes gleaming with such a gentle light that Zun Zhi couldn't bring herself to doubt him, her very soul believed him from its very core. The benefactor stretched out his arm after softening his smile a bit further, pointing at an array tucked away towards the corner.
"That one. If you take that array then you'll arrive at the fringes of the Heaven and Hell Dominion, it'll take you as close to your big brother as I can get you. And you should take this, it'll keep you fed and safe as you move."
A blue ring materialised out of thin air and slid itself onto Zun Zhi's finger, a hidden blade extracting a bit of her blood and feeding it to the ring. The accessory let out a short burst of light before it went dark again, but now she could feel a slight connection with the ring, just a move of her mind would allow her to bring out the things inside it, or put in new items.
She marvelled at the item for a moment before she heard a slight sound, dragging her back to reality. She quickly bowed and thanked their benefactor, earnestly heading for the array he had pointed out afterwards.
"Thank you, Benefactor. Please keep my brother safe until I return."
The doctor, the Sky-Covering Eagle Tian Shen, looked at the back of the girl with his seemingly unchanging kind gaze. He'd probably held that same expression when he first started the war against this Sphere and attacked innumerable cities. He watched as she activated the array using her Spirit Stone, vanishing from the complex in silence.
When she was gone, he gave a light wave of his hand and the array vanished, leaving behind a clean and empty spot ready for a new one. He then placed his hands behind his back and started to saunter through the hallways and rooms of his complex, eventually arriving in front of Zun Zhao's room.
He didn't even knock, opening the door with slightly rushed motions as he put on a concerned expression. He placed a hand on Zun Zhao's shoulder, practically jolting him awake despite his coma-like state. And then he spoke with the same concern as a father worrying about his children.
"Zun Zhao, I need you to listen carefully and not panic. It's your sister, she snuck out and took the array you used earlier to return to Stormbeak city. I don't know what she wanted or how she got down, but there were no traces of her when I got there. There were lightning-like burn marks on the city and around the array so I fear that she has been taken, possibly killed, by the demon who forged the alliance that originally killed your young master."