The elder laughed coldly as he waved his hand dismissively. Suddenly, Jian Li felt a sharp pain run through her entire body as if she had been stabbed through the heart. She stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, clutching at her chest.
"What the..." Jian Li muttered under her breath as she tried to understand what happened.
She looked down at her hands and saw blood dripping from between her fingers.
"You've done enough damage for now," the elder said calmly as he walked towards her. "Your futile struggles have entertained me enough but unfortunately, I cannot allow you to live any longer. The Lord demands it."
Jian Li struggled to breathe as she felt darkness creep into her vision. She closed her eyes and focused on breathing deeply, trying to ignore the excruciating pain radiating from her chest.
"I won't let you get away with this," Jian Li said through gritted teeth as she glared at the elder.
The elder smirked slightly as he reached forward and grasped at the air in front of Jian Li. Suddenly, his hand burst into dark flames hitting Jian Li faster than she could react. The fire spread across her body as it painfully burned into her flesh.
"You should have known better than to resist," the elder said as he pulled his flames back with a smile. "You're going to pay for all the lives you've ended today."
Jian Li groaned loudly as she rolled onto her side and curled up into a ball. Her entire body ached as she tried to catch her breath. She felt like her consciousness was hanging by a thread. Everything was fuzzy and dark around her as she desperately tried to focus on breathing.
"This is the end of you," the elder said as he slowly approached her.
Jian Li could feel herself growing weaker by the second as the elder loomed over her menacingly. She forced herself to roll onto her stomach and glare at him defiantly.
"I won't go quietly," Jian Li said weakly as she spat blood out of her mouth. "I can still fight."
The elder chuckled softly as he knelt beside her and grabbed hold of her arms. He lifted her up effortlessly and held her in place with ease as he inspected his handiwork.
"You're already dying," the elder said as he stared at her wounds intently. "There's no point in struggling further. You'll only make things harder for yourself."
Jian Li spat on the elder's face.
"You...!"
As the enraged elder moved to wipe his face, one of Jian Li's arms was left briefly unbound. She knew she had to move fast. Summoning her sword, Jian Li prepared for the final strike.
"I won't go quietly," Jian Li growled as she tightened her grip around her longsword and struck down with all her might.
The swirling blade cut through the air and sliced halfway through the elder's neck before he could even react. Intending to take his life with that strike, Jian Li became truly disheartened when she heard his voice and her longsword refused to go deeper.
"You are all useless fools."
A pale purple light erupted from the elder's body as a dark mist covered his head and engulfed the rest of his body. The dark mist blasted Jian Li's sword away and eventually dissipated to reveal his neck perfectly intact.
"You have chosen your fate today." The elder smiled coldly as he raised his hand dismissively. A sudden sharp pain tore through Jian Li's entire body before everything started going black.
"And so have you.", a cold voice said.
A tiny golden dagger flew gracefully through the air, covered in white mist. It struck the elder squarely in the back.
"And what fate have I chosen in your eyes child?", the elder said turning towards a bloodied Liu. He reached down and grabbed the dagger, pulling it out of his body and tossing it aside.
The dagger lost its glow and turned to silver dust as the elder laughed.
"A painful death."
As a single cut appeared on his back, the elder's face turned pale.
In an instant, the elder's back became riddled with wounds as the cuts continued to multiply. The elder screamed as his flesh ripped open, spilling his internal organs onto the floor. The screams of a man in true agony echoed throughout the room but were quickly subdued by dozens of heavy steps.
Liu wobbled her way to Jian Li, kicking the mortally wounded elder toward their attackers. A heavy thump was heard, as the elder had finally stopped screaming.
She bit her lip when she glanced at Hao Wu bleeding out on the ground and Chen Zhen desperately trying to stand his ground.
"Go, I won't let them take me! Don't worry about me!", Chen Zhen shouted. A spear grazed past his waist as he winced.
Liu shook her head, realizing that this was the end.
The last thing Jian Li saw, was a golden stone appearing in Liu's palm. It bathed both of them in bright, golden light. The very next moment, everything vanished.