"Do you admit your crimes?"
The Heavenly Demoness stood at the edge of the cliff, her long hair billowing out behind her like a banner in the stormy wind. Behind her, the vast ocean roared, crashing against the rocks below as if it sought to swallow this mountain--this very world--whole. This stormy sky and its matching sea below seemed to reflect this tumultuous feeling roiling through her stomach.
Before her, Murim's greatest warriors from five of the Seven Great Sects stood in a semicircle, blocking her in to ensure she had no escape. Their weapons were drawn on her, and their faces twisted in resolve.
It was difficult now to imagine that those frowns had once been smiles. The hands holding those swords had been hands she had taken, and those eyes gazing at her with killing intent had once gazed at her with all the fondness that can only come with friendship.
Or so she had believed. She was coming to understand now just how naive she had been. So caught up in wanting a place to belong, of wanting people to belong to, she might've ignored the signs before her.
In the center stood Jin Haoran, leader of the Radiant Sun Sect, and the man she loved above all else. The man she trusted above all others. His sword was already unsheathed, its steel gleaming as it pointed directly at her. Beside him, Jisoo Kang of the Thousand Waves Sect held her dancing fan, lined with blades, in one hand and her tiny blade in the other hand. At first glance, that blade might seem too small to do any real damage, but its tips contained poison that could kill an elephant in seconds.
Seonhwa Lee, her only disciple who had shared victories and losses alone with her, stared coldly at her through narrowed eyes. At their flanks, Tianyi Wu of the Iron Shaodws Sect and Hojin Baek of the Jade Serpent Sect watched her with calculating gazes, their weapons, too, were drawn.
The betrayal was laid bare in her eyes. The alliance they'd formed, the love she had for them, the future she'd imagined with all of them by her side was all shattering before her. Yet, her heart did not burn with sorrow. She felt no desire to fall to her knees and sob. Instead, a cold fury seeped into her, steady and slithering and swallowing her whole bit by bit.
Jin Haoran took a careful step forward, never lowering his blade. His face was that mask of calm decisiveness she knew well. He wore it when he had beheaded his brother after the former successor's rebellion, and he had worn it again when he sent all the ministers who sought to punish him for his brother's death to the guillotine.
She knew what would come after that look.
"Heavenly Demoness, do you admit to your crimes?" he repeated.
The Demoness's eyes narrowed, her lips curling into a cold sneer. Crimes, they said. Had the fury uncoiling in her belly not been so great, she would have laughed, for to call her deeds crimes was a mockery of the truth.
Her voice cut through the now falling rain, sharp and scornful. "My crimes, you say?" she repeated, a bitter scoff finding its way out of her. "Speak them, then. What sins have you all fabricated to justify your cowardice?"
Jin's jaw clenched, but he didn't waver. "You have led countless warriors to their deaths, sought to dominate Murim by any means necessary. Your ambition knows no bounds. You are a threat to the balance of the world."
"Balance?" Her Qi flared, a black aura infused with red that spread around her and crackled with raw power. Each of them stepped back instinctively and she could smell the fear on them, sharp and tinged with rust. "You speak of balance and yet you stand on a mountain of lies. Everything you have, you have gained because I gave it to you." She pointed a Jin. "Without me, your brother would be the head of your sect." She pointed to Jisoo Kang. "You would still be some no-named prostitute whoring herself out to every old, wealthy man in Murim." She pointed to Seonhwa. "You would have been sold off to that nobleman who beat his wives to pay off your father's debts and not know how to use a sword had it not been for me." She pointed to Tianyi. "You and your clan would have succumbed to the plots by the Viper Sect." She pointed to Hojin. "And you, you dumb oaf, would still be on the streets scrambling around to escape your debtors and yet you would speak to me of balance. Balance when I've given and you have only taken?"
Seonhwa stepped up, her voice as chilling as the wind around them. "Enough. You have become a demon, a tyrant who would seek to subjugate all of Murim. No matter what you have done for us, no matter how grateful we may be, we cannot allow this any longer."
"A demon, am I?" Her smile curled into something dangerous. She unsheathed Hyeolcheon, the distinctive sound of metal ringing in the air. "And yet, this demon was the one you relied on to do all the things you were too weak to do yourselves. When the Dragon King's armies were invading your sects, did this demon not lead you to victory? When your sects were crumbling before the weight of invaders, did this demon not stand at the forefront to save you?"
"That was before you lost yourself," Tianyi interrupted, his dark eyes gleaming with malice. "Before you became consumed with your lust for power."
The Demoness's laugh echoed across the cliffside, harsh and mocking. "Lust for power, he says. What need have I to lust for power when there is no one who can match me in strength? I do not have to band together with others like a coward to kill what I cannot control. The one who lusts for power isn't me, but all of you. Tell the truth. You aren't here for the moral bullshit you spew from those shitholes you call mouths. You're here because he sent you."
Jisoo's grip on her blade tightened. "We had no choice. If you seek to blame someone, blame yourself for gaining too much power and refusing to kneel to the ones in control."
"You had a choice," she snapped. "And you chose betrayal. I regret the day I decided to save all of you. I regret the day, I didn't let you die as nature intended."
Silence fell, broken only by the roar of the ocean, the howl of the wind, and the mournful tears from the sky. Then, Jin stepped forward.
"It didn't have to be this way," he murmured, his voice nearly getting swept away in the rain, wind, and waves. "If you had knelt to him when he asked, if you had chosen to serve him, it wouldn't have to be this way."
For a brief moment, she saw something flicker in his eyes--regret, perhaps, or a ghost of the affection they once shared. But it vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by that cool resolve she had once loved him for.
"Yes, it did," the Demoness said, her voice devoid of emotion now. She raised Hyeoncheon, her Qi surging, tendrils of energy coiling around the blade like serpents. "Because I would rather die a million deaths than live as anyone's pawn."
The air held its breath with tension, awaiting what was to come. Then, before anyone could react, she lunged forward, her sword slicing through the rain like a bolt of lightning. She struck at Jin with all her strength, the force of her blow shattering the ground beneath their feet and shaking the mountainside.
But instead of flesh, her blade was caught--stopped mere centimeters from his throat.
The Demoness's eyes widened and a curse slipped through her lips as she realized the trap too late. A web of Qi barriers, formed by the combined efforts of her former allies, enclosed around her like a cage. Her power lashed out, but the barriers only tightened, draining her strength, and siphoning her Qi into a void.
"What is this?" she hissed, thrashing against it.
Hojin Baek stepped forward, a smile, elated and cruel, playing on his lips. "The seal of the King of the Skies," he said. "This is the power he granted to us to defeat you. You might have been able to fight it better had you not drank that tea from earlier. His Majesty is wise, he has the power to bind even the Heavenly Demoness."
Her teeth came together, and she ground them. "You--"
Jin stepped forward, then, and she thrashed against the Qi restraints binding her arms. She desired his death more than the others, the wound of his betrayal particularly deep. His sword was lowered and for a moment, he simply looked at her, as if memorizing her face. Then, without a word, he drove his blade into her chest.
The pain was instant, blinding. Her breath caught, the sharp, metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. The Heavenly Demoness looked down, staring at the blade that had pierced her heart. His blade. The one she had gifted him years ago as a sign of her love for him.
She met his gaze one last time, her voice a fading whisper, "You...were my greatest mistake, Jin Haoran."
Jin's face, fading fast as her eyes grew dark around the corners of her vision, was a stone mask, but his eyes flickered with something she couldn't place as he twisted the blade deeper.
She gasped, her strength draining away. Her vision blurred completely, turning the silhouettes of her traitors into smears of color. The last thing she saw was the sky above, darkened with storm clouds as the sky wept.
It's as if you mourn with me.
And as everything went black, her final thought was this: Jin Haoran, you traitorous bastard, I'll haunt you even in death.