The sky wept ash over the ruins of House Lian's ancestral lands. Lian Feng crouched behind the crumbling statue of his great-grandfather, the stone face eroded by time and the claws of monsters. The air reeked of blood and burning ozone.
**"Divine Essence reserves at 15%,"** the Divine Echo intoned, its voice icy. **"Recommend immediate replenishment."**
Lian Feng clenched his sword—a relic of his family, its hilt engraved with the Lian crest: a phoenix rising from chains. His father had given it to him the day the monsters came. The day House Lian fell.
"Run,"his father had rasped, shoving him toward the castle gates. "Protect Li Mei. Protect our legacy."
He'd run. He'd left his father to die.
A guttural roar snapped him back. A creature lunged from the shadows—a twisted mockery of a man, its body studded with crystalline growths that glowed with golden light. *Divine Essence*. The same energy that now flowed in Lian Feng's veins. The same poison that had birthed these monsters.
**"Divine Beast (Class II). Threat level: Moderate."**
Lian Feng struck. His blade carved through the creature's chest, releasing a burst of golden light. The Essence surged into him, sharpening his senses, mending his wounds. The Echo chimed.
**"Divine Essence harvested: +5. Corruption risk: 18%."**
The corpse collapsed, revealing a cracked locket in its clawed hand. Lian Feng froze. The locket bore the Lian crest. *His* crest.
"They were human once," Li Mei's voice whispered in his memory. "Just like us."
"Lian Feng!"
He turned. Jiro, his family's oldest servant, limped toward him. The man's robes were singed, his face streaked with soot, but his eyes burned with the same quiet intensity that had steadied Lian Feng since childhood.
"The castle," Jiro panted. "The barrier is failing. Lady Li Mei—she's holding it, but the monsters… There's something leading them. Something *alive*."
Lian Feng's heart lurched. *Li Mei*. She'd stayed behind, using her fledgling mastery of Divine Essence to power the castle's defenses. To protect the last remnants of House Lian.
"How long?" he demanded.
"Minutes. Maybe less."
They ran.
---
**Flashback: Three Days Earlier**
The black castle's gates groaned shut behind them. Li Mei gripped Lian Feng's arm, her fingers trembling.
"You don't have to do this," she pleaded. "We can stay. We can fight together."
*He cupped her face, memorizing the curve of her smile, the stubborn tilt of her chin. The Lian crest glowed faintly on the castle walls—a reminder of the duty that bound them both.*
*"If I don't find the source of this Essence, the barrier will collapse,"* he said. *"Jiro will protect you. And I… I'll come back. I swear it."*
*She kissed him, fierce and desperate. *"Then swear on your family's name. Swear on *us*."
He swore.
**Present**
The castle loomed ahead, its obsidian walls veiled in a flickering golden dome. Li Mei's barrier. The last bastion of House Lian.
Monsters clawed at the light, their bodies disintegrating as they touched it. But the dome was fading, thinning. At its heart stood a towering figure—a knight in shattered armor, her face half-human, half-crystalline. A sword of molten gold burned in her grip.
**"Divine Beast (Class V). Designation: 'The Hollow Queen.' Threat level: Catastrophic."**
The Hollow Queen turned. Her remaining eye—human, *terrifyingly human*—locked onto Lian Feng.
"Lian… Feng…" she rasped, the voice a chorus of agony. "My son. My failure. You'll die as I did. As we *all* did."
Lian Feng's sword trembled in his hand. "Mother?"
Her laughter was a sound like breaking glass. "Do you see now? The gods' gift is a curse. Their power… it consumes. It *corrupts*."
He stepped forward, his voice cracking. "You're still in there. I can save you—"
"No!" she roared, her blade slashing the air. "You'll only become like me. Like *them*."
The barrier flickered.
And died.
The castle gates shuddered open. Survivors—faces Lian Feng recognized, people he'd saved—stared out. A child pointed at him, screaming.
"Monster! He's one of *them*!"
Lian Feng froze. His reflection glimmered in a pool of rainwater—veins glowing gold, eyes burning like twin suns.
The gates slammed shut.
"NO!" He crashed against the doors, fists bloody. "Li Mei! *LI MEI!*"
Her voice echoed through the stone, raw with tears. *"Lian Feng! I'm here! I'm—"*
Silence.
The Hollow Queen laughed, her voice breaking. "You see? They fear what you've become. What you *are*."
Lian Feng turned. The horde closed in, hundreds of glowing eyes in the dark.
He raised his sword.
"Then let them fear me."
---
**Inside the Castle**
Li Mei collapsed against the gates, her hands bleeding from clawing at the stone. Jiro steadied her, his grip firm, his eyes ancient.
"Why?" she sobbed. "Why did they shut him out?"
"Fear," Jiro said softly. "The same fear that killed his family. The same fear that *made* those monsters."
She stared at the Lian crest on the wall, its phoenix defiant even in ruin. "I won't let fear take him too."
Jiro bowed, a smile ghosting his lips. "Then we will fight, my lady. House Lian's legacy is not so easily broken."
---
**Chapter End.**