Elijah watched Rowan raise her sword again and let out a low sigh.“Women, you don’t want to do this.”Rowan did not answer him. “Eight-Gate Ring Formation!”The command brought the Zenith women to an abrupt halt. Confusion flashed across several faces, but Rowan immediately raised her voice again.“Formation, now!”The senior sisters spread outward first, taking the four principal directions around the group with their swords facing away from the centre. The armed juniors moved quickly into the spaces between them, while the sisters who had lost their weapons withdrew inside and raised their fists in close-combat stances.Iris remained near the centre with the four younger women who had carried Mother’s palanquin throughout the expedition. Their cultivation was among the weakest in the group, and the formation deliberately kept them behind the outer line. Elijah’s brows drew together slightly as he

As Elijah approached the formation, his thoughts moved faster than his steps.The Zenith women had never sensed spiritual energy from him before now. Iris had only noticed a faint trace shortly before the creatures appeared, and even then, she had needed to be extremely close to him.But that was exactly what troubled him.This was not the first time Iris had touched him. She had pulled him from the water, tried treating his leg and supported him more than once since they met. If that faint trace of spiritual energy had always existed within him, she should have noticed it long before they entered this place.Something here had changed.Elijah turned his attention back to the battle as he continued forward.The Zenith women had managed to stabilize their formation, with the senior sisters taking most of the pressure while the juniors guarded the gaps between them. Rowan had also forced herself back onto her feet and rej

The Zenith women could never have discovered the flaw the same way Elijah had. As far as each of them knew, everything about their bodies was exactly as it should be. There was nothing unusual enough for their own minds to reject the reality constructed around them.Sade suddenly laughed aloud and raised her sword towards Elijah. “So this is finally your plan? You wanted us dead from the beginning, and now you’re telling us to kill ourselves for you?”The accusation immediately stirred the others. Several armed sisters shifted back into fighting stances, while those without swords moved closer together with their fists raised. Noelle stared at Elijah as though every suspicion she had ever held had just been confirmed, and Lexi openly cursed beneath her breath.“I knew there was something wrong with him.”“He followed us all this way for this?”“Despicable!”Their voices quickly overlapped, but Elijah gave none of them so much as a glance. His attention remained fixed on Iris.“If yo

“You! Who are you?” Lexi gritted out as she raised her sword.The remaining senior disciples immediately moved beside her and took similar stances, leaving Rowan farther behind them. Unlike the others, she made no attempt to advance and simply continued watching Elijah.He shook his head slightly. “I’m getting tired of being asked the same question.”With the wooden staff resting loosely in one hand, Elijah began walking towards them. “You’ve already decided I’m the villain of this tale, so there’s little point arguing anymore. Let’s bring it to its conclusion with everyone dead.”“You’re insane!” Sade yelled. “Do you really think you can slaughter women of the Zenith Sisterhood and walk away? We are the senior disciples of this sect!”She attacked immediately, with Lexi moving beside her and the other senior sisters following through from different angles.Elijah released an impatient sigh and swept his free hand towards th

The creature drew in a breath.A violent wind immediately tore across the place, throwing snow into the air until entire stretches of the frozen land disappeared behind the storm. Elijah’s clothes whipped around his body, but he remained standing where he was.“What does an elder of the art seek within my reality?” The creature’s voice echoed across the landscape, and the distant mountains shook under its weight.“How dare you cause mischief here and destroy what I have spent decades building? This is no ordinary spell. Do children no longer respect their elders?”A cold smile appeared on Elijah’s face. “So there really is a mystic elder searching for the tomb too. Interesting.”He looked up at the colossal figure. “Perhaps you came here looking for a solution to your own shortcomings.”The red eyes flared. “You insolent child! What nonsense are you speaking? How are you even an elder? Have my spiritual eyes begun deceiving