Chapter 113: The Dance of the Void and the Baptism of Ash
I. The World's Blackout
The chaos did not begin with a war cry, but with the snap of fingers.
In VIP Box number 3, Samael Morningstar finished his glass of wine, set the crystal down on the velvet table, and snapped his fingers. In that exact instant, the reality of the Golden Lotus Auction House fractured.
The thousand spiritual crystal lamps illuminating the massive auditorium shattered simultaneously. It wasn't a mechanical failure; it was an execution. A hundred shadows had glided through the ceilings, and in unison, they severed the flows of Qi fueling the light. Total darkness engulfed the hall, followed immediately by the wet, terrifying sound of a hundred throats being cut at once.
—"Let the show begin," Samael murmured, his voice amplified by the Void, echoing in the darkness like the judgment of an ancient god.
Below, panic erupted. Nobles, merchants, and cultivators from minor sects screamed, activating their defensive auras. The auditorium became a kaleidoscope of disordered colored lights—flashes of defensive Qi briefly illuminating nightmare scenes: guards being dragged into the shadows of the ceiling, limbs falling without bodies, and a black mist spreading across the floor like a living tide.
II. The Executioner's Office (Altair vs. Gorno — Part 1)
Three floors up, the sound of chaos was only a dull rumor through the soundproofed walls of mahogany and gold. In the main office, Gorno, the Auction Master, was counting the spirit stones Samael had paid. He was a massive man, an Origin Realm Stage 2 cultivator who had grown fat on luxury, but whose brute strength was still capable of crushing boulders.
The door to his office didn't open; it exploded inward. Gorno looked up, not appearing surprised, only annoyed. His fat hand closed around a large war hammer resting on his desk.
In the threshold, amidst the dust and splinters, stood Altair. The young slave was breathing heavily. He dragged the black sword Samael had given him, leaving a furrow in the luxurious carpet. His body was covered in old burns and recent scars, and his cultivation was suppressed and broken, barely reaching the strength of a robust mortal.
—"Well, well," Gorno laughed, his voice rumbling like gravel in a barrel. —"The little Silver Ash pup has broken off his leash. Did that 'Dorian Vylos' set you free? What a waste of money."
Altair did not speak. He had no breath for words. He only had hatred. He lunged forward with a raspy cry, raising the sword with both hands.
Gorno didn't even stand up from his chair. With a lazy flick of his wrist, he swung the hammer. CLANG! The impact was devastating. Altair's sword vibrated with such force that the skin on his hands tore instantly. The youth was sent flying backward, crashing into a trophy display case. Glass and ancient porcelain rained down on him, slicing his face and arms.
—"Pathetic," Gorno spat, standing up slowly. His heavy, yellow aura filled the room, making the air difficult to breathe. —"Your father screamed louder when I tore off his skin. I hope you last a bit longer."
Altair coughed blood. His ribs screamed in pain. The difference between a cripple and an Origin Realm expert was an unbridgeable abyss. But as he lay among the broken glass, his gray eyes fixed on the lit fireplace across the room. The fire. The ash.
"Ash that chokes the fire," Samael had said.
Altair stood up, trembling. —"I am not my father," he growled, spitting out a broken tooth. —"He had honor. I only have hunger."
III. The Dragon in the Ballroom (Samael and Kael)
In the main auditorium, the massacre had become art. Lorian, the Young Master of the Star Ice Empire, stood in his box, pale as a corpse. He had tried to launch an ice attack toward Samael's box, but his technique had dissolved before crossing halfway through the hall.
In front of him, floating in the air over the void of the auditorium, was Kael. The redhead no longer hid his aura. The crimson dragon roared around his body, and his heavy sword dripped with fresh blood. —"Are you coming down, ice cube?" Kael asked, smiling with savage violence. —"Or do I have to come up and explain why you don't insult my brother?"
—"Kill him!" Lorian shrieked to his guards, two Origin Stage 6 experts. The guards leaped, their swords wrapped in lethal frost. Kael didn't even adopt a defensive stance. He simply pivoted his torso and released a horizontal sweep.
[Dragon Sword Art: Seismic Fang]
BOOM! The shockwave of red Qi shattered the ice defenses like cheap glass. The two guards were thrown against the back wall of the box with such force they were embedded in the masonry, their armor in smithereens.
Below, in the center of the stage, Samael descended gently. He didn't run. He walked through the panic. A group of auction house mercenaries, desperate, charged him. —"It's him! Kill him and we'll collect the reward!"
Samael did not unsheathe his Odachi. He simply raised a hand, his long, elegant fingers dancing in the air.
[Blood Domain: Artery-Broken Puppets]
The five mercenaries stopped dead. Their eyes rolled back. Suddenly, their own bodies rebelled. Their arms twisted at unnatural angles and drove their own weapons into their companions' necks. In a second, five corpses fell at Samael's feet, forming a literal red carpet.
—"Boring," Samael whispered, looking toward the ceiling, toward where Altair fought. —"Malak." —"Here, Master." —The voice emerged from the shadow of a corpse. —"Keep the big fish alive. I want their money. The rest... is food for the Legion."
IV. Rebirth in Fire (Altair vs. Gorno — Part 2)
In the office, the fight had become a one-sided torture. Altair was shattered. His left arm hung useless, broken by Gorno's hammer. His face was a mask of blood. Gorno laughed, kicking the youth again and against the wall. —"Is that all? Is that the hatred you spoke of?" —Gorno raised the hammer for the final blow. —"You are trash, just like your clan. Useless ash."
Altair, huddled on the floor, saw the hammer rise. But he also saw something else. Gorno's kick had pushed him right next to the fireplace. The embers glowed red and hot. The pain in his body was unbearable, but within that pain, something ancient awakened. The Ash Monarch Body did not feed on ambient Qi; it fed on destruction. It fed on burnt remains.
Altair reached out his healthy hand and, with a cry that didn't sound human, grabbed a handful of red-hot coals directly from the hearth. The flesh of his palm should have carbonized. Instead, his skin turned gray, hard and dry like volcanic stone. The fire didn't burn him; it entered him.
[System: Resonance Alert]
Potential Subordinate [Altair] has activated [Calamity Absorption]. Status: Ash Frenzy. Pain converted to Power.
Gorno halted the hammer, confused. —"What the—?"
Altair stood up. His left arm, the broken one, cracked as the bones forcibly rearranged themselves, bound by a grayish tissue oozing smoke. His eyes were no longer gray. They were two pits of incandescent embers. —"You're right," Altair whispered, his voice sounding as if his vocal cords were made of sandpaper. —"I am ash." He took a step. The floor beneath his boot blackened. —"But ash chokes... and blinds."
Altair hurled the coal dust and ash he had created in his hand directly into Gorno's face. The Auction Master roared, clutching his eyes as the heat seared his retinas. —"You damn rat! I'll kill you!"
Blind and furious, Gorno began to swing his hammer at the air, smashing furniture and walls. The room became a lethal blender. Altair did not flee. He moved toward the danger. His body, now reinforced by the absorption of fire, was tougher, faster. He dodged a blow that would have crushed a building and slid under the giant's guard.
The black sword, which had been lying on the floor, was recovered. But Altair did not attack with technique. He attacked with desperation. He lunged onto Gorno's back, driving the sword into the gap of the shoulder armor, and then, using his hand transformed into a volcanic stone claw, he gripped the giant's throat.
—"Burn!" Altair screamed. He channeled all the heat he had absorbed, all the hatred, all the fever of years of slavery, and injected it through his hand into Gorno's skin. The skin of Gorno's neck began to carbonize instantly. The giant shrieked, dropping the hammer and trying to rip Altair off his back, slamming himself against the walls. Altair held on. His ribs broke again with the impacts, but his ashen grip was unbreakable.
V. The Symphony of Destruction
While Altair fought for his life above, Samael decided to end the game below. The chaos was delicious, but they had a schedule.
—"Kael, finish the rich brat," Samael ordered telepathically. Kael nodded. Lorian was trying to flee through a side exit. Kael jumped, landing in front of him and blocking the door with his massive sword. —"Leaving without paying the tab?" Kael asked. Lorian, terrified, pulled out a teleportation talisman. —"My father will hear of this! The Empire will hunt you!"
Kael raised an eyebrow. —"Tell him to come. We need to sharpen our blades." With a backhand (he didn't even use the sword), Kael struck Lorian in the face. The Young Master spun in the air and fell unconscious, his jaw shattered. Kael snatched the spatial ring with a thief's dexterity and tossed it toward Samael.
Samael caught it in the air without looking. His focus was on the ceiling. He could feel the Qi fluctuation above. A cruel smile curled his lips. —"He's done it."
VI. The Head of the Trash King
In the office, silence had returned, broken only by a gasping, raspy breath. Gorno's immense body lay face down on the floor. His neck was an unrecognizable mass of burnt flesh and deep cuts. Altair was sitting on the corpse's back, covered in blood, soot, and sweat. The black sword was snapped in half, driven into Gorno's lung.
Altair looked at his hands. The volcanic stone skin was fading, returning to pale, scarred flesh, but something had changed in his core. He felt a seed. A seed of dense, gray power spinning in his Dantian.
He forced himself to stand. Everything ached. He would likely die if he didn't receive medical attention within ten minutes. But he had a mission. He took the broken piece of the sword. Crac. Crac. Schlick. He severed Gorno's head from the body.
Shuffling his feet, Altair left the office, walked down the smoke-filled hallway, and reached the balcony overlooking the main auditorium. Below, the massacre was over. The Shadow Legion had the room under control. Kael was sitting on a pile of unconscious guards, cleaning his nails with a dagger. Samael was in the center, immaculate, not a single drop of blood on his violet robe.
Altair approached the railing. His strength failed him, and he fell to his knees, but with his last breath, he raised Gorno's head and let it drop over the edge. The head hit the stage floor with a heavy thud and rolled to a stop at Samael's feet.
Samael looked at the burnt, mutilated head. Then he looked up to the balcony, where Altair watched him with eyes that were closing.
[System: Recruitment Mission COMPLETED]
Target: Altair Ashborne. Evaluation: Critical Success. Bonus: The subject has awakened "Ash Fire" through his own means, increasing his growth potential. Status: Absolute Loyalty secured.
Samael smiled. A true smile of recognition. —"Kael," he said softly. —"Pick up our new brother. He has earned his name."
Samael extended his hand, and Gorno's head disintegrated into dust under the power of the Void. —"Clean everything," Samael ordered, his voice projecting to Malak and the shadows. —"Loot the vault, free the Silver Ash slaves, and burn this building to the ground." He looked at the survivors trembling in the corners—the nobles and merchants who had come to see a show. —"And you..." Samael said, his eyes glowing with malice. —"Run. Tell the world that the Bronze Citadel has new owners in the shadows. Tell them the Morningstars have come to collect."
Kael leaped up to the balcony and carried Altair's unconscious body as if it were a feather. —"He's wrecked, brother," Kael said, looking at Altair's pitiful state. —"But his Qi... it feels heavy. Dense." —"He's a King in the rough," Samael responded. —"Let's take him home. We have much to forge."
Minutes later, the Golden Lotus Auction House was ablaze. A normal fire wouldn't have been enough, but the fire consuming the building was gray and silent, fueled by the residual resonance of Altair's awakening. From a distant alley, Samael and his group observed the flames.
The first strike had been dealt. And it had been lethal.
[END OF CHAPTER 113]