Alan charged, raising his sword in the air. The flames cast by Charlotte gathered around his blade, amplified by a gust of wind. It seemed like he wanted to end everything in one fell swoop.

Xinxin walked forward. The fire slash was impressive. Flashy. But… it lacked substance. Still, it would be mildly dangerous to everyone around her, so Xinxin decided to stop it.

Water and ice. Xinxin drew forth the traces of those elements she obtained from the arrogant young master she killed and converted her qi to match. Immediately, like how Alan’s blade became wreathed in a fiery tempest, Xinxin’s sword became wrapped in an icy whirlpool.

“Inferno slash!” Alan shouted and swung his blade. The flames gathered around it scattered, spreading out to blanket the courtyard. But before they could, Xinxin acted.

Words were unnecessary. In response, Xinxin simply swept her blade across the air.

Fire and wind met water and ice. The result of it was a chilling mist, spreading over the courtyard.

Xinxin frowned and glanced at her blade. “Not enough?”

It seemed that she still didn’t have a good enough grasp on the elements in this new world. If it had been before, she was sure that her attack would have won out.

Erik unsheathed a sword and shouted. “Everyone! Attack!”

A roar erupted as the practitioners from the Heaven-Seizing Dragon Sect surged forward.

But, before they could close the gap, Charlotte called out. “I won’t let you! Time and space, bind as one and sever! Dimension Lock!” The crimson-haired witch swept her staff and a ripple spread throughout the courtyard.

Xinxin’s eyes widened when she felt it. “A domain? No, this is different.” Not the power of a law, or even ‘Order’. Instead, it was a borrowed Authority. “That accursed Goddess…!”

The practitioners had vanished, leaving behind only Xinxin, Titania, Erik, Mary, and Sarah on their side.

Charlotte smiled and said, “There won’t be any reinforcements this time!”

Alan turned back and stuck up his thumb. “Good one, Cherry!”

“Stop that!”

While everyone was caught off-guard by Charlotte’s actions, the other woman in Alan’s party, the blue-haired cleric, started chanting. “Oh Goddess, grant us the strength to create miracles in your name! Divine Order’s Light!”

Golden radiance bloomed, enveloping each of the four invaders.

Xinxin narrowed her eyes when she felt that. “Borrowing her power? I won’t allow it!”

If it was before, Xinxin might have been incapable of doing anything, but with Wang Tian’s last gift, she could see it. Golden threads descended from the sky, enveloping each of the four. Lines of power granting them the Goddess’s strength.

Xinxin drew the sword Wang Tian left her and then leapt into the air.

Alan seemed to realize what she was doing and shouted. “Get down here!” He shifted his stance, holding his blade parallel to the ground and said, “Swallow Rev-“

“You will not harm the Heaven-Seizer!” Erik charged at Alan, swinging his sword.

“Tch!” Alan was forced to break off his attack. He stepped back and swung his sword to parry Erik’s. “Get out of here, you dweeb!”

Erik’s attack suddenly shifted, flowing like water, and his sword continued towards Alan’s neck.

“What!?” The golden-haired man made a hurried retreat, bringing his sword up to block instead of parrying.

Steel screeched as the blades made contact, and then the two crossed swords.

Erik narrowed his eyes and said, “Do not underestimate our strength, Apostle!”

Seeing that the situation was handled, Xinxin focused on cutting the line of power from the Goddess. She tightened her grip on the sword Wang Tian left her and said, “Don’t let me down, Wang Tian.”

With that, she slashed.

Time seemed to crawl to a halt. The moment Xinxin swung the sword, she shifted to a different realm, a colorless place where time had no meaning. When she did, she saw countless threads in the distance, wrapping around each person there.

Red lines between Alan and Charlotte, as well as Erik and his two girls. Blue lines between the four party members. A black one between Xinxin and Titania…

Xinxin ignored them and focused on the golden thread.

Wang Tian’s sword swept across the frozen world and then tore through the Goddess’s line of power.

At once, the world returned to normal. In addition, the golden radiance wrapping the four party members invading the sect vanished.

“What?!” Alan dodged out of the way of Erik’s sword and said, “Buff dispel? Tch! Barry! Provoke them!”

The man in towering full plate mail stepped forward and stomped. Taking a deep breath, he roared. “FIGHT ME!”

A ripple of power spread throughout the surroundings, carrying with it a hint of madness.

Mary, the blue-haired young woman, stepped forward and said, “As if I would allow an illusion technique! Water soothes the soul, tranquil as a still pond! Calm Mind!”

Another ripple spread out to counter the one from Barry.

In the back, Charlotte’s eyes widened. “Magic in this Wuxia setting?! That’s not- Wait.” She stared at Mary for a moment and then said, “I get it! You three are the-“

Before Charlotte could finish speaking, Sarah yelled and charged towards her. The tomboyish girl with brown hair flew with lightning speed towards  the crimson-haired witch, a fist raised to strike.

“Charlotte!” Barry roared and raised his shield. “Guardian Knight!”

Golden light flashed, and then he vanished, instantly reappearing in front of Charlotte to intercept Sarah.

Sarah’s eyes widened, but she didn’t stop. “You’re in my way!”

“You will not pass!”

A heavy boom echoed as Sarah’s fist struck unyielding steel. That was soon joined rapid-fire clangs as Sarah lashed out at Barry, with the armored knight trying to block each attack.

Charlotte narrowed her eyes and started chanting, but Mary started chanting as well.

“Flame Arrow!”

“Water Shield!”

Fire met water yet again as Charlotte and Mary competed with spells.

“Master.”

Xinxin blinked. It seemed like she had gotten wrapped up in the fight, impressed by Wang Tian’s disciples. They were holding their own fairly well.

She shook her head and then turned towards Titania.

The elf tilted her head. “What should I do?”

“You, hm?”

Xinxin looked around.

With Mary occupying Charlotte, Sarah stalling Barry, and Erik still fending off Alan, that left only one person in their opponents.

Xinxin stared at the last member of the invading party, Diane the blue-haired cleric, and said, “Take care of her.”

“Understood,” Titania said. “Ah, but I will require a sword.”

Xinxin rolled her eyes and quickly formed a blade from qi before passing it over.

Titania took it with a nod in thanks, and then walked towards Diane, icy wind gathering around her with every step.

The cleric scowled when she saw Titania approach. “Don’t think I’m weak because I’m a healer!” She shifted her staff to her left hand and waved her right hand. Golden light flashed and the staff vanished, replaced with a thin silver rapier. She then took a step back and held it out, adopting a fencer’s pose.

Titania smiled. “Good.” She raised her own blade as well and said, “Then I do not need to feel guilty about killing a defenseless maiden.”

“You-!”

Seeing that she was settled, Xinxin turned her attention back to Erik.

The black-haired young man was doing well for himself. At least, he seemed to have inherited Wang Tian’s sword fighting skills properly.

Erik’s sword cut through the air like a continuous stream of silver, always seeking out fatal blows. Against an ordinary opponent, it would have been a clear victory.

But Alan was not simple. If Erik’s sword style was a continuous stream, Alan’s was chaotic. A haphazard mix of techniques used at an irregular tempo.

Because of that, neither side was advancing… though it was clear that one person kept a cooler head.

“Dammit!” Alan grit his teeth and pushed Erik’s sword away to the right. “You’re being annoying!”

“Then die.” Erik responded by spinning around and cutting towards Alan’s exposed left flank.

“Tch!” Alan drew his sword back and held it to block, sending him staggering for half a step.

But at that rate, they’d get nowhere.

Xinxin shook her head and then charged.

“Hm?” Erik glanced at her. “Heaven-Seizer?”

“Support me!” Xinxin shouted those words and then slashed at Alan's neck.

“As you will!” Erik nodded and moved out of the way, cutting at Alan’s back.

The golden-haired man’s eyes widened for a brief moment and then he smiled. “Two-on-one, huh? Blink!”

Xinxin’s sword cut through air. In the last moment, the Goddess’s power wrapped Alan and sent him through space, a few paces away.

Xinxin stepped down on the ground and moved again. “Tricks will not save you!”

Erik moved in tandem with Xinxin and said, “This is your end, Apostle!”

“Is it?” Alan grinned and swept his open left hand across the air. “Time to use my unique skill!” Light bloomed and another sword appeared in his left hand, glittering with gold. “Caliburn! Guide my hand!”

He took a step back, adopting a wide stance, and then waited, as if welcoming their attacks.

Xinxin slashed out with a wave of darkness. “Two swords will do you no good when you can barely use one!”

Erik attacked with his sword as well, crossing Xinxin’s wave of darkness with an invisible slash.

Alan’s eyes flitted towards both Xinxin and Erik. He shook his head and said, “That’s what you think! Cross Guard!”

The moment that the wave of darkness reached Alan, he started waving his swords in erratic movements.

Xinxin shook her head. “Desperate flailing will not-“ She cut off her words, her eyes widening when she saw what was happening.

Alan simply flailed his arms around. Yet, when he did, golden light bloomed and drew in the darkness as well as Erik’s attack, dissipating it.

Xinxin came to a stop and glared. “That cheating Goddess…!”

Neither skill nor reason. What Alan used defied any sort of sense and spit in the name of those trying to pioneer their own paths. A farce pretending to delve in the profound principles of Dao and allowed simply because the Goddess permitted it.

Erik came to a stop beside Xinxin as well and frowned. “What do we do, Heaven-Seizer?“

Xinxin narrowed her eyes and held out her left hand, multi-colored lightning crackling at her fingertips.

“Alan!” Charlotte screamed and tried to cast a spell to intercept Xinxin’s attack.

“Your opponent is me! Torrential Tribute!” Mary held out her hands, causing glyphs to form in the air above Charlotte.

The crimson-haired witch was forced to look away, quickly casting a countermeasure to Mary’s spell.

“Die.” Xinxin declared the fate of her opponent and released the lightning.

The energy protecting Alan, as well as his technique, was strange but in the end they were granted by the Goddess. And, while that Goddess thought herself invincible, Xinxin had already seen it.

She could hurt the Goddess. Xinxin’s attack, the technique left behind by her Sifu, it was enough to cut through the Goddess’s supposed invulnerability and make her bleed.

Then, towards Alan who was merely borrowing that Goddess’s power…

Fire, water, earth, wood, and metal, formed from Xinxin’s qi coalesced in the lightning bolt. But on top of that, lightning, ice, and water formed from the new energy in this world were woven in.

An attack converging different powers and maintaining a chaotic balance surged towards Alan.

His eyes widened. The golden-haired man must have instinctively realized he couldn’t block it and dropped his sword in his right hand. After that, he hurriedly swiped his now freed hand through the air.

Xinxin narrowed her eyes and said, “It’s over!” She clenched her hand, detonating the combined powers-

“TIME STOP!”

-And the world froze.

A single breath.

In that time, Xinxin couldn’t move. No, nothing moved. A single moment lost to time where the only one permitted to move was Alan.

She saw it. While Xinxin couldn’t move, she was still conscious.

The flow of time was distorted, bound in place by the Goddess’s power- no, her Authority.

During that, Alan quickly beat a hasty retreat, moving to Charlotte’s side.

Time resumed.

Xinxin’s attack erupted, forming a crater in the ground and sending up a cloud of dust. Yet, her target had managed to get away, rendering that attack pointless.

Alan held out his right hand. The blade he dropped flew through the dust returned. Grabbing it, he smiled and said, “Don’t count me out yet! A year’s worth of grinding… I’ll show you just how far that got me!”

Charlotte rolled her eyes and moved close to Alan. “You mean a year’s worth of savings dumped in the gacha.”

Alan scowled and said, “Shut up, Cherry! No one asked you!”

“Say that again when you have a real job, NEET! I’m the one paying our bills!”

“Hmph.” Xinxin lowered her hand and said, “Relying on external powers, are you?”

A distraction. While Xinxin hadn’t expected Alan to dodge the attack, someone did.

Alan shrugged and said, “All’s fair in love and-“

“Alan!” Charlotte moved, sweeping out her staff to cast a shield.

But it was too slow.

Erik emerged from behind Alan like a shadow and slash at the man’s head.

Charlotte screamed.

Blood flew and Alan’s head began sliding apart. With that, his corpse would fall to the ground soon after… or at least that was what should have happened.

Instead, Alan’s body moved, the two swords slashing out at Erik.

The black-haired young man’s eyes widened and he pulled his sword back to block. “What blasphemous-“

That was all he managed to get out before he was sent flying back through the air, blood scattering from a deep slash in his chest.

“Erik!” Mary ran towards him and caught the young man, quickly holding her hand out over his wounds and healing them.

Xinxin’s eyes widened and she stared at Alan.

Time seemed to spin backwards. The golden-haired man’s split face slowly moved back together, and the spilled blood flew back, as if sucked in. Before long, it was as if Erik’s attack never happened, Alan’s face perfectly unblemished.

Charlotte let out a sigh of relief and then glared. “You dummy! Tell me ahead of time if you’ve bought resurrection items!”

Alan scratched the back of his head and laughed. “Yeah… sorry, Cherry. But damn… there goes a totem of undying.” His cheerful demeanor vanished and he looked towards Xinxin. “You’re really a pain in my rear. A lot stronger than the last fight too… is this the new story patch that goddess mentioned?”

“…So they really are undying.” Xinxin muttered.

She hesitated to call it immortality, since Xinxin could clearly see that Alan had died. Yet, even though he died, he came back to life.

Xinxin took a brief stock of her allies.

Titania was at a standstill against Diane. It seemed the cleric was a better swordsman than anticipated… or Titania was more weakened than she initially thought. The two were trading blows, crimson cuts clear on both women’s skin and clothing, but no lethal wounds had been dealt.

Barry and Mary were clashing, leaving craters in the ground wherever their blows met. But like Titania, that match was at a standstill.

And now with Erik out of the fight and Mary occupied healing him, Xinxin was the one left to clean up the mess.

Charlotte swatted Alan’s head and said, “Quit messing around and finish this already! I can’t hold the dimension lock much longer!”

Alan laughed. “Fine, fine.” He stepped forward, holding both of his swords loose at his side. “This will just-“

A brief distraction.

In the moment where Alan replied to Charlotte, Xinxin made her move.

Undying… there had to be a limit to it. Even if that Goddess had granted them her favor, she doubted that the Goddess would have given complete immortality to them. Moreover, from that man’s tone of voice, reviving seemed to have wasted some sort of resource.

Then…

Lightning, Ice, Fire, Steel, Earth, Water, Wood… Xinxin drew on all the elements she could wield and sent them towards Alan.

His eyes widened and he quickly started swinging his swords again to block the attacks.

But Xinxin was expecting that. While Alan tried to block them, Xinxin drew the sword Wang Tian left her.

If that immortality was granted by the Goddess… all she had to do was sever it.

The elemental attack broke past Alan’s defense, tearing his body apart.

Charlotte screamed again, but Xinxin ignored it.

A faint golden thread, barely visible.

In the midst of the bloody mess that was Alan’s body, Xinxin saw a bundle of light bound by a golden thread of karma, preventing it from vanishing.

She had her target.

Xinxin swung her sword, intending to sever that thread. But before she could, Alan’s voice echoed.

“Aion.”

The world churned, bending time and space.

The next thing Xinxin knew, Alan was standing before her, his golden sword pierced in her chest.

“Im… possible…” Xinxin gasped and tried to grab Alan’s sword.

He wrenched it out, sending blood scattering in the air. After that, he sighed. “Damn. I wanted to level it up a bit more before binding it to me, but I guess there’s no helping it.”

Xinxin fell to the ground. As she did, she could see it. Erik and the two girls. Titania. All of the ones fighting with her were cut down, split apart by a single slash.

The one responsible for that…

Alan stood there with a golden halo and a circle surrounding him. Along the edges of the circle were twelve symbols that Xinxin didn’t recognize, but ones that radiated divine power.

Xinxin’s limbs were growing cold. It was a familiar sensation, one she felt before when she met her Sifu. That first night where the Shadow Panther killed her again and again… the frosty embrace of death.

She was dying. Xinxin could feel it. Her consciousness was growing faint, and her vision was starting to dim. Not only that, but her cultivation was fading, strength leaving her body.

“Not… yet…”

Dying so suddenly. Dying without knowing why… That. She couldn’t accept that.

Xinxin forced her remaining strength into her limbs, using the sword Wang Tian left behind as a crutch to sit up.

“Hm?” Alan glanced over and said, “You’re still alive?”

Charlotte walked over towards Alan and followed his gaze. Seeing Xinxin, she shook her head and said, “Just kill her already. The dimensional lock is about to end, so we need to leave before it does. Unless you plan on fighting over a hundred aggroed and named NPCs?”

Alan shook his head. “No thanks.” He walked over towards Xinxin and raised his sword. Unlike the last time, there was no hint of hesitation on his face. “GG, young girl. You were just… unlucky.”

Unlucky.

Hearing that word reminded Xinxin.

Misfortunate, envied by heaven… was this her Fate? To die unfulfilled, unable to achieve anything?

Her beauty and lack of power meant that she was destined for a life that she could not control. Her Sifu had appeared and given her the chance to change that.

But in the end…

Xinxin closed her eyes and lowered her head. “I’m sorry, Sifu. I guess… this is it…”

A sword cut through the air.

And then… nothing.

Nothing, until a long exasperated sigh echoed.

“Giving up already? Such a weak spirit… no wonder he left you behind.”

A female voice. Familiar, but also not.

Xinxin opened her eyes. While her vision was dim, she could still clearly see what was in front of her.

Alan stood with his sword raised, frozen in mid-swing. Beside him, Charlotte looked on with an exasperated face.

Barry and Diane were in the back, in the middle of moving the bodies of Mary and Titania.

But more importantly than any of those, there was a strange woman standing directly in front of Xinxin, as if shielding her from Alan’s sword.

She was beautiful beyond description. Bewitching crimson lips, sparkling violet eyes and flowing black silk hair. A perfectly proportioned body was covered by a dress that looked woven from the night sky, pitch black but sparkling with stars. That alone was enough to draw the eye, but her delicate face looked as if carved from the purest white jade, completely unblemished. Yet, at the moment, that face was twisted in displeasure and contempt.

Xinxin recognized her. That appearance… while a bit different, it was one that she had seen countless times before. The same one that looked back at her whenever she gazed into a mirror.

“You…?”

The heaven-defying beauty sighed. “Well, since you’re me, I guess I’ll help.” She paused. “No. I suppose it’s better if it’s you. I… can’t help him anymore. Not after…” She shook her head.

Xinxin’s heart raced. The woman… staring at her, hearing her words… everything about her made Xinxin’s heart race. Made her head throb. Just by making eye contact, something was flowing into her. Feelings, memories… power.

An amused look crossed the woman’s face and she knelt on the ground in front of Xinxin, staring eye to eye with her. “It’s a long story… but it’s about time for you to remember it.” She smiled and brushed Xinxin’s forehead. “Go yell at Nowun for me, will you? And tell him that he should treat you better… after all, you’re his faithful companion.”

With the woman’s last word, the world shattered, devoured by darkness.

And then that darkness faded as well.

Xinxin was standing at a balcony, Titania beside her and Erik along with the Heaven-Seizing Dragon Sect practitioners below her.

But that wasn’t important.

Countless memories were filling Xinxin’s mind.

A life spent unfulfilled, waiting for the one who would not arrive.

An eternity beside a weak young man who grew enough to threaten the Goddess.

Making a sacrifice to sever that young man’s bond with the Goddess and the very world, entrusting him to her naïve past self…

“Master?” Titania called out to Xinxin.

She didn’t respond. Instead, she clutched her chest, feeling the emotions racing through her heart.

And then, in the midst of her turmoil, a faint light emerged. A distorted window, flickering in and out of existence, as if it would shatter at any moment.

[Status Screen]

Name: Xinxin (Faith)

Gender: Female

Age: ??

Race: Demon (妖)

Skills

Chaotic Darkness – Created from the entwined karma of the Nameless One and the one he deemed his faithful companion, it grants Authority over the concept of Chaotic Darkness, the seed of Genesis.

Loyal Return – A unique ability born from the heartfelt desire to remain at the side of the Nameless One. Death, time, and space become meaningless in the face of remaining at his side.

Titles

Legend – The epitaph given to one that has slain ancient beings of catastrophe. Grants unrivaled power.

Faithful Companion – The name granted by the Nameless Karmic Anomaly. Though originally said in jest, through trials and tribulations, it carries the sentiments of trust and belonging. As you will never betray him, he will always think of you.

Heaven-Defying Soul – One who has slipped free from the mechanisms of Goddess Serena. Destiny and Karma cannot bind you.