Amidst the chaos and destruction hidden from the grotesque, malevolent creatures that prowled the streets of Azure Blade Lin Jie lay concealed beneath a pile of rubble. The space was just enough to keep him from being crushed under its weight, yet not enough to grant him any sense of safety.
It had all happened so suddenly.
It began with the clouds swallowing the sun's radiance, plunging the world into an unnatural darkness. And then they came- shadows given form, dark, malevolent creatures seemingly composed of pure void.
They were powerful far beyond anything he had ever heard of. But what made them truly terrifying was not their strength.
It was the fact that no attack, no matter how fierce or destructive, could touch them.
As the senior disciples, hall chiefs, elders, and even the patriarch himself fought desperately against these creatures, only to be slaughtered one by one- the junior disciples were instructed to hide in the emergency hall. Built to safeguard them in times of crisis, the hall was reinforced with layers of talismans and protective formations.
Lin Jie, no older than twelve at the time, was among the few hundred children concealed within its walls. As a junior disciple, fear gripped him- terrified as any child would be in the face of such calamity. Yet, he refused to show it. Not only because he was one of the older juniors there, but because Li Mei, an eight-year-old disciple, clung tightly to his azure robe, her small body trembling at the distant echoes of battle.
"B-Brother Lin… I'm scared," she whimpered, her tear-filled eyes wide with fear, a trickle of mucus escaping her nostril.
Seeing her frightened expression, Lin Jie forced a brave smile- weak, but enough to reassure her, he had to. They were both orphans, taken in by the sect, and had been together ever since.
"Don't worry, little Mei," he said, keeping his voice steady. "The emergency hall is protected by a formation made personally by the patriarch. And besides, if anything happens, big brother will protect you."
With that, he flexed his nonexistent muscles in an exaggerated show of strength.
"Mmm, big brother is the strongest," Li Mei said with a determined nod, sniffling as she drew the snot back into her nose- a sight that, despite the situation, Lin Jie found almost comical.
But just as he had reassured her, reality shattered.
A stray blast of dark energy tore through the hall. The protective array, talismans, and formations- barriers meant to withstand any crisis, proved useless when faced with true darkness. They crumbled like glass struck by stone, offering no resistance whatsoever.
The emergency hall collapsed in an instant, burying the children beneath its weight before they could even react.
For Lin Jie, everything faded to black.
When consciousness returned, all he could see was debris- broken stone and shattered wood, the remnants of what had once been the emergency hall.
Realizing he couldn't find Li Mei, panic surged through Lin Jie. Straining against the weight of the rubble pinning him down, he forced his weak spiritual energy to circulate, giving him just enough strength to push the debris aside.
And then he saw her.
Not far from him, Li Mei lay motionless on the ground.
"Mei!" he called out, scrambling toward her, clinging to the desperate hope that the worst hadn't happened.
At first, he didn't notice, not when he called her name, not even when he touched her face and felt how unnaturally cold her skin was.
But when his gaze finally took in the full view of her body- half of it, at least- he froze.
Everything from her waist down was gone, crushed beneath the rubble.
"Mei…" His voice trembled, cracking under the weight of grief as hot tears spilled down his cheeks.
His eyes tore away from Li Mei, scanning his surroundings in growing horror. Every junior disciple in sight lay buried beneath the rubble. Those who had somehow survived- bodies still intact, were now being devoured by the dark creatures.
And when he was the only one left,
The creatures turned their attention to him, their twisted forms creeping closer, ready to tear him apart. Yet Lin Jie made no attempt to fight or flee. Not that it would have mattered- he was too weak to resist, and there was nowhere to run.
But just as they closed in, a voice- cold and eerie cut through the air, freezing them in place.
"It seems you're the only one left, young one."
At the very sound of it, the air grew frigid, an unnatural chill settled over the ruins.
Then, through the mass of dark creatures who instinctively stepped back in fear emerged a lone figure.
Draped in black robes that blended seamlessly with the dark, he moved with an almost spectral grace. His hair, just as dark, framed a face as pale as snow. But it was his eyes- cold, piercing grey that sent a deeper chill through Lin Jie's bones.
The moment Lin Jie laid eyes on the figure, he knew exactly who he was.
How could he not?
That face was the first thing he had seen before death and calamity descended upon the sect. He was darkness made flesh- the being the world will come to know as the Devil King.
"Ahh, what a disappointment," the Devil King mused, glancing around at the destruction as he idly twirled a lock of his smooth, dark hair- a gesture Lin Jie would come to despise in time. "I had such high hopes for a sect hailed as the strongest in history."
Lin Jie's breath hitched. Looking into those piercing grey eyes, he felt an overwhelming terror- so deep that fear felt too weak a word to describe it. Yet, despite the suffocating dread constricting his chest, he forced himself to speak.
'I'm going to die anyway… so what do I have to lose?'
"W-why?" His voice trembled, cracking under the weight of his grief. "Why did you do this?"
The tears that had momentarily ceased now streamed down his face once more.
"Why I did this?" The Devil King repeated, amusement flickering in his cold, grey eyes.
He paused, as if genuinely considering the question posed by the young boy.
Then, with an idle shrug, he responded, "Because I can, because it was a whim of mine." He resumed playing with his hair, as if the massacre he had caused was nothing more than a passing thought.
Lin Jie's hands trembled. "You… you killed everyone… because you felt like it?" His voice cracked with raw emotion. Anger burned beneath his grief, but he knew it was useless- powerless against the monster before him. Still, he couldn't help but express it.
"Killed?" The Devil King scoffed, his expression one of disappointment. "No, I didn't kill them. If anything, your elders and your patriarch are the real killers."
Lin Jie's breath hitched. "What?"
"I had strength and sought to exert it. They were supposed to be the strongest, yet they failed to prove it." His voice was grim, detached. "If they were truly strong, they would have stopped me. All of this would have been avoided, no one would have died.
So in the grand scheme of things, they are the killers- for failing to stop me, the sinners… for being weak."
The twisted logic of the Devil King sent a shiver down Lin Jie's spine. It was absurd, monstrous even. Yet… for a moment, the words left him speechless.
Then, a strange calm settled over him.
"...It shouldn't- no, it didn't happen like this," Lin Jie murmured.
The Devil King tilted his head. "Denial will take you nowhere, boy."
Lin Jie clenched his fists. "No… all of this… it didn't happen like this," he insisted, his gaze shifting around. Something was wrong. He could feel it. His breath steadied, and his voice grew firmer. "What are you doing in my head?"
For the first time, the Devil King hesitated. Then, he smiled.
"I didn't expect you to catch on so soon," he admitted. "But I suppose I should expect that much from you, sword grandmaster or Seth is it?"